Hey peeps. Well, we've been working really hard on this for a while and although its not totally ready for launch, we would like to invite anyone who is interested to take a look around the new, upgraded okayplayer web site currently in it's "beta" stage:

http://beta.okayplayer.com

There are still plenty of things we are working on, including items you don't see there. Meanwhile, we are gearing up to switch the beta out for the main site in the very near future. Not long after that we will be introducing new message boards for you guys to test out, along with simple (yet largely improved) profile pages for members. Lot's more to come so, let us know what you think.

Better keep my Charter Member status

you are at the top of the list

Tee Hee

Fuck a sig.

nice improvement, it's what a modern site should look like. no complaints here.

Is there a way to get to the older news? or is that just b/c it's in beta?

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Stern, firm, and young with a laid-back tongue.

are running smoothly with the new stuff

Yes if you go to:

http://blogs.okayplayer.com/news/

at the bottom of each page you can click "older news" but beware of our warning...

http://blogs.okayplayer.com/news/2008/04/01/warning-posts-below-this-entry-may-be-jacked-up/

anything before that date might be slightly jacked up, like audio won't play.

okayplayer 2.0

…………………………………
http://elsalawi.de
twitter.com/asaadelsalawi
Information Design

full of WIN. that is a GREAT feature that i'm no doubt going to use every day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stern, firm, and young with a laid-back tongue.

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http://mistagoodbar.com
Twitter/IG: mistagoodbar
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I don't wanna slit my wrists but I will.

*looks at over 30K posts*

---
We From A Place
Where Dem Boys Still Pimpin' Them Hoes
We From A Place
Cadillacs Still Ridin' On Vogues
We From A Place
Where My Soul Still Don't Feel Free
Where A Flag Means More Than Me(IN MISSISSIPPI)

****************************************************************

"Men come a dime a dozen and you should have $2 in your pocket" - MoeMoe's Momma

"I Wanna Tap That Canadian Ass Until.....ya ass is leaking syrup" (c) Clash Sic

can people with 10,000+ get Charter member???

¿If a fat guy falls in the woods and there is no one around to see it, do the trees laugh?

peace & blessings,

x.

=========================================
** i move away from the mic to breathe in

yall musta kept shawn gee away from it.

very cool design. i like how its not a huge departure from how it is now

I like the present layout but the way the featured vids are gathered in one area is an improvement.

and I hope you don't eff with the boards layout. :\

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http://twitter.com/sun_dalo
xbl: s/n

i mean the current layout is fine, but its kinda dull for a site that gets as much traffic as okp does.
granted most of that traffic is on the boards and not the news section, maybe the sleeker design
and the addition of blogs etc will drive up traffic on the front page.

am I the only one distracted by the color?
seems like the center is being squeezed.

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http://twitter.com/sun_dalo
xbl: s/n

the small orange icon above the black and white slides.

feed://beta.okayplayer.com/news.xml

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

*Effasig*

Ever wonder why they use the word "beta"..because i always thought of beta being past..u know like beta-max..anyway

i like the improvements, the front page looks more modern, sleek design...not heavy with flash, I like the music player at the top.

2 thumbs up and an OK

!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
www.sneakshot.net
www.thecouchsessions.com

From the wikipedia entry on software release cycle:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle

Origin of 'alpha' and 'beta'

The term beta test applied to software comes from an early IBM hardware product test convention dating back to punched card tabulating and sorting machines. Hardware first went through an alpha test for preliminary functionality and small scale manufacturing feasibility. Then came a beta test to verify that it actually correctly performed the functions it was supposed to and could be manufactured at scales necessary for the market, and then a c test to verify safety. With the advent of programmable computers and the first shareable software programs, IBM used the same terminology for testing software. Beta tests were conducted by people or groups other than the developers. As other companies began developing software for their own use, and for distribution to others, the terminology stuck and now is part of our common vocabulary.



Peace,

~C

I really like this. Actually. I quite love this new design. I like the percentage rating for the reviews, although I know I'll miss the Questheads. One thing, though. I'm a sucker for continuity, and when I go from the beta page to the store, I can't help but go, "WOAAAAAAH!!!" But cotDAYUM if the shit ain't clean. I didn't even notice the Google ads and how nicely they fit into the layout. MAD sexy.

OH! I just noticed another thing, though. I'd really like to see the HTML links at the bottom be the same as the links up top. Like how I gotta scroll to the bottom of the page for interviews and stories.

At the time I had clicked on the beta link there wasn't a nifty flash header. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the nifty flash header with MUSIC OH SNAP!!!

You guys are awesome. Keep up the kickass work.

Now Playing:
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

wow...usually not a fan of change, but that looks fresh as hell.

its not overly flashy (like a 13year old girls myspace) so it doesnt annoy you...the adds dont really seem like a bother...and it just looks like classic okp just with a new twist.


congrats on this, im very proud.





















































































*as long as yall dont fuck with the boards.

___________________________
He has the confidence of Vernon Maxwell on a yayo binge.

http://www.2amDonuts.bandcamp.com

i clicked on the "wtf" I love how I actually knew who put this together.

congratulations okayplayer.

So fresh, so clean. I like it. Though I must take a moment of silence for the passing of the beloved (to me, anyway) ?uestie review 'fro...


Great job. Hopefully everybody's proud of where things are so far and can stave off some gray hairs knowing it's working out. The new look is so organized and points you to all the site has to offer so much easier. Now I just need the 'I Will Not Apologize' shirt for ladies and we can consider this whole thing a success.

its clean as hell

__________
http://leswrite.com/

This will be a nice improvement. It's a real good look y'all.

_________________________________________

lol

You remember this from 1999:

http://web.archive.org/web/20000302084308/www.okayplayer.com/

Had to dust off some subnets to find that shit.

Peace,

~-C

lol.
did they store those on archive.com?

Hehe, yep, they go back to 1999. Actually, maybe further back than that.

__________________________________________________________

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
The Cool Kids - The Cool Kids EP
Al Green - The Definitive Collection

i hope nothing happens to the boards though
i dont want to get all confused

Play me for a stepping stone
Then, I landmine
-Wale-

Yes, lawdamessy, it's lovely.

"Because you're filthy...Oooh and I'm gorgeous" - Scissor Sisters

http://connykate.wordpress.com

A bitch conformed. Weep for me.
www.myspace.com/connykate

I'm in.

http://twitter.com/phenompyrus

Get Out the Room
http://getouttheroom.podomatic.com
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/get-out-the-room/id525657893

especially the video and audio features.

What I'm not feeling is the overall busy-ness of it. There is too much stimulation and I'm not feeling the font choice. Next to all of those graphics and photos, it just doesn't look right. For the titles I'd go with something like CooperPlate and maybe use a Sans serif or Conduit for the text...Just my thoughts. I like it though. Think it'll be excellent when executed.

if i dreamed natural
dreams of being a natural
woman doing what a woman
does when she's natural
i would have a revolution
Nikki Giovanni "Revolutionary Dreams"

Damn that shit is tight!!! We've been hearing about this re-design for a minute now, and let me tell you.... the OK staff outdid the expectations.
Never-the-less, it is OKP, so I'm sure the hate will come from somewhere... (but no hate here)
Nice work Dan & Co.






I had a dream, which was not all a dream. The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars did wander darkling in the eternal space

roll with it.

:)

---
Stoicism and chill.
---
Stay +.
---

it will have pictures, and then some

-why is the background such a dark gray?
(the shade on the okp store page might be better...)

*squints*

-why is the header background slanted on the left hand side?

-the "static" banner space makes it look ugly when adblock is turned on,
and the links shift upward:

http://i25.tinypic.com/nf5lyc.jpg

_____

shann.email/inbox.pls.

@}-,-`-

... armed with 7 rounds of space doo doo pistols...

we arent doing back flips over it either so various opinions are more than welcome.

also, good to know about the ad-block issue

there is nothing to balance the slant, to give it relevance in the design, so it just looks a little out of place to me... otherwise, the site looks great... much more modern... good work.

@}-,-`-

... armed with 7 rounds of space doo doo pistols...

i thought they looked nice in my sites, like a visual paragraph indent.


who did the flash, it's very elegant.

rick

pretend to be cats don't seem to know they limitations
exact replication and false representation

thanks

I can only imagine the work you all are putting into this. i'm looking forward to seeing more.

-T
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"rick ross got old african woman swag" (c)nayaa

you need to ask somebody about me. you some Newbie with a few posts. fool you coming at me with some turkey and Bread and you ain't no Miracle Whip to make a sandwich and you ain't no conversation to hang. (c) mistermaxxx

I'll take my words back, this update is so necessary.

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http://twitter.com/sun_dalo
xbl: s/n

nice work femi!

thanks for checking it out. we are going to still be tweaking tons of stuff

if i click the news while listening to a song the song stops.

i would like to be able to multitask

trust

we know you guys are going to fix that problem... When you're working with that you could also add more music to that play list. 15 tracks is much, but why not add there like another 15 tracks?

there is a lot more to come. music, videos, photos, artist pages, user profiles, dedicated sections...

i can't wait to see the completed version of the site. The "alpha.okayplayer.com" version, hahaha

..alphas typically precedes betas.

...although I am not the biggest fan of the scroll on the audio player. it looks funky when you scroll up and down.

Lastly, do you guys need 2 different video section? There's on up top, and then there's one down to the right as well.

Aside from that, good work. Very web2.0'esque. Maybe, in order to involve users more, set up a 'quote/thread of the moment' kind of deal on the frontpage as well? But then, you always talk about posts on here, anyway, so maybe it's not necessary.

..|.,

If you still don't know what Jade Typhoon is, click here:
http://jadetyphoon.blogspot.com/ (WS)

Thumbs down.

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GET ON MY LEVEL!

fect

I was hoping to see some pure okhate here like in that colbert post

where are all the elitist ass haters??? nobody has the "perfect" plan for the site?

man what a let down...

Nobody want to tell them how to do their job?? good thing quest isnt in charge of the design ya would be buggin on him like he is your little cousin or some shit. hahaha clowns..



great job by the way...looks nice




"it is unclear to me why anybody over 15 would listen to an album like Curtis, except to review it."-John H. McWhorter

LOVE.

It cool and nice and modern and a good change up

Cheers

Richard

www.thelonius.co.uk

looks great...can't wait until it's up fully. Like the guy said above, it would be best to have the music playing even if you leave the home page

@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@%@

.

Gotta crawl before you walk.

Great job, much props

New shirts look pretty nice too...

"you think its my group simply because im the only one round here whose solution to dealing with fans and journalists isn't punch em in the eye lol"

the url for the boards has changed, so going to my favorites shortcut doesn't work. You should have the old url (http://www.okayplayer.com/boards.htm) redirect to the new one.

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"Sometimes I comtemplate moving to a warmer place, then the lake and skyline give me a warm embrace" © Common

problem solved...

I liked coming to the site and seeing a digest of the latest news. The new homepage has *a lot* of graphics on it, and I'm not very interested in graphics.

I see that: http://blogs.okayplayer.com/news/ contains significantly the same content as the old home page.

May I suggest adding a navigation link for "News" so that page will be easier to access?

Failing that, an option to disable images via a web browser cookie would be a nice option...probably too much of a hassle on the development end though.

__________________________________________
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaboonday

R.I.P. Dilla 1974-2006

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i got my season tickets to watch my favorite team...where are yours?

I appreciate the work and where you are trying to take it, but visually, it's not fully hitting the mark for me.

why?

• feels unfinished, blocky. color scheme is depressing. too monochromatic. why greyscale? perhaps it could work in a different format, but in the boxed up format it looks like block UI.

• the logo is almost the same as the nav links. you should consider distinguishing it through color, size or some other means so that it stands apart. is it a link or a brand? not sure.

• why the angle in the header? if you carried and supported it throughout as a design element in other areas, it would make sense. it could also make more sense if it was JUST in the DL and nowhere else.

• the dynamic lead takes up a lot of space. you could have exposed all of the items at once and still have the cycle, so that we don't have to wait through all the slides.

• left column works alright, thought the alternating list colors could use more emphasis. their purpose is lost without the contrast to support it. the dark color behind the numbers feels too heavy. it could lighten up a little to balance itself with its corresponding content.

• center column also works pretty well. maybe some color coding for the sections would help. "interviews" in blue, "blog" in orange, etc. good separation of content through the black and white bg colors. for the list articles, you might want to add a subtle alternating color (light grey) to aid scanning through, as you've done (almost imperceptibly) in the left column list under reviews.

• right column elements are blending together too much. hard to tell what's what. my eyes are glazing over it instead of being focused towards specific modules

• footer should be the same color as the header to bookend the page.

it's a decent jump forward, Dan. just feels like it needs some more love before the final.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

*Effasig*

thanks for the input. one thing for sure, the work is not stopping and there is plenty of it.

I've bet you've got a lot to do. I know what rolling out a major site involves.

hopefully, some of what I said can be useful to you in one way or another.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

*Effasig*

I also realize that folks outside the design world may not be as discerning and they are just happy we are growing and taking new steps, which we appreciate very much as well.

>I also realize that folks outside the design world may not be
>as discerning and they are just happy we are growing and
>taking new steps, which we appreciate very much as well.

that's a good thing if the consensus vote is positive.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

*Effasig*