I was braced, of course. But the emails are running almost ten-to-one in favor of the new site format. Still, this is the Dish, so the critics gets the first lick:
Yikes ... hate the new look! I loved your white words against that deep purple ... the whole feel or your new location seems so much like all the other nondescript blogs out there ... complete with the cartoon charicature!
I know you are with TIME, (which is also kinda creepy) but I hope you alter your site back to the way it looked before, or at least make it look remotely like the old one.
Sorry, bro. We changed for a reason. But these guys may be onto something:
Decent redesign, nice caricature but man, it takes forever to load.
I've asked them to look into it. Let me know if problems persist. Praise last:
Congratulations on what appears to be a seamless move to your new online home. I'm sure you will get many thanks from those who couldn't handle the white-on-blue from your former site (I'm not one of them); that aside, the layout looks very good, and I had no problems navigating the site. Even the cartoon is good -- the face is recognizably yours, especially the eyes -- but I do wonder about the little lines surrounding your left hand. Are they supposed to indicate motion, the onset of pain, or an incipient burst of energy or magic?
Fairy dust, obviously. Now for an excerpt from Vanity Fair's letters page:
I LOVE your new website! I didn't realize what I'd been missing until I saw your new one!
Thanks. But the really gratifying emails come from those of you who've been with me since the very beginning, five and a half years' ago:
I just wanted to drop you a note to say that I am loving your new format. Andrewsullivan.com has been part of my daily online readings since I came across your site several years ago, and the new version is clear and easy to navigate. Thanks for keeping up the blogs.
Thanks for reading. And keep all the input coming.