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See the original image at arstechnica.com

Hands On: Facebook Redesign Tries To Clear The Social Smog

arstechnica.com — Facebook today is beginning to roll out a redesign aimed at simplifying the site and giving users more control over their profiles. The new version of the site has been in the works for some time now, and Ars Technica went hands-on to see how social and private the new design really is.

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  • terencec, on 07/22/2008, -6/+30now i have to learn the entire navigation again....
  • Imaginationac, on 07/22/2008, -5/+9Loving that extra space.
  • Ducttape38, on 07/22/2008, -4/+55The new site is still abit buggy, but overall looks much more mature and organized than the old Facebook. Props to the design team, this is exactly what it needed to prevent it from turning into Myspace; more focus on your friends and your content instead of those annoying applications.
    • fatjoe, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3Don't really like the new design to be honest...

      Based on just the profile main page, the new layout is very messy
    • Elranzer, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1B...b...but I need those annoying applications' AdSense revenues to LIVE!!!! Don't make me get a *real job* now!
    • kingofthisnight, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2I am sort of upset because my Zune Social application no longer works. I enjoyed having what I am listening to displayed to my friends.
    • andibarnes, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Yeah, it's sort of web 2.1 (shoot me now!)
  • ike368, on 07/22/2008, -12/+5um, excuse me, my facebook looks the same. what is going on? i feel like the internet is lying to me.
  • onejsin, on 07/22/2008, -1/+5Much more mature and organized. BUT, i would love to see the WALL COUNTS back. One other small thing I would like back is the easy way to sift through wall posts, now you have to wait for things to load, and go consecutively back in time (kind of like here on DIGG). I prefer being able to click any page and see what's on that page instead... makes it much easier to view posts from times long gone.

    For those who don't know, go here while logged in:
    www.new.facebook.com
    And you will automatically be taken to the new page for a preview (you can always switch back, for now i'm assuming).
    • StandardsDT, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Or you can just go to www.facebook.com and log in and then it will automatically redirect you.
      • Cl1mh4224rd, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1> "Or you can just go to www.facebook.com and log in and then it will automatically redirect you."

        It doesn't do that for me...
  • runningfire, on 07/22/2008, -3/+10I like the new layout.

    I think the best thing they did was make a tab for applications so now when I go to my friend's profile, I don't have to see all of their applications to just write something on their wall.
    • ndelp, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0yeah applications are the downfall of facebook if you ask me. such a schhmoz.and clutter everything up!
  • geneticlone, on 07/22/2008, -4/+11I don't like it. I am sorry it feels way to cluttered for facebook, I just can't tell what's going on with my own profile page and I still can't move around certain boxes. The tabs are great for my phone but there is no point to them when you have a larger monitor. Also the advertisement feels more dominant in this new version.
    • winmywii, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4I agree that the ads are more dominant now, but this layout is way cleaner now. How can 50000000 apps on one page be clean?
      • geneticlone, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I guess your right about the apps, but frankly I think facebook would be much better without them. I think there should be an option in the old layout to just hide all the apps.
  • itsmoirob, on 07/22/2008, -1/+35Finally, know I don;t have to scroll through dozens of videos, quizes, super walls, gifts....etc, just to write on the wall of a friend.
  • alokrsx, on 07/22/2008, -15/+2Facebook sucks!!!!
    • NexusV2, on 07/22/2008, -6/+3Facebook may suck in your opinion, but you FAIL in everyone's opinion.
  • Revolution101, on 07/22/2008, -10/+9I think it's kind of cluttered and ugly. Hmm..
  • taseedorf, on 07/22/2008, -12/+1I hate facebook SO much. People creepin' around on there, spying on other people...its annoying. I only have an account because I made it years ago and occasionally use it to get in touch with people from long ago.
    • thecwin, on 07/22/2008, -0/+5Paranoid much? :)
    • monkeyboyhero, on 07/22/2008, -0/+11So you only use it for one of the reason that it's there for? You sound like one of those people that says "I hate it when people use their mobile phones on the train - I only use mine when it's important"
    • ncollins20, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3then you use it, dont diss it if you use it
  • Vimo, on 07/22/2008, -4/+22biggest mistake facebook made was that application-thing. I hate it! On every log-in, i have to block all these silly *****-games and quizzes... it's so annoying. otherwise, i like the new look
    • widgetmaker, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3Uh most of those have died away, I rarely get invites other than from people sending me apps they think I might be genuinely interested in.
    • caseycoold, on 07/22/2008, -0/+4"block all from this person" fixes that pretty quick. Best thing facebook has done in a long time IMO.
    • MScrip, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3I rarely get invites anymore. I guess the magic has worn off. I have a friend who goes nuts for apps.. but even she has stopped. I thing she has installed them all.

      http://img220.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=32643_f ...
  • Frost9999, on 07/22/2008, -1/+15While I don't like facebook much, I think the new design is great. Some of my friends have about 100 applications installed so it'll be interesting to see how this changes their layout.
    • MScrip, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1It's funny you mention layout. Facebook has no layout. It's just a bunch of annoying boxes. I use Facebook for a certain purpose... so I go to someone's page and do 3 things... send messages, write on their wall and see their photos.

      All of that other junk they THEY installed means nothing to me. They might have spent hours rearranging their "page" but I just go there for those 3 things.

      If anything, the new design moves all of the stupid apps to their own tab... so I never have to see any of them again!
  • techie4life, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2I wish that left content stayed in all of those tabs instead of just the first two. i think it ties the design together.
  • TMorel, on 07/22/2008, -2/+4At least it'll make everyone on IE6 upgrade as it refuses to work on older browsers
    • winmywii, on 07/22/2008, -1/+2Some people have no choice to upgrade.
    • srodolff, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1So, Facebook chooses not to support the second most popular browser version on the planet. BRILLIANT!!!

  • hellahyphy, on 07/22/2008, -0/+4It's okay.
  • gothicform, on 07/22/2008, -4/+5Last.fm could learn a thing or two about how facebook has rolled out its changes. Facebook is doing it right now so users can get used to the new look and revert to the old one and kept the old branding at the same time. Last.fm meanwhile just changed literally everything at once on the site and pretty much broke it during the process.
    • reformation, on 07/22/2008, -1/+3Last.fm is fine now - it took a couple of days but it works
    • Lunarsight, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I was just thinking that very thought when reading the article.

      The kicker in Last FM's case is some of the new features are nice - it's just the overall rhythm of the page that is awkward now.
  • filmbandit, on 07/22/2008, -3/+1walled garden = NG
  • 2Deluxe, on 07/22/2008, -3/+2Those crazy new "Analogue sliders" they're talking about -- been there for a long time.
    Writers don't know *****.
  • Lieske, on 07/22/2008, -2/+11I hate the new layout.
    I think it's significantly more cluttered and it's simply not pleasing to the eye. The intergration of the Wall and Newsfeed is a terrible idea. The advertisements are also now more incorperated into the layout, when before they were on the side and could easily be ignored.

    Tabs for the seperation of Apps is a smart idea, but I wish you didn't have to keep the default tabs ( Wall / Info / Photos/ Boxs).
  • nonks, on 07/22/2008, -2/+4I like it...never really used Facebook until I saw this...imho I think that this blows the pants off of Myspace
    • bodaciousllama, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0and that takes some effort

      skin-tight girl jeans are hard to remove.
    • championchap, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1MySpace has been pants'd for some time now.
      Get with the times.
  • zeptobyte, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2My only issue with it is that the news feed on the home page doesn't sufficiently separate the distinct news items. It's hard to at-a-glance distinguish them from each other. On the other hand, the status updates and other things like that ARE quite discrete, which doesn't seem as necessary..
  • Kitsune818, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3www.new.facebook.com just redirects to facebook.com for me, I don't see any changes.
  • kaiquan, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3it's a little messy having the news feed and wall together. i thought there was an option during the redesign preview stages that allowed the separation? i prefer the old news feed. the rest is great though!
  • dturnbull, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1It'll do.
  • aliguana, on 07/22/2008, -2/+2the links are messed up: if I'm on: http://www.new.facebook.com, and I click on "friend requests", nothing happens, except the url in my address bar changes to http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php#/reqs.php#fri ... Surely it should read: http://www.new.facebook.com/reqs.php#friend ?? Bug report submitted, but that is an OBVIOUS bug in something as simple as links, making the new design unusable.

    Shame, because I like it.
    • StandardsDT, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1It's in Beta still so there's going to be bugs. For example when clicking on Account Settings it throws up a SSL Certificate error saying that it's only registered to facebook.com and not register.new.facebook.com. These things are expected.
  • orthodoxDrew, on 07/22/2008, -1/+4haha lame it's so lame.
  • InorganicMatter, on 07/22/2008, -0/+3They finally toned down the application annoyances. THANK YOU!!!
  • tresvold, on 07/22/2008, -1/+0the only complaint that I have about facebook is getting all the notifications to join this or that. I get tons of those a day and ignore every single one of them - and i hate going to peoples profiles that have a ton of those applications on their profile cause it takes forever to load.

    That is my only complaint, other then that I love facebook cause I have found old friends from high school that i had lost track of after graduation.
  • mjpr, on 07/22/2008, -0/+4I've changed it back and forth a couple of times and I just changed back to the old layout.

    Things I like:
    - Tabs: Finally things can be found again
    - Editing the profile in the profile
    - Customizable Friends box, like top friends, instead of just showing random people

    Things I don't like:
    - Status update on the profile: Go to Update Status, then type; or if u want to edit you current status you have to be on Update Status, then click edit next to the status
    - Wall/Mini-Feed: I like them to be separate or have something that looks like the old wall somewhere. I know there's "post by others", just not the same. Going back to old posts is a pain, especially if you're looking for one of the oldest posts on your wall.
    - Boxes Tab: I like having all the apps hidden away, but there are some I would like to have more accessible. I would like to have something in that tab like the Extended/Limited profile that would help with the loading time. I'm a big fan of the Extended profile: some apps I want to keep, but I want them hidden; plus my profile looks better. Or have the small icons that take you to the app that are below the profile pic (extremely useful, especially for finding a lost away wall)
    - Home Page: pokes in the middle, birthdays are separated by commas instead of the usual list, requests get lost in such a wide column. Things I want to see in the right column are lost or harder to read.

    Generally, there are some things I would like to be able to customize more, like the tabs and the options within each tab.

    What makes it for me and makes me return to the old one is the Wall and the Home page.
  • withremote, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2I like that its a variable width now and not constrained to about 700 pixel like before.

    Don't ***** it up facebook.
    • jpinsonault, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I can't operate without walls around me! *goes crazy*
  • xamox, on 07/22/2008, -0/+2I wondered how long it was going to take them to get on the tab band wagon. Now the profiles don't look like myspace garbage anymore. Gone are the days I have to search through super wall, duper wall, cool wall, fun wall, gay wall, another wall, etc. just to find the normal wall to post a comment! Woo-Hoo, smite newscorp and the hunk of crap website that doesn't deserve any traffic.
    • ScrewedThePooch, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1srsly. fuk gay wall. worst app evar
  • viciv, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1not a big fan of the new site. well we gotta get used to it anyway.
  • EmmaRussell, on 07/22/2008, -1/+1Looks good!
  • viewofeverlast, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1Looks the same to me...

    Now the Last.FM redesign, THAT is digg-worthy!
    • viewofeverlast, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1I take that back...now it looks more like the Facebook iPhone application.
  • MScrip, on 07/22/2008, -0/+1So, I'm pleased that they moved all the apps to the "Boxes" tab so I don't have to scroll through 100 apps to get to someone's Wall... But on my profile I have the My Box application with a graphic link to my website, so people can just click it to go to my website. But now it's not visible when someone goes to my profile. They have to go to the Boxes tab to see it. All people see when they first go to my profiles is the Wall... Is there a way to keep some of your apps on the home screen?

    I like the changes, but I wish we had control of what people see on our own profile. Let me pick what things I want on my profile page. I'd like to have my contact info on the first screen too. Is there any way to combine the Wall and Info tabs into one?
  • alvination, on 07/22/2008, -0/+0Plz separate the profile mini feed and wall posts. Other than that, It's decent and I can't really complain. Thanks to separating those bumper stickers to a new tab.

    edit: I was hasty. I just click the link that says "posts by others" and it's just wall messages. So looks fine!
  • taseedorf, on 08/01/2008, -0/+1Well, using it to creep around and research people and such is kind of weird. Especially when many probably don't talk to that particular person. Monkeyboyhero...I have a feeling your that weird guy creeping on people
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