Posted on July 31, 2007 at 9:25 AM in @earthlink
Note: The below is an archived entry from Earthling, formerly EarthLink's official blog. The blog itself has been decommissioned and is no longer updated, and comments are trackbacks are no longer accepted.
Guest blogger Tom here, taking the wheel while Dave is on vacation.
I expect to talk a bit this week about my main project, the new myEarthLink start page. So, I thought it would be helpful to take a page from the "Lost" playbook and do a quick "catch-up episode" explaining what the portal team has been up to.
Our story so far:
Toward the end of last year, we took on the considerable task of redesigning the myEarthLink portal from top to bottom. We started with the portal's front door: the personal start page. We had a lot on our mind as we got down to business, but I would sum up our overall mission as "tightening up." The main user criticism of the classic start page has been "too much clutter," so a big part of our focus was streamlining the new design.
In tightening up, we focused on two things: grouping features together logically and keeping important information close at hand without taking up a lot of space on the page. One of the key ideas here was to show select information as soon as you load the page, and pop up additional information when you click a tab or button for more. This post from the myEarthLink product blog walks through some of the details of that approach.
In early February, we launched our Alpha release to EarthLink employees and a small group of early testers. At the end of February, we opened up our Preview release to everybody. Since then, we've launched several major updates with smaller tweaks along the way. Here are the highlights:
- In March, we adjusted our "opt-in/opt-out" behavior. In other words, we tweaked things to make it easier to set whether you see the new myEarthLink or the classic myEarthLink when you start a new browser session. (Check out this post for details.)
- At the beginning of April, we added the ability to reorder the features in the middle of the page. If you want news headlines at the top of the page, you can click your mouse to grab the News & Updates feature and then drag it up to the top. (Check out this post for details.)
- At the end of April, we revamped the News & Updates feature to let you add news feeds from just about any source. For example, if you prefer news coverage from MSNBC , you can add an MSNBC feed as a tab in the News feature. (Check out this post for details.)
- In June, we added the ability to remove features from the middle of the page. For example, if you don't use Email Preview, you can click to take it off your page. (Check out this post for details.)
- Last week, we launched a greatly simplified registration system, to make it easier for new users to get started. (Check out this post for details.)
With the simple registration system up and running, now is a great time to give the new myEarthLInk a try, if you haven't already. Click here to try it out.
If you are already a classic myEarthLink user, you'll be logged in automatically, and your preferences (weather city) will carry over. If you're signed out, you can sign in with your existing user name and password. If you're new, just click the "Click here to register" button in the right-hand column.
So, what's next? If I wrote out our full to-do list, you would be doing a lot of scrolling, but here are some highlights:
- We'll be expanding the ability to edit the page (that is, adding tools for moving, adding and removing features).
- We'll be adding a Traffic feature to help you plan your commute.
- We'll be adding an eBay auction-tracking feature, similar to the eBay widget on the classic start page.
- We'll be creating new theme options, so you can personalize the page design.
- We'll be adding personalized movie showtime and TV listings.
- We'll be adjusting the design for myEarthLink channels and incorporating content from new partners.
- We'll be launching a signed-out version of the new myEarthLink, so you can still get to useful information when you're logged out of your start page.
Stay tuned.
Comments
I find it interesting that you boast all your development of your new look, when you have a multitude of customers out there still living with dial up service. For the last four years I have checked monthly for the updates to your service that matter. I have written your so-called support teams (located in some outsourced country) only to be given the same lame excuses time and time again.
Phoenix is growing exponentially, and earthlink is the only provider I know of who is unwilling or unable to grow with it. All their cometition has DSL and cable lines throughout the entire metro area and even into the newer developments - Earthlink is still stuck in dial up land. While your new "MyEarthlink" page may be the best thing since sliced bread to you and a real brag - it matters little when every other provider is giving the customer what he really needs - high speed access, DSL or cable internet speeds.
Explain to me what good your new webpage is going to do for you when you start losing your customer base because you are more concerned about making your pages pretty and show absolutely NO conncern with meeting your customers needs.
I for one am unwilling to put much more time into an inept and unwilling company who is incapable of meeting their customer needs and more concerned about exciting new start pages.
Earthlink should change their customer relations department to Earthstink!
Posted by Doug | August 8, 2007 3:53 PM
Hi Doug,
Thank you for your comments. I've spoken to Dave, and he let me know that he's been in contact with you about access in your area. Speaking generally, we are eager to expand our broadband coverage to more customers, but our ability to offer access depends on many factors, including our contracts with local network providers.
While broadband access is a core component of our business, we're working to meet a wide variety of other customer needs as well. myEarthLink has a substantial customer base, and we undertook the myEarthLink redesign to meet those customers' needs, based on their feedback. This post from last November and this follow-up from December give some insight into the myEarthLink user feedback we've been looking at and our goals in redesigning the start page.
Thanks again,
- Tom
Posted by Tom | August 13, 2007 2:09 PM
I have been an Earthlink subscriber for five plus years and I still prefer the original Start Page. For a few months now I cannot get the Mail Truck to sound when I have email, I can select the play sound option and when I turn off the PC and the next time I start it the option is back on do not play sound.How do I fix this where I recieve the Mail Truck sound.
Posted by Billy Mathews | August 21, 2007 10:33 PM