Bibidad

Out of frustration when clicking through from iGoogle to the content on the website itself and finding that the content won’t display properly on Firefox, I wrote an email to the tech team of Shanghai Daily. Obviously I hesitated not in outlining my displeasure in the fact that I’m feeling like an outcast from using Firefox (because it’s really an IE world in China).

Dear Shanghai Daily,

In this age when almost everything relies heavily on IT, it is disappointing to see that I am unable to view your website using Mozilla’s Firefox without the layout getting all jumbled up. I am pretty certain that the issue results from bad web design with the site tested only on the IE platform, because it looks fine when viewed using IE. This is a novice error that even I avoid. I don’t design my Wordpress blog without first checking the layout on Firefox and IE (or more if I can).

I am sure that you have visitors of your website using other browsers. I, for one, am mainly using Mozilla’s Firefox and there are other users out there that may be using browsers like Opera or even Google’s Chrome. You can check through your site logs to see the browser agents your visitors may be using. This problem happened after the upgrade to Version 5.0 of your site, and it is a step backward rather than a move forward.

I hope this issue will be resolved in your version 6.0, if not earlier, perhaps in version 5.1. It is only simple CSS positioning. Other than that, I think I will still mainly rely on your RSS feed viewed in my iGoogle page.

Thanks.

Regards,
Disappointed Expat Reader in Shanghai.

I really didn’t expect a response. Let’s face it. Even when there are contact emails or feedback forms on websites, there are usually no feedback after a feedback. Most corporate websites are like that. So, I was braced for some cricket sounds in the background while I patiently waited like a heartbroken lover. But unlike those corporate websites, I actually did receive a feedback, although it took quite a while. Still, it is a nice gesture to know that Shanghai Daily really does care about its readers. Even the tech team.

Dear [Bibidad],

Thank you very much for you email. Apology for my delayed response to your mail because I was on vacation until yesterday. I’ve forwarded your mail to our tech team and we are having it fixed in the earliest possible moment. We’ll keep you posted.

Best

[Mr X]

Director

New Media Center

Shanghai Daily

Tel: 008621-5292-1569

Follow us at:twitter.com/shanghaidaily

Blog: www.shanghaidaily.com/editor

Address: Floor 38, No. 755, Weihai Road
Shanghai, China

I received the response 11 days after I sent in my email. Not too bad considering the fact that I wasn’t even expecting a response. I kept quiet after the response. There’s nothing for me to reply except to wait because Mr. Director told me that he’ll keep me posted. And I waited. And waited. And waited.

And it wasn’t really that long a wait because today (3 days later) and late in the evening, another email arrived. I opened it and was surprised to know that they have made changes. I wasn’t quite happy that they “wanted me to help check”, because, seriously, I’m not under their payroll and do not receive free subscription from Shanghai Daily. But it’s probably Mr. Director more used to correspondence with his staff than with users. So, the oversight was immediately forgiven (although Bibimom did agree with me on my initial response).

Dear [Bibidad],

Would you please check if it’s working well now in Firefox? We made some changes.

Best

[Mr X]

Director

New Media Center

Shanghai Daily

Follow us at:twitter.com/shanghaidaily

Blog: www.shanghaidaily.com/editor

Address: Floor 38, No. 755, Weihai Road
Shanghai, China

Since they were so nice to respond to my email, and since I’ll be clicking through from iGoogle to one of Shanghai Daily’s content one of these days, I thought I’ll check out the changes anyway. I did. And wonderfully done. At the very least the jumbled up layout has been sorted out. Like an excited kid as if his bicycle has just been fixed, I wrote back informing Mr Director that it is work well done.

Dear [Mr Director],

It is great to see that Shanghai Daily really does care about its user. I just gave it a check and happy to let you know that it is working fine.
Guess I don’t need to use IE or rely solely on my RSS reader anymore.

All the best to Shanghai Daily and keep improving.

Cheers.

Regards,
[Bibidad]

P/S: You can now consider me a “Happy Expat Reader in Shanghai”!

No wonder Shanghai Daily is already in Version 5.0 of their website. Although the layout and design is still not entirely to my liking (not quite smooth enough for me yet), but at least they are trying. And hard!

Good luck, Shanghai Daily!

P/S: This is NOT a paid review by Shanghai Daily. Although I won’t mind free (lifelong?) subscription!!!