--thefluffanutta posted a lot of great observations about what had changed.

--bdkz said: I love the new look! I can’t wait, thanks guys!

--Lewis said: Wow. Lots of changes!  I think Google ranks the lenses better when they have the tags linked in the sidebar. It links all the lenses on squidoo together. And I think this is why the new squid ‘front doors’ aren’t doing as well for me with google than regular lenses. I’d hate to lose section of the sidebar.  The new layout looks great though! I LOVE how the content is separated from the sidebar with more than a thin grey line.  With this new max layout, I would make more lenses than usual

--Loyalis said: Exceptionally awesome. I really like the little badges and % ranking (because secretly I’m an egomaniac ). Why not integrate a squidaholic ‘box’ into the sidebar for lensmaster only view? just a thought.

--Flowergardener said:  anxious to see what the final products look like, so I’ll hold my comments, as I’m sure you’ll have many others who will voice their opinions.  I will let you know tho, that if the Lensmaster’s Bio stays in the new designs, it will blow the work I’ve done with my Bio for all my lenses.

--Damon said:  I love the idea of having different info for different viewers.  Just when I think the Big Squids have thought of everything. . .

--Margaret said:  I’d like to do a lensroll instead of related lenses- especially for my pages related to my groups. I hate the ‘more lenses by me etc’ box in the center. It looks awful there! It would be much better in the sidebar. Same in the members and the lensmasters view- it really should be in the sidebar. Its just too busy at the top!   The new toolbox is much more attractive and yes, the functions are nicer to have right there.      Related groups- is this going to be the groups the page belongs to, or other random groups in the major topic area?      What are those new badges and ratings near the lensmaster? top 1% means… what? What will it be for people farther down, like near the bottom? top 240,000%?   Is that ‘lens of the day’ Kate’s lens, kate’s choice? Or will it be the official ‘Lens of the Day’? Can we have that for our choice? We can feature a special lens there, our own or other’s that we like?  Background- will there be a choice of colors or other options for us to use?   How many options will we have for the lensroll?   Can we eliminate some of this stuff if it looks just too busy on the page?  Will ANY of this apply to groups????  Thanks- you guys are really working hard on this, and we appreciate it very much.

--jeffwend said:  I really think they look great and can’t wait to see the effects of the changes.

--Megan (that's me) replied to all with:  Great great feedback. Thanks!   A lot of these questions and comments will be answered when you see these live and have a chance to poke around on them, but for now:
@Lewis: Tags are still in the sidebar, and show up near the top of the HTML. (they’re in the mini-column)
@Margaret: Lensrolling still trumps “related lenses” just like it does on the current max. Related Groups is the list of Groups the lens belongs to, so if the lens doesn’t belong to any Groups, it won’t show. You’re right, we could use better copy for that.
Re: badges and stars…this stuff is gonna be so neat. here’s more info (some of the links from this page are still half-baked…i’m working on it). http://www.squidoo.com/pages/squidbadges
Re: background color: nothing set in stone.

The new layouts look great. I can't wait for them to go live.

Even more changes over the weekend. It's looking better and better.

I don't mind those big glam ads too much on this new layout. Much more clearly separated from the content.

You're doing some great work with these layouts.

I'm liking it more the more I look at them.

jeffryv wrote:

Since both the new "Maxed" and the old "Unmaxed" lenses have the SAME amount of ads will they receive the same adsense share?

Yes

What happens to the new "Maxed" layout when you hit the "More" link in bio?

It will trigger a popup very similar to the one we use on the Explore page.

I've got some questions Megan
I see on the 'first-timers' layout, that there's a 'Groups' link at the top of the page, and then a 'related groups' on the right hand side.

You stated that the 'related groups' are the ones that the lens belongs to. Where will that 'group' at the top link to? Oooo, I'm hoping and hoping it's going to lead to the category group that lens is in!

Another question, if I may........
There's also a link for 'more topics'; will that lead to the main group page? If it does, that is going to be so awesome! That will help all of our Group Masters! (and take care of my observations and 'wants' that I put in our 'chat' forum.

I see that the top of this layout also has 'primary tag, tag, tag' buttons. OOOh, if that is what I'm thinking it will be.............that also will set up Squidoo to have an AWESOME search capability! YEA!

Wow, if these turn out to be the end results of the 'first-timers' layout..........that's the one I want to use on all my lenses, also because it's the one that leaves the most room at the top part of the lens.

All my Squidooy dreams will come true except one (Amazon Slide-Show); so I'm very fat, happy, and contented. Thank You Squid Team!

Really Christene?
Uhhhh, not so sure I like that........ Haven't made up my mind.........will have to wait till they're live I 'spose.

Hummm, does that mean that Squidoo will start attaching cookies to visitors?

Here is a copy/paste of my duel module entry:

"Hey, I love the changes. The layout and colors are soothing. The logic behind the changes is solid and I really like the idea of data-driven changes. Now the color ads don't bother me at all. In fact, I like them in the new layout. I have nothing but high praise to give to those who contributed to these changes. I look forward to seeing them go live! "

~Music Resource~

My review ended up pretty long-winded.

What I like:

* Fits the screen: My main gripe with the layout we're using now is that it doesn't cooperate with my screen resolution. I'll be happy to see the horizontal scrollbar go away.

* Lensmaster bio: I like where it's positioned. The special "Giant" and "Citizen" symbols are kind of cool, too, since it makes those titles more official-looking.

* Content to the left: I've grown used to site layouts where the content is immediately to the left. The two column design looks more clean and organized, too.

* Different layouts for visitors: It does seem smart to have a layout geared towards lensmasters and another layout primed for newcomers.

* Related groups: That should give more exposure to groups. Nice!

What I'm not so crazy about:

* Floating box: This is the one element that bothers me the most. It's not so bad in the first-timer's layout, but it's still distracting. It feels like it should be somewhere in the right column. I understand it's a way to encourage people to explore, bookmark, and promote the lenses. But I still think it looks better in a column separated from the content.

Here's another option: How about a module specifically for social bookmarking and lens promotion? It makes more sense to me to have these options show up after you've finished reading the lens and decided whether or not it's worth promoting. The downside is that lensmasters would have to remember to add the thing to each lens.

I don't think information such as lensrank, number of visitors, etc. is critical enough to display in a prominent place. I mostly look for that on my own lenses. I'm never anxious to learn the stats for other people's lenses, and when I'm curious, I don't mind scrolling down a little bit to find them. I'm paying more attention to whether or not the content is good.

* No lensroll? I like having the power to choose the lenses that show up in the right column.

* Top ten list: I prefer links to lenses that are tightly related to the topic rather than links to already-popular lenses that happen to live in the same broad category as mine.

HATING the visitor stats showing on the lenses. Hating.

Apart from that being the lensmaster's business only, it serves no purpose.

Yuck.

Overall, I think it looks okay.  The two column layout especially how it looks for first time visitors is much better.    I also like that I can view stats right from the lens itself.  That will be a time saver. 

However, to me, it is still somewhat busy looking.  Too much going on.  I also agree that the favorited faces are very distracting.  Maybe because this particular lens has so many of them.  If a lens only had a few, then it probably wouldn't be so bad.  I agree with Lewis, the weekly stats have got to go! 

I can't really tell where the lensroll is.  Is it gone?  Is it the section all the way at the bottom?  I like having the lensroll function since I lensroll many of my lenses within the same niche and this helps a lot with sending traffic between all of them.

What is the "You May Also Like'" section for?

Another thing, once the right-hand side info ends, the large block of blank blue screen doesn't look so good.  It just looks like wasted space.  Not sure how that could even be addressed.   The old format had this same space, but since it was white, it wasn't so bad. Maybe because the contrast between white and navy are so distinct. 

Are we only going to be able to view the top 5 groups a lens is a member of?  That is not going to help get any exposure for the lower ranked groups.  I don't think we need to have them all listed like they are now, but maybe with a 'more' link people can click on to see the full list.

Is the 'What's Here' section gone?  I use that info a lot when setting up the table of contents for a lens. 

Those are just my thoughts so far.

Thanks for all of the hard work!

JustBonCrochetDesigns wrote:

I know that this is a dumb question...cos I've been around here long enough that I should know...but what's the difference between Lensmaster and Member?

Are you saying other Lensmasters (members) will get a different view than the Lensmaster who created the lens?

A member is someone who signs up for an account (to post guestbook entries, favorite lenses, etc) without creating a lens.

Gil~

-Thanks for removing the stats.
-So, the lensroll on the new layout will be text only and only five will display?  Or, is that just an example and you could add more? 
-My comment on the page being too busy addressed the top of the lens above the fold, not the bottom section.  I agree that expanding the main column is not the answer.  Who knows, all of that blue space may grow on me since blue happens to be my favorite color anyway.
-Are you saying that if a lens is a member of more than 5 groups, all groups will show?  Can you clarify?
-YAY!  A Table of Contents module!  Can't wait for that.

Janet~
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