\u003C/a>\n\n\u003Ch2>A Bigger, Blacker Bar\u003C/h2>\n\nThe first thing you’ll notice is that **it’s really black***. When we originally conceived of the top bar with the Stack Exchange logo (way back in \u003Ca href=\"http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/08/network-central-stackexchange-com/\">Ye Olde 2010\u003C/a>), one of the main goals was to mark each site as a Gen-u-wine™ Stack Exchange site. Since then, however, we’ve created unique designs for over 40 different sites, and the Stack Exchange logo has started to get a bit... lost.\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/XjSC7.png\">\u003Cimg src=\"http://stackoverflow.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/XjSC7.png\" alt=\"\" />\u003C/a>\n\nSo, in the redesigned top bar, we wanted to make sure that it would look the same across all sites, and make it obvious that you’re on a Stack Exchange site. It turns out that when you try to pick a color to match 40 different site designs, you quickly realize you only have one real choice: black.\n\n\u003Cul>\n \u003Cli>\u003Ca href=\"http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/users/3/jin\">Jin\u003C/a> points out that technically it's not quite black: it’s #212121.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\u003Ch2>New Achievements popup\u003C/h2>\n\nThe biggest addition to the top bar is the brand new Achievements popup. Previously, if you wanted to know your reputation on every site you were active on, you had to visit \u003Cem>every one of those sites\u003C/em>. This led to some of us, well, compulsively cycling through sites and refreshing to see if we'd gained any rep. Now, there's one convenient place to check from whatever site you happen to be on:\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/6t7Oe.png\">\u003Cimg src=\"http://stackoverflow.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/6t7Oe.png\" alt=\"\" />\u003C/a>\n\nThis new popup includes:\n\n\u003Cul>\n \u003Cli>A reputation counter at the top which sums \u003Cstrong>all reputation\u003C/strong> you’ve gained on \u003Cstrong>all sites\u003C/strong> since the last time you checked, updated in \u003Cstrong>real-time\u003C/strong>\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>Entries for reputation, badge, and privilege notifications, grouped by post and time\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>A summary of reputation gained today\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>Aggregation from every site in the network in one place\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\nThis should make it \u003Cem>much easier\u003C/em> to keep track of your reputation and badges across all the sites that you are active on.\n\n\u003Ch2>New Sites List (aka “The Site Switcher”)\u003C/h2>\n\nThe old list of sites has gotten a new layout and is now its own distinct popup. The idea is to make it easy to switch between sites if you participate on several, or to find a new site that you don’t participate on regularly:\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/gVhww.png\">\u003Cimg src=\"http://stackoverflow.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/gVhww.png\" alt=\"\" />\u003C/a>\n\nIn the new “Site Switcher” you’ll find:\n\n\u003Cul>\n \u003Cli>The current site at the top, with meta, chat, and blog links for the current site (and Stack Overflow Careers when on Stack Overflow)\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>A list of your top 5 sites, ordered by reputation*, with your reputation for each\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>A searchable list of all sites, with a short description of each\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\u003Cul>\n \u003Cli>We’ll probably let you customize this list in the near future, so you can include sites you like to watch but don’t have much reputation on.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\n\u003Ch2>New Global Inbox\u003C/h2>\n\nThe \u003Ca href=\"http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/09/new-global-inbox/\">Global Inbox\u003C/a> has been split out into its own popup as well, instead of a subsection of the Stack Exchange popup:\n\n\u003Ca href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/OXLSb.png\">\u003Cimg src=\"http://stackoverflow.blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/OXLSb.png\" alt=\"\" />\u003C/a>\n\nWe’ve gotten rid of the confusing distinction between “inbox” and “notifications”. All messages will now appear in the inbox, except for reputation and badge events which are in the new Achievements popup. Inbox items also now have a new layout, which should be easier to scan.\n\n\u003Ch2>Feedback Welcome\u003C/h2>\n\nThere are a few smaller changes to mention as well:\n\n\u003Cul>\n \u003Cli>Your name has been replaced with your picture, to make it easier to recognize at a glance that you’re signed in as you (and because some longer names just don’t fit).\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>The help link is now a dropdown with links to the tour and the help center, with a short explanation of what each is.\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>Click areas for everything are now the full-size of the row, to make them easier to click or tap on mobile.\u003C/li>\n \u003Cli>The \u003Cstrong>hot network questions have moved to the sidebar\u003C/strong> on the homepage, since they aren’t really navigation or notifications.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\nThe new top bar will be rolling out network-wide, including \u003Ca href=\"http://area51.stackexchange.com\">Area 51\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://stackexchange.com\">stackexchange.com\u003C/a>, in the next few weeks. As always, \u003Ca href=\"http://meta.stackoverflow.com/tags/top-bar\">meta\u003C/a> is the place to go for feedback, suggestions, and bug reports.","html","2013-12-04T12:00:00.000Z",{"current":455},"a-new-top-bar-for-stack-exchange",[457,465,470,475],{"_createdAt":458,"_id":459,"_rev":460,"_type":461,"_updatedAt":458,"slug":462,"title":464},"2023-05-23T16:43:21Z","wp-tagcat-announcements","9HpbCsT2tq0xwozQfkc4ih","blogTag",{"current":463},"announcements","Announcements",{"_createdAt":458,"_id":466,"_rev":460,"_type":461,"_updatedAt":458,"slug":467,"title":469},"wp-tagcat-community",{"current":468},"community","Community",{"_createdAt":458,"_id":471,"_rev":460,"_type":461,"_updatedAt":458,"slug":472,"title":474},"wp-tagcat-company",{"current":473},"company","Company",{"_createdAt":458,"_id":476,"_rev":460,"_type":461,"_updatedAt":458,"slug":477,"title":479},"wp-tagcat-design",{"current":478},"design","Design","A New Top Bar for Stack Exchange",[482,488,494,500],{"_id":483,"publishedAt":484,"slug":485,"sponsored":12,"title":487},"370eca08-3da8-4a13-b71e-5ab04e7d1f8b","2025-08-28T16:00:00.000Z",{"_type":10,"current":486},"moving-the-public-stack-overflow-sites-to-the-cloud-part-1","Moving the public Stack Overflow sites to the cloud: Part 1",{"_id":489,"publishedAt":490,"slug":491,"sponsored":445,"title":493},"e10457b6-a9f6-4aa9-90f2-d9e04eb77b7c","2025-08-27T04:40:00.000Z",{"_type":10,"current":492},"from-punch-cards-to-prompts-a-history-of-how-software-got-better","From punch cards to prompts: a history of how software got better",{"_id":495,"publishedAt":496,"slug":497,"sponsored":12,"title":499},"65472515-0b62-40d1-8b79-a62bdd2f508a","2025-08-25T16:00:00.000Z",{"_type":10,"current":498},"making-continuous-learning-work-at-work","Making continuous learning work at work",{"_id":501,"publishedAt":502,"slug":503,"sponsored":12,"title":505},"1b0bdf8c-5558-4631-80ca-40cb8e54b571","2025-08-21T14:00:25.054Z",{"_type":10,"current":504},"research-roadmap-update-august-2025","Research roadmap update, August 2025",{"count":507,"lastTimestamp":12},0,["Reactive",509],{"$sarticleModal":510},false,["Set"],["ShallowReactive",513],{"sanity-P9xTTdUbiGveGjQR-0dtF7SRp3IJE55LQZlsNMcmUrY":-1,"sanity-comment-wp-post-4883-1756460054104":-1},"/2013/12/04/a-new-top-bar-for-stack-exchange"]