The New Playbill.com

[Taryn]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 10:20am

Their much overdue website redesign launched today.  I, for one, think it's looking pretty sleek!  Definitely an improvement.  I've just glanced over things, though.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:26pm

The non-moving Playbill banner irritates me, it's too big. When you scroll down the page, it should move off the screen. I hate that it's static.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:28pm

Does anyone know where the job boards disappeared to? I can't find them anywhere. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:30pm

Aaaaand PlaybillVault just switched over and is BORKED.

 

Example: http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/4178/The-Secret-Garden

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:31pm

I think the new font is ugly/messy and the Vault was perfect just the way it was. Now it is a mess. Welp.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:35pm

don't care for the redesigned Vault. Agreed that it was fine the way it was.

[Taryn]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:52pm

Fosse76 said: "The non-moving Playbill banner irritates me, it's too big. When you scroll down the page, it should move off the screen. I hate that it's static.

The banner does shrink for me when you scroll down.  Maybe it's a browser issue going on.

[toofunktastic2]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 2:57pm

I'm not really fond of the changes to the vault (at least from what I can see since currently nothing's loaded), and that's what I've primarily used on Playbill.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:01pm

It is like going into a store you haven't been to in awhile only to find everything has been moved around. Newer is not always better. 

[Patash]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:02pm

I went to it to look at seating charts, but didn't know the theatre for the shows I wanted.  On the old site they listed the current show next to the theatre.  Now they don't, so had to leave and go look up the theatres and come back to site. 

It all seems way too large in font and covering the screen.  Like it's designed for elementary school students.

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:05pm

I think I understand the concept of what they were going for, with the fresher look and the contemporary trend of long, scrolly pages (and a font that isn't Tahoma/Verdana/whatever they used to use). But I think they dropped the ball on understanding what users actually go to Playbill.com for—news and information, not for edgy, fun stuff. The redesign of the Vault is what I most condemn because I thought the old Vault was actually gorgeous.

 

#BringBackTheOldPlaybill

[tazber]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:10pm

It's so busy and crowded.

 

And that news box in the corner is annoying as hell.

 

I don't like it.

 

It will have to grow on me. It's not we have a choice, right?

[lunch]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:10pm

Nice improvement.

But a few glitches out of the gate.  Earlier today this article: http://www.playbill.com/article/watch-renee-elise-goldsberry-discuss-hamilton-grammy-performance

consistently referred to Goldsberry as playing, "Eliza Schuyler."

[tazber]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:18pm

I will say that once you get off of the home page it's much better.

 

I like the way the news stories are presented under the NEWS tab.

 

Clyde, there is a JOBS tab under the PLAYBILL masthead.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:19pm

lunch said: "Nice improvement.

 

But a few glitches out of the gate.  Earlier today this article: http://www.playbill.com/article/watch-renee-elise-goldsberry-discuss-hamilton-grammy-performance consistently referred to Goldsberry as playing, "Eliza Schuyler.""

 

Mistakes like that are certainly not unique to the new version of the site.

[bfreak]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:21pm

This sucks. I don't like the playbill design, and there is nothing on playbil vault when you try and go to it. Sorry to whine, but it's annoying.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:26pm

PlaybillVault looks much worse with the new design. They should have left the Vault as it was.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:29pm

The new website essentially eliminates the need for a second playbill vault website. It seems to be the same website now just with different names. The digital playbills have been integrated into the show pages on the main playbill site.

[lunch]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:38pm

LizzieCurry said: Mistakes like that are certainly not unique to the new version of the site.

True

 

[CindersGolightly]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:45pm

I'm going to start using IBDB instead of PlaybillVault now - I hate the new design. Hate it.

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:52pm

Hate it!  Playbill.com was the first site I ever visited when I first started internetting in the mid-ish 90's.  There was something comforting about their layout and the small design changes throughout the years never compromised that much.

 

Many of their articles have also been driving me batty over the past year, as well. A large amount of it seems to be written now by gleefully ignorant teenagers with no perspective on the history of Broadway.  Some of their top ten lists or whatever they are are creditworthy.  There also seems to be a 6 degrees of Hamilton slant there currently, as well.  Regardless of your opinion on Hamilton, it's just overkill and seems to be designed to get people to click and produce more advertising revenue.  I'm expecting a clock on Lin Manuel-Miranda's farts next.

Updated On: 2/23/16 at 03:52 PM

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 3:59pm

I really wish they could have left at least the PlaybillVault untouched. The new layout puts too much of an emphasis on photos and videos when a lot of us are far more interested in information. One feature I especially miss on the new PlaybillVault is the list of all of the productions a show has received that used to be on the right side of its page. 

Updated On: 2/23/16 at 03:59 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 4:00pm

Having a separate PlaybillVault was very handy -- I could ignore most of the news/"news" articles and just look for the info I really wanted.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 4:02pm

Oh, God no. Now it's just as messy as every other site.

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 2/23/16 at 4:20pm

Not a fan. 

However, I'm looking at it from a computer browser. I imagine this design was optimized for mobile but usable on both.

For my tastes, everything is too big, and I miss having the links I used (Upcoming Shows, Seth, Seating Charts, Playbill Club) easily accessible. Now I need to go to the "hamburger" submenu, which is not as convenient. But I'll get used to it.

 

Updated On: 2/23/16 at 04:20 PM