In My Humble Opinion,

The beta site is too visually confusing. Three columns is about the max for readability on a computer screen. At least one of the columns should be primarly graphics or links(Things where focusing on the words aren't required).

The side by side idea Between MSM and Bloggers is a good idea. In my humble opinion, it works on "Bullet Point" comparisons. I.E. If you were doing two columns of headlines only it would work quite well, I think the comparison columns of actual stories cause the eyes to attempt to read both pieces simulataneously, which makes it difficult to read either piece.

I'm not a big fan of the www.threatswatch.org main page. I do however like the "InBrief" page layout.

Just my opinion.

It was tough for my eye to follow. Being familiar with "Dawn Patrol" helped but for a newbie, I can see that it might be overwhelming. I think the lack of flow was the main culprit. In the current "Dawn Patrol" there is flow - top to bottom. But with 4 columns, flow can be tough to find.

I do like the side-by-side between the blogs and the MSM stories. That gives a good picture of the dochotomy between the two.

Would it be possible to do some kind of a "Table of Contents" at the top that would link to each section below? Not sure if that would work with the 4 column setup. I do think, if you keep the 4 columns, the 2 side columns need to be smaller than the 2 main ones - that would help.

Regardless, it will be one of my first stops in the AM! I'm loving the idea!

- hfs

I'd have to agree with the comments by both Soldier's Dad and Homefront6. Mudville's pretty good the way it is. Thanks for all the work you put into it, I don't know how you do it.

FM

Way too busy. I like the comparison of real news to the MSM news, but the reports should be side-by-side like with table rows. I know, the MSM column will have lots of holes in it, but maybe you could do something with "Soldier's Dad" 's idea of using the headline comparisons. I guess you will still end up with holes on the MSM side, but maybe you could fill the blanks with comments, like "no story" or whatever. Anyway, good luck and make sure you don't neglect Mudville Gazette!

I don't know if I think it's too busy, but I will bow to those who do. Three columns does seem to be the agreed upon standard.

On the other hand, I really like the color scheme at the beta site. The current one is just darker than I'm comfortable with.

I really liked the layout.... I didn't find it to be too many columns... and I really like the color scheme, too.

A bit hard on the eyes. Inspired by PJ Media, or something else recent? It *does* present more headlines per screen's worth, but it's kind of tiring to roam over it all. Maybe just two central columns... or maybe take both the left and right sidebars and put them on one half of the page, and the columns on the other half. Alternatively, bolder borders to separate the sections, or contrasting coloured backgrounds (i.e. gray behind the articles, OD behind the sidebars), would make it easier to differentiate the sections. Also, black on white with little graphics = boring. Finally, that title graphic? Not going to argue with your title, obviously there are good reasons to use it, but that world map projection... ew. IMHO, of course.

I do applaud the apparent pending expansion of the Mudville Gazette into a multi-page super-site. That's where you're going, right?

I like the newspaper look of it. Hey it the Gazette. Its supposed to look like a newspaper. :)

It's a good site. I like your Dawn Patrols, but they distract from your blog site. This new site is good, especially the way you place blogs in one column and MSM in the adjacent column. I'll add it to my daily reads if you decide to keep it permanent.

I like the columnar format, and would suggest using a slightly different background/color for the 'wing' columns, to set them off from the center two columns.

Matching off the blog articles from the MSM is very cool!