Lots of things have changed about PlayStation LifeStyle over the years, but one things that’s remain consistent has been our site design. Even as far back as when I was just a humble commenter on Dan and Sebastian’s Daily Reaction articles, PSLS has essentially looked exactly the same. It’s not just external either. Aside from what you see, we’ve basically been running on the same old tech we’ve had for nearly a decade. It was high time for an upgrade and we all knew it, so the latest PSLS update is here, bringing you a fresh redesign with new visuals and some new tech under the hood that will hopefully improve your browsing experience here on the site.
Here are some of the new features you’ll find on the PSLS redesign:
- Dark/Light Themes – Toggle the switch in the top right corner of the site if you want to switch between dark and light themes. If you’ve been wanting to read PSLS content as black text on a white background, we’ve finally got you covered.
- Wider Reading Area – Our previous site was about 560 pixels across the reading area. The redesign brings that up to about 830. That’s a pretty significant increase that should make reading content a little easier.
- Better Slideshow Galleries – Besides simply looking better, you can now navigate our slideshow galleries with your keyboard, either with the arrow keys or “a” and “d.” Any text included with galleries (such as with Now Loading and Everything You Need to Know posts) will now be presented beneath the gallery images instead of off to the side.
- Easy Links to Share – If you like our content and think that somebody else might like something we’ve posted, we’ve made it easy for you to share our articles with Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit share links. You can find these on the right side of the screen on the author byline bar.
- Author Pages – Want to follow your favorite writers on PSLS and see what they’ve written? You can now click on the author’s name to get directly to everything with their byline. We’ve always had author pages, but they haven’t been easily accessible to you until now.
- A New Mobile Site – It’s not just the web version that got an overhaul. The mobile site will look different too, and should also feel a bit snappier. We’re aware of some potential issues with the formatting and are working to address these as soon as possible.
There are a lot of other little changes you’ll see, like the reworked featured posts on the front page and the not-so-visible upgrade to the tech that should help loading times and page load overall. We hope that the new experience is a good one for all of you, because this is a pretty big deal for us. To celebrate, we’ll be hosting some giveaways over the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out here on the site and on our social channels.
One thing that won’t be changing is the ads. We know that you don’t like them, but they’re what keeps the site alive, and how we get paid in order to continue writing. We’ll continue to try to keep them as unobtrusive as possible, and the new site should speed up the browsing experience enough that they won’t feel as “in the way” as they have before. We also know that any new update isn’t going to be perfect, so if you encounter any issues, please let us know about them. Odd text coloring, formatting issues, problems loading up pages, etc. You can reach out directly to me chandler[at]playstationlifestyle[dot]net with anything you run across.
Rediscovering the Site’s Voice
Through the month of February, you may have noticed us changing the balance of content on the site. We wanted to give the names you see on the site every day more of a unique voice. Instead of just pumping out news story after news story, we wanted to hear what was on their minds. Passion is what kindled this site in the first place, it’s what’s driven me the entire time I’ve been here, and it’s what I want the writers here to display. That’s why you’ve been starting to see more opinions, features, and columns from the staff. We don’t want to simply report on the news. We want thought-provoking content that will create discussion.
PlayStation news is still a core part of what we’ll provide, but you’ll definitely be seeing more unique content from the team as well. And this is just the beginning. There will be all-new columns coming soon. We’ll be highlighting the writers here at PSLS and giving you an inside look at their histories. We’re currently in talks about the best ways to bring back beloved features like Daily Reaction, Trophy Theory, and maybe even the right way to do a new PSLS podcast. There’s even been whispers about the PSLS Twitch channel reemerging.
As our audience, we’ll be looking to you for feedback on all of this. What do you love about PSLS? What brings you back here day after day? What would you love to see change? I personally want to do a better job of keeping my finger on the pulse of the site to make sure our unique content, voice, and passion is connecting with those that read our site. We owe that to you.
With that, you’ll be hearing from me about the state of the site a little more often. I’ll be putting out more Editor’s Letters to discuss a number of topics, from how we handle comment moderation to ideas for upcoming features and columns. Stay tuned for those conversations soon.
Please let us know what you think of the new design in the comments below, and make sure to check back for more updates and great content from PlayStation LifeStyle. Thank you all for reading!
