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The new JREF website

wardenclyffe

Master Poster
wardenclyffe
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
2,333
Well, the new and improved JREF website is up and running at http://web.randi.org/

It appears as though the forum has been "improved" right off the page. That happened faster than I was expecting. I thought they were going to keep linking to the forum even when it was no longer the JREF forum.

Ward
 
That's it? This is the great new website they've been working all this time on?

What a huge disappointment.

And, yeah, no link to the forum anymore, after they said they would keep a link for a while. Even more disappointing, but perhaps not surprising.
 
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Revenge. This forum does not have a link to the new website. The link still goes to the old website. It needs fixing.

Edit. It appears that there is a redirection from the old site to the new site. I wonder if it has just gone in?
 
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I did and it went to the old site. Now it goes to the new one. Perhaps it was going to a cached copy before.

Ward
 
They moved from Joomla, a CMS, to using weebly, a drag and drop website builder. Presumably the free version....

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

http://www.weebly.com/

Makes the old Joomla site look sophisticated, and that's saying something since it was stuck in the 1990s.
Why do I still get the impression they haven't a clue about website design at Randi.org
and are saving money by not employing professionals even to design and build the new site ?
 
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Rrose Selavy said:
They moved from Joomla, a CMS, to using weebly, a drag and drop website builder. Presumably the free version....

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

http://www.weebly.com/

Makes the old Joomla site look sophisticated, and that's saying something since it was stuck in the 1990s.
Why do I still get the impression they haven't a clue about website design at Randi.org
and are saving money by not employing professionals even to design and build the new site ?
Click to expand...

Are you sure it's weebly? The source code looks like Wordpress.

Just wondering how you know what it's built in.
 
DarthFishy said:
Are you sure it's weebly? The source code looks like Wordpress.

Just wondering how you know what it's built in.
Click to expand...

If you go to dev tools -> style editor in Firefox, the first item defining the layout of the page refers back to editmysite.com, which is Weebly.

And yeah, I have to agree that it looks absolutely terrible. Far too much wasted space. Seriously, half my screen is just plain white. And while it may be a little unfair to criticise it for a lack of content when they're in the middle of reorganising both the site and the JREF as a whole, but I'm struggling to see why anyone would want to visit the site at all at the moment. The Swift section currently has three posts, two just linking to content elsewhere, and one promising that there will be content any time now, honest. The main site has basically nothing. A couple of podcasts which are mostly inactive. Some links to buy Randi's books. An application form for the MDC (but virtually no information about what it actually is). And that's basically it.

Usually if you're going to do an overhaul like this, you have things in place ready for the grand reopening. Not "Here's a placeholder site, we'll have some content for it along soon. Hopefully".
 
DarthFishy said:
Are you sure it's weebly? The source code looks like Wordpress.

Just wondering how you know what it's built in.
Click to expand...

I use a Chrome extension called Wappalyzer. (also for FF I think)
It's been made to look like WordPress though.
Any of the free templates for WP would have been better than this non event of a design.

Apparently DG Grothe was given the JREF office's last copy of Microsoft FrontPage as a leaving present,
so they had to er... improvise.
 
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Rrose Selavy said:
They moved from Joomla, a CMS, to using weebly, a drag and drop website builder. Presumably the free version....

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

http://www.weebly.com/

Makes the old Joomla site look sophisticated, and that's saying something since it was stuck in the 1990s.
Why do I still get the impression they haven't a clue about website design at Randi.org
and are saving money by not employing professionals even to design and build the new site ?
Click to expand...

Reminds me of what the site looked like before there was a forum. Looks like a big step backwards.
 
They have a link to the old site that just goes back to the new site. That's useful.
 
Cainkane1 said:
I have a question and if the question is stupid then I apologise beforehand but how do you get to the forum from the new forum front page?
Click to expand...

This thread is about the new JREF site which doesn't include the forum any more. You can't get here from there (at least not by a link on the page, of course).

If you are referring to some other forum front page it would help if you posted a link or a screen shot.
 
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Rrose Selavy said:
I use a Chrome extension called Wappalyzer. (also for FF I think)
It's been made to look like WordPress though.
Any of the free templates for WP would have been better than this non event of a design.
Click to expand...

Ah thanks that makes sense. Should have a look at that app...
 
Cuddles said:
And yeah, I have to agree that it looks absolutely terrible. Far too much wasted space. Seriously, half my screen is just plain white.<snip>
Click to expand...

Just been involved with a website redesign. The page looks like it is designed for a tablet. View it there and it looks fine. If you do not have access to a tablet then here is an exercise for you. Reduce the size of the browser significantly. You will notice that you cannot read a line of text without using your mouse or keyboard. Or just use a phone and you will have the same issue.

Now go here http://rsi.org.au/ and repeat the same exercise. You will always be able to read a line of text no matter how small you make your browser. Yes if you have a big screen then there will be lots of white on the page.
 
Cuddles said:
And yeah, I have to agree that it looks absolutely terrible. Far too much wasted space. Seriously, half my screen is just plain white.
Click to expand...

I know this is anathema to web designers, who seem obsessed with cramming every available bell and whistle in , but to old, grey peeps like me, who grew up reading actual books printed on processed pulp, white space is actually rather reassuring.

I prefer it to the previous appearance.

I agree there's not much on there content-wise, but presumably that will follow.
 
Soapy Sam said:
I know this is anathema to web designers, who seem obsessed with cramming every available bell and whistle in , but to old, grey peeps like me, who grew up reading actual books printed on processed pulp, white space is actually rather reassuring.

I prefer it to the previous appearance.

I agree there's not much on there content-wise, but presumably that will follow.
Click to expand...

I actually like the minimalist, heavy-on-white-space design, myself.

But then, I appreciate the Windows 8 "flat" UI design aesthetic as well, and although I'm far from alone, it's also far from a majority I think.
 
I like it. The very first link goes to a video with Randi in it.

Thanks.
 
I'm surprised by this part of the the MDC terms and conditions:
2.3 Does my claim count as paranormal?

Past claims have included: psychic or mediumistic powers, ESP, dowsing, magnetic humans, astrology, faith healing, etc. Read through the JREF forum for a list of previous applicants if you’d like to see whether or not your claim has been tested before. A partial list can be found at: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=43
Click to expand...

I thought this was no longer "the JREF forum".


ETA: Looks like Ocelot found it before.
 
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As with the Forum hardware/software, there were issues with the Joomla site. It was a bit of a bear to edit, for one. This Weebly version is temporary, meant to be good for mobile devices and to emphasize the basics.

Can't please everyone, sorry.

Sharon
Sharon@randi.org


PS - I will do a post announcing the forum move.
 
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