Where's Eugene? The Independent Website Redesign is a Disaster

IolarCoisCuain · July 02, 2007, 01:46:43 PM

One of the few consolations I have on a Monday is reading Eugene McGee on Gaelic Football in the Independent. Eugene has his little biases, of course, but he shoots straight from the hip and his heart is generally in the right place.

But now, because the Indo has spent big bobs on a redesign of their site, I can't find him in there at all! They have a big banner on the right hand side of their sports page advertising his column, but that links to last week's article, which is no good. There's a link to Eugene from the front page under the title of "columnists," but that page leads with the great man's thoughts on Wicklow v Louth, which is quite some time ago now: http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/eugene-mcgee/

The fact the Indo have him listed as a columnist means they're aware he's an asset - how hard can it be to link directly to his new copy, and correctly archive the old?

The Independent has gone right down the toilet since Vinnie Doyle left as editor, and the Sunday Independent has been a pestilence for over a decade, but that's an argument for another day. Right now, all I want is to read Eugene McGee on a Monday. Is that too much to ask?

Billys Boots · July 02, 2007, 03:05:48 PM

You could pop in to Lyon's on Ballymahon St. in Longford early in the evenings - though I believe he doesn't say much when he's having his pint.

flairgun · July 02, 2007, 03:49:47 PM

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/munster-sparring-partners-have-more-in-the-tank-892797.html

There ya go, ya big moaner.
I like the indos new website, I think it's much easier to find everything.
If that link was pointing at an older article before, that's down to their content management, not necessarily their site design.

IolarCoisCuain · July 02, 2007, 04:19:42 PM

Thanks for the tip-off flairgun.

Quote from: flairgun on July 02, 2007, 03:49:47 PM
If that link was pointing at an older article before, that's down to their content management, not necessarily their site design.

Hard not to think of the captain of the Titanic going down with the ship roaring "nothing wrong here boys, it's that fecking iceberg!"

But better late than never. Isn't Eugene gone awful grumpy when he uses "nice" as a pejorative?

flairgun · July 02, 2007, 04:49:14 PM

Quote from: IolarCoisCuain on July 02, 2007, 04:19:42 PM
Hard not to think of the captain of the Titanic going down with the ship roaring "nothing wrong here boys, it's that fecking iceberg!"

I'd say it's more like an ould one upgrading from a Micra to a Lexus and still only using it for her weekly run down to Tescos.

Denn Forever · July 02, 2007, 05:05:28 PM

But if she has a lexus, maybe she could do the shopping for all her neighbours!.

Has there ever been a collection of the Eugene McGee articles ever been done? He talkk a lot of sense and it is a pity that he is not a pundit on RTE for the Sunday Game. Contentious but not as smug as Joe Brolly.

Tony Baloney · July 02, 2007, 05:18:02 PM

Seen Brolly at the Antrim v Clare match in Casement on Saturday. He must have been lost...

ONeill · July 02, 2007, 06:04:33 PM

Quote from: Tony Baloney on July 02, 2007, 05:18:02 PM
Seen Brolly at the Antrim v Clare match in Casement on Saturday. He must have been lost...

Brolly has a special interest in the Saffron hurlers...

Bogball XV · July 02, 2007, 08:06:52 PM

Quote from: flairgun on July 02, 2007, 03:49:47 PM
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/munster-sparring-partners-have-more-in-the-tank-892797.html

There ya go, ya big moaner.
I like the indos new website, I think it's much easier to find everything.
If that link was pointing at an older article before, that's down to their content management, not necessarily their site design.

Seriously?? I think it's a terrible website now - before it was extremely simple, and you could effectively read the paper without having to give O'Reilly a penny, now there are a few stories from the day's paper there, but by and large there are only the older stories.
BTW, anyone know where the archive section is?
Maybe I'm just getting too old and can't cope with change anymore!!

flairgun · July 02, 2007, 10:55:19 PM

Quote from: Bogball XV on July 02, 2007, 08:06:52 PM
Seriously?? I think it's a terrible website now - before it was extremely simple, and you could effectively read the paper without having to give O'Reilly a penny, now there are a few stories from the day's paper there, but by and large there are only the older stories.
BTW, anyone know where the archive section is?
Maybe I'm just getting too old and can't cope with change anymore!!

If you click on the "Today's Paper" link while on the "News" tab in the menu doesn't that take you to all the stories from that day's paper?
Granted, I'm living abroad so I can't compare what's on the site to what's in the hardcopy, but it seems like there's plenty of content there.
There's also an option then for "Previous Issue" to show the previous day's stories.

As for the Archive, if the "Previous Issue" option above doesn't give you what you need, you can click on "Advanced Search" on the top right and use that to find what you're looking for. It doesn't seem to have an option to go back to a specific day's paper anymore though, which it did have before, right?

I can't believe I'm actually defending D'Indo...