Tell Iaaf to stop screwing up their site.

[Daisy]

Definitely a little clunky and very buggy. Here is an example. I was looking at the year lists for the men's 100m. http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/sp ... enior/2012

At the top there are two options Best by Athlete or All. All is in bold but it is obviously the 'Best by Athlete' list that is shown. When I hit the All link still shows the Best by Athlete option. To get the All option I had to hit the Best by Athlete link and then hit the All link. This can't be designed to work this way so it must be a bug.

[pauluk63]

I would like to add my complaint. I still find the new site incredibally difficult to navigate.. I have not got used to it as suggested earlier.

I am also still saddened that in Top Lists they have removed the breakdown of events for the Heptathlon and Decathlon. You used to be able to see what result they had gained from the indvidual event as well as the total score. Often this was a great way of seeing form or if one event had cost them. For example, Jessica Ennis 69** (12.54, 1.86, 14.61... ) etc. Why in improving the site, have they taken away stats?? It makes no sense. I have complained to the IAAF I hope they add this back to the results or at least in a PDF form if they can't add to the main site.

[mump boy]

I'm having a meeting with the developers next week so if people do have specifics they would like brought up please PM me

[gh]

Definitely a little clunky and very buggy. Here is an example. I was looking at the year lists for the men's 100m. http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/sp ... enior/2012

At the top there are two options Best by Athlete or All. All is in bold but it is obviously the 'Best by Athlete' list that is shown. When I hit the All link still shows the Best by Athlete option. To get the All option I had to hit the Best by Athlete link and then hit the All link. This can't be designed to work this way so it must be a bug.

Why can't they just name it "performers" and "performances"? I find "all" just a tad nebulous!

[Daisy]

Why can't they just name it "performers" and "performances"? I find "all" just a tad nebulous!

Agree, there is a problem if you have to look at the list to figure out what they mean.

[gh]

also makes me crazy that if you go to Olympic field-event results there are no series available, but if you click on the >> next to each person it will.

Maybe it's just me, but those look just like arrows pointing to each of the people. What possible clue is there that something lies buried underneath? This isn't an Easter Egg hunt.

And if you've got the data, why not just show it from the get-go?

[mump boy]

Definitely a little clunky and very buggy. Here is an example. I was looking at the year lists for the men's 100m. http://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/sp ... enior/2012

At the top there are two options Best by Athlete or All. All is in bold but it is obviously the 'Best by Athlete' list that is shown. When I hit the All link still shows the Best by Athlete option. To get the All option I had to hit the Best by Athlete link and then hit the All link. This can't be designed to work this way so it must be a bug.

Why can't they just name it "performers" and "performances"? I find "all" just a tad nebulous!

I wouldn't even mind it it actually worked, you can click on 'All' all day and nothing happens

[mump boy]

On relay results don't bother clicking on the arrow hoping to find out the team or split times you get this

REACTION TIME
0.199 S

800M
1:38.63

1200M
2:28.58 1

what use is that to anyone ?!!

in the lists you don't even get that info

[pauluk63]

I had a look again yesterday you can emphasise enough how bad it is! So much data missing surely they must know the only people looking want as much data as possible! No teams in the relay, no date of births on 2012 lists, no relay teams is terrible! Re clicking the year and event and update EVERTIME you want to swap events!

It's not just like changing Facebook like Jon said its dreadful and has of some reason taken away data that they had. I really hope they read this page and make the changes.

[skiboo]

I've been trying unsuccessfully to find the London Olympic results - anywhere. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Jon]

I've been trying unsuccessfully to find the London Olympic results - anywhere. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

From the home page, click on "Results" in the main navigation. From there, click on 'Open filters', then select 'Olympic Games', and select year '2012', then click 'Find results'. It should then give you a link to this page:
http://www.iaaf.org/results/olympic-gam ... games-4871

[skiboo]

Thanks Jon, that works.

[mump boy]

Thanks Jon, that works.

But you shouldn't need someone to explain how to do the basics it should be obvious

What would we do without Jon ??

[gh]

I've been trying unsuccessfully to find the London Olympic results - anywhere. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

From the home page, click on "Results" in the main navigation. From there, click on 'Open filters', then select 'Olympic Games', and select year '2012', then click 'Find results'. It should then give you a link to this page:
http://www.iaaf.org/results/olympic-gam ... games-4871

Yes but why the time-consuming extra step? When I open that page, it opens with the Olympics (and all the other categories of meets) visible at the top… for a microsecond.

Then the window closes down, and you have to hit "open filter" to get them back. And it's not a shift in pages, just moves the other material farther down.

While I know that an elemental rule of web design is to avoid having to make people scroll wherever possible, I'd think that's trumped by the rule of never introducing a link where it isn't needed. And to me, this is one of those places (just like the >> for field series).

[Jon]

I can't speak on behalf of the web developers* but my guess is that if that panel were open from the get-go, then it wouldn't be obvious that the user has to scroll down the page to see the search results.

*I should perhaps clarify that I wasn't involved with the design/development process from the outset. I was simply brought on board right at the end and I can only control the content of the site. But at the same time, it's not as though I received any special "training" as to how to use the site. I genuinely find the navigation more intuitive than the old site. When the odd person asks me where such-and-such is located on the new site, I simply start from the home page and think: "right, where's the most logical place it will be?" Pretty much every time without fail I'm able to find what I'm looking for without hitting a dead end. I think the main problem is that many people are trying to navigate the new site as they would the old one (which had a LOT of navigational issues which most people seem to have forgotten!). But the sooner you get the old site out of your head, the easier the new one is to navigate.

I should also add that I am in contact with the development team pretty much every day, and I have been alerting them to any glitches that have been discovered.

[gh]

so while I'm kvetching about Olympic results, let me add this. So you get to the page you want, let's say for London, and the screen presents this

MEETING NAME COMPETITION CATEGORY VENUE COUNTRY DATE
The XXX Olympic Games Olympic Games London GBR 27 JUL 2012 - 12 AUG 2012

So you've got 5 columns, 3 of which are inactive, 2 of which are live (I won't even mention that the differential between the two, at least these eyes, is so not enough shades of grey; it's not readily evident where the link is).

Logic says that at that point your cursor is over on the right side of the page (where you've just clicked on "find results"), and you're ready for more detail. Maybe it's just me, but my first instinct is simply to stop at "Olympic Games" as the closest live link, as opposed to "The XXX Olympic Games." Neither of them hints at the actual results, so you've got to guess.

And if you guess wrong? Bingo! It repaints the whole page with all the Olympic sites/dates and you need to start again.

I agreed with your earlier assessment that much of the carping about the site was akin to every time Facebook gets a makeover and everybody hates it for a day or two and then they're settled in. In terms of much of the front-page content of the IAAF site that's very much the case.

But not so in trying to find data. Just strikes me that too many things have been done in a counter-intuitive fashion. My guess being that because much of the design was by an engineer, not anybody with any experience at being an end-user.

What I'd call Microsoft Syndrome (as manifested in yearning for the glory days of simple, easy to use WordPerfect, rather than the kludginess that is Word).

[mump boy]

They seem to If you want to find out who won a multi event you can't click on decathlon and get a result !! You have to click on '1500m' to pull up the results of the last race and then 'points' to get the final score

Just because something is better than the old version (it's not) doesn't mean it's any good

[gh]

Here's another kvetch (I think; I might always just be blind).... take today's Karlsruhe meet. In the old days, in addition to the by-event results format, there was always a "click here to see meet in text form" button. Which saves immeasurable time over having to open x number of links.

Is that feature still there somewhere?

[Walt Murphy]

I'm looking to find out what happened on this date(March 14) at the 1993 World Indoor Championship in Toronto.
http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-indoor-championships/4th-iaaf-world-indoor-championships-16

None of the links(startlist, results) under the timetable-by-day heading work. I have to scroll down to the "Winners in Toronto (SD)" section, where the results of all events are available.

This might just pertain to the 1993 Worlds, since I just checked a couple of other years, and the daily links appear to be working.

Another issue--when I look at the results from a heat or a semi-final, there are no "Q/q''s" to indicate who advanced.

Is there an easy way to find the original IAAF report on a specific Championship, complete with articles, previews, etc?

[batonless relay]

Walt, the old site didn't go back to 1993 (or the 1986 WJC), iirc, so they probably haven't added the data yet, but for ease of use for older champs you might want to use the following link http://www.iaaf.net/history/index.html#WIC

A comparison of results for 2010 WJC M100m
old version: http://www.iaaf.net/wjc10/results/event ... 100_hash_f

new version: http://www.iaaf.org/results/iaaf-world- ... nal/result

at a glance I'm given lane and reaction time in the old version and in the new...I have to press a "v" to get to reaction time while apparently the lane is kept a secret unless you press "view" or "download".

I've pretty much given up on the new site. The only defenders of the new IAAF site are the people either consulting, assisting or drawing a paycheck from it.

[gh]

I'm guessing I now go to the IAAF site 10% as much as I did a year ago; it's easier to find alternate sources up and down the line.

[nicest person ever]

I just realized the top lists only have the seasons best for each athletes instead of all the marks. It looks like that is something they did on purpose and plan to keep. Does anyone know where on the site i can find the old list with all the marks for the year? If they dont have it then we should attack them.

loooooool this fasttrack guy is fuckin awesome

[Master Po]

I'm guessing I now go to the IAAF site 10% as much as I did a year ago; it's easier to find alternate sources up and down the line.

I initially thought that some of the criticisms I read here of the IAAF's new site were overstated, but...my experience is the same as gh's -- it is now far less common for me than it used to be to go there in search of an answer. That seems like a really fundamental critique of their new site. Oh well, at least I can usually find stuff elsewhere.

[jeremyp]

I'm guessing I now go to the IAAF site 10% as much as I did a year ago; it's easier to find alternate sources up and down the line.

I initially thought that some of the criticisms I read here of the IAAF's new site were overstated, but...my experience is the same as gh's -- it is now far less common for me than it used to be to go there in search of an answer. That seems like a really fundamental critique of their new site. Oh well, at least I can usually find stuff elsewhere.

I've rarely visited it since it changed and when I do I swear*&^%*)& often.

[Jon]

I'm looking to find out what happened on this date(March 14) at the 1993 World Indoor Championship in Toronto.
http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-indoor-championships/4th-iaaf-world-indoor-championships-16

None of the links(startlist, results) under the timetable-by-day heading work. I have to scroll down to the "Winners in Toronto (SD)" section, where the results of all events are available.

From that page, click on 'Timetable/results', then 'by day'. You'll then be able to see results of all events.

Alternatively, you can use the results archive. From the home page, click on 'results', then 'open filters' to search for the event you need. It'll lead you to this page:
http://www.iaaf.org/results/iaaf-world- ... onships-16

[norunner]

I had lunch today with the publisher who created the website, he was very interested to hear that there were problems with the site and wants me to email him with suggestions of how it can be corrected and improved

If people want to post here with specific issues i'll make sure he hears about them and hopefully we can get them sorted

Has this person ever published a webpage before? As far as userability goes the new iaaf page looks like it was designed by someone who never heard of it. For example the lists page, it takes up to 6 or 7 mouse clicks to get the list you want. No info on a webpage should take that many mouse clicks for access cause most people get annoyed way before that.
mump boy: Have you forwarded any criticism and has anything happened since you did?

[toyracer]

I'm guessing I now go to the IAAF site 10% as much as I did a year ago; it's easier to find alternate sources up and down the line.

Exactly. When I google search I click on results that do not take me to the IAAF site. That surely is the opposite of what they should have intended.

[vencio2]

Another one here who never goes to the IAAF site anymore.

Went on it a few days ago, first time in months. As someone noted, whoever was involved in this site cannot have been a T&F fan or interested in the stats/bio's side of the IAAF content, which used to be one of the main selling points of the site. I am seriously suspicious of their general 'web design/publishing' credentials as well. The home page is so distracting and difficult to read and it just looks like a tonne of 'stuff' floating around a white screen. Why the row of 'social' icons appears twice (once horizontal and once vertical), right next to each other, is also weird.

[gh]

I don't have time to go digging, but rumor has it that the historical results section is now easier to find data in. Like the Q/q data and reaction times being on the results without requiring another dig.

[jeremyp]

I don't have time to go digging, but rumor has it that the historical results section is now easier to find data in. Like the Q/q data and reaction times being on the results without requiring another dig.

On my last visit I was more easily able to find shit I was looking for, but I hope it's a work in progress.

[gh]

Am I just blind/inept (a distinct possibility), or is there no longer an option to view meet results as a whole? In the old days there was a link that opened a pdf with the composite results. Now all I can find is having to open each event as a different button.

[Weights&Shoes]

My only complaints are with their YouTube page.

1) I like their new interviews conducted by Ato Boldon with current athletes, but the videos are only available on their FB page. I would think in 2013, with social media being at such a high, it would make more sense to host the videos on their YT page.

2) Upload past World Championships content/moments more frequently.

[gh]

squeaky wheel continues to get grease... no idea when these changes were implemented, since I've grown to live without the IAAF lists, but this was passed along to me.

<<We reviewed the page and have eliminated three clicks from the previous format for the ‘Top Lists’:

- Default no longer ‘all-time’ >> top lists now open at current season
- Separate tabs for men or women removed >> both genders are now displayed on the same screen
- No need to select ‘Update’ which is removed >> now simply click on discipline to display relevant list>>

All in all, deffo an improvement.

[Daisy]

All in all, deffo an improvement.

That's a big improvement over their completely non-intuitive previous incarnation.

I'm realising that many of these problems come from the fact that they put all the information into a database and the views we see are dependent on the filters that they choose. This explains the nonsense of having to click on each event to see the result, rather than having one page of results for each meet. But it will be easy for them to create a filter to gives us the one page view.

Maybe they should allow third parties to access their databases and write filter options that fit our needs? That is how the human genome databases work. There are many different genome browsers that allow you to see the same information but with a different user interface.

[bushop]

Any idea why so many old articles (2012) are gone?