A More Global Navigation

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Deviation Actions

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Heidi
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For many deviants, the Notifications page (formerly known as the Message Center) acts as their main-hub on DeviantArt.  Deviants spend a lot of time there -- checking newly submitted deviations, responding to comments, voting in polls, etc. -- all while switching back and forth to other core areas of the site, like Browse and Watch.

UPDATE: In order to create a more cohesive navigation that incorporates core site components and makes the site experience clearer, we’re adding Notifications and Notes into the global subnavigation bar that includes Browse, Today, and Watch.  Ultimately, helping deviants easily navigate between these frequently-visited areas.  Based on community feedback, the order of the subnavigation is now Browse, Today, Watch, Notifications, and Notes. Browse will act as the default when clicking the DeviantArt logo in the upper-left part of the site. 

Screenshot 2015-12-17 20.03 by Heidi



Browse sidebar

Undiscovered and What’s Hot are Browse modes, and have been moved from the subnavigation into the sidebar of the Browse page, to help consolidate the navigation.

Daily Deviations are also easily accessible from this Browse menu.

Whatshotsidebar by danlev

A few other changes:

We’ve made a few other minor changes to Notifications:

  • Site-wide polls from DeviantArt now appear in the Polls section of Notifications.

  • In the navigation sidebar of Notifications, the three subcategories -- Hot Topics, Contests, and Bulletins -- were consolidated into a single “Notices” category.


Coming Soon: Status Update Notifications

We’ll be adding Status Updates to Notifications, which has been a popular request from deviants who actively post Status Updates. With Status Updates in Notifications, it will ensure that more of your watchers see your posts. This change will be happening within the next week.

Status Updates are a quick and easy way to communicate with your watchers. They’re a great way to give an insider peek about what you’re working on, share inspiring art or articles, feature your favorite artists, or simply share what’s on your mind.

Additional Information

For more details on why these changes are happening, DeviantArt's CEO, Angelo Sotira (spyed), has penned a journal on the topic.




deviantartnavigationnotificationsstatusupdatedeviantartupdate
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WilliamRumley's avatar
WilliamRumley
I am wondering what the reasoning is behind having this notification bar on the left side. Say I open a context that displays elements in boxes that stretch across the screen. I now have to travel from the far left, to the far right to close each box. This is a non-issue on a mobile device, but is awkward on a wide format monitor. Designers should keep things like this in mind, e.g. navigate the interface in every resolution imaginable. So, either make the navigation bar fully customizable, or make every element a square instead of stretching across the screen. You have this "new" subnav bar that quite honestly looks and feels like Windows 98. To open the notifications page I have to travel to the right of the screen to a drop-down context, move back to the left to cycle through notification elements, then back to the right to close elements. It is clunky. DeviantArt is a real bear to navigate in a full browser window.