Oh yeah…
March 1, 2007 on 12:14 pm | In New Features, Updates by Josh Jones | 202 Comments
Have you checked out https://panel.dreamhost.com/ in oh, say, the last five minutes?!
After more than six years of the current panel, we thought it was maybe time for a little update..
Really, all that’s changed is:
1. it’s got a hawt new “web 2.0″ look.
2. we’ve css-ified everything.
3. we’ve added a TINY bit of Ajax.
Functionality-wise for you, the Happy DreamHost Customer, not all that much has really changed.
YET!
But, getting all our various panels standardized and modernized was a huge first step in being able to make lots more little improvements across our panel.
More features? Faster load times? More AJAX?
…who knows!
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE NOW!
And it’s all thanks to Brett!
P.S. Feel free to post comments/critiques/bugs in the comments here, or over at this thread in our forum!
202 Responses to “Oh yeah…”
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March 1st, 2007 at 12:17 pm
The new panel looks great! I just noticed it a couple of minutes ago. Nice work!
March 1st, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Ajax is Satan in disguise. Use it unobtrusivley.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I was thinking ohh damn dreamhost!!!! I can’t create that damn subersión repository, they are probably having a timeout.
and then…. WOW, The big surprise!!!!
You have done a great job.
PD:Listen to Simon please, my last ajax project made things really messy.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Whoo hoo Brett!!! :) It does look fantastic guys — thanks for the great new look!! I am loving all the updating and changes — and, btw, the downtime is not that big a deal — you more than make it up to us in wonderful service!!!!
Scarlett(Becca)
http://www.disorderlywitches.net
March 1st, 2007 at 12:29 pm
Very nice! Great change, thank you very much.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I was wondering why the panel was down, then a couple minutes later I got a wonderfull supprise!
I especially like the new overview of domains.
Well done Brett.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:33 pm
You’re kidding, right? You’ve got major problems with email, web access, and who knows what else; you’ve got dozens of servers affected. You’ve got hundreds of customers without email (I’ve been down since 6pm last night), and you’re working cosmetic changes to the panel??? And you’re proudly blogging about it like it’s the best thing to happen since sliced bread?
Do you even know what’s going on in your business?
Lame….
March 1st, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I LOVE IT! My only critique would be to tighten up the “leading” on the domain listing under Domains > Manage Domains (or get everything on one line for each domain). I haven’t thoroughly checked out the whole control panel but I can say I LOVE IT! Oh, I already said that.
Great work. I’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time. I now feel complete. thanks
March 1st, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Why does the panel say I’m in pending status? Why is this important right now. Email and sites are down all over the place. Not a great time to be patting yourselves on the back, even though the panel may be better (although it appears to be a cosmetic change primarily)…
Timing is everything…
March 1st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Why are you wasting your time on the panel when you should be getting a replacement for the neon sign?
March 1st, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Whoa! That’s so pretty.
And I really liked the last one, too. But this one is even better.
Thank you, Brett and DH!
March 1st, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Guys, I have to say, that the updated look for the control panel is very slick. Ever since I made the move to Dream Host, you guys never cease to amaze me.
Congrats on a job well done, and thanks again for your excellent service. I really appreciate it, and I know that a few pals of mine I persuaded to switch love you guys too.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Cool, the new panel looks great!!
Thanks
March 1st, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Great new look
its refreshing !!
March 1st, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Great work! It looks great and is much more pleasant to use.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Nice surprise, I was working in the Panel and the next time I clicked, it suddenly rendered completely different.
Looks a LOT better than the previous one, thank you!
March 1st, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Love it! Great job, guys.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Oh my god, you managed to the (not really good) old webpanel into a fucking gay shitty stupid unusable THING. It’s not about looks, it’s about USABILITY. And you totally failed on that.
Half the page is wasted for shiny bullshit. Read up on good layout. Stupid icons I have to hover the mouse over to find out what they might do.
Freaking morons, can’t you use your time for something good and useful?
March 1st, 2007 at 1:32 pm
thats cool! B)
March 1st, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I’ve gotta say I agree with Hannes. You’ve got buttons that I push on a near daily basis positioned 3px away from “destroy this forever” buttons that I never want to push.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:35 pm
[...] The Official DreamHost Weblog has just been updated with more about the new design. [...]
March 1st, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Good job. It’s about time you updated the panel. Now, if you could only add more features to make the hosting better! But you’re probably already doing that.
I had a feeling the db maintenance next week was going to bring something more.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I absolutely love the changes. I did think that the panel was too slow, not on my laptop, but on my schools computers, which is funny because my school has bought all new stuff (it’s an Ivy, so it likes to do that).
But, I love everything that I’ve seen so far.
*Of to check it out more.*
March 1st, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Awesome :)
Great work guys, the old panel really looked like hell but did what it had to do. Now it looks awesome!
It will be a bit getting used to again but that isn’t bad. I only hope that usability hasn’t gone down.
For the people complaining about outages and dreamhost focussing on the wrong things;
Working on such things is always completely seperate from the runtime problems dreamhost is having (and will always have because of its size). Please go complain somewhere else.
March 1st, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Regarding the new DreamHost control panel:
Me likey.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Absolutely love it !!!
March 1st, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Koen-
The co-founder of the company, Josh Jones, has (or should have) oversite on both the “pretty” and “runtime” aspects of his company.
My guess is he wasn’t aware of the piss poor service his technical support has been giving to the hundreds of customers who have had intermittent email problems for the past 2 weeks or so. If he did know, he wouldn’t have been proudly announcing upgrades as inconsequential as this, and would instead have been putting his boot in the ass of his technical support folks. It’s an image thing. His livelihood depends on keeping the customers at DH. Read the comments on the status site: many of us are planning on leaving as soon as we get access to our emails back.
Honestly, what put me over the top was this panel upgrade crap…until this announcement, I was ready to give the benefit of the doubt to DH. But I see where their priorities are: style over substance. Am I wrong, Josh? You have my email, convince me.
And Koen, just because you’re not affected doesn’t mean our complaints are invalid.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:09 pm
[...] than write up a whole post about how I like their new Control Panel, I’ll point you to Dreamhost’s announcement on their blog and to the Unofficial DreamHost Blog, who I tipped [...]
March 1st, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Some quick thoughts after spending some time in the new panel:
1. I LOVE that the panel’s response time has improved greatly. I hope that sticks around since load time was my #1 complaint with the old panel.
2. BIGGEST COMPLAINT – The main font size is incredibly small. I’d bump it up at least 1 or 2 font sizes (nothing below 11 px – I’m seeing lots of 10 and even 9). This just slows me down a lot and I find myself leaning in towards my monitor more.
3. I have to agree with the button comments. They are way too close together (delete button is right below other funtions) and icons look pretty, but take up space).
4. The navigation is very cool. It’s nice to get an immediate drop down versus having to wait for more pages to load when clicking on categories.
5. The “Success” and “Error” tables and messages are very nice. Great job on making those more clear.
Anyway, again, the load time is the most important to me. Thanks for improving that.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:43 pm
We’ll miss ya , Mike! But this blog will always be here for you to use to vent your frustrations. Rock On!
March 1st, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Great work! This is something I’ve been wanting. My only request is to add a feature to add cron jobs.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Nice. very nice.
Was just on my panel a couple of hours ago to check my billing info. Came back just now to see this.
I still thing MySQL shouldn’t be in Goodies. Should have it’s own tab like Mail does.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Hi Guys,
glad you modernised the site but some of the type is too small for me
had to command+ to read some of it and then command minus when I go to versiontracker, etc.
is it just me ?
good service though thanks.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Please be aware that the development of the new panel in no way interfered with the work we are doing on our service stability (that is indeed our top priority right now but it’s not nearly as interesting for a blog or newsletter and we do give out information on that as often as we can). As far as kicking the tech support staff around fortuantely we don’t believe in treating our employees in that manner which results in support staff who have been working with you for years (much better than a constant stream of noobs). Remember, our support staff is often stuck between a rock and a hard place having to act as the gobetween with our customerbase and the administration team so please be kind to them even when frustrated!
March 1st, 2007 at 3:19 pm
What a lovely surprise this morning when I logged in to manage our mail accounts! Thanks for all your hardwork. I recommend dreamhost to anyone who asks about hosting.
Keep it up!
March 1st, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Some comments here…
1. This new web panel is primarily a visual refresh (so far) and has been under active development for more than 6 months now. A lot of the work is underneath to make it easier to maintain and update from now on. It had been planned to be unveiled right around now for at least the last few weeks.
2. You don’t want Brett trying to fix any server issues.
3. You don’t want our server fixers trying to redesign the web panel.
4. You don’t want Josh trying to do either of those things! 8-)
March 1st, 2007 at 3:47 pm
One thing I would point out is that the one-click upgrades I did just… yesterday? Are now showing as not done in the panel. The sites themselves are upgraded, but the panel seems to have ‘forgotten’.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Nice job guys, much better than the old one.
March 1st, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Nice look. One thing i did like better about the old site was how compact the “Manage Domains” was. Now, with the links (DNS, Visit, etc) below the domain name, it takes up twice the real estate.
…and nice flv converter.
March 1st, 2007 at 4:01 pm
[...] właśnie zmienił swój panel sterowania. Trochę bardziej Web 2.0 się zrobiło: linki do najczęściej używanych opcji w panelu w [...]
March 1st, 2007 at 4:07 pm
What’s up with the wee, itty-bitty, teeny-weeny, tee-niny, puny, infinitesimal, microscopic, dwarfish, minute, nearly illegible font sizes? What your programmers are still working at VGA resolutions?
March 1st, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I’m at DreamHost since only 8 month or so and guess what :
I’m positively very impressed with your perfect service !
A happy DreamHost customer !
March 1st, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Wow! you made it all the way to post 7 before getting slammed for not keeping your important stuff working. you know, like websites and EMAIL. My email has probably worked for 10 hours out of the past two days. Sheesh.
The new panel is shiney and it loads a bit faster.. but still not fast enough.
March 1st, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Media Temple has a much better control panel, and better hosting too. Dreamhost should get it’s head out of it’s ass, this cp isn’t all that great, and it looks like the company has better things to worry about rather than the look of it’s control panel.
good effort though, I’m sure it’s a whole lot better than what you guys had before.
March 1st, 2007 at 4:25 pm
I think this looks nice, but the navigation doesn’t work at all if JavaScript is turned off. Please at least provide a message to non-JavaScript users that the control panel will not work, and that they should enable JS.
March 1st, 2007 at 4:40 pm
It was a pleasant surprise logging into my control panel this morning! It’s more readable but requires a small learning curve. The only thing I don’t like is the lack of contrast on certain elements making hard to differentiate where one begins and the other ends.
March 1st, 2007 at 5:03 pm
i like it, but layout is broken for me. i have a high-res 17″ display and a minimum font size of 18, so left menu bar needs to auto size to the content. specifying dimensions in pixels is really unreliable on any even slightly non-standard system.
March 1st, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Yeah I noticed the new panel when I logged in, thought everything had not loaded up so I came here and wahlo! Very nice :D.
March 1st, 2007 at 5:27 pm
THE NEW PANEL LOOKS HORRIBLE.
It also gets an “F” in usability.
Just because it looks “nice” in your graphic designer’s mind, doesn’t mean it is useful for the rest of us.
Complete lack on contrast makes it very hard to use. Even worse if you are tired. Lots of “light grey” vs. white sections – I can’t tell the difference.
Tiny text I can’t read.
I have to keep clicking all the time to find stuff. Don’t “collapse sections”, just give me a long page I can easily scroll through and quickly scan as I am doing so.
Cutesy little icons that aren’t obvious what they do – when simple text like would work much better.
The new deisgn has itty-bitty input boxes which you have to scroll around in. Have you ever read any of the literature on usability?
Ughh… you guys had such a great “panel”. why did you have to wreck it?
One of Dreamhost’s major strengths is (well…was) it’s panel.
Please give us back our old panel.
If you want to make this “new look” optional – fine. But please don’t kill the usability of your panel for the rest of us.
March 1st, 2007 at 5:49 pm
[...] yet DreamHost has changed their web panel template to a much brighter, web 2.0 friendly style. The design makes use of some simple Ajax, which I’m starting to get sick of because I already see it a [...]
March 1st, 2007 at 5:57 pm
famfamfam icons! >_
March 1st, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Im not convinced by the tag-cloud, I’d prefer a grid of icons like cpanel etc
But overall some good improvements
March 1st, 2007 at 6:37 pm
typo in “bandwidth” in bandwidth usage page
March 1st, 2007 at 7:00 pm
Who’s that pretty control panel in the mirror there?
(What mirror? Where?)
Who could that attractive control panel be?
Such a pretty panel, such a pretty icon, such a pretty dream(host)!
Good job, guys. I… I love you.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:12 pm
New DH web panel looks very clean, neat and better than previous one. I like it. Left menu is also great. :)
March 1st, 2007 at 7:36 pm
[...] to sign up for DreamHost, you can do it with me and get a full 200 GB of storage right off the bat.read more | digg story [...]
March 1st, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I got a div class error on the goodies/one click installs page so from that alone I’d suggest that it might have needed a bit more testing prior to deployment.
March 1st, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Yeah
Good job
I like a new panel with new design
March 1st, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Wow… I was surprised at first. I was searching in my tabs again to be sure it was the panel. Great Work! Bravo!!
March 1st, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Hey looks good, have you considered supporting multiple “skins” of coloring and display preferences?
March 1st, 2007 at 9:00 pm
[...] 官方Blog的描述如下： 1. it’s got a hawt new “web 2.0″ look. 2. we’ve css-ified everything. 3. [...]
March 1st, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Golly, people do hate change, don’t they?
To the folks complaining about font size: How on earth are you building websites (which I’m assuming you’re doing if you have a DH account) without knowing that you can increase the font size ON YOUR END? Holy crap. Try holding CTRL and rolling the scroll button on your mouse (for you Windows users) or look at the view or page menu on your browser (look for text size). You can set the font as big as your blind eyes need. (For the record, I’m on a piddly little 15″ monitor and I’ve got worse eyes than most of you I’d bet – and I don’t have an issue. I think you just couldn’t find anything else to whine about.)
As far as all the other complaints – change happens, get over it. Seriously. There are no usability issues here. It’s actually a bit more usable (and easier to navigate, IMHO) than the old one.
I personally think it’s a great move, and DH, you have my applause.
Oh yeah, and for all the folks hardcore bitching about tech support here… hmm. I find it really hard to believe that you’re getting substandard support. I’ve had a couple of problems (some my fault, some DH’s) in the last week, and I’ve gotten a quick, friendly, helpful response every single time.
Of all the hosts I’ve used (and I’ve used a few) – DH has the best support I’ve dealt with. Of course, I’m a reasonable human being. I’d venture most of you aren’t.
Um… I wondered. Back to my point – bravo DH. I dig it. :)
March 1st, 2007 at 9:29 pm
I think it very, very nicely!!!!! /jad
March 1st, 2007 at 9:30 pm
…and I remember DH1! /jad
March 1st, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Hey Mel
Regarding your comments on font size – Making the correct observation that there are multiple ways for the user to enlarge fonts (and then go back to normal when reading any other site) makes about as much sense as making all the images extreamly dark and then expecting users to lighten their monitors so they come across ok.
Just because a user can jump through a few steps to solve an issue doesn’t mean the issue is irrelevant.
I would also encourage everyone to post constructive feedback to the Dreamhost team that obviously worked for months on this. It’s a positive step, and I believe they will listen to their customers if we present ourselves in a friendly, non moronic way (i.e. lots of swearing, ranting and raving – totally not necessary).
Finally Mel, people are going to have some opinions. The fact that you don’t agree with me makes the world that much more interesting. How boring if everyone thought just like you. :) Take care!
March 1st, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Holy mutha! That’s beautiful!!
March 1st, 2007 at 10:39 pm
looks great!
March 1st, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Kevin –
Actually, I think the world would be a much better place if everyone thought like me. Certainly people would no longer be bitching about tech support. But of course, that’s just my opinion. ;)
Seriously though, no, me pointing out you can change the font size really is not anything like making all the images dark and saying you can make your monitor brighter, but if you want to believe that, you’re free to.
Most people who look at the panel are going to have an opinion on the font size chosen, whether they voice it or not, and some people will like it where it is (like me) and some people will not. Some people, like me, wouldn’t like it if it was bigger, because things would be pushed around the page and it would be clunkier – as it stands everything is quick and easy to find. (And like I said, even with bad vision and a tiny monitor, I don’t have a problem with the smaller text.)
The thing is — YOU have the power! You can set it to whatever you want. In fact, the CSS uses em for font specs, rather than px sizes, which makes it easy to change.
Obviously, you’re free to complain to DH. You can complain to them about anything you want to if you so feel the need. But I just think complaining about something you have the power to adjust on your own is silly, and I pointed that out. It’s not like I’m talking about something crazy, like editing your registry or changing your Firefox config files. It’s CTRL, roll. Seriously.
I’ll concede that there are some places that could be probably improved on the panel (like I personally think the webmail screen is just a tad crowded and hard to follow, but not impossibly so, and it’s still better than the old panel) — but most of the posts here that are critical (yours is actually an exception overall, and I really wasn’t directing my comment to you, even though you did complain about font size) are nasty and rude or melodramatic, not constructive. Feedback is one thing, but comments like “THE NEW PANEL LOOKS HORRIBLE.” don’t really help anyone. (Not to mention this is the same person who said he wants “a long page” he can scroll through… ugh. That’s like my worst nightmare.)
I think the sheer fact that the majority of the comments here are laudatory speaks volumes.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Mark James, creator of the silk icon set used throughout the panel’s UI, shares his creative work under a “Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License”:
“All I ask is that you include a link back to this page in your credits (although a giant link on every page of your website really isn’t needed, contact me to discuss specifics).” (http://www.famfamfam.com/lab/icons/silk/)
I have not yet found any links back to http://www.famfamfam.com anywhere throughout the panel interface.
Wouldn’t it be nice to respect an artist’s requirements when using his work?
March 1st, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Having been the guy responsible for all of PowWeb’s design up until last year, when they were sold, I understand the kind of pressure and grief one can get for making changes, even if the changes are overall improvements.
I think the panel has definitely improved, BUT, I think there are some very key ways in which it can improve.
Take this advice with whatever size salt grains you’d like, and while I doubt they’ll all get included, maybe they’ll help you guys out.
1. Usability.
You guys have some serious usability issues that have been mentioned above. Heed them.
Overall, I find this version much more usable, but I think there are some placement issues that should be addressed.
Also, the panel is unusable without javascript. Why not use browser selectors (http://rafael.adm.br/css_browser_selector/) to hide the menus if there is javascript enabled, and shown otherwise?
2. Web 2.0-ness
Okay, I hate to be the guy that pisses on anyones parade, but a tag cloud for the sake of having something web20 is ridiculous.
That front area would have been much better spent on a few short columns of actually popular quicklinks, rather than an unreadable jumble.
3. Icons
Guys, seriously, you’re not an open source company. You’re a successful, profitable hosting company, and yet you’re using one of the most ubiquitous icon sets around? Fork over the extra couple hundred bucks (a few days of Bretts time) and get some decent commercial icons.
4. Unobtrusive javascript
Live it, learn it, love it.
Other than that, great job. And trust me, I am incredibly anal, and very picky about design/UI.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Thought for a few moments that I’d logged into the wrong site when I hit the panel, but I do like the new version. Like a couple others, I remember the original panel too, heh… it’s come a long, long way.
I do agree that the icons could be a bit better spaced out, but on the other hand, folks ought to be paying attention to what they’re clicking in the control panel regardless. A menu expansion system utilizing non-javascript might be a good idea as well… but javascript really ought to be enabled on the control panel by users, considering the usage of the site.
There are some good points made, but people also need to stop and consider that the interface was written for a specific application, one that assumes at least a little leeway on the part of the user.
I’m just as quick to disable javascript – and everything else – as the next user, but some sites, especially modern ones using convenience features do demand it. More to the point, some sites, such as admin panels, outright deserve it. If you don’t trust it enough to enable javascript, then why are you using it in the first place?
@Mr. Cavanaugh – DreamHost may not BE an open source company, but they are, and always have been, very solid supporters of open source. Why waste money that could be better used else where when there is something openly available that does the job?
March 1st, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Awesome!
March 1st, 2007 at 11:59 pm
New interfae looks nice.
Keep up the good work.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:26 am
OMG I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVEEEEE ITT!!!!!
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:00 am
[...] ayer se puede comprobar y nos lo anuncian en el blog oficial de DreamHost: han rediseñado el panel de control. La funcionalidad sigue siendo [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:19 am
Fantastic! I’m truly impressed. It was a nice surprise, I suddenly thought I had connected to the wrong URL and went “oh no, I lost contact with DreamHost, what is going on?!”
This is simply an outstanding work! You should license your control panel to 3rd parties and start competing with Plesk :-D
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:44 am
The new look is cool! I was considering changing my host, but now as it’s so pretty, I won’t!! ;)
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:04 am
Feel terrible pointing out such a teeny weeny bug, but I know I’d rather know than not. Anyway,
“Upgrade or remove previously installed software:
div class=”error”->Please click a link below!”
The opening of the div is missing. Dashes added by me in the hope they stay as text. This was produced when I was upgrading a One Click install at:
https://panel.dreamhost.com/index.cgi?tree=goodies
.installer¤t_step=Index&next_step=Upgrade&b
url=http://www.xxx.co.uk?tree=goodies.installer&
actual address replced with xxx.
Hope this helps.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:21 am
I love it!
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:44 am
Very sexy new design. Good work guys.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:58 am
I’m glad to see this new design, and I think it looks great, but…
I use a small laptop at a high resolution, so I do increase font sizes often on various sites. While many of the pages are doing it gracefully, it breaks on others.
For example, if the table cells were allowed to wrap on https://panel.dreamhost.com/index.cgi?tree=domain.manage& I wouldn’t have to scroll sideways to see the whole summary.
I think its a great step in the right direction, but there are definitely some kinks to be worked out.
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:33 am
AMAZING
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:35 am
The new panel is truly awesome. Blew me away when I logged in yesterday. Very, very refreshing. Good work guys.
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:58 am
I actually clapped and wooted when I saw the panel for the first time. Frikkin alright, brothers.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:32 am
Works for me. DH seem quite good at taking complaints as feedback. Best thing is they do listen and stuff continues to evolve over time. Not sure why folks seem to demand perfection out of the box. If everything were to spec for the most compulsive perfectionists, we’d never get to see the box in the first place. Rock on DH – thanks for the update. I look forward to the inevitable tweaks, improvements, and new features.
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:53 am
Couple of comments, and I hope you don’t take it the wrong way.
Firstly, I hope you did some usability tests instead of running with some guy(s)’ idea of what a “good looking site” should be.
Shiny as it is, its NOT any more usable than the old site.
-1 points for changing the look without making it any easier to navigate.
When I first log in, I get this crazy page with a tag cloud. Really? A tag cloud? Why would a control panel need one? If its just because you can do it, then that’s a bad idea. Show me a good idea. Maybe it’ll be useful.
-0.5 points for something that is nifty but has no real use.
One of my biggest issues/annoyances: The “My Status” module. WHY would you use ajax for it? It was so handy to have it in the sidebar, and now its taking up even more space and looks ugly. It also doesn’t give any more useful information than the old site did.
-2 points because you used ajax just ‘cuz. The sidebar is horrible. (Did you know that the sidebar also COVERS other elements for NO reason??? How can you have “shortcuts” only to have it covered by the “status” in a new version, when the old version really allowed access to both JUST FINE.
The left menu or whatever only remembers where you currently are. Why? I dont want to have to click the title for every single menu item just to see the ones underneath every time. Make the toggle remember it. It worked in the old version, why mess with it now?
-0.5 for breaking the already-working left menu.
So you changed to css + “web 2.0″. Web 2.0 is overrated. Design matters. Content matters. Ajax doesn’t. At least it doesn’t if you use it in places where it serves no purpose.
At least it moved away from the old flat boring look to this new shiny look. Kudos to you, and since its all css now, hopefully making changes will be easier.
+1 points for having the guts to make this transition.
But if you’re going to do a code revamp, at least do it well.
I get 73 warnings for the html. Is it too hard to ask for standards compliant code?
–
Overall, nice job with the revamp. Too bad its not any more usable, and you didn’t seem to run any studies on usability of the new layout (which should really be the FIRST reason to do a site revamp, NOT just to “be shinier and use ajax”).
Result: -3 points out of 5.
P.S. I recommend you read up on some usability books:
Web Redesign 2.0 – http://www.web-redesign.com/
Prioritizing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen , Hoa Loranger
Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen
And many more …
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:32 am
@Aquaricat :
“Why waste money that could be better used else where when there is something openly available that does the job?”
The same could be said for the entire redesign effort of the panel.
Why have Brett around at all, if all we’re going for is what gets the job done.
If they were looking to use open source icons, there are many more out there, that would have done the job.
The reason why I think they should have purchased some is because while I think the famfamfam icons are wonderful (I’ve used them many times, even in paid projects), I believe a corporate brand and identity deserves some level of uniqueness.
I’m pretty sure Brett, if given the options, would much rather have used icons from a place like SimpleBits (http://www.simplebits.com/shop/) or TurboMilk (http://turbomilk.com/).
But I am sure that someone in the chain repeated your same words above, and hopefully it wasn’t anyone in Marketing.
I’m not so shallow a designer to think that every site on the web should be the most glossy, flossed out, gangsterific site on the net, BUT I do believe that any job worth doing is worth doing well.
And that means taking the pain to find a semantic element to wrap that line in, and spend the time tweaking the padding for ultimate legibility.
It means finding the perfect icon for the job.
It means burning the midnight oil to make something perfect, not because you have to, but because you love doing it.
Anyways, enough tom-snobbery from me.
Again, I do like the new panel. It’s already saving me precious eyesight, so again, many kudos to Brett and the rest of the folks who may have helped (though usually, in these situations, it’s one guy who does the work, and the “people who helped” are the ones who just tore apart the other guys work ;) )
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:36 am
Congratulations! The web panel looks good.
Could you now please fix our +7 day website problem?
Thanks!
Tim&Lin
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:47 am
DOES ANYONE ELSE FIND THE NEW PANEL EXTREMELY DISTRACTING. IT’S TOO CLUTTERED. BRING BACK THE OLD INTERFACE!!!!!!!!
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:53 am
I liked the old panel better. It was easier to navigate and less pastel (the pastels are actually harder for me to differentiate what different things are than the older bolder colors). I’ll get used to it, but I still miss the old panel.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:11 am
“DOES ANYONE ELSE FIND THE NEW PANEL EXTREMELY DISTRACTING. IT’S TOO CLUTTERED. BRING BACK THE OLD INTERFACE!!!!!!!!”
I completely agree. While I do like the pleasing look, the data is much harder to see. Your links aren’t nearly as “set off” as they were originally.
For example, look at the Manage Domain screen when you have at least 5 domains and average 2-3 sub-domains. It’s aboslutely a massive pain in the toosh to see my domains independent of all the links all over the place.
In the original type, I was able to at least easily see all my domains in a simple glance.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:29 am
not nearly enough contrast on the menu. no real sense of separation makes everything blend together…
but that’s just 5 minutes of playing with it.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:39 am
Good work…
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 am
subversion doesn’t say beta anymore — does that mean it’s no longer beta, or simply that it doesn’t say beta?
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:17 am
So, where’s the easy way to quickly view a little % bar of how much disk space and bandwidth you’ve got (and used)? It used to be under the menu options on the old admin panel.
I also agree that there’s no enough contrast between the menu, subheadings and content – but now it’s all CSSed up that shouldn’t be too tough to sort ;)
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:45 am
Wow … Awesome. Love it !!
March 2nd, 2007 at 10:59 am
Thanks, all, for your feedback! We are listening, and while we can’t guarantee that all of your requests and concerns will be addressed we can say that this isn’t the end-all and be-all of the panel. Brett is tweaking things as we speak, and if nothing else the new panel gives us a much better (in our opinion) foundation to build upon.
Anyhow, keep it coming!
- Jeff @ DreamHost
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:00 am
The new panel is not easier to use, which seems to me would be the point of redesigning it.
Go to Goodies->MySQL and click on one of the user names in the middle column. This takes you to a screen with a column (list) of databases down the left side, and a column of red X’s down the right, both column’s seperated by a huge white area.
I have to take a ruler out and put it up to the screen to see which red X refers to which database name. Not good.
Also, the icons seem to be the main way to click to do something. Can’t you just make the text next to the icon clickable as well? (e.g Delete DB, Modify DB…)
These layout issues should be fixed please.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:06 am
In one word: BRAVO !!!!!
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 am
Great work, and all standards compliant too :)
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:26 am
It’s amazing, I would of thought that it would be impossible to make your CP worse than it is, but I congratulate you in making it so.
Please for the love of god give us Cpanel or similar!!
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 am
Pretty, but please lose some of the chrome and return some functions. It does a much worse job than the old version at remembering where you were, even during the same visit, and generally I find myself doing the same things multiple visits in a row.
Also, please make up your mind, are we supposed to click the pretty little “wtf does that mean” icons, or click text next to an icon. An example: Mail/Manage Email – All of my addresses have some kind of a bomb next to a red x. Oh, wait, that’s a wrench? Regardless, I’m supposed to click on the icon to do things. I can deal with it, it’s lame and web2.0tastic, but doable. So then, near the top of the page, there’s a plus sign in a little green circle next to the words “Create a new email address”. The icon has no effect, the words are a link. This is obviously not consistent, and is just a minor example of a general observation on this site, which is that each little piece seems to have been web2.0ized on it’s own, in a context-free way, with little thought to usability. Why can’t I just click on the name of something and have it edit?
Also the site seems barely usable in keyboard-only mode; yes, it tabs through the ghastly little icons, but without in any visible highlighting of the icons (at least in the latest Firefox on Windows). Having to summon enough motor control to click tiny icons isn’t really very accessibility-friendly.
B for effort, C- for implementation, and F for not having the sense to hold off releasing until you have less angry users about hopefully transient technical problems. But releasing things without a plan or much testing has always been a Dreamhost trademark.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Wow, what a huge change… Yes, it’s prettier – kudos on updating the look and feel. However, this design has lost a lot of the visual hierarchy that made using the previous version so easy. I feel as though you’ve smoothed too many edges; everything blurs into everything else. I had no problems knowing what was ‘important’ in the last iteration. Here, nothing stands out. I think a few changes (fewer pastels and soft gradients, for instance) could really go a long way to making the page easily navigated.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Dreamhost estrena panel de control…
Dreamhost estrenó un nuevo panel de control para sus cuentas, con unos colores muy cálidos y como dicen ellos un estilo mas “web 2.0”, además hacen un uso mas intenso de las hojas de estilo y de AJAX. Vean una……
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:07 pm
when will there be a way to easily install awstats? that would definitely make dreamhost the best host I can think of…
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Can someone tell me where i go to find all my directories;they seem to have disappeared.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:12 pm
This new panel is awesome!
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:24 pm
NEW INTERFACE (CSS) DESIGN COMPETITION !!!
Since it appears that the new interface design is entirely CSS based, why not hold a competition for a new Panel interface design.
Offer as the prize something like a free hosting AND upgrade the account to something higher for a year.
Note:
This isn’t to say that I dislike the new interface. I just personally believe that a few of the colors need to be changed to make things “look” more structured (add contrast). What I’m saying is, the design is good – though a different color palette might make a huge difference for the better.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
I second the idea for a DH Panel Re-Design Competition.
FWIW, simply adding “text-decoration: none” to links (anchor tags) in the stylesheet will make things much easier to read.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:39 pm
finally i hated the previous panel … really hated it it sucked this one is good …… quite decent and does not look like a control panel to a 60’s porn site ! grr
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Excellent work on the facelift!
I’m sure its only the beginning for many other improvements. However, I’d like to comment on the font size: it’s too small. Low-contrast design looks great, but I think the various areas in the panel should be somehow differentiated more. Like something high-contrast. The web2.0-ish look demands highlighting the critical components of the interface. Maybe contrasting buttons for main operations and so…
…or maybe I just have to adapt myself to the new look.
Anyway, congratulations you happy dreamhost team!
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:00 pm
>> “NEW INTERFACE (CSS) DESIGN COMPETITION !!!”
Idea for prize: Free dedicated hosting for 1 year to the winner of the competition.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I have a slight issue in that it doesn’t work properly in Safari ( I use a Mac ) which means I have to use Firefox to get it working properly :(
Other than that it looks cool, but I haven’t really tested out to see if it still works as it should ;)
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
[...] ensinando como fazer um design web 2.0, são um tremendo sucesso no digg. Hoje mesmo a dreamhost lançou a nova interface do seu Painel de administração comemorando o fato de que ela tem um visual web [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:40 pm
The new panel looks really nice! All the people who say it sucks are STUPID MORONS!
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I like how it looks.
But i host over 120 websites on my dreamhost account, and the domain list is … less better than the one before.
I suggested some time ago (months ago) that domains should have a + / – button, so you can show or hide the subdomain list (so you can manage your domains more easily).
It’s basic javascript, it’s not taking more than 15 minutes to write.
Great job anyway …
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
that’s gonna take some getting used to after lo these many years, glad the nav stayed the same, the newsletter scared me to death. Basically same stuff but uh,updated style I guess.
I’ve been wondering for a few years now what it would take to get some semantic markup and css into that beast of a panel, I certainly applaud the massive effort it must have been to do this job, well done.
I second most of the useability issues of font size, contrast, icons and their placement.
Congratulations on a rather large milestone, may it ease your future burdens.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:24 pm
it looks very nice, but is quite unusable… Could you maybe use alternating row background colours for some of the lists (domains)? Or use a menu that actually tells you where you are right now? (highlight, bold etc…)
Otherwise I like it;-)
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Can the “Get Help” button in the top right open up a new window please?
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:44 pm
[...] | Oh yeah… @ DreamHost [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Improvements to the panel are certainly welcome; however, please carefully consider that it is a tool to be *used*, rather than demonstrated. Fashionable graphics, which may serve some purpose in marketing pages, are not useful here. Please design for utility first; form should be a natural expression of the tool’s utility, not a template for which function must be modified to fit.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Thanks for reduction in browser compatability. I use IE7, no problems before, but I can’t view my invoices now.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Seriously, I am very impressed and happy even giddy with the new control panel. Just wanted to send out some love to whoever worked on it. (Brett is the man, I’m told) Tell them (Brett) for that project alone, I’ll stick with you guys for as long as you want to host peoples poo (and as long as the new control panel is there) Sure feels nicely.
Man Alive Jackson Five, I’m happy with the control panel. It’s weird how all the functionality could be there before, but it takes a new GUI to make me gush.
Nice job.
m.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:38 pm
Wow, the icons for actions suck. At least put 4-5 pixels of spacing between them.
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:41 pm
[...] Yesterday as some of you would know DreamHost unveiled their new control panel, and made a post in their blog. I also posted about this before seeing their post, and did my normal bookmarking routine of [...]
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:05 pm
nice guys, great job!
March 2nd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Al- IE7 invoices are fixed.
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Wow! really looks great! i love it!
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:31 pm
looks great. unless your legally blind and color blind like me. then its a nightmare.
dont get me wrong, im not complaining. but a little more consideration on the size of the fonts and the colors would be nice. (have any idea how many free resources there are on the internet for webmasters to help them make sure there stuff is “accessible” ? a lot! )
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
looks great. unless your legally blind and color blind like me. then its a nightmare.
dont get me wrong, im not complaining. but a little more consideration on the size of the fonts and the colors would be nice. (have any idea how many free resources there are on the internet for webmasters to help them make sure there stuff is “accessible” ? a lot! )
allso, i just tryd to sumbit this comment.. your image verification CANT BE SEEN!! red on black is INVISIBLE to color blind folks, so i actually have to have some one come over here and read the dang code for me. not good!
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
I agree with the many comments about the font size being too small. I am a web designer myself and understand about trying to utilize space, but with higher resolution monitors becoming the norm, you simply have to have a larger font size to make your panel more readable. Have mercy… please! Test the readability on different screen resolutions… then imagine your over 40 and may have to wear reading glasses. I think the font size/color that you use on this blog, for example would be a great improvement if used in the new panel.
The other major problem with the panel has been extremely slow response times. If this is part of a larger effort on your part to clean up the underlining code in preparation for future improvements which would speed up response time, I think this is a noble goal.
Regarding tech support, I hope you will consider offering phone support, or the online messaging support you experimented with. This would be a vast improvement over the email support you currently have. Thanks.
March 2nd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
What about adding back the bandwidth and diskspace status bar at the navigation? So we can look at it whenever we are at the panel, just like the old time?
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:49 am
FIX THE BUTTONS! They are too close to one another and too tiny! Lots of people have written that already, so listen to them! And if you don’t listen to them listen to ME!
TINY FONTS! Please make them BIGGER!
…and yes, it looks much more beautiful than before. But it had such a great usability before!
I love dreamhost for it’s service and it’s functionality. So please get your technical problems (downtime!) fixed, because I’d hate to move to another host.
March 3rd, 2007 at 5:32 am
Welll…. the screenshot looks lush, but for some mystical reason I cannot see it… ANNOYING!
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:38 am
I love making changes to my webs, mail and plug-ins BUT the panel is not where I need to be slowed down.
The load times from screen to screen click to click Damm I could eat lunch and come back. and then do my changes.
I’m on a 3gig cable on a 3.2 xp pc and it’s slow loading
Keep it simple would be the rule here, the panel is a tool not a shop @ home site.
March 3rd, 2007 at 11:12 am
I have a high-res laptop display and don’t have any problem with the font sizes. It works for me!
March 3rd, 2007 at 11:13 am
I have a high-res laptop display and don’t have any problem with the font sizes. Load time seems fine too. It works for me.
Maybe you’ve aleady incorporated some of the recommendations.
March 3rd, 2007 at 11:35 am
I’m not overly impressed with the new panel but I don’t hate it. I wasn’t too thrilled for it to change in the middle of a OneClickInstall upgrade and give me the error message that other people have reported, a false error that prevents you from opening any other panel page unless you close your browser down and then go back in. I’d check to see if it was fixed but the panel loads like it’s swimming in molasses.
March 3rd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Err….any more purely cosmetic changes in the works, Josh?
And to reiterate…Ajax, even if well done, makes things more complicated…not to mention insecure.
March 3rd, 2007 at 3:06 pm
It seems unfair that we can create a promo code that can give up to 3 lifetime IP addresses for $30 each (off the promo profit), yet if we (an existing customer) wanted one it costs us over $47 per year!
Why can’t existing customers now buy lifetime IP addresses for $30 each?
March 3rd, 2007 at 6:00 pm
I really really hate the new look. It’s great that it’s more standard-compliant, but we really need themes to get rid of the bubbly look because it really bothers me. The new look makes it feel like I’m staring into a spotlight =-/
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Your newsletter said “Smaller Font Sizes plus Less Contrast!” in conjunction with web 2.0.
You might want to take a look again. Many web 2.0 sites use larger fonts, less text, and make things feel less crowded. I don’t know where your ‘less contrast’ comes from either.
Other than that, keep up the good work.
March 4th, 2007 at 12:37 am
Do you have any idea how happy I am right now. Thank you.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:27 am
Yeah I just checked it out, it is down.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:48 am
is down!!!!
March 4th, 2007 at 2:53 am
It’s 3am, and the panel is down again for database maintenance! Bah! I really wanted to add that A name record for my domain…
This is the last straw!
j/k
March 4th, 2007 at 4:37 am
So we got a shiny new look for the panel, can’t say that I’m terribly impressed. Seems mostly to use web2.0 bling for the hell of it instead of improving usability.
Please consider that the panel is a tool not a PR campaign site. Usability should come first.
Also you seriously need to do something about panel performance. The current state is embarressing like a previous poster so aptly put it: “the panel loads like it’s swimming in molasses”.
March 4th, 2007 at 8:14 am
well, that’s a great news. but again, site’s down today.
March 4th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Please make it optional, I just need twice the time than with the previous panel to do the simplest work.
Seriously guys… if it’s not broken, DON’T TOUCH IT! ;)
March 4th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
I LOVE the new panel!
March 5th, 2007 at 4:54 am
[...] este post no blog oficial da DreamHost, acaba de ser inaugurado o novo painel de controle do servidor, aps 6 [...]
March 5th, 2007 at 7:44 am
I think the new panel is great. Don’t let these bozos talk you guys into changing anything. I think it’s perfect as-is and I’D be mad if you changed anything!
March 5th, 2007 at 8:08 am
I thought you said standards compliant? Over 200 errors on XHTML validation?
March 5th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Really sweet layout – I love the ajax, and I actually quite like the word cloud, I think it looks very web 2.
March 5th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
People complaining about font size… your browser can increase that for you. I like this size and would change it if I had a problem!
I personally love the new look, and even find the tag cloud useful (sometimes).
The link back to famfamfam is there, click on the copyright at the bottom right, comes up with a box.
It doesnt need to validate, as long as it works cross browser, which I believe it does, then everything is honkydory.
Great job Brett! :D
March 5th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Too bad it is still slow as hell :(
March 5th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
[...] sobre as mudanas no layout de um site e dentre as novidades anunciadas, estava l: Aparncia Web 2.0. Realmente – pensei com meus botes [...]
March 5th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Most cool. Or not. I have no opinion about the look of things. To each his/her own. I like text buttons rather than icon buttons, but as long as they work.
Tiny fonts are not new to me here at work…where I use IE5 for Mac OS 8! Oh yeah, that’s DH’s fault, so I probably should swear at them or at folks who swear by folks who don’t swear at folks. LOL!
The javascript stuff may be an issue. Just saw a comment above about Safari having trouble with the new panel. Hmmm… So did my bank, but it got fixed. I wonder how religious DH designers are about standards. Dunno. I never believed in standards. Oh, wait…. W3C standards? I thought those were called recommendations. Hey, how about them new gizmoz for quiznos? Toasty!
Cool stuff DH. And btw – Dallas – your post tells it all man. Keep it real folks!
March 6th, 2007 at 2:45 am
“fix this for me..” …”fix that for me”…
quit crying – the world doesn’t revolve around you.
March 6th, 2007 at 6:53 am
This looks good, but I can’t get it to come up at all. My webmail’s down, too. Are the two related, somehow?
Also, because the panel’s down, I can’t submit a support ticket to have the panel & webmail looked at.
March 6th, 2007 at 8:22 am
[...] quería borrar la del foro que instalé hace tiempo y debido a la falta de costumbre con el nuevo diseño del panel de Dreamhost, borré la base de datos [...]
March 6th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Just to reiterate, for those of you who have suggested improvements to the panel (both nice and… not so nice): It is being tweaked, and will continue to be tweaked.
We thrive on customer feedback, so keep it coming!
- Jeff @ DreamHost
March 6th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
The new control panel is great. One of the biggest issues I read everywhere about DreamHost was about the control panel (even if I think it’s great) and I hope now people like it more.
March 6th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
I could not log in now! WHY?
March 6th, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Not currently working for me either :P
March 7th, 2007 at 2:30 am
The Panel is down, even checekd SiteUptime.com.
Many times I can’t access this Panel especially from Beijing.
Now I’m in Manila, still can’t access this.
But your home page is up!
What’s wrong, please fix asap!
March 7th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Well, I like it. Good job,. guys.
March 8th, 2007 at 8:58 am
Change for the sake of change in software is a real work creator. I’ve noticed a few things I can’t find anymore. Is the object of all this to make me tired? Its working.
March 8th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
The colors are nice, but hopefully the usability is there. I’ve not dug too deep yet…
March 8th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Clicking on the account status link, the copyright notice, or the close link on the copyright box jumps to the top of the page. I think you need a few “return false”’s in there somewhere.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:50 am
It’s not good. Here’s why:
It’s a control panel where you manage all of your important hosting and/or domains, email etc. It should simple and straight forward to eliminate any confusion and work effectively. In my opinion this is not it. The structure may be better than the old panel, but the new design is horrible.
There are too many unnecessary design elements added just to make things look “cool”, like the menu. First of all, too much stuff; Then why do I get information about the sections after I clicked the link? That means I have to click all sections to read the little breif about them, which is unlogical.
As mentioned too many font sizes. Yeah sure I can increase these quite quickly in my browser, but that’s not the point. If this GUI was made by someone who understood good user interface, we wouldn’t have them in the first place (show me a professionally developed interface with these many sizes, please, as an example). It also get’s tedious to push the sizes up/down as you navigate the panel.
I don’t understand the cloud either. Since when did my domain managment become a social event? A few bookmarks/links to most used sections would be more logical?
I don’t claim to be an expert in GUI design, but this fails on a few key issues. It’s this and the the all screaming newsletter which is a complete pain to decypher for useful information. I wouldn’t mind any of this if I had the option to choose something more simple and straight forward.
March 9th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Should you really be working on Panel interface updates when your customers can’t
1. access the panel
2. check their email
March 9th, 2007 at 10:08 am
I also vote for a panel REDESIGN COMPETITION.
Since the panel appears to be styled entirely using CSS, let’s turn this into a competition.
Reason for redesign of current (new) design:
1. Not enough contrast
2. Fonts too small
3. Overall distracting interface
4. Simply design
5. Remove unnecessary elements (e.g. the cloud)
The prize could be something like free web hosting for life or something.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:29 am
DREAMHOST JUST RIPPED ME OF $140
JUST BECAUSE I DOWNGARDED FROM L3 TO L1 AND THEY WANT ME TO PAY AGAIN
EMAILS ARE BELOW:
1 – ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM DREAMHOST
2 – MY NORMAL NO PROBLEM REACTION
3 – DREAMHOST FUCKS UP AND WANT MONEY AGAIN
4 – I FUCK OFF DREAMHOST AND dh STEALS $140 FROM ME
PLEASE READ IT ALL
1 – ORIGINAL EMAIL FROM DREAMHOST:
This is just a notice that your DreamHost Account #263847
(”Nick’s Account”) has a balance of $190.80 (including any charges not
due until 2007-04-06), with $190.80 due (since 2007-03-06).
If you would like to CLOSE your account with DreamHost, just visit:
https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=billing.accounts
Log in if you need to, then click the “close this account” link. If you close
your account you won’t be charged $190.80 on 2007-04-06… please stay!
| NOTE: Any account with any charges 60 days past due is considered
| delinquent and will have service discontinued until payment is made,
| so it is very important for you to make your payment as soon as you
| can. In order to help prevent a service outage, we will send you
| periodic reminders until payment is made.
WHAT DO YOU OWE MONEY FOR?
We have the last payment on this account to be $99.99 on 2007-01-06 03:19:09.
Since then the following charges have been made to the account:
2007-02-11 – $190.80 for “My Code Monster SALE!” through 2009-02-10.
For full information on your previous balance please visit your account
invoice, which you may view from the web panel, here:
https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=billing.invoice
TO MAKE PAYMENT VIA CREDIT CARD OR PAYPAL
Pay your bill securely and instantly online at this url:
https://panel.dreamhost.com/?tree=billing.payment
TO MAKE PAYMENT VIA CHECK OR MONEY ORDER
Please make checks or money orders out to “DreamHost” and send to:
DreamHost
Attn: Payments
PMB #257
417 Associated Rd.
Brea, CA 92821
USA
Be sure to write your account number (”263847″) on your check.
| NOTE: Please remember that all balances and transactions at DreamHost
| are in US dollars ($USD). As this is the case, all payments must also
| be made in US dollars.
IF THIS BILL IS IN ERROR OR YOU NEED MORE TIME TO PAY
Please just contact us (by replying to this email) and we will be more
than happy to work with you to resolve whatever the problem may be.
Thank you for choosing DreamHost!
Sincerely,
The Happy DreamHost Billing Team
http://www.dreamhost.com/
FAX: +1-714-990-2600
2 – MY NORMAL NO PROBLEM REACTION
Hi,
I signup for L3 server on Jan. 6 2007
I change it/downgraded to L1 in
February 2007
Now I get an invoice for the new
downgraded L1 of $190.80
I paid for the L3 server $239…
It had the promo code 9999 ($99.99
discount) so I paid about $140….
I persume the promocode would still be
valid with the downgrade, so 239 – 190
leaves about $49 that I would have left
over for the 2 years L1 server.
Please look into this, Regards, Nick
3 – DREAMHOST FUCKS UP AND WANT MONEY AGAIN
Hello Nick,
Unfortunately the promotional code is only valid for the hosting plan you
signed up for originally. When you had downgraded your hosting plan, you
actually are signing up for a new plan. Once you have paid for the new
hosting plan, the system will credit the unused amount to your account.
If you are within the 97 day money back guarantee, then the system will
automatically process the refund.
Thanks!
4 – I FUCK OFF DREAMHOST AND dh STEALS $140 FROM ME
Well I paid with Paypal so NO refund will be issued.
So I can just close the account and DreamHost take $139.+ which I paid for the initail L3 account, ON 6 JANUARY 2007
SO I REPEAT I PAID $140 ON 6 JANUARY 2007 BY PAYPAL AND GET NOTHING FOR IT.
SO DREAMHOST IS A STEALING COMPANY.
DOWNGARD form L3 to L1 AND PAY THE FULL PRICE AGAIN ???????
NO REGARDS AND I WOULD LIKE THAT THE MANAGEMENT NO RESPONDS,
SINEC I GET NOTHING FOR THE MONEY I PAID
I think his name is Josh
THIS WILL GO SO ON THE INTERNET.
LOOK AT THE PAST WHEN I GOT BACK FROM HOLIDAY MY ACCOUNT WAS NEVER OPENED AND THE CLOSED.
STEALING BASTERD THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE.
KEEP THE FUCKING $140,00 (THAT IS 239 – 99.99 PROMO CODE)
AND I WILL DIS-PROMOTE DREAMHOST AS MUCH AS I CAN.
Look at http://www.dreamhost.com the open forum part
ASSHOLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I will LOVE the open forum,
NO regards, Nick
March 9th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Love the new panel! Hated the old one! And I’m over 50 and wear glasses. What shocks me is the number of people who have the time to write in and whine about what they don’t like about it in an unconstructive fashion. I am not referring to the previous pissed-off poster talking about the hosting plan. No comment there. All I can say is that I have had nothing but a great experience with DreamHost, including quick responses to problems (which have been rare), help from forum users and more. I am recommending it to everyone. As for the problems with email being down, etc., there is obviously NO GOOD TIME to do upgrades, etc. and we all need to take a look around us and see how much time we spend online and getting frantic when something is “down”… I’ll tell you what I do, as someone who works way too much: I have fun with my kids, go iceskating, drink wine with friends, read a good book. Life does not END when the Internet stops for even a few days and there is something wrong with US when we start to believe that our lives depend on it, even if our bank account does. My 4.5 cents. But then I’m old, right?
March 10th, 2007 at 2:14 am
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March 10th, 2007 at 4:34 am
Nick – I’d suggest you take a chill pill … seriously :-)
March 10th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Why my posts are being tagged as spam in every post I try to make in the blogs? I bet if they were compliments (to the *ahem* pretty – NOT! – new panel look, for example), they would be published. But I can’t make any compliment right now, someone really pulled the plug badly this time.
March 10th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Marcos,
Well, *every* post you try to make didn’t get “tagged as spam” – that last one slipped through! ;-)
Er, maybe the super-trick-Dreamhost-ninja-comment-parser identifies your comments as pointless, uninteresting, or just absent redeeming value? Nah, that can’t be it because your last post “passed” muster. You are upset. We can tell. Generating a support ticket will get you a lot further than posting a public whine as a comment on a blog.
March 11th, 2007 at 6:16 am
[...] now we can forget the old, dull, boring interface. read more… Posted on Mar 11th, [...]
March 12th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Great, except I CAN’T LOG IN WITH FIREFOX. *sigh* Sometimes Firefox screws up with cache/cookies but NONE of the usual helped. I still can’t log in. And I can’t upgrade IE because I need it on this computer for testing. So I guess for now I am stuck using IE6x which doesn’t like all of the new stuff for getting into the panel.
Fsck!!!!
March 12th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Lynne-
Close all DreamHost pages that you may have open in tabs.
Delete your cookies.
Exit and restart Firefox.
Try logging in again.
That should fix it.
March 12th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Alight,
Consider this:
PRO’s
* Half-way decent GUI for the panel — finally.
* Relatively cheap service (people, hosting is also cheap in a lot of other more reputable places, you know).
* Relatively loose chroot restrictions on shared boxen.
CON’s
* Asinine, unprofessional front page (and you want Fortune 500 or 1000 biz to switch to you?).
* Random, unexplained downtime/slowness.
* No load balancing.
* No burstable bandwidth.
* No redundancy — except for snapshot backups.
* No server resource guarantees (because of crazy overselling, of course).
* Lack of solid network infrastructure/fail-over design (I’m sure if Josh sneezes too hard some servers would be affected).
* Don’t own the data centers.
Not that I’m keeping count. :/
March 13th, 2007 at 6:44 am
It’s alright. I mean – yes it looks better. But I finally knew where to find everything.
Not a fan of the keyword cloud menu thing on the first page in the control panel. Then again, this is a control panel and I don’t spent an awful lot of time in there.
Would be nice to have a bit cleaner/quicker overview of bandwith/diskspace like before on the bottom left though.
March 13th, 2007 at 6:52 am
webnicklove: Tbh they sound extremely polite and completely justified in their actions. The promotion code was for a different plan, if everybody would sign up for a big plan with a huge promo code, then downgrade they would either pay very little, nothing or even GET money for hosting.
There is no scamming, no secret plotting and no evil in their decision – they are a hosting business and it sounds like you were after free hosting. To be honest, you sound like the one trying to pull a fast one…
Thumbs up DreamHost.
March 13th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Toord -
> * Asinine, unprofessional front page (and you want Fortune
> 500 or 1000 biz to switch to you?).
Just curious – what led you to believe that we are actively courting Fortune 500 businesses?
The fact is, no, we don’t expect them to switch to us. That’s a completely different market than what we cater to. In our experience, Fortune 500 companies typically don’t host their sites on $9.95/month “Crazy Domain Insane” plans. They just don’t.
The handful of clients we have who do fit that description are on dedicated hardware, pay a lot more for their service than you do and are mostly people who were happy with their shared hosting service and happened to be in a position of influence in a big company and got to choose the host.
Maybe if we put some stock photos of suit-and-tie people on the main page (posing in front of a rack of hardware they are completely unfamiliar with, naturally) and completely ditched the whole “be ‘open’, even in the face of criticism” experiment we’ve been trying with this weblog, we would lure over a few more of the Fortune 500 folks… But that’s not what our market is, or who we’re actively courting.
A lot of the things you list seem to be based on the belief that we should be something completely different than what we are or claim to be. To that end, it’s not a surprise that you’re unhappy.
- Jeff @ DreamHost
March 13th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Dreamhost
SO encouraged to see some new updates in the panel. I just found them while adding some things.
The font size has increased, which in my opinion does WONDERS to the overall usability.
I’m loving the table highlight, which helps solve the whole “which line am I on?” issue.
The link to the Wiki Support opens a new window. Since I go there all the time, this helps me not have to back track to where I was at in the panel.
I’m sure there are other features, but I appreciate you listening to everyone here and I hope they thank you as much as they beat you over the head!
Thanks again.
March 14th, 2007 at 1:44 am
I really enjoyed this posting. There were many intresting points that were brought up, and they were explained with such clarity. Keep up the good work.
March 14th, 2007 at 2:07 am
The new panel looks great! I just noticed it a couple of minutes ago. Nice work!
March 14th, 2007 at 3:07 am
FLV converter is my website, It provides all popular FLV converters including FLV encoder, decoder and player. all your comments are welcomed.
March 14th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Dreamhost: If you’re not going to turn off the comments, at least disable URLs. If you look up the WHOIS info for a lot of the people that post here and on the status site, you’d find out that the comments section is becoming a spam directory.
For example, the three scumbags that just posted before me. That’s all non-Dreamhost spam. Dirtbag #189 even managed to get two different links into his.
I get that you want to be open, but what’s open about fake comments from spammers that aren’t customers?
At least flag all posts with URLs (in the text, or listed as “website”) for moderation. These guys are seeing their manually entered spam show up instantly and surely bookmarking this as a directory for when they want to promote more trash.
March 16th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I don’t care that there are nearly 200 comments on here and it’s not likely my comment will ever be read. I love the new panel. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
–customer since 2001
March 16th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Jeff @ DH,
Other small-time hosting companies (one of them is from LA as well) do have Fortune 500 clients, and they also do cater to the micro-biz, mom-n-pop shops. They offer very competitive pricing and uptime guarantees…It’s not that your seeming unprofessional facade will not get you big-shot clients, but it will not bring small-timers either–seriously! I almost lost one of my customers when they found out their site and data was hosted on DH. I’m gonna have to bite the bullet and move them to another hosting company with a more biz-oriented fare. If you guys really love your home page as is, I believe you should create a more formal-looking one for biz customers. Seeing a mug shot of shhhit-faced Josh will most certainly not woo any biz customer (regardless of size).
March 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Wouldn’t a skin chooser be in order? :)
March 21st, 2007 at 10:41 am
@T00rd : Josh actually drinks only very rarely. He’s just goofy.
Also, we appreciate your comments, but we like our website how it is and it’s working well for us.
March 24th, 2007 at 9:22 am
the panel is shit man…. i host 32 domains with dream but only less than half are showing up for me to manage, says i only have one user when i have loads, says i dont use dreamhost for my mail service, when i use it for all my domains\mail, says i dont have any domains registered through dreamhosts but have loads!!!
cant control any of my databases!!!
the transfer from the old panel to the new one was obviousley messed up!! but where does that leave us business customers?
have put through support requests, but i bet they will take days.. how many epople do they actually have doing support? and any at the weekend?
even though the old panel was not great at least it worked for most tasks..
March 28th, 2007 at 11:04 am
Please Dreamhost, hire a decent designer and get a few hours consulting time from a usability expert. While the old panel design wasn’t pretty at least it was usable. The redesign is so confusing and poorly designed that it’s making me think of switching to a new host.
I don’t know how anybody with multiple domains, emails, dbs, and users is able to use the new control panel.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:12 am
the panel is shit man…. i host 32 domains with dream but only less than half are showing up for me to manage, says i only have one user when i have loads, says i dont use dreamhost for my mail service, when i use it for all my domains\mail, says i dont have any domains registered through dreamhosts but have loads!!!
cant control any of my databases!!!
Also, we appreciate your comments, but we like our website how it is and it’s working well for us.
alun Says:
June 19th, 2007 at 7:46 am
I don’t care that there are nearly 200 comments on here and it’s not likely my comment will ever be read. I love the new panel. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
–customer since 2001
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:49 am
[...] yet Dreamhost has changed their web panel template to a much brighter, web 2.0 friendly style. The design makes use of some simple Ajax, which I’m starting to get sick of because I already see it a [...]
August 5th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
I much care about how many unique ip addresses can be hosted in one account. If unlimited, mail me.
September 17th, 2008 at 5:18 am
[...] You can comment it here: Oh yeah…. [...]