New Site Layout (split)

[May]

Neopets has undergone some major changes!

27th April

* SITE UPDATE! - Okay, so the Meepit from yesterday was just a diversion tactic. Truth is, as you might have already gathered by the new surroundings, Neopets has gotten a HUGE facelift and we didn't want to let the Kadoatie out of the bag too early.

Here's a bit of info on the big changes... as much info as we could fit in New Features, anyway.

Site Layout
Neopets has gotten a whole new look (while keeping our famous eye-popping yellow, of course)! We've cleaned up, re-coded, and generally gotten out of the 90's. Hooray!

We've streamlined the navigation and added short cuts to some of the most visited places in each section. Don't be discouraged if you get lost while looking for your favourite pages or activities. (It took most of us a bit of time to get used to it, too.) If you're ever stuck, look for this graphic: Clicking on this will take you to our FAQ section, and that should help you find your way again!

More Info: (a bunch of links to FAQ sections)

Customise Your Neopets!
Ever since we started Neopets, the requests to dress and accessorise your Neopets have only increased. We've always said we'd never do it because of the work load, but we're allowed to change our minds and work ourselves to death if we want! As such, you can now dress and accessorise your Neopets with items you find around the site!

You can start by visiting Quick Ref and clicking on the "Customise" button. There are too many new features to explain here, so be sure to read the FAQs and the tutorial!

We've had to update some of the Neopets art to make them compatible with the customise system. In cases where we felt the change was very drastic, we've added the option to choose. If you and your Neopet are eligible for that option, you'll see a "Convert this Neopet!" link on Quick Ref. Click that for more information.

We would also like to mention that if you aren't happy with the change to any of your Neopets, don't go hunting for a morphing potion just yet! You may find justice early next week. If in the meantime you need to get out some anger or aggression, may we suggest playing a round or two of Whack-A-Staff-Member?

More Info: (a bunch of links to FAQ sections)

Beta Beta Beta!
To be honest, the site is HUGE and there are many, many more pages to update, so we're not nearly done. Expect more updates, and don't be surprised to see some strange occurances here and there. Please report any bugs so we can get them fixed right away!

All this will take some getting used to, we know... especially if you're a long-time user, but don't be afraid to jump in. We think these changes make Neopets even better, so we really hope you enjoy them, too!

We'll return to our regularly scheduled New Features tomorrow!


* Oh, right... we're also launching a new game today - just in case all this new stuff doesn't cure your boredom. We thought ahead.

Here's the FAQ page they set up about the changes: http://www.neopets.com/s/index.phtml?cat_id=50

A few things Neopets seems to have missed:
- If you have to side-scroll, change your resolution to 1024x768. Everything will seem to look smaller, but everyone has been switching to it anyway. See the trends here: http://www.pcpitstop.com/research/vidres.asp
- Premium needs 1280x1024 to get usage of both sidebars in the site-in-portal feature. (As of right now, 1 PM NST April 26, it's still buggy, though.)
- Sidebar themes are now just site themes (or "top-bar" themes, if you'd rather.)
- The primary-colors Games Room has been taken out.
- As was noted in the news, some drastically-changed Neopets have the option of keeping the old look - but only some.

Ready, set, discuss!

[Fiddelysquat]

Posting it again, because it sums up my feelings about the situation quite nicely:

[Morningstar]

OMG, I just saw the new Halloween gelert. He looks like he's in some glam rock band.

[pmouse]

Just don't like, generally, for all the same reasons as most here.

BUT, I have a really burning hatred for an aspect of the redesign that I think was a prime mover in the makeover: The way the bottom ad now jumps up directly under the last active bit of page content. Before, if you were refreshing in an empty shop, there was a good long blank space before the bottom ad. You could cleverly avoid ever having to look at it, let alone accidentally click on it, if you positioned the page just so.

That, and the slapdash redraw of my baby kacheek. And what's with the black background? He looks like I locked him in a dark closet.

Fiddlysquat, you must have found the *secret* Neocam in the Inner Sanctum.

Last edited by pmouse on Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Mongrel]

Dude, that Gelert has a BAT at the end of his tail.

[sape789]

Is there anyone who has some tips for coding a pet and/or user lookup? Mine looks horrendous now.

[varii]

Ugh. I'm having trouble getting to the stock market. Why isn't there a link on the front page anymore? I keep clicking the ticker and I am just so frustrated.

Last edited by varii on Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[luckimiss7]

I actually like it, I think it looks good. A lot of the people don't like it, some even said they are quitting neopets cause of it. I think it's unfair to TNT, they put alot of time into it and some people don't realize that, they just care about wether or not they like it. Months of planning and work went into this and they are knocking it down after a few hours.

[Morningstar]

Dude, that Gelert has a BAT at the end of his tail.

OK, no offense to anyone who likes AFI, or anyone who is into alternative/glam rock (cause I actually like both--ask me about my love of Kill Hannah sometime), but is it my imagination or does that gelert not look a little like AFI's lead singer Davey Havok?

I actually like it, I think it looks good. A lot of the people don't like it, some even said they are quitting neopets cause of it. I think it's unfair to TNT, they put alot of time into it and some people don't realize that, they just care about wether or not they like it. Months of planning and work went into this and they are knocking it down after a few hours.

Just for curiousity's sake, how long have you been playing Neopets? No offense, but it might be easier for someone who hasn't been playing that long to adapt to this than for those of us who have been playing for several years. There has never been this drastic a change in Neopets in the entire 4-1/2 years I've been playing. And gosh, they have never redrawn all pets all at once like this before. I remember when the new kougra came out a few years back and people were up in arms over it. Such an outcry that Neopets ended up letting us vote on a new version. It is much different now that Viacom owns the site.

Last edited by Morningstar on Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:22 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[yvonne_l_d]

Other than the pet customization, I like everything. I'm crazy about sudokus so I love the new game. The site revamp on its own would have been great. I would have loved it.

[Mongrel]

Months of planning and work went into this and they are knocking it down after a few hours.

Yes, and think how much work went into Gigli. That didn't make it a good thing.
EDIT: The Stock Market is Action/Adventure?!

Last edited by Mongrel on Thu Apr 26, 2007 10:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.

[Fiddelysquat]

I actually like it, I think it looks good. A lot of the people don't like it, some even said they are quitting neopets cause of it. I think it's unfair to TNT, they put alot of time into it and some people don't realize that, they just care about wether or not they like it. Months of planning and work went into this and they are knocking it down after a few hours.

Yes, months of planning and work went into this. Unfortunately, it happens to be horrendous, very inconvenient for the vast majority of users, and a complete mess in general. Instead of spending this time working on things they've promised us (Neoschools, etc.) they spent all this time re-vamping something that seriously did not need re-vamping at all.

[beanmommy]

Reposting my observations from the locked thread...

Coupla things I haven't seen anyone else gripe about...

The notification when you get mail or some other event is TINY. WTH?

Am I missing it, or is there no longer a listing of your game scores # on your lookup? I am nearing 400 and enjoyed watching the number increment every time a new game came out.

I've since sent feedback in about both of these items, as well as asking if shops can now display items more than 4 to a row since there's so much more lateral real estate...

[Dustin]

This is incredible. I have to give TNT credit this time, they've actually done an amazing job with this. A change is good, for once.

[luckimiss7]

:o This is incredible. I have to give TNT credit this time, they've actually done an amazing job with this. A change is good, for once.

I'm glad I'm not the only that thinks that