In its first major redesign and biggest update since adding subreddits in 2008, Reddit is rolling out an updated desktop look that seeks to make the site more inviting to a broader demographic.
As of April 2nd, about one percent of Redditors have access to the new design, according to WIRED.
The new layout will roll out gradually over the coming months and will include, for now, the ability for users to switch back to the old layout at any point.
That’s likely a good idea, since Reddit’s user base has a long history of being a particularly picky crowd, criticizing every major change from adding comments to new post-sorting methods.
One of Reddit’s new front page formats, the card-style feed.
To create the new design, Reddit’s team of designers not only surveyed the community, including in-depth interviews with moderators, but also took to the San Francisco streets to ask random passersby if they understood certain aspects of the site.
Below, find some of the major changes implemented in this redesign:
- The navigation bar is replaced by a hamburger menu in the left corner, opening to reveal feeds, subscriptions and profiles.
- Next to that is a set of three buttons that lets redditors switch between three formats: card view (which looks sort of like Facebook), classic view (closer to the current Reddit design) and compact view (for users who want to scroll through information quickly).
- Posts open in a ‘lightbox’ without taking users to another page.
- New fonts differentiate between clicking on a post or clicking on an outbound link.
- Underneath the description for r/all, there’s a large blue button to create a new post.
- New illustrations of Snoo exploring the Reddit universe.
- There’s now a WYSIWYG toolbar for editing text posts rather than having to know Markdown.
- You can also combine text, images and links into one post, along with embedded movies.
- New posting flow also surfaces community guidelines of the subreddit where you’re posting.
- A new set of mod tools include a content filter and a custom styling toolbox that lets mods change colours and banners on their subreddits.
You’ll be able to see the changes yourself as it rolls out over the coming months.
Image credit: Reddit
