(From guest blogger Staci D. Kramer): The law of unintended consequences hit MSNBC.com with a vengeance when Saddam Hussein was captured just as the Microsoft/NBC joint venture launched a total redesign complete with new publishing system. The relaunch started in the low-traffic Friday evening slot, in theory giving the staff the weekend to work out as many kinks as possible before workplace traffic kicked in Monday morning.
Instead, MSNBC.com users wound up at a stripped-down front-page as site producers responded to intense demand by shutting down server-intense features. That included the enhanced hover news menus (now more detailed and dynamically updated) and the personalization features like stocks and local weather. “We are running a completely different site than we were Friday at 6 p.m. Eastern,” explains Michael Silberman, deputy editor/East Coast, MSNBC.com. “Had we not just switched to a brand-new system we would have handled it without a hiccup. There are things you�re just not going to uncover until it�s live.” The most rigorous testing can’t fully mimic live conditions. Silberman describes the Microsoft� .NET Framework as far more flexible, responsive and better technology than the previous system. He said some of the missing features should be turned on again as early as Wednesday. One change that might slip by most visitors is the new URL, msnbc.msn.com, implemented to fit in better with Microsoft portal MSN.
Site changes include a more modern font, new text layouts sans the middle-of-the-story breaks MSNBC.com relied on in the old design and a more prominent role for NBC News shows like Today and the Nightly News. Says Silberman: “Certainly we think it�s a site that shows the depth and breath of MSNBC far more than the older site did. It’s still that distinctive, highly produced MSNBC style but gives us more flexibility than before. We�re out of the box we were in.”
Worth noting: The MSNBC Wireless Traveler edition co-branded with Intel’s Centrino but usable with other wireless-enabled laptops. After the application is downloaded and installed, users can click on the Wireless Traveler icon to sync with the site. The result is an intact HTML site with multimedia and interactive elements all available offline.
P.SI’m able to see MSNBC.com with Netscape 7.1 and Opera.
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