The new Navigation Bar (at t'top): the "official" thread

[HelenMumsnet]

Hello. There are ruddy millions quite a few threads in Site Stuff at the mo about changes/glitches/weirdy stuff related to the release of our new Navigation Bar (the big blue bar at the top of the page that helps you find all the various bits of Mumsnet).

So, for clarity's (and sanity's) sake, we're starting this thread to keep everything in one place - and have just one thread where you tell us what's not working for you and where we update you on what we've fixed/are fixing etc etc.

Right then...

A couple of quick answers/updates for you right now:

• The PM Inbox flag/blog/"you've got a PM" icon is now back. Apols for having inadvertently made it disappear.

• The jumpiness/flickiness of the Nav Bar in general: we're working on sorting this now - and hope to have a fix released by tomorrow.

• MyMumsnet: this will reappear on the Nav Bar at some point in the next three days or so. In the meantime, you can find MyMumsnet here.

• Keep me logged in. We're looking into this - and will update you soon.

Any more Qs/probs/moans/peans of praise (hopeful), do please post them here.

I certainly took me some of us a long bit of time to come to terms with new mumsnet! But I think most of us have embraced a lot of the changes. Bookmarks, colouring posts, pages etc are great.

I think this just needs some tweaking. I for one tend to ignore a lot of what there is on MN, information bits were kind of hidden away and lost but the drop downs line up the talk and the information links side by side. That's good and I am more likely to click on links other than talk ones with them presented in that way. I think it gives a quicker and more easily accessible overview of the content available on MN.

But the menus are too big. Even on my quite large screened laptop unless the blue bar is right at the top of the page then the bottom bits of the drop downs are lost as they don't fit on the screen and of course it being a drop down you can't scroll down to see it as it vanishes. Annoying. The threads I'm on complaint I made earlier is I feel more than just a personal annoyance. I come onto the homepage because I like to see the homepage and the inofrmation that is on there. I know that jsut bookmarking talk would solve the problem but then I wouldn't see the homepage. And if everyone goes straight to talk rather than the homepage to overcome annoyances caused by the new layout then there will be a whole load of people who don't ever see the stuff you put on there, the campaign links, the information etc.

oh, the constructive criticism is great, Babyheave. It is the why-do-you-have-to-change-things whinging that I find a bit much.

Of course they want to know when something doesn't work

And I have switched to laptop without mouse, and now see what you all mean - it is easier to set off the drop down box

Those nav bar menus are really really annoying. They are FAR too big (lots of what drops down is white space, only required because of the frankly silly pictures) and they drop down when you move your mouse up to the top of the screen and drive me crazy. It's not a site-leaving issue, but it is really really irritating. Could you make them smaller so they don't obscure half the screen and take most of the white space and all the pictures away?

It's annoying swivelly shit and I'd be happier without it.

I miss the message box being middle top - it was obvious when had a message and now I have to move sidewards to see the icon - tho that may be an iPhone thing

I still have my threads reading from the bottom upwards - seemed wrong otherwise. The good thing about the change to 'new' was that you got a thread out very quickly telling us dinosaurs how to make it look 'old' if that's what we wanted.

What's happened with the log in - I seem to be on automatic on both machines I use rather than one needing a log in (which is what I want).

What browsers do you use for testing?

Argh... it just keeps crashing my phone browser constantly! (dolphin)

OK, this is the issue for me (Chrome). When I click on threads I'm watching at the top, the nav bar then loads in the exact same space where my mouse pointer is sitting, triggering a vast white space with a few words and some stupid pictures on it. Yes, it goes away quickly but it is v annoying.

Can i just say I love spaghetti dog.
As for the changes, well a change is as good as a rest for a blind bat.
Or something.

I like the fact that it's clear, but I agree about the drop down boxes being too big - very a bit annoying that you can't see the whole thing.

What really bugs me, though, is that the smileys on the latest iPhone app are different to the ones on the site, and therefore if you put one in on the app it often doesn't make sense on the full site, and vice versa. Oh, and the fact that £ signs come out as £ which is REALLY irritating!! Please do something about these, MNHQ! (I miss the green smiley - comes out as a heart on the app, which is kind of the opposite...)

Oh but I like spaghetti dog :)

maryz, I remember that! The massive whitespace bits - eek!

I am GLAD that the envelope+redblob is back. It made me feel comforted again.

However. I don't like the flipping drop downs and I hope that when the desensitisation has occurred, they won't keep happening when I scroll down a page (I use keyboard arrows for speed and ease and if the cursor is in the wrong place then BANG! out comes some hideous picture).

Now having whinged about the drop downs themselves, I'm going to whinge about the content - surely you could have managed to get Living Overseas into one of them, hmm? I know we're only a small proportion of your reader/postership but we don't really like being marginalised, and you were kind enough to make sure that it re-appeared in the top few lists of Homes and Gardens, so what about putting it in the Life and Style section above? Please?

Still lobbying for "Keep me logged in" to be unchecked as a default.

I knw this won't affect the many of you who stay logged in as you only have to check it once and the process is over.

For those of us who like to log out, it's a massive PITA. My reason is teenagers but like Maryz says there are a lot of vulnerable posters on here, who could be accidentally outed if they forget to uncheck the box EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY LOG IN.

Ah, Mardy - thank you for pointing this out - I've been wondering about why I was always logged in.

Morning all.

Quick update for you on what we've been able to release as a fix this morning (in addition to the stuff we fixed yesterday).

• The Nav Bar should, now, in general, be less "flicky"

• The Find Your Local Mumsnet link should now automatically take you to "your" MN Local, if you've already chosen one.

We know there's still a bit more to fix. We'll keep updating you as soon as we have any more news on that front.

Helen, I just noticed that there is something blocking the 't' in Mumsnet and the 'T' in Talk on the talk home page. There appears to be a hidden link on top of it for offers? The two 'Ts' look bitten!

Thanks HQ, the navbar is much better (I'm using Chrome).

@Tee2072

Helen, I just noticed that there is something blocking the 't' in Mumsnet and the 'T' in Talk on the talk home page. There appears to be a hidden link on top of it for offers? The two 'Ts' look bitten!

Ooh, criminy - that's not good. What browser are you viewing with, Tee?

I'm using Chrome, Helen.

And it's not just the homepage. It's all of the Talk pages.

mine's stll a bit trigger happy in firefox.

@Tee2072

I'm using Chrome, Helen.

And it's not just the homepage. It's all of the Talk pages.

OK. We can't replicate that in Chrome.

Is anyone else using Chrome and seeing the same as Tee?