I've been using the redesigned site off and on since the beta was opened. At first I was pretty excited about it, since it looked bold, and the old site was feeling a bit dated. And indeed, there are a few design elements I like, for instance creating a sense of 'above the fold' versus 'below the fold' for high-impact pieces and the various departments, respectively. Moreover, I think it's also useful for each department to have its own section on the main page so I can find the last 4 or so stories in it at a glance.

However, I, like the other letter writers here, am finding the redesign difficult to use. Besides the often mentioned 'visual clutter,' there are two points that I think significantly reduce usability. The first is there is no obvious chronological order. There doesn't seem to be any way to tell which stories are new and which are a few days old. In fact, days old stories seem to pop up on the top section randomly, or shift positions in irregular intervals. I think this is the biggest problem with the new site...forcing readers to sift through days or week old content to find the new stuff. My second dislike is the fact that I have to click twice from the front page to read all of a given piece. Let's say I click on the title of Andrew Leonard's newest post. That takes me to a sub-page that has the first few paragraphs of his most recent stories. From there, to finish reading the rest of the story whose title I've already clicked, I have to click the 'Continue Reading' link and figure out where I stopped reading. Didn't I already indicate I wanted to read the story? Not clever, not at all.

So, I don't know if there is just a code that has to be broken to understand the new design, or if maybe previous readers are right in it being partly to mask an obvious drop in new content. But I do know that it's not nearly as usable as the previous design.

Ah, I see the reason for forcing us to click twice from the main page to read an article. Even paid-up premium subscribers get the added benefit of Google news links, and click-through revenue. I also see that AP stories will get shuffled up onto the top center section of the main page--this time it's a list of the top earning college presidents. If Google and items directly from the AP are going to get equal billing with Salon's original content, what's the point of Salon?

The mobile site is looking increasingly good. There are no AP news feeds there, but in truth those are available just about anywhere.

Seems like you're on your way to becoming 'Salon, the (un)lovable loser.'

There's no longer a direct link to the current comic from the front page, but at least I can click on Salon Personals! Plus, whatever Java/Flash goodies you have going on, they don't work with Safari. Indeed, where is Godman when you need him.