I don’t mind the flash, but I do wish there was a mobile version.

You’re kiling me with the redirect links.  I don’t wanna quit you, but please....

Ack!

Your new site is awful.  A site should NEVER… EVER… EVER… be Flash based. 

Use flash sparingly.  It isn’t good for the blind, it isn’t good for slower connection speeds, it sucks for people like me that disable flash by default.

If post like this are the future, then MMI is in my past.

Seems that I’m tickin’ people off, and it’s tickin’ me off. 

Sorry that some of you don’t like the new site.  It was something I had fun putting together over Christmas.

(It’s free, by the way)

Sorry some of you don’t like flash.

Sorry some of you will go away an never come back.  (I’ve gotten several emails and comments to that effect).  It’s been nice having you.

Sorry I asked you to go to an actual website rather than exclusively using an RSS feed or Google Reader.

Sorry that you had to click twice to see a link, or that your slow connection or old computer wouldn’t load the site.

I really wasn’t trying to tick you off.  Really.

I was trying to offer more in less time.  The new news feed literally takes me seconds to add links and offer more really good and interesting stuff.  In short… it was convenient for me.

But not evidently for you all.  And that’s fine.

I’ll find a work around… in the mean time, it means that there will be less stuff here. 

I’m glad we all don’t leave churches as quick as we threaten to leave blogs.

Todd

Thanks, Nora,

Bottom line… I wanted an easy, seamless way to add links that I come across.  I tossed over a thousand really good links last year that I found that I just didn’t have time to blog about.

So… when I picked up the ToddRhoades.com domain last year after some ballet dancer dude named Todd Rhoades let it expire, I thought this would be a good place to post them, given that I didn’t want to make MMI too much more complicated.

But… I started playing around with this sprout (flash) maker, and thought… man, this is cool.  I can pull in all kinds of stuff here… it’s all dynamic, slick, cool, and I don’t know of any other website that is compiling all this information.

What I thought was gonna be simply got bloated.

And say what you want about the new site, it brings together a tremendous amount of great stuff from around the web, whether it be twitter, rss feeds, video, etc.  It’s almost totally dynamic, which means that I really don’t do anything to keep it updated.  Which seemed like a dream come true.

And to be totally balanced… I’ve probably received as many emails from people saying the LOVE it as I have saying they HATE it… but there is a large enough group that can’t seem to make it work, or are not willing to give it a continued try.

It’s not my intent to shut down or divert MMI… but to manage my time better.  Doesn’t look like that’s gonna be possible without a complete MMI re-design (which is something I was trying to avoid).

Anyway… that’s the scoop.

Todd

Hey guys, go easy on my pal Todd Rhoades re: his new website. He’s trying something new and different. He’s asking for feedback not an a**-kickin’. I love the new site but if you don’t—just like cable tv—you can always change the channel, as some of you have made it clear you have done.

Todd,
You have a very loyal readership… I’m sure several of your readers have mad web skills that would be more than willing to help you mock up new designs and get things together for you.

And it wasn’t meant to be piling on or harsh, but a purely flash based website is flawed from every aspect.

The beauty of DrudeReport is its simplicity.  What would make the drudge report even better?  An official, and accurate RSS feed.

Please don’t take comments out of context.  At least in my case, there was no harshness, hatred, or even anger behind my post - just a desire to offer sincere feedback.  I really did Hope it would Help. 

I’m not sorry to say I find the current setup unusable.  I will certainly gladly go away if the answer is, as some have posited, “suck it up and leave if you can’t live with it or don’t like it”.  It’s definitely Todd’s site, he can do what he wants. 

I will say that criticism is a part of life, but sadly it’s not one many of us are well-versed in.  We don’t generally know how to take it well, and we take far too many things to heart.  I’m preaching to myself here as well.

So there you go.  Brief again, I really don’t have time for this but do care and so I shared.  HTH.

STEP…

No problem.  I can take criticism.  I was just amazed today when people started emailing me kinda demanding that I change things or they’d leave and never come back or ragging on the whole thing.  There are better ways to get positive change.  Not saying you’re one of them.

As for the link problem, chadsee… I’m afraid I’m not getting that on this end.  The links in the left column at the new site totally work here.

Part of the dealeo is that this was built with beta software.  I tried to mention that as much as I could.  I hope the most of you will be able to view the links, and I’ll look for another easy way to display them using non-flash; but until then, unfortunately, I think we’re kinda stuck.

Thanks,

Todd

Hey Todd, it is working now!  Thanks.

Todd;

I agree with several others.  I find the links are circular.
Even when allowing pop ups (which I hate) I cannot get to the article I am looking for from Andy.

Pretty but..... unusable at this point.

For the unaware, the Roheryn server is a “preview server” (not a test server, I’ve been told) for Lord of the Rings Online. It’s the staging ground for the big enhancements they have been introducing into the game since it was launched last April (has it really only been six months?!), and usually it’s not the final version that actually goes into production. As they are getting ready to publish the Book 11 expansion, which includes player housing, the Lotro Gold changes are in Roheryn but no houses were on sale except for a limited period of time yesterday afternoon (1-4 PM EDT). Judging from the turnout at the “Open House” event, considering that it was held during working hours on a working day, a great number of people must have been as excited about the new feature as I was. Here are a couple of pictures to show you what I mean.
http://www.lotro-shop.com
http://www.aocgolds.net/
http://www.allgametrade.com