Reader Feedback Updates

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In the wake of the San Antonio Symphony news leaping from one extreme announcement to the next over the course of a single day, I took the time to code some design changes based on user feedback.

And speaking of San Antonio, we’ll be taking a closer look at all their recent develops later in this week. In the meantime, here are some of the recent changes to help you stay on track of developing events.

Update Timestamps

Although users have been getting good use out of the “Last Updated” timestamp that was added in the big fall 2017 update, it wasn’t jumping out enough and readers weren’t always catching it.  As such, it has been moved next to the original “published on” timestamp on the homepage excerpts and single post pages.

UPDATE META

You’ll also find a time zone a part of the date formatting. Many thanks to PST readers for pointing out that frustration!

But Wait, There’s More!

And since I was in code mode, you’ll find these additional tweaks:

IMPROVED ARTICLE NAVIGATION: thanks to those who indicated you were having trouble finding the next/previous links at the bottom of each single post. You’ll now find better call-out styling.
NEW SEARCH FUNCTION: The search function located in the nav menu has been completely rebuilt. The new version features an easier to use, full width search field that appears after selecting the search icon. It’s much easier to use plus it works the same way across all devices.
POST IMAGES ARE NOW BACK ON ALL MOBILE DEVICES. I was surprised at the number of readers that wrote to say they missed them. They do an even better job at resizing across device types than before.

There are plenty of little tweaks that aren’t obvious but will help the overall user experience, especially tablet users. These include the return of the “read more” button instead of the text only links in post excerpts, a streamlined mobile navigation, and smarter footer content that is more intuitive when shifting multi-column content across browser widths.

If you have any other suggestions, feel free to reach out anytime via the contact page.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

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