Autoblog gets new galleries!

click above image to try out Autoblog's new galleries!

Ask and ye shall receive. You asked us to make our galleries faster and easier to use, and we did, just in time for the gallerific click-fest that is the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit beginning this Sunday.

Check 'em out. The new galleries place the pic you're viewing front and center, with buttons to move back and forth right on top. Each gallery's complete set of thumbnails is immediately below and there's a, wait... what's that? A "Related Post" button to get back to the post from the gallery?!?!?! Boo-yeah! That was easily the no. 1 reader suggestion on how we could make Autoblog a better site, and now it's here.

For your first trial run, check out this gallery of the Buick Velite Concept, which, despite being four years old, will be dusted off and trotted out at the Detroit Auto Show on Sunday. Enjoy and let us know how you like the new galleries in the comments.

We're still tweaking the galleries a bit, as we want to add a button that will take you to the full-size, highest-res version of the pics. If you want a picture for your desktop wallpaper in the meantime, you can right-click on any picture you're viewing and download the highest-res version to your computer. We're also aware of some glitches that users of the Opera browser may encounter, and we're working on it.

Much thanks goes to our design team who worked tirelessly to make sure our new galleries were in place before we left for Detroit. Thanks guys!