So ... what do YOU think of the new layout?

I can't say that I'm too enthusiastic either.
No doubt we'll get used to it

1. Willing to be open-minded but graphic interface takes longer to load. Information is more important to me than appearance. Thank god no flash.

2. I am not sure where I am on the site (no "Next 100", for example). Is what I am seeing everything there is?

3. Being able to read posts by day may or may not be useful, but lots of sites do it that way, e.g., Craig's List. Being able to sort by tags should be useful.

4. Blue on pink is not as legible as black on white, and the typeface is a little thin.

I sent this to Katie at Forums Help

Hi Katie,

I am an old fuddy duddy.

I use a PC, not a Mac.

I am more interested in content than artistry.

The new Forums format is very colorful.

Would you please tell me the logic behind it, so that I can more easily navigate?

In the old format, each morning I ran through the left hand frame from newest posting to the ones I had seen the previous day.

This was very easy to do.

Perhaps I just don't understand the logic of the new format.

It is incredibly bad. There is so much empty space that I am wasting a lot of time scrolling.

My views are basically the same as ira's (even if I do use a Mac).

I am trying really hard to like the changes but just cant get into it. Why did "they" change a concept that seemed to work so well. I find it all really hard to read and to quickly browse through all the topics.
Guess I will have to read my book tonight instead!

ugh. please revert to the previous layout.

Afraid I agree with the others. Black and white is far more readable. However I may get used to it.

I don't like it either. It's not as 'User Friendly' as the old format. And I have been unable to find some of my recent posts (on Ireland, for example)
Were they 'edited out' for some reason: possibly my listing of Golf Courses?? If there's a Censor out there who does that sort of thing, I'll be very disturbed

For some reason, the new format gives me a headache. Maybe too much white.

I hate it.

Same for me, and how can we edit before posting? I like to try the links I add to see if they work properly. Merci (and where is the smiley page?) Coco the lazy French.

Same than everyone.. I'm a little bit lost.. !

Did the forums by country disappear for global forums by continents ? Can we look for questions about just one country ?

I don't like it much either. I have a feeling I won't spend so much time on here as I used to - I'm wasting too much time faffing about scrolling and clicking to access information. I don't find it very user-friendly or easy on the eye. Perhaps that will change when I get used to things...
Oh, and where's the preview button? I always need to preview before posting!

"the preview button" Thanks hanl that is the word I was looking for.

I don't like it either. Maybe I need to get used to it but it doesn't seem like an improvement to me.

Five minutes here and my eyes hurt.

Can we look for questions about just one country?

Use 'View by tag'.

I think I agree with everyone else..I don't like it!

Not very user friendly from first trying it..I suppose we will get used to it..unless you would like to return to old format!!

I'ms sure our comments are disappointing to you...

Awful. The site is now much more in control of us. I prefer to manage the site.

I'm with Steve. Change is always hard, but I may get used to it.

I can't see anything good about it either.
Arranging posts by day seems an odd concept when we're in different time zones, with posters spread around the globe.

It would be helpful if the list of threads were numbered.

>>>I am an old fuddy duddy.



I use a PC, not a Mac.<<<

I am an old fuddy duddy, too, but I use a Mac, I always have. But it has nothing to do with PCs and Macs, it is awful both ways.

Well I was able to find a trip report that I thought had been lost forever. So that's a good thing. Now if only I can figure out the URL business to be able to get the info to Fodors. I'm trying.

I just might add that there is a saying "why fix something that isn´t broken".

This is really clumsy and slow and messy.

I hate change but I'll probably get used to it. I doubt there's any other choice but I don't see many advantages to it or at least any so far.

I am finding it slower to load. I live in an area which is not supported by broadband and therefore this impacts me more than broadband users.

I note we can now only see the latest 25 topics on the current page. We used to be able to see 50 without having to go to a new page (again, no broadband makes having to use more pages more annoying).

I agree with others that there appears to be more unused space. I'm also finding more glare on the screen, but am unsure why.

Not functional! Here is what I wrote on the feedback form.

Feedback on the new forums:

-I don't see the point of differentiating between 'recent activity' and 'new topics.' Further confusing the issue is the fact that it says 'View more recent topics' at the bottom of the 'new topics' area. If you must, how about 'active topics' and 'unanswered topics' -- then as a post in the latter category is answered, it is moved to 'active topics.'

-'Topics with the Most Replies' -- again, what is the point? The same posts will stay here for a very long time. If you must, I would recommend moving these to a sidebar on the right labeled 'Most popular discussions.'

-Trip reports: Great, love this section.

-Colors: Blue on pink is difficult to read. Prefer blue on white or some other combination.

-View by tag: Needs to say country in the title of the pulldown menu so people know what kinds of tags are possible.

I know, change is hard. I love this site so I hope you can make it more functional.

I've seen a lot of changes on this forum in 10+ years so I guess I'll adjust to this one as well. However, the new format is very hard to read. Blue letters on a pink background is not the best for contrast.

I liked scrolling through the screens and seeing the post topics which is more cumbersome to do now that one has to select a day rather than next screen.

One of the things I always liked about the fodor's forum is the readability of it. I've tried other forums but have maintained my loyalty to fodor's because it's easy to see and access posts. I guess those days are gone.

There seems to be an intermittant delay when I type. What's with that. For instance, when I typed "with that" I had to wait a couple of seconds for the words to appear. It's happened quite a few times in this short message.

Is there some legend? What does the small orange square mean next to some posts. I looked for a legend but can't find one. The villa warning post has this orange square. Why?

Blue on pink difficult to read - why so many sections?
Will adapt and know that there is no choice!

Is there not a way to preview your post before you submit?

Overall, I'm not really liking the new layout yet, but maybe it will just take time.

Harder to read and find information. It will take awhile to get used to.

I'm tending towards orangetravel's views above. I'm also finding that when I click through to a thread, the "recent activity" box appears at the bottom right of the thread page, below the "Post reply" box (using IE 6 at 1240px wide resolution), which is clearly wrong.

But I do like the fact that there now seems to be a working search engine, and that the country tag appears in the place where people will be scanning the titles, and so can see whether a vague title might relate to something they might know something about.

OH NO!!! The thread titles used to be hyperlinked so I could save the thread to a Word doc and then access it again by title to see if there were any updates. OH NO !!! I can't do that any more. This is awful!

I also don't understand the trip report tag. How do you find trip reports? I'm soooooo confused. Maybe I need more coffee to understand what's going on here.

I'm not liking it either. Also having a very hard time with the glare. It is also dificult to read as the type is now so small.

Do not like it!!
It wasn't broke; sorry they "fixed" it!

This is a historic post. For the very first time, I agree in full (well, I do use a Mac) with Ira!!!

Bring back the old ways!!! I can barely read the text!

It sucks...it is not as user friendly and also does not fix a major major flaw that all other modern bulletin boards have.

The poster has no way of editing his post to correct typos and the like. Every other bullentin board I use has that ability. If yo were going to use a new bulletin board format, why not look at bulletin boards such as baseball-fever.com and prepaidgsm.com both of which give the poster the ability to correct typos and otherwise edit posts after they have been posted.....

I'm sorry you felt the need for a change in the format - there was nothing wrong with it IMO. The need, I thought, was for improvements in the "Search" function - has that been accomplished? I miss the "Skip to the most recent" and "back to the top". And how does one save a thread?

I'm totally confused. I was able to navigate the old boards easily, find what I wanted quickly. Now I'm floating in a sea of white space and can't find a thing.

I agree with Tuck,too--now you have to scroll down manually to get to the latest post. This is really really bad!

"Use 'View by tag'"

I tried this one with "Turkey", and one of the answers was about a sandwich with turkey in it.. Hm, I prefered the old way with the list of countries

good things, i like the tag as it resolves the old difficulty or knowing which country is refered too

bad things, lots of scrolling, loss of the top 50, the pale blue on pink. (there are consultants out there who can advise you but believe me pale blue and pink nah)

other than that time will tell

Sorry, but the amount of clutter is not helpful.

What was so bad about the old boards? The only thing that needed fixing, IMO, was the search function! Wonder if that works on the new version.

If aint' broken, don't fix it!

I, unfortunately, like other posters am finding the font too small, the white glare distracting, pink and blue hard to read, slow to load (I have high speed internet) and at first glance NOT logical. I rely on Fodor's, one reason was b/f of the user friendly layout, another ease of nagivation, and ease of reading. Unfortunately, Fodor's forgot many of us readers / travellers need larger fonts and easy to read formats b/c of our aging eyesite. Thumbs down today.

Hi y'all

What Ira said. In spades. and I have got broadband.

all right, I need to spend some time trying out all the new functions, and i like seeing my trip reports under my profile, but why throw the baby out with the bathwater? why couldn't we keep the old so easy to use functions and just improve the old clunky bits? one reason I come here so much is the ease with which you can navigate round the site, adding to current threads, and finding new interesting ones.

if that isn't available, my interest my wain.

yours in hope,

Ann

I am glad that you got rid of the frames design because it doesn't work well on mobile devices (e.g., iPod Touch). I like the "View by Tag" option. To those who say that the text is too small, you should be to enlarge the text through your browser options. In Internet Explorer 6, the option is under the "View" menu: Click View > Text Size and choose the size that works best for you. I use both PC's and Macs. I don't see anything that is specifically a Mac design. This is still a pretty simple, clean layout.

Don't see the big improvement so far, but I am hopeful to find it soon. I am sure I will get used to it, but changes are always uncomfortable at first...especially when there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the old format.

It will take ALOT of getting used to. What was wrong with the old format? It was simple and easy to use. I think you need to rework this in a major way.

As a web developer (who has worked in house, as I assume is the case for the team behind this change) even if something is "working" there is using eventually a push to change and modernize it. While I certainly don't love everything about the new layout, I think that it will just take some time to get used to. I do enjoy that I can immediately mark something as a favorite... something the old site (which used frames) didn't allow.

I hope that people aren't really considering leaving this forum just because of the new layout, since it's the content, not the design that always keeps me coming back.

takemealong - The problem with enlarging text with browser options is that you cannot be selective; you enlarge all the text on the screen. The left side of the screen has small text and the main part of the screen has normal size text. So enlarging the text size for the pink and blue portion of the screen will make the rest of the text very large.

If I want to get past the posts listed as "recent activity' or "new posts", how do I do that?? Is there any way to see ALL posts in chronological order????

Sucks big time. Changing just to change is ... well, dumb.

It stinks.

What Ira said.

It's like driving through Milano.

It is worse than a pair of Walmart sandals worn with white tube socks.

It gets a big THINGORJUS THUMBS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!

ABSOLUTELY DREADFUL!!!!!!!

Thin

Bigger fonts for older readers? Was that the idea behind it?

Actually, I think I can live with it, but it will take a little getting used to. Ask me again in about a week.

Really bad. Far too busy.

To SAVE a specific thread, you just add the webpage to your Favorites (I created a folder called "Fodors threads"). The URL contains the thread title now.

I think the list of threads by 'archive' date is pretty much the same thing as the list of 50 at a time, just broken up by the last post date instead of by a 50-count.

I miss the buttons at the top and bottom of a thread that allows you to "jump" to end or back to beginning.

I hope they reinstate a "Preview" function.

The colours of the thread list - which is the one part one wants to browse through quickly - really put me off. Pale blue scripture on pale orange background is horrible to read. (Or is it supposed to be pink? Looks like spilled and badly wiped grapefruit juice.)

I've been testing the search function and it is much improved. I've taken titles from old threads and have found many of them. So there is one good thing here. I've also learned that even though the thread titles no longer have hyperlinks (when saved to Word docs) the date/time stamps are linked to the thread so if a thread is saved to a Word doc it can be found easily by clicking on the date/time stamp. Although it's not a quick process as it was when the title was linked.

Still wondering about those little orange squares next to some posts???? What do they mean? Does anyone know?

It is a change, but with change comes adaptation. 2 observations. IIRC, the previous format seemed wider right to left than the current. The "view" I see has a margin on both side of the page. And yes, I have the application maximized. Second suggestion is to have a small icon placed near the topic that one has commented on. With the multiple windows it is hard to find the topic(s) that one was communicating in.

Good luck!

I do like the RSS feed - however that's the only thing I like

Someone above asked about the ORANGE SQUARES by some topics. That denotes a "Trip Report".

I miss the split screen and 50 last posts.

Also, changing forum is less straighforward, requiring two clicks instead of one, with the 'view by tag' whatsit helpfully getting the way now.

The 'add a reply' bit is better.

Overall, not quite as easy on the eye as the former layout....

I definitely do not like this new format! Ditto to the other comments. I prefer the old format. So much easier to use. Please bring the old format back!

Monica

Hate it. Don't understand it. Can we go back to nice simple numbered lists, please ? I don't understand the rationale behind the list of my most recent posts and there seems to be nothing to differentiate those updated since I last looked and those not. I also think I'll be spending a lot less time here if it stays like this.

Sorry but I'm with the majority. This is going to take too much getting used to and quite frankly, I just might find a different travel forum to spend my time.

Is the triangle with the exclamation mark meant to be a "report forum abuse" button? That would indeed be a very welcome and positive acquisition. I don't dare click it without knowing what it does, though.
Are there explanations about the new symbols and functions to be found anywhere? Adding a "mouse over" info field to these symbols and buttons would be very helpful.

And why call it "view by tag" instead of "view by country"?

travelnut - Thank you!! How did you know the orange square means trip report? I never would have made the connection between orange square and trip report. I searched all over for some reference to the icon but found none.

Not being a regular, I don't find the new format too bad. I love that the "Next 100" listing is gone. I can more easily navigate through different forums just because it seems "cleaner". I love the idea of tagging Trip Reports!!

That said, I have a few negative comments. The load on some forums is very long (such as in the Europe forum). I agree that there is too much white (wasted) space between topics.

re: <<I think the list of threads by 'archive' date is pretty much the same thing as the list of 50 at a time, just broken up by the last post date instead of by a 50-count.>>

No it isn't-- each day has lots of repeats.

It feels like someone broke my favourite toy - or wrecked my car

I hope I feel better about this tomorrow ...

Steve

I've been building websites since the original days of Mosaic. I've been building bulletin board systems since long before that. So, I have some experience in this.

We all became very comfortable with the old design. While by no means perfect, in fact not even close, it was acceptable. When you make a change to enhance something, then that is a good idea.

I'm trying to figure out what this new design enhances. I still cannot edit or delete a post. Searches work no better than before. It is substantially slower to load. In the past I could just roll back through posts, not so in this version.

I am sorry, but there are a number of open-source BBS out there that are far better than this. Yes, it is "pretty", but I do not see the enhancements.

dave

I agree that the lack of numbers on posts is a problem. Maybe I haven't poked around the site enough, but after I post, how do I find where i was.

And, if I want to see the next oldest group of posts, do I have to use the see posts by day function? I don't like that.

It feels very cumbersome, but maybe I'll get used to it.

How can I edit my responses? No preview??? Dreadful! (But the search function seems to work a lot better)

The thread titles should be in black and the rest of the info in blue to make reading easier. My eyes go first to the black text because of the greater contrast against the white background so I'm focusing on date and time rather than the thread titles. It's hard to see the blue text when the black text pops off the screen and diverts my attention. Date and time is not what's important.

I don't like the new layout. It feels "busier" and more cumbersome. I'm sure I will get used to it, in part, but I just don't see this as an improvement. Maybe some explanation of the changes would help.

I do not like the new format either. Too much wasted space on design.
Trend Girl.

At first I thought "OH NO!" Then with a little clicking here and there began to like it more. I agree with another poster - TOO MUCH WHITE! Very hard on old eyeballs.
O, and Katie, I am able to find my most recent posts which I complained I couldn't do before - THANKS!

PS: Where do we preview our post before sending?

Loved the old format whereby your list of topics remained static but you could scroll down to view comments.
This reminds me of Tescos when for no reason all the food is reshuffled to different parts of the store and you spend ages trying to find what you want.
I left AOL as my ISP mainly because of the change to their message board layout.
Then again it could just be me......not wanting change...a bit of a stick in the mud

Very Very hard to read. Just terrible.

The top layout and headers are messy and confusing. Did no-one user-test what happens when you try and change forum? The drop down list clashes with the "View by tag" box, making it rather difficult to select the Europe option.

This is the first day in years that I didn't spend an hour (or more)here when I first got up.

I feel as if someone moved around all my home town street signs while I was sleeping. It just doesn't feel right.

I agree with most of the negative reactions.

In addition, the colour mix offends my aesthetic sensibilities.

I am visually impaired so the blue on pink is very hard for me to read...Really miss the black and white.

Too busy. Liked the old much better.

I do not like the new format -AT ALL. It may in fact make me look for another site to use.

My initial impression isn't good either. Too busy on the eye, too many things to navigate, not clear at all. Hope this isn't change for change's sake.

Wow, I've been looking around further. I edited my profile and it took soooooooo long to upload a photo. Then when I changed the photo, it took even longer to take. Has anyone else updated their profile? Kind of nice.

I do like the fact I can find all of my trip reports, but I think all these "sections" bogs the system down. So slow!

Don't like that there's no edit and preview like EK mentioned.

I've already sent 2 feedbacks to Fodors, plus this thread is a huge feedback from all of us!

Monica

And the number of responses in the pink column seems a little slow to refresh/update. It's still showing one response when the thread visibly has three or four.

At my age, change is always harsd to adapt to, but I don't think I will ever adapt to this change. I thought the previous format was excellent in every way, but this new system is just change for the sake of change and I must give it the thumbs down.

I'm somewhere in between.

Pros:

- I like that the threads I created are separated from the threads I've commented on.
- I like the profile feature.
- I like that trip reports can be tagged as such.

Cons:

- The forum loads much too slow.
- The white space in the forums is giving me a headache And I have some graphic design experience, so I know the importance of white space... but this just isn't working.
- I loved the simplicity of looking at the list of all topics and being able to go as far back as I like. The day by day method is awkward and unnecessary.

This is after spending just a few minutes browsing around, so it's just a quick overview. I'm trying to keep an open mind, and I know I have a hard time with change to begin with. But it really seems like some of the changes were made just for the sake of change... without looking at the true impact on the end user.

Hardly an improvement IMHO. Slow page load (which could be addressed with additional servers) and the functionality loss in terms of formerly being able to scroll two different sets of information independently.

I understand why they made the change but I can't say it's an improvement. And I wouldn't be surprised if they find the traffic volume down because of it.

I voted for change in the governmentn not change in the Fodor website. There is nothing I like in the new format. Bring back the old. PLEASE.

Fodor's really missed the mark with this change. What always set this board apart from others and made it the most active travel board was the layout. The ability to scroll back through posts on the left while reading a post made it so much easier to use than other boards and that's why it was so active. Why didn't the redesign team get that? When you have one thing that is unique about your board that is creating more traffic for you than other boards, you don't do away with it.

Who cares about the posts with the most responses? A totally unnecessary addition and it's the threads with no or few responses that need attention. It's vary hard to read and has a glare.

I agree with the majority and (sigh) also feel that I will spend much less time here. The old forum had an "immediacy" to it that I do not feel here. But as I often say when things like this happen, "Obla di, obla da....." also, HATE THE FACT THAT I CANNOT PREVIEW!

I suppose I can get used to it, after a long while.

Can someone tell me what's the difference between:
Recent Activity (on the L top)
and
New Topics (in the middle)?

I thought Recent Activity shows the threads that I have participated in, but doesn't look that way.

Also, I miss the:
JUMP TO LAST POST and
JUMP TO FIRST POST links,
and
PREVIEW, EDIT (alto Katie has said that those may come back)

I'm still trying out the new format, but seems like it's not as user-friendly as I had expected.

Gotta say that I'm not loving it. I liked the old format but I'm sure I'll get used to this one - I just don't like change especially when it feels like we are moving backwards rather than improving on what we had!

- I hate that we can't preview our posts!
- I would like to see when a post was started, as many of the other forums I use for various things do. Many posts have similar titles, so if I could hover my cursor over the title and have it show me when the thread was started, I'd know if it was old or new.
- I like that the old forum gave us an option to "jump to most recent post" instead of having to scroll.
- Viewing posts day by day is time consuming and weird.
- I do like the trip report section though!

I know people at Fodor's worked really hard to revamp the site, so I feel bad criticizing right off the bat. Maybe it won't feel so awkward after using it for some time...

Oh, nevermind. I guess RECENT ACTIVITY posts are just like the ones in the old format on the L hand column.

NEW TOPICS are ones that are started TODAY. But are those limited to topics that have ZERO response?

The TOPICS WITH MOST REPLIES is a waste of premium space. I don't see the point. The first post is the Paris where to shop post, with the last reply given over 2 weeks ago.

BTW, does the bold, italic font work here?

I know that you all worked hard on this, but well enough should have been left alone. Now the page is as busy and confusing as tripadvisor.com. In the old system, I could quickly access/read what I needed and move on. I won't be able to do this with this new system. Happy Travels!

Okay, I'll admit that I'm not a big fan of change.....but at first glance, this seems awful. I've been on vacation and away from a computer for the week and now that I've returned I feel like I've lost an old friend. If the saying is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"....well, IMHO it is now broken. What about it Fodors, do you think you can fix it? EJ

I find it terribly confusing. I like simplicity! I have been a Fodorite for 15 years and this is awful.
sj

Very confusing, but I suppose I'll get used to it.

Katie offered this in another thread:
http://www.fodors.com/faq/forums.cfm

It's a must read. I hope more will be forthcoming.

This is an impatient group for sure. And some of you are awfully negative. Human nature, I'm sure. The more I use it, the more I like it. It becomes much more intuitive as you play with it.

I hear the old "frame set" format is a big NO-NO in web design. Just too buggy and impossible to fix. Given that, this new design makes sense to me once you figure it out.

Numbering the posts may not make sense with this new format. Each post has a date and time, just look for it. Numbered posts won't help search function-ability.

I suggest you give this a week or two and make recommendations that are helpful, like adding a "Preview Post" function, an "Edit Post" function, and html instructions.

Like I said, the more I use it, the more I like it. But you must read Katie's FAQ's page. It really helps.

If the idea was to reduce the quantity of forum readers I think you succeeded.

Me again after more thoughts: it's VERY SLOW. Is that because the site is too busy with people complaining?
I can't find JUMP TO LATEST POST feature which I used to use a lot especially in long threads like this. Maybe I've missed it?

Definitely not a fan.

Not being able to scroll through topics??? Not being able to jump to most recent post??? How is this an improvement? Change is hard but the ease of the previous format is gone.

If you hit Control-End, you don't have to scroll manually to the end of the page. Or, as Katie has pointed out in a different thread, if you hit the "Add a reply", it works the same way as the "Jump to latest post" feature. Even if you don't plan to reply.

I'm with the majority on this issue. the old forum was very easy to navigate and research. Change for the sake of change?

I noticed that it seems very slow to load - maybe b/c everyone is checking it out.

The loss of the JUMP TO LATEST feature is great. Please return it!!!!! It sucks having to manually scroll all the way to the end.

Also, I do really disagree with the idea that only the 25 most recent posts will be displayed and the others are archived. Sometimes I come across things that are very interesting just by scrolling through old pages.

Miss the old format.... I guess I will have to get used to it....

The pastels are soothing, but it's more difficult to use than the prior set-up--clumsier to move around and find things. I prefer the prior set-up.

This forum is busted now. Cut your losses Fodor's and go back to the good old format.

BTW, the feedback link produces a 2" wide window that cannot be enlarged. The web designer is an idiot.

I guess I'll get used to it eventually. It is incredibly slow to load, which discourages me from hanging around I'm afraid. Also I find it very bright, all that white. And I miss the top 50 posts list.
I do like the profile, and tagging of trip reports.
I miss a post preview and an edit button though.
Unless it all speeds up considerably I am afraid I shan't be hanging around her much longer though.

Now I just tried it on my PDA and we have a signficant improvement. This means that when I'm traveling I can still access Fodors without loads of silly adverts getting in the way. well done

I'm reserving judgment as to how horrible the changes are--I work on a hi-res 30-inch monitor with Mac, so the best ways for me to size and view pages does not necessarily match everyone else.

However, I do miss the "Jump to Last" and "Jump to First" button. So I tried opening a thread and hitting "command+down arrow" --and it jumped to the end. "Command+up arrow" jumped back to the top of the thread. Maybe something similar would work with the control key on a PC?

Hard to use. When I go to Feb. 15 to view a post and read it, how do I get back to that page? Do I use back arrow under file or what? To get back to the original posting for today, how do I go back? Do I have to go to the bottom of the posting and click view again? Very inconvenient layout. The older way was more logical.

It is about time. I like this new lay out better. Then, again, I am an odd ball!

Gritting my teeth and trying to give it a chance.

Can you put it back the way it was? It just seems unnecessarily difficult to find things

I really hate it so far. It's very confusing.

I reconsidered: And It still stinks.

I am very resistent to the changes especially the colouring. Possibly with time and counselling. . .

Yes, I'm with ellenem when it comes to the 'jump to last' post button - I miss that quick way to see the latest post.
I think we all have to give the new baby a chance to teeth?!

The Easter egg theme is just dreadful. Matched only by the impossibility of easy navigating and the sloooooowwwww loading time.

Uck.

Its too hard on the eye in Blue nothing stands out and its difficult to read

Regarding Jump to the Latest - if you click on Add A Reply (orange box) it does the same function and then click on Home on your keyboard to get to the top.

I'm still looking around but I will list my first positive responses

- the search engine is better - I found trip reports easily that I couldn't find last week
- the profile is a cute addition
- I kind of like the Trip Reports on the main page of a board - could live without Most Active
- don't really care about colours/white space/etc - will get used to
-

And now the negatives

- the loss of the preview function is highly unusual ..... losing functionality in a website redesign is unheard of in my opinion - especially such a basic forum function
- we went round and round this issue with Katie on her original post but the loss of a simple chronological presentation of the board's posts is HUGE in my opinion. 25 most recent is not enough and the "work arounds" that were quickly assembled (i.e. the activity by date) do not replicate the former chronological presentation. It is a certainty that this change will reduce the overall postings (how can I reply to something I can't see) which in turn reduces the overall content (for the search engines to find - the stated objective of the redesign) and then......less advertising revenue - the point of this whole exercise.

(well, I was positive there at the beginning)

Okay, I found a solution to the
JUMP TO LAST POST and JUMP TO FIRST POST

On my laptop, I can hit HOME or END to do those. (or as others have point out, hit the ADD A REPLY button and you will be taken to the bottom of the page).

It's a bit difficult to scroll through the daily archives. Like jkbritt says, I have to use the BACK PAGE button, if I click on any topics on a previous days.

What was wrong with the last format? I don't like change.

Hard to use. Doesn't make sense. Sorry, I just don't care for the change. Jane

Hate it. I will come back in a few days. Sure hope you pull the plug and go back. You won't, so there are other travel sites that you are sending some of to.

I'm glad to read that it isn't just me. I know it takes awhile to get used to changes, but I can't get concentrate on any of it just because of the colors ! I agree, The information is the reason we come to this forum. It has lost its crisp look and easy to use style. Thumbs down on the new changes.

As an older Fodorite I must concur that this is hard to read for me--too much white and the pink has to go. It is like driving thru Milan--I love that one.

Put me in the negative category. I honestly believe that there will be far fewer posters and much less time spent on this site as a result of these changes. I am much less likely to recommend this as a resource now--too confusing and cumbersome. I guess we can be thankful for the past enjoyment but what a tragic loss. Paul

Disappointing! Do not like any aspect of the changes.
stu t.

Wow... compared to the rest of y'all I just LOVE it. I do think it looks more attractive - I hated the frames before - but that said, I agree that the blue and pink is hard to read. For me, the pink section just sort of fades into the background. I think that area needs some work. I also agree that there's tons of white space - white space has a valuable function, but at least on my screen, it just looks like there's a lot of wasted space on the right side of my browser. If we could expand the width of the replies area, that would mean less scrolling. And less scrolling is goooooooood.

With the caveat that I haven't used it much yet at all, the search function does seem to be a lot better. I like being able to tag trip reports and add profile information. Being able to edit posts and message individual members would be great, although I think Katie said at one point that was in the works for the future? I also wonder if there are any plans to allow for easier formatting (bolding, italics, links, etc). One of the other boards I'm on also allows you to skip directly to the first post you haven't yet read. I LOVE that feature. One other suggestion: I post replies much more frequently than I start threads, so for me, having those sections switched on my "home page" would be a lot more convenient.

I'm wondering if this is going to be like the "new Facebook" - everyone hates it for awhile, then we get used to it and everything blows over. Katie and the rest of the team - thanks for all your hard work.

My day is ruined! This is awful. Trying to change "tag" to Austria and nothing is working. Why why why?

So far I agree with all the other posters dislikes. This is now like so many other sites that are so cumbersome and not worth the time. Hopefully things will improve.

I'm getting on here for the first time this morning and just trying to figure it out. HATE the pink background. Who's billiant idea was that?

What's the difference between Recent Activity and New Topics?

Maybe I'll get used to it, but not a good first impression.

I liked the comment "it feels like someone broke my favorite toy".

I REALLY don't get the separation into "most recent" "most comments" whatever! I liked the siderunning 50 most recent posts - that made alot of sense!

I do like being able to click "my profile" and see the threads I posted and commented on. And the additional space in my profile for personal info. But maybe it was like that before and I didn't know it.

I, too, hate to be a naysayer, but why the need to fix something that wasn't broken?
I don't like the changes.

Thank goodness it's not just me. I'm not sure if I just need to get used to it, or I just don't like it. I guess I need a couple of days to play around.

Johanna

Okay, I have spent the last 2 hours playing with this site. I'm getting used to it, altho I still don't like the "view by day archive" function.

I posted another issue on the HELP FORUM. I though Katie had mentioned that we can now easily save a topic/thread into our own FAvorites folder WITHIN our profile, but I don't see that option.

Anyone?

I liked the old one better. This format being new is confusing, but maybe after few weeks I'll get used to it.
Too many things on the screen at one time. One has to concentrate to look for info. The older format was easy and I could use it without much trouble.

What is the point of distinguishing between Recent Activity and New Topics?

In the old scheme of things, it was pretty darned easy to see what was a New Topic - it had 0 replies. Taking up the whole center space for New Topics is a waste of space - and of time for most posters.

Having to go after - what? 10? 25? - threads in Recent Activity to Archives just adds an unnecessary complication. It was soooo easy to go after thread 50 to thread 51.

Change for the sake of change. It's as if whoever's in charge of this was trying to justify their jobs by looking like they were accomplishing something.

Of all the downgrades, and they are downgrades, not being able to simply scroll down for the "last 50" and "next 50" in chron order is the worst.

While I understand the sentiment that "we'll get used to it," I really hope Fodor's steps back and realizes that the changes do not improve this site one bit.

I don't like it at all! Too much to sort through, don't like the colors. Put in a search for 2 bedroom Rome apartment and the search came up with nothing! What's that all about?

I like the ability to see topics you've started separate from topics you've commented on. It took me just minutes to find all of the trip reports I've done over the years.

Slow. I really miss the button that shoots you to the last post. I sometimes am on the forum on my iPhone and the only way I can add to a long post is to go to the most recent using the button. Plus it's sometimes a little buggy at the top of the screen (overlays and such, things not lining up) when I'm looking at a post. The last problem makes it look very beta.

A quick horseback survey indicates that TOO SLOW is the most often-mentioned complaint.

Additional servers won't solve the problem, because your indexing scheme is primitive. I recommend you fall back to the old scripts until you get the file system on this new site revamped.

Agree with rosetravels. In addition to the long load time, losing the "jump to last post" is inconvenient.

I admit I don't like change and I've yet to figure out what the improvements are that will be beneficial to us. I think that's what missing; an explanation of "what's in it for me?" We've complained about poor search engine and apparently not only is that not fixed, you now can only search from the last few years (maybe not a big deal).

It would be nice to see a list of things people complained about when asked what they'd like to see and how those things have been addressed.

Oh boy, this is BADDD!! I was trying to use the "more recent posts" about Italy and all I got was a very unhelpful list of 30 dates in the left column. When I clicked on Feb 18, all I got was 5 Italy posts? What???

And yes, it is excruciatingly SLOW! I've been on Fodor's since the beginning 1996 and this may be the end of me. I'll try for a few days, but I'm not liking what I can't see.

really miss the button that shoots you to the last post

What button that shoots/shot you to the last post? One of the comments I made while this was in development was that they needed to add the function to take each individual to the last unread post in a thread, which didn't exist in the old scheme. They haven't done that yet here, and I'm just not sure what you're referring to.

I haven't read through all the comments yet, and I'm not initially as negative as some of the first posters, but I do have a comment. In the past, the threads in the left-hand column were numbered. Now they're not. So, you click on a title to read that thread, then to return to where you were in the list, you have to "locate" your position -- big waste of time.

More later.

And slooow - I have a T1 connection, and its taking me 10-15 seconds to post a reply.

Tom's Law: Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you should do it.
In this case, the status ante wasn't broken, merely slightly bent.
Now you develop a new model which is broken upon release.
Hope you haven't thrown the old code out....hopefully, since of the 157 posts to date, 1 is positive, 2 are "maybe we'll get used to it, and 154 are negative, you'll flip back before all users desert Fodors.
Maybe my friend "will get used to" psoriasis, but that doesn't mean I look forward to personally experiencing it.

sf7307-
What button that shoots/shot you to the last post? One of the comments I made while this was in development was that they needed to add the function to take each individual to the last unread post in a thread, which didn't exist in the old scheme. They haven't done that yet here, and I'm just not sure what you're referring to.

In the OLD FORMAT, there are "Jump to Last Post" at the top of each topic, and "Jump to First Post" at the bottom of each topic.

Those are gone in the new format. But as many people have already mentioned, if you click "add a reply" button, it automatically brings you to the bottom of the topic. (Or, you can hit the END button on your keyboard, which does the same).

Overall, it's awful -- color, format, navigation, use of space, among other things. If this new format was invented in order to solve some deficiencies in the old format, it didn't succeed very well. I wonder if the deficiencies could have been corrected just as well with modifications in the old format. But what do I know? I'm just a guy who has been on and off this site for years.

Hi again,

well, I've been playing around a bit, and what is bugging me at the moment is the lack of the left-hand column when I first log in, showing the threads to which I've contributed most recently. not only that, but once I've opened a thread, to get back to the list of threads, I have to hit the back button. AND it's nto clear when it's me that's made the last contribution - very irritating to click to see what someone else has said, only to find it's me.

and once I press submit...where am I? in limbo it seems.

I have discovered the "add reply" button to send me to the end of the thread and there's always the slider to take me back to teh top.

Now to try some searching....

regards, ann

I do not like that topics on the left no longer have their own scroll bar - I have to scroll the whole page to get through the page of subjects.

I think it is cluttered. Cumbersome.

Who's bright idea was this new layout? The company president's nephew? Not just because it's new, but overall it's not as convenient to navigate. And you STILL managed to leave out an easy way to report inappropriate postings, something you assured me was in the works and should definitely have been added!

Try to come up with a better format!

Just dreadful-way, way too busy-I completely agree with kybourbon's assessment above-simplicity is best.

I'm having trouble with the new format also. Can't seem to find what I want to find as easily as before. And where is the 'preview' before posting?

Not an improvement. I would often think "why doesn't every site work like this?" It had a narrative flow which seems lost.

Also (and this was a pet peeve with the old format, too)....why is there no way to "remember" what threads you've already read in full? I hate the fact that you have to "guess' whether you've already read all 165 posts in a thread -- it's a waste of precious time.

I'm not logging on as often and I'm afraid I will abandon this site all together. Difficult to follow, find the country I want to read about (France). Have spent many many minutes on this trying to get used to it. I found the old format so much easier to follow, user friendly, here I'm scrolling around, clicking on what I think is Europe, but doesn't show me easily what was written previously.

Why was this done? Just curious as the old site seemed so user-friendly. Are there new laws about inter-active travel sights?

I'm not loving it, but will try to see the positive side.

One note, from what I have seen today, if I click on a thread that I topped or commented on, my own comment is no longer highlighted the way it was in the old version.

I liked that because I could scroll quickly down to find where I stopped reading and pick up with the new replies that came after my highlighted reply.

Please Fodors- bring back the highlighting of your own replies within a thread or mark them in some way to make the scrolling easier!

OK, final comment (definitely maybe): When I click on my name to see what comment I previously made on a thread, only one comes up. In the Olden Days all comments would be highlighted so I could see everything I had said previously. This is helpful for those of us who can't remember.

I don't like it at all. It's difficult to keep track of how far down the list you've gone- and it takes forever for the thread to load once you click on it.

We fear change.

K.I.S. (Keep it simple)! I know a lot of time and effort went into this new site - but it seems too cumbersome and busy. I'm in favor of revamping to more like the way it was!

Another negative, it actually reminds me of forums when they first started...in other words, old and tired looking. I'm sure we'll get used to it, but don't like it at all!

Exammple of what I don't like -- I don't care who made the last reply...so to see it on the side with the list of conversations is just clutter in my mind.

It really wasn't broken so why again were we trying to fix it to something NEW? The old site was so much easier to navigate around especially late at night with a glass of red wine in your hand?

I may find more hours in my day now that I am not going to on this site as much.....

How do you go to the next page to see the other posts, before we had "next" or "previous", now I don't see that, do we have to arrange them by day?

For those who are requesting the last reply you made to a topic, IT IS AVAILABLE!!!

If you go to your profile page, then look under "topics you've commented on" and find the TOPIC, Under the TOPIC, there is a clickable COMMENT - which takes you to your last reply to that topic!

Congratulations. You've managed to take a perfectly functional, logical and simple design and totally screw it up. Please go back to the previous, much easier to navigate system.

Thanks for the feedback everybody--

As you know, we needed to pull the forums out of "frames" for a variety of reasons for the site to continue to grow.

We have tried to replicate as much as possible the look and function of those frames in this new design.

We will be making a number of tweaks based on your feedback. We have flexibility in this set-up and are able to make changes much more easily than we were in the previous format.

A few items of note based on feedback I've received so far today and comments that I've read above.

1) Jump to last post/top of the page
We've added a "back to the top" link; a "jump to last post" will be added shortly.

2) Color of links - updating when a topic has a new post
Does this make sense? This feature is not working correctly---we are trying to fix this.

3) Recent Activity column
Many have mentioned adding numbers to this list--we had removed them since the list is not static and will change when you refresh this page. Seems like it will still anchor many though---so maybe we need to add these back in.

The link at the bottom of the page is essentially "Next". This works well in busier forums (Europe), but is not as helpful in slower forums like "Australia". If you click that link at the bottom of the Europe page, you will come to a page featuring the most recent activity in Europe---all of it for the entire day. At the bottom, you can continue on in the list by viewing yesterday. I realize this is a big change and is awkward---we will make tweaks as we go. These archive pages are constantly changing. Instead of breaking the list into chunks of 50 topics, they're broken into 24 hours segments. By the end of the day, you'll see a full list of Europe's topped topics.

Note: this left-hand column of recent activity should follow you throughout your browsing (except on the search page). If you are not seeing this column please write to us at forums@fodors.com.

4) New Topics
The new topics section features topics in the order that they are started. These topics will also appear under "recent activity". It's basically a way to see what was added on a certain day---we thought this might be helpful for busy forums where new posts tend to be lost. I realize that we used to not feature anything in that center space; we tried to pull in some new ways of viewing topics (new, most replies, trip reports). We'll see what people are interested in and tweak accordingly.

5) Viewing your posts
Someone mentioned missing being able to view the topics that they had posted on in the left-hand column. This function has basically been moved to the profile page; if you click on your name at the top of the page you will have this same view.

6) Slow Slow Slow
The forums are running slow for many---we'll working to optimize load times. Thanks for being patient.

7) Design/Fonts
We've received a lot of feedback about the font, size, and color...feel free to send your feedback too.

These are just a few comments---I don't think I touched on everything but I hope that's a start.

Thanks for your feedback.

I'll give this new site until the end of the week, the new FODORS is very slow and sometimes clicks off as it 'has taken too long'.

Does anyone know of other travel sights similar to the old FODORS? I go to Trip Advisor and prefer this at the moment, but are there any others which are snappy, fast, easy to run.

Hi Katie; I thought before this change, I was going to have a lot of trouble. Didn't understand comments to you with computer terminolgy. Do I know if this is an improvement or not? NO. I will tell you one of my concerns was, will all the posts I have placed into my favorites, still be there. THEY ARE. If I look at either Trip Advisor, Rick Steves or Frommer's format, this format is SO much better. And I'm a frequent Trip Advisor user for hotels. As for 'recent activity, you have maybe six posts. Then it says, 'more recent activity' and you get the whole days worth of activity. Then at the bottom of 'more recent activity', it says, previous days activity and you get the whole days activity [it coudl be 50 or 100 posts, but you get the whole day. The archives in the left hand column is not something I would use. I think my problem is not knowing too much. However, I respect everyones opinions. So, Katie, I'M OK. One thing, please put back PREVIEW and EDIT when posting, as many have suggested. I live by those two options. Iris

One major thing that I don't like is arriving at the forum on a "personal" page. I want to see the forum, and if I want to take a look later at what I've been doing on the forum, that option is fine, but I don't want it imposed on me.

I guess I'm an old fuddy duddy also. Maybe it will take time to get used to, but this doesn't seem very user friendly.

I was addicted to this site, and had to look what was new every day once or twice. Now, I don't know, I just can't get interested. The familiar was easy and fun to go through. This is like starting a new class on some subject I'm having trouble grasping.

MDH will be happy though----I won't be spending so much time on the computer! That is until I find a forum I like to use.

I'll try again to use this as I would miss all the familiar names who comment often.

Correction; 'recent activity' should be 'new topics' and 'more recent activity' should be 'view more recent topics'. Sorry Iris

Bad.

Why do web developers think users want all this crap all over the screen?

The content seems completely disjointed now.

ech. I honestly won't be coming back as frequently. I used to come here every day just to read posts. Now I'll probably only come back if I really, really need info.

I thought I landed in outer space!!!

6) Slow Slow Slow
The forums are running slow for many---we'll working to optimize load times.

I don't know what "working to optimize load times" means, but as long as the system has to SEARCH for posts and threads, it will be slow. The changes from the old system were the wrong ones.

The data structure needs to be redesigned. I can show your staff how to do it, if you like. No cost or obligation.

>>The link at the bottom of the page is essentially "Next".<<

You mean the one that says "view recent activities by day" ?

sorry but it is not user friendly at all!

As many others have said, you've taken a forum that was easy to just stop in, scroll and see topics one might be interested in to a forum that is cumbersome and old fashioned looking...I like many others will probably not frequent as often as before because this takes too long to just scan and see if anything of interest.

But I do have a comment, there seems to be a trend, at least if I base the trends on this new forum and the large telecommunication company I work for, to take away systems that worked very well for the day to day user and muck it up so that the system designers and/or the powers at the top (who don't use the system on a daily basis) think it looks better and or can provide better reports. Sadly, the days of programmers designing for the end user seem to be gone.

MEBoston-- do you mean on the main forum page? I know we previously had nothing on the screen--it was a big white space. Just want to clarify---

Kerouac-- Are you coming here off a bookmark? You don't need to come directly to your profile page.

We are working on a preview function---

In case someone hasn't noticed the "Back to top" has been added. And "Add a repy" takes you to the bottom of the thread. When I first came onto Fodor's this morning I didn't like the new format but have been on Fodor's again for awhile now and I guess I am getting use to it. I was irritated that the Previw and Edit functions have been deleted but than realized I don't have that either for my email and FB doesn't either so at least for me it is not a problem.

I'm with you, LoveItaly. No one likes changes, and I agree this new format is not easy to grasp at the beginning. Some of the new changes make it less user-friendly, specifically the "browse by day activity".

And now that I've been playing around with it for a few hours, I find it easier to navigate. But I can see that people who only come here for 15 minutes a day who want to quickly scroll through the posts... now they'll find it more troublesome to find the posts via a couple more clicks.

There are some positives though: the Search seems to work better. There is a "FLAG" button to report a problematic topic (though I wish there is a FLAG button for each individual response instead of just one for the whole topic).

Don't forget to add a quick link for inappropriate postings!

I understand that this took a lot of time and effort and can appreciate that.

I actually love change contrary to many folks but must admit I do not like this change. I am trying to get used to it but truly do not think it will happen. I can tell already I won't be spending as much time on Fodors just because the new layout is sort of a pain.

I feel like it's the Reader's Digest large print version. There is way too much space between everything, the scrolling gets old, and the baby-theme sidebar is "not good". Overall the forum looks like it was designed for an audience 10 and under.

The things that needed fixing had nothing to do with how the forum looked; personally I wish you had left the format alone and concentrated on other things.

This is really, really horrible. I loved to take a few minutes each day and read the boards...this new system makes that almost impossible...the old systems was so much better and user friendly. If there is anyway to return to the old system, please do it. I will be looking for a more user friendly site and if anyone finds one I hope they will post it here...I know a lot of faithful readers to the old system are hoping to turn to it.

Its 'search' works for me OK. Like so many things, we get used to them ... in time. Considering that it is free of charge, I have no complaints. Thanks!

"Many have mentioned adding numbers to this list--we had removed them since the list is not static and will change when you refresh this page. Seems like it will still anchor many though---so maybe we need to add these back in."

The NYTimes numbers their posts and I believe they remain static. But numbering posts and threads are two different things. Numbering the threads is a feature that worked in "frames" but, once you get used to the new design, I find it easy to focus on the thread title, which is all I care about. However, it is difficult to read the thread titles on the left, maybe because they're not bold like the usernames and the pink background is too dark. I would make the background a little more pale.

I love reading the posts. I like the username blue (link), the light gray date and time, and the fonts. I find the posts VERY EASY TO READ (and I'm not 25.) Obviously, Command+ (mac) Control+ (pc) increases the font size for easier reading.

"As you know, we needed to pull the forums out of "frames" for a variety of reasons for the site to continue to grow."

So, folks, please stop whining about "going back." Frames are problematic and the code is insufficient moving forward.

"We are working on a preview function---"

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Without a Preview button, writing html will be NO FUN! A good travel board HAS TO BE FUN!

Thank you for listening to your readers.

The best part of my day was spending my lunch browsing Fodors Europe forum. Operative word is was. I can't add much as I dislike pretty much what everyone else does. One thing though, is there no quick way back to the Europe "home" page? i find myself at the bottom of this very long post and woncer now what do I do? This would help me manage this change better. However, my first impression is that I will spend less time here as it is just not user friendly.

Oops, I forgot. (Please, how about an Edit function?)

RE: Slow

For me, loading is only slightly slower. I don't have T1 but I have 20mbps. I'm also on a 30-inch, pro-graphic design LCD. Equipment and internet speed can alter the viewing experience for many.

Yuck, yuck, yuck!
I don't much care how it looks, but I'm finding it a lot harder to use for my quick stops in to see what's new.

We have tried to replicate as much as possible the look and function of those frames in this new design.

Katie,

I read the forums at tombihn.com, ricksteves.com's helpline, and bootsnall.com. They do not use frames, just long lists of the threads, newest at top. I have to start at a "front door" (ex.: http://boards.bootsnall.com/), go into a section, then back out to the front to go into the next section.

The pull down menu to jump from forum to forum, here, beats that any day. Keep the menu to changing forums, and If bringing up the Europe page just has all the thread titles, newest to oldest ...

maybe faster????

Thanks for reading.

After spending some more time on the site I am getting more used to it. It saddens me to hear of so many people planning to leave the forum without giving the Fodor's team a chance to properly address our concerns. It seems like they've already begun to implement some of our suggestions. I hope everyone will take deep breath... spend some time playing around with the site and see what happens in the coming days/weeks before biting the bullet and taking off.

In fact, many of the complaints that have been posted on this thread might have been avoided if the poster had taken a bit more time to look around and find the solution. I'm not ragging on everyone - I myself posted complaints that I now realize are groundless after getting more familiar with the setup.

As much as I will miss the simplicity and familiarity of the frames, there were a couple valid reasons Fodors took them away. For one - it was a very old system that couldn't handle the high amount of traffic on this forum. This is part of the reason we've had so many problems logging into the site lately. And also - it was apparently an ineffective way of attracting visitors from search engines which was resulting in a loss of ad revenue. And like it or not - Fodor's is a business, and businesses need revenue to survive.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. While I definitely still miss the old forum, I'm trying my best to get used to this one because the value of the community we have here and the information shared is more important to me than the layout.

Thanks for adding back the jump to last post. Is there anything you can do about highlighting our own posts as you used to. For ex, on this thread, I couldn't find my old post. You used to shade those.

I feel that this is NOT an improvement and regret to say I do not like it....for most of the previouslu mentioned reasons.

The old format was fine. What is the possibility of going back to it?

Taking into account the predictable resistance to change we are all exhibiting here and now as frequent contributors, those changes you've implemented STILL present us with an awkward and tedious format that is in no way as easy to navigate as the previous one. Change for its own sake is not necessarily a good thing unless those designing it understand what they're tinkering with. _PLEASE_ pay close attention to the complaints. Look past the emotional responses and take seriously the criticism you are receiving here and now.

Also, I don't know if it's the font size, typeface or spacing but it all seems to light. Titles for posts used to be bolder.

Kay_P - if you click on "Europe Forum" at the top (in orange), does that take you where you want to go?

I haven't read all the previous comments so may be redundant:

1 . The blue on pink font is small and hard to read.

2. My favorite thing to do was click on my own name and see what/how people had repled to my replies. I can't see how to do this now -- how to I find old posts of mine? Same question: Is there no way for a person who starts a thread to find that thread instantly? Does the person have to scroll through the lists now?

3. Overall the look and feel is not bad, and I think new categories and search tools are probably necesasry to cope with the growth of this forum.

I like it. Less cluttered.

You don't really get your old posts when you click on your name. I clicked someone's name that I knew had easily posted to 10,000 threads. When their list pops up it's only about 6 pages of threads. While it does go back to 2000 or so, it certainly isn't all of that person's posts.

I confess that I am a visual person AND am resistant to change. I'm quite unconfortable with the new format. Time will tell whether I get used to it or not. My employer will thank you if I abandon it all together.

capxxx wrote: "I haven't read all the previous comments so may be redundant..."

Some things haven't changed. "I can't be bothered to read what you say, but think you should read what I say".

capxxx

When you click on your name, it takes you to your profile page.


capxxx's Recent Topic Activity
shows the topics that you have STARTED

Topics capxxx's Commented On
shows all the topics that were NOT STARTED by you, but you had replied to

All the topics are shown chronologically.

capxx - when you click on your name now you can view all of the topics you've participated on and started. The color of the links is not correct though---we are working to fix that. They should go from blue to gray when clicked; but should revert to blue when there is a new post.

It is sad to read the people who say they will not come back here due to the new format. I pick the message boards I like based on the quality of information I receive from them, not the look. Fodor's has some of the best information and the quickest replies.

Most people don't like change but usually there are reasons for them that the average viewer doesn't know. I think the new look is very moderm and will work fine once everybody gets used to it.

RE: slow

As a stopgap, you should increase the size of your file cache (i.e. shell out for some RAM). A few gigs should help.

I suppose I should applaud the new design because it means I'll be spending less time here. DH will appreciate that!

As far as I can tell, what people hated most about the old version was the lousy search function. If that hasn't been dramatically improved, the other changes aren't justified. If it has--and I mean REALLY REALLY improved--then I might get get used to it.

Overall, my view of this re-design: Fodors New Coke.
Maybe I'm just a Fodors Classic kind of poster.

(And please don't suggest that I feel this way because I'm afraid of change. I've recently changed jobs, changed careers, changed homes, and worked on a corporate program re-design involving more than 30,000 people. Plus I voted for Obama. Fear of change ain't my problem.)

Katie...
Unlike the previous format, the entire page here (pink and white) does not fit on my screen and I have to constantly shift left and right. Can this be corrected? Can the thread be condensed into more of a column? To use up some of the excessive white space and to take up less room horizontally and vertically, can the typeface be tighter?

Fear of change is not my problem either. I read a number of forums, with many different formats, and Fodors used to be near the top for readability. Now it's near the bottom. It's not that I can't figure out the features, as I routinely figure out much more complicated stuff, but the whole experience is much less pleasant.

I was spending too much time here, so that will be alleviated.

It's just too much....I don't know if it's the white, the color, the layout or what. Makes my eyes what to cross. What was wrong with the old way? Please change it back.

I haven't been here for a few years. Just came back a few days ago to glean some info and to ask a few questions. Then yesterday I couldn't access the page. Guess you were finalizing your changes. Now today I'm navigating a totally sphere. I must say this is NOT my idea of "user friendly." I really enjoyed the old version because I could choose a theme and run with it - -reading reams of different threads; things that brought questions to mind that I hadn't even thought of before. Please. I won't make any excuses for why I am the way I am or why I may not like change, but I truly don't like what you've managed to do to a perfectly wonderful system of people interaction. I don't like the new version. And it certainly doesn't seem to enhance ease of finding information. It's now easier for me to just write words into Google and see what turns up. Fodor's was the GREATEST travel site before. Why in the name of all that's good did you think it needed changing? Can't we please have it back the way it was? Please?

First look- don't like it but I guess that is natural with change of any kind? Second look- go back to old format!

Hate-hate-hate. Sorry.

Here's my review that I've just sent to the editors:

Sorry to say that, but the new layout is devastating. It's time-consuming. It's user-unfriendly. But it's also pretty, yes, that's true. Not a website's most important feature, though: if you cannot achieve a pretty design without damaging functionality, then you shouldn't be a web designer.

The worst thing, for me, is that I cannot view the threads on which I've already posted in the left column. This is essential to my way of using the forums! First thing in the morning, I check if there is anything new on "my" threads. I very, very rarely check "new" threads. I usually just post where people know they can find me, i.e. on my own threads. And having always to jump to my "profile" (what a profoundly unnecessary page!!!) to get to the next of "my" threads is simply aaaaaaaaarrrrrrghhh.

And the same is true for any other user whose threads I want to check - they're never in the left column, and if I want to browse that user's contributions, I have to go back to his/her "profile" after every single thread. I'd REALLY to know what the web designers thought when making these changes!!!????

And of course, this same nightmare feature of the new forums occurs for every kind of search: there's always a separate page for the search results, where you have to return after every viewed thread. Which is particularly annoying since the forum didn't become any quicker - on the contrary: loading times are rather (even!!) longer than before.

But enabling users to do intelligent searches wasn't obviously the designers' desire: do a normal search using the search box, and the search is being done for threads with the search term in the TOPIC TITLE. Excuse me? Who really thinks these threads will be the "best" search results? In order to get any useful results, thus, I have to start the search again, checking the "search full topic" box. Two more, totally useless clicks. And many people won't even notice, and never get any valuable search results.

Next problem: when checking somebody's threads, there are by no means 50 threads per page, as we're used to. Much less. 25? Didn't count them, but anyway: it's maddening to have to click so very often.

To sum it up: as an independent businessman, I've commissioned and supervised the making of more than one website. If any of my staff had come up with a concept like the one now implemented on Fodor's, I'd have made them restart from scratch.

Some of you might be interested in a comment I sent to the "Feedback" link.

"Have you checked the color combinations on the new site? I am not color blind, but my son is. He has trouble reading the text against the pink background. He has even more trouble in distinguishing the "grayed out" thread titles that have appear after he has opened one. About 8% of males suffer from this disability to some extent, so you might consider checking with experts to see if this can be minimized by careful color choices."

I liked the function that allowed you to go to the most recent comments from the top. Then go back to the top when done reading the comments.
I must say that the new format is really user UNfriendly. The new one does not improve on any point!

Opps, I just saw the Back to top function. I'll need time to learn the new format.
Margo

Change is fine. Change for the worse is not. I will now have extra time, since I won't be using Fodors much anymore. Just a note to Fodors... since the RS Travelers' Helpline was updated, they at least give you a choice of which you prefer to search... old or new version. This new Fodors look is terrible. Sorry.

Paul

This isn't boding well for Fodors. 231 replies now, and not a one of them is positive. Well, admittedly, I didn't read all 200+ of them, but I have to say I agree with the sampling I did read... this is terrible.

I'm not sorry to see the end of the 'frames'. I never did get used to independent scrolling, anyway. So far I have found the new format a little confusing but am willing to invest some time in exploring it and see whether or not it allows me to do everything I want to do.

A couple of quick comments:

The blue and pink list on the left confuses me. It does not seem to obey the tags but always shows posts from the whole region forum. I tend to focus very much on my next and my last holiday. As such, even country is too wide for me, let alone region. I am not interested in seeing all the posts for Europe jumbled up together. I don't even want to see all the posts for the UK jumbled up together. I would like to deal with 'Scotland' or 'Ireland' or 'Wales' or 'The West Country' or 'The Lake District'. Most forums I use provide the capability to 'drill down' so as to narrow the amount of material one has to deal with. Maybe I will find that the new Fodors forums do, in fact, allow this 'drilling down'. Maybe I just haven't found out how yet.

Unlike many others on the forums, I am generally not too fussed about 'Preview'. I tend to type, check and post. However, I find it most irritating to discover later that I have made a typo but that I cannot edit the post to fix it.
In the past I have visited the forum many times without logging in just to check whether or not someone has responded in a particular thread. I have usually been able to find that thread relatively quickly. My first impression of the new design is that I will need to log in in order to find the thread to check if anyone has posted since my last visit. If it is a thread that I am simply following, but have not posted to, I'm not sure that I will be able to find it at all unless I add it to my Favourites in my browser. My browser Favourites are already extensive. I shudder at clogging it up with yet more clutter.

Anyway, as I said, I am prepared to play around with the new format until I have a better understanding of it and will then comment from a more informed base.

"View recent activity for topics tagged United Kingdom by day"

Does this mean I can only find previous thread by clicking on the date since they are not listed by Title now? That means you have to click on everydate until you find the thread we are looking for?

I don't like the new look, takes too long to find a thread.

UGH ! ! !

It appears that out of 225 replies that 223 are mildly to vehemently negative and that 2 are mildly positive.

This should be a commercial concern to the powers that be, who certainly are aware that if the eye-ball count drops, so does advertising revenue.

When you clicked on a person's name to see posts by that person, these posts would he "highlighted" in grey. Not anymore.

Earlier I said I didn't like it. I was wrong.


I HATE it.

I'm a bit bemused by the comments from the people who are starting to get used to the changes after several solid hours surfing, or after reading detailed Editor notes on the changes.

The idea of a user-friendly or intuative interface is that you don't have to practice hard or need instructions to get it to work!

Hi everybody--thank you so much for the feedback. I've received hundreds of emails with your thoughts good and bad. You've given our team a lot of ideas today and I appreciate the constructive criticism.

This is a new design and backend---so there will be lots of room for improvements. This new setup makes it possible for us to be much more flexible moving forward. That's why your feedback is so appreciated.

A new search, profiles, RSS feeds, a searchable site from outside search engines---these were all things that we're excited to now offer.

I wanted to touch briefly on some of the comments mentioned above and feedback I've received today.

Jump to most recent reply
Many of your were unhappy with the missing "back to top"/"jump to last message" link in the topics. We have since added this. Someone also mentioned posting one at the bottom of the left-hand column.

Colors, fonts, white space
Some of you were not happy with the amount of white on the page, fonts, and colors. I think the 'excess' white might be due to the extra space between each post; some have said that this has made the posts easier to read---but others have found it to be too much glare/white. The colors and fonts can definitely be tweaked; we're going to look at the feedback as a whole to figure out how we can best improve it.

Missing preview function
We are working on this; it wasn't working properly at launch so we need more time to fix it. Thanks for being patient.

What's up with the search?
The site search does a quick search of topic titles---all topics in the entire database stretching back to the beginning.

The advanced search enables you to do more specific searches. Making this advanced search the site's basic search would have potentially caused many crashes---thus it being placed on the secondary page. Some of mentioned missing a search by tag---we can see about adding this.

Most Recent Activity
We've received the most feedback about this particular feature. The column was meant to come close to replicating the look and function of the previous column we had in that left-hand column space. Since we are no longer using frames, it can't quite work the same way. But we can certainly tweak this based on your feedback.

The link at the bottom of the column takes you to the full day's list of activity; these pages are always changing. This set-up is awkward for many of you and we are going to work hard to make it more seamless and/or adjust it so that it is easier to use. In the busier forums like Europe, I like that you can see so many topics at once: http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/2009/02/18/

But I can also see how as you continue through the pages, especially on slower forums or on country/state pages it can be tedious. Thanks for your feedback in this area.

Blue/Grey Links When There's a New Post
The color changes for the links (when there is a new reply since you last looked) are not working properly. We are working on these now--when they're fixed I think it will be much clearer what has a new post.

I'm still sorting, reading, and responding to feedback as I receive it. I can't thank you all enough for sharing your comments and suggestions. If I haven't responded to your email today, I should be able to by tomorrow.

Thanks again!

I really dislike this format. Many years ago, I kept AOL because they had a great travel board. But just like Fodors, they "improved" it. It went from great information to nothing. Now if you look at AOL travel boards there is virtually no informaiton availble. The change at AOL is why I came to Fodors. Now I might be traveling to find another board.

What a change! I suppose we'll get used to it. Please bring back the Preview function.

AOL changed their travel message board format a few years ago and the change caused an exodus.

Ok, I've spent the better part of the day trying to figure this all out and while I understand the format better, I still hate it. It reminds me of the old AOL travel board that use to get a lot of readers/replies, then they changed it around and it became useless...they get very few posts anymore and while I once checked it regularly I haven't looked at it in years...I fear that will happen now with this board...really a shame...hope someone can fix this or start a new board that is user friendly.

" For one - it was a very old system that couldn't handle the high amount of traffic on this forum. This is part of the reason we've had so many problems logging into the site lately."

Looks like they've solved that problem - make it less usable, less traffic will result.

I just tried to read all the messages and after about 10, my eyes just couldn't take anymore glare. Really loved this forum, sorry to see it made so user unfriendly.

Sorry but this is horrible.

I read several message boards and this has to be the worst layout out there.

They may have killed it!@

i know change is difficult, but i think i can get used to it in time.

things i do like:
1. the new search engine is fantastic!

2. i LIKE the profile page. i like seeing separate lists of what i've commented on and what i've posted. I also like my trip reports there. hopefully, they'll fix the blue/gray ink thing so you can tell if anything's changed since you last looked.

what i don't mind:
1. no preview button -- i don't miss the preview button because i always scroll back up and proofread my post before posting, so i never used the "preview" button. isn't scrolling back up as easy as pressing a preview button? there's so much more room now in the text box, you might not even need to scroll up. just simply reread your post.

2. only 25 posts in the recent activity column -- if you click on the "recent activity by day" you get ALL the posts (in order) from that day (way more than 50!). then you can go back a day if you want. how is that different or difficult than just clicking on ("next 50 threads")

what i haven't figured out yet...
1. when you click on "more trip reports", there doesn't seem to be any kind of chronological organization to the reports. (like they are on the first page) is there a specific search engine for trip reports to a specific place (ie PARIS)?

2. why the need for "topics with most replies"


Also, I think it was working really slowly this morning because of all the people on the server. it seems to be working a lot faster this afternoon....

i hope everyone perseveres and tries to get used to this, and i hope fodors works hard to fix the tweaks. this forum is so much better than others out there, mostly because of the wonderful and smart people who contribute thoughtfully and generously.

hang in there for now...

dina

Went out for dinner, now been back 20 minutes and still the old system isn't back. Oh dear. I don't have time to spend a hour a day or so fiddling about.

Please, if anyone could post two or three other travel sites which are like the old FODORS or better, please could you post them here. Much appreciated.

Need easy to access info on France, Rome and Australia.

Many thanks

I tried again. It's just awful. It really is.

Don't break down the posts by "new" and "recent activity.
Just give a list of posts. It's too disjointed.

Opening the Europe forum I get a list of 30 forum threads on the (already complained about) orange column but there is no option to "turn the page" and get threads 31 ff. The "archive" opens a list of thread headlines in the center field. There is no way of having the full list, scrolling down and opening the threads I'm interested in while still having the list of threads on the left.

I'm afraid the Germany forum will have to get by without me for a while.

So where is everyone going to play? The "new" and "recent activity" alone is just enough to drive me off. HUH? And for countries without a lot of activity (i.e., Portugal) it has the SAME threads. GEE that was "helpful" LOL!

Could you put back the picture of your staff members (or modesl posing as staff members), telling us they're hard at work updating the forums? I'd like to print it off and put it on my dart board.

I think the new format is a huge improvement. Navigation is greatly improved and finding an interesting post is much easier.

I should like to suggest that your organizational structure could be enhanced my making countries part of the directory path rather than continents, a much too broad area of interest.

I don't understand it. People are always changing things. Just put it back the way it was. Sabbin

Uh, hate to say I don't get it, but I DON'T GET IT! Not user friendly, too much white space, takes to long to scroll through and all the other reasons listed above. Why fix something that's not broken?

Here I am trying to research my Ireland trip and I've sorted by "Ireland" tag -- but I'm stuck with a list of EUROPE posts in the left hand column...when all I really want is the activity about Ireland, not Spain, Italy, etc. The Ireland stuff is in the center, but once I click on a given thread, I can't see the rest of the Ireland list -- that's really NOT an improvement. Plus, I'll miss half my typos (sorry, folks!) if I can't "preview"....

ditto on the 255 previous replies

so i know its not an improvement, my last post hasn't been responded to in the last hour, usually I would get 1/2 dozen hits in the first hour, so far zippo nadda

This is just what I need! I have been spending too much time on my computer lately, and this new Fodor's format is the perfect antidote!

Oh, where is the preview button? I want to check my post for typos.

Kay_P - if you click on "Europe Forum" at the top (in orange), does that take you where you want to go?

I am at the bottom of these 255 almost unanimously negative posts and don't see the orange Europe Forum button. Can't the navigation buttons travel with the thread other sites do this. Keep the navigation bar (or whatever the official web site term is) visible on the "page". But really what I miss is being able to seamlessly look at the posts that used to be on the left side. The dreaded frame issue.

By the way don't I like being accused of not liking change. Well not me personally, but all of us who just say no to this change. We all cope with change everyday. Sometimes you just like something because it offers you what you want. Fodors offered many, many people of all variety what they wanted. I am hearing loud and clear that this amazing varied group of people is no longer getting what they wanted in a travel message board - easy access to really helpful information.

I really do hate it. I've spent quite a while today fiddling around with it and it just doesn't work well.
The only simple way of keeping an eye on things is with the RSS feed.
I have a blister on my finger from all the scrolling.

FIX IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!

I like it NOT AT ALL. The old format was much more user-friendly; the change puts it in the same league as several other travel sites that I rarely use for exactly this reason.
The new format is difficult to read and navigate; it strikes me as being the usual change-for-the-sake-of-bored-programmers thing. Boo!

I haven't been here in awhile. Whoa! When did this new layout begin? Its absolutely horrible! The worst thing is how slow the site is compared to before. And the search function is pretty much useless. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm not wasting any more time trying to figure this out. There are plenty of other travel forums out there.

everything seems to get dumbed down, clothes, service, tv,
and now fodors.

Put me in the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" category! I've played around with it a bit, and find it waayy too busy and definitely less user-friendly. I've noted the following:

1) I really miss "NEXT" in the left hand column. The daily archives are cumbersome and and less easy to use or find posts.

2) REALLY ANNOYING: After scrolling down a long list of posts (this one for instance), I completely lose the left hand column. For instance, in this post, it's completely white after post #22. So this forces me to scroll down to the bottom or return to the top if I want to get out of this post before reading to the end. This is really clunky.

3) Something else irritating: once I click on a post that is not a trip report, I lose the link for "more trip reports".

4)The "New Topics" and "Topics with most replies" categories are close to useless. This was self-evident with the old system - popular topics rose to the top and how long does a "new topic" last anyway?

The only thing I really do like is the Trip Report category, which is why losing that link with "non-trip report" posts is especially frustrating!

Oh yes, it is SOOOOOOOO SLOOOOOWWWW!

Please get back to the basics soon, okay?

thanks,
Paule

I've been on this board for 7-8 years now and there are lots of highly-intelligent people who post here.

Fodors, please listen to them.

"Looks like they've solved that problem - make it less usable, less traffic will result."

SLOW!

I rarely comment on changes like these, but they're so bad that I feel compelled to join the chorus of boos.

This new layout must be Fodors' way of punishing me for failing to visit the site in the last 2 years. Yes, after a two-year hiatus I come to my beloved Fodors and this is what I find. I apologize for being gone! Now can I please have a regular-looking forum?

It's kind of like the "New Coke" fiasco of years past-what WERE they thinking? I had to zoom the whole thing twice or I would never have been able to read it!

Don't like it at all. Did you really receive so much user feedback on the old site that you felt compelled to change it?

Did you consult real end-users when you designed the new interface?

These are the first rules of software application development. Maybe you did get the user input, but if you did, all this negative feedback you're getting really surprises me.

I don't think I can add any more to how bad I think the new format is. The amazing thing is that someone was actually paid to do this to Fodor's.

cigalechanta you hit it right on the head "everything seems to get dumbed down" this is exactly what happened to eBay when they started screwing around with their layout.

Anyway, I can cope with change, but this is just silly. I WISH I had hours and hours per day to spend here, but I don't so the time I do spend here (like many others) has to be efficient, and scrolling and searching and trying to find something is just not going to cut it.

sloooooooooooooow

reeeeeally slow...

On the other hand, the search engine is vastly improved.

WAAAAAAY too hard on the eyes. Guess I'll just stick with TripAdvisor from now on. Boo hoo. This makes me so sad.

Kind of reminds me of the changes made by AOL to improve their AOL travel message boards. Now look at their Italy board.. Why mess with success.

If it ain't broke don't fix it. It wasn't broke.

Loved it the way it was. Hate it now!

What a mess. When I click on threads I've contributed to, my response is no longer highlighted...so it makes it much harder to find.

Doing research for a trip here is now very difficult. There's no logical order.

Please admit the mistake and don't cram this thing down everybody's throats.

Obviously, someone from a competing website, perhaps from that Euro trip cult in the vicinity of Seattle, was sent as a sabateur to Fodors to "improve" things.

Outside of the site being pretty darned slow (which they said they were working to correct), it seems pretty easy to navigate to me. Of course, I haven't tried it after a cocktail or two. As for the orange, it reminds me of the color I painted my living room walls in the first house I bought. Hey, we give our new president 100 days (well, not all of you do), so why not give this a little time?

Well, I would like the preview button back, so I could have corrected orange to peach, but you get the idea.

I'm amazed at the response. I am willing to try it on for awhile until I get used to it. The colors don't bother me, my eyes don't hurt, and I think I figured out most things in a very short time. I like the profiles and a couple of other features.

I thought travelers were a flexible lot!

1* The font size is too large (and I'm an old codger!)
2* There is too much 'white'? space on the screen at any one viewing.
3* I have broadband, and this arrangement is much slower to load than the previous.
4* I note that many of the critics above are regular and respected users of this site, whose opinions I value: the designers should, I suspect, listen to them.

Way too much white space, very slow, not simple, hard to find my own posts, too much scrolling, etc, etc, etc. I only assume that because of the difficulty of use, readership will decline.

I have been using this forum for over 15 years; I detest the new format. This is an example of change for the sake of change. Just because its newer doesn't mean it is better and in this case, it is worse.
Did you consider asking users what they wanted? If they wanted this change or any change?

Well, I've just had my second go at it and I like it even less now. I can't find the posts I've been following. The improved search still can't locate my last trip report. I'm scrolling all over the place and I can't sort trip reports by country. And who cares, OR KNOWS, what day a post was started? Why would we want to look up posts that way?

I much prefered the most recent posts being at the top, and more of them.

I think people are having trouble with this. I answered someone's question about car rental in Orvieto at 11:30 am this morning and no one else has answered! His post has dropped off the radar already with the new format. How discouraging for him.

Dayle
Is this the TR you're looking for?
http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/wildflowers-mosquitoes-and-bison---oh-my.cfm

To find the posts you have started OR you have responded to, just click on your own username which will take you to your profile page. You can find all your posts there (including your TR).

Yikes..could not jump to last post on the threads I had started...but lo behold I could on this thread.
I tried to email Fodors with comments but the page could not be enlarged so I could not 'send' my email.
I am willing to give it a try as old habits break hard. Hadn't time to read all the postings on this thread..sorry!

So SLOW...yikes.

I don't like that only 25 post come up in the recent activity list.

The search engine at first glance looks like it works much better.

somebody has change confused with progress.
This is change, but for what purpose?
I don't like it and as a result I probably have used the Forum for close to the last time. I will check in to see if it has improved, but given the thinking power behind this new craziness, I can only expect that things will get worse.

I predict that usage will fall drastically because it is not useful for anything I can figure.

Blue on Pink just does not work. Can any one read this without eye strain? After a very brief time reading this thread, my eyes hurt. The white space is blinding, and I wonder if a thicker font would decrease the eye strain.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I just wanna cry

Gee I am surprised by all the negative replies. I like the new format.

I haven't had time to figure out whether this site is user friendly or not, but I can say that white white white of this is tough on my eyes. Not at all comfortable. I'm not a happy camper right now.

Another boo from me.

Definately a step back, I always found this site so easy to use now it looks prettier but not as attractive to use.

As somebody else said, it makes the decision easier not to log on

Geordie

I thought travelers were a flexible lot!

With all due respect, Grasshopper, being "flexible" is not the same as being insensitive! I've stayed in my share of disappointing pensions, slept on the floor of a few funky train stations, eaten more than a few meals that resulted in food poisoning -- you name it. And I've never let any of those experiences deter me from getting back out there.
But those experiences were bumps in the road; I can look back on them and laugh/be proud of myself/realize how much I learned from them, etc. They are not, however, experiences that I actively seek when I travel!

I spent all day looking for the trip report section and I finally found it by accident. It looks like you can only view it when you initially go into the Europe forum (for European trip reports). If you've already viewed a post, this section is no longer visible.

The thing I miss most is the 50 threads on the LHS and the ease of browsing.
But the search function is SO much better.
And I like the idea of the trip reports being tagged.

I think I can get used to this.

But the best thing on this forum is how active everyone is. Proof in this thread.

Please don't all leave. I love the people here.

I have to say, I don't like it either. I choose to go to the Italy topics and then it's still showing me the most recent activity in all of Europe on the left. I want to see the Italy stuff only, not Greenland,... until I'm ready to visit Greenland.

It's just not as user friendly as far as quickly seeing what I want and not extra stuff.

Very frustrating!! I use Fodors because of the ease of use, the people, etc. I've tried other forum sites but never have been able to navigate as easily. AHHHHHH

Ugh - it's the end of an extra long work day for me, and for the life of me, I can't figure out the new system.

Am I right in thinking that the easiest way to read topics is just to focus on the "recent entries" area on the left side of the screen(the area with blue font on pink background)? From what I can gather, it's better to not even look at what's happening on the right side of the screen.

this new forum is a HOT mess... I have enjoyed posting and reading here for years, but now I might have to find a new travel forum site and it is a shame..

there was nothing wrong with the old forum but the search engine.

I follow a good number of forums on a wide range of subjects (not exclusively travel) and I find that overall, this new format works well. It's not the finest format I have used but it's far from the worst. Once everyone acclimates to the changes, the furor will subside.

The edit function is an important omission and I personally should like to see individual forums by country, not just continent. Hopefully format tweaking will continue.

One tip for those who may find scrolling down a long thread annoying: tap the space bar.

Wow.. and not a good wow. I lost all of my bookmarks. They all revert me to the main page which, as apatinage said, is a hot mess.

I'm going to France at the end of May and I don't have time to go through all of the threads that I had bookmarked I'm upset that I spent so much time researching and saving info and now it's all gone

The colors and font aren't easy on the eyes either....

After using this today it seems that this will be a place I might go if I have a specific question but not some place I will spend a lot of time on. It is not welcoming, and it's too much like the other cumbersome travel forums.

I can learn this new format but do I really want to? Not really. I'd much rather spend my time browsing, asking, answering on the old format than studying this mish-mash. Maybe I'll have an attitude adjustment by morning, but right now, in its present form, this forum just doesn't interest me. I'll check back when all the "improvements" are implemented.

I'm really disappointed. Fodors was my favorite travel website. I agree that it was easy to scroll down to the subjects that interested me. Now, not so much. I concur, if it ain't broke...

Katie_H,

Why don't you go back to the old format and tweak that. This new format is way beyond tweaking. It is a disaster. I have no interest in participating any more.

So sorry. I'm following the thread with interest, but I clicked on Submit by mistake.

Hate it, hate it, hate it. It is not intuitive to use anymore. Too much blank space. I don't like the uninformative posts by date nor do I like the lack of many, many posts in the lefthand column. Plese put it back.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!

Katie - save us all a lot of aggravation ... is this the way it is going to stay regardless of what we think?

I have not replied earlier as I wanted to give this a chance and spend some time playing around.

Love: The new search function is a great improvement.
Trip Reports section is great.

Hate: New Topics and Topics with Most Replies - what's the
point? Am I missing something here?
No Edit Function - surely this is a simple basic
requirement.
Sorry but the colour is awful and yes, it made
my eyes hurt too.

Overall: I will get used to it but please make the changes that everyone seems to be in agreement about otherwise it looks like we might lose something special. And that special thing is a place we can all be friends and share our love of travel. I don't know anyone here, I live on the other side of the world, but I love just being in your company and enjoying your friendship.

Maudie

A Big Mistake. There is no point in changing things just because you can. It's back to TRIP ADVISOR for me.

I fully agree with Ira, I used to do the same, now I have trouble and find things I am not interested in. It is not an old dog learning new tricks; this is no user-friendly for me anymore. I may end up using the forum for my own needs only, and not to exchange experiences.
If something works fine, why change it?

I clicked on 'Add a reply' - then waited, and waited, wondering what would happen next. Then I realised - there is a box for typing my response in, but the outline is so faint it really is almost invisible on my screen!!!

I don't see any of the pink colour that others are referring to, but the aqua blue headings are verrrrry irritating to my eyes. Previously I enjoyed scrolling down the left hand side of the screen to look for headings that were of interest to me, but now the aqua blue font is so hard on my eyes that I've given up.

Oh, now that I've typed enough text, a scroll bar and arrows have appeared to the left of this text box . . . that makes it a little easier to see.

Hopefully you are taking note of all these suggestions, and we'll soon be back to the Fodor's we love! Di

Love it! RSS - GOOD. Share with a Friend - GOOD. Recent Activity side bar - GOOD. View by Tag - GOOD. New look and feel - VERY GOOD. Topics with Most Replies - VERY GOOD. Complaints about new look and feel - not at all surprising. Change is hard to deal with. But I thought your web site was looking and acting pretty dated.

Thanks for all of the improvements.

Oh, and cool zebra bar after clicking "Submit." EXCELLENT!

It Stinks !! - Long Term Viewer

Oh, to go back to the previous layout... Shall I click my heels three times?

Another positive: when I use my iPhone to access the forum the width of the text fits well on the screen.

Probably the biggest negative for me is the much smaller number of threads that I can scan easily---on the order of 10 on the first page, as compared to 50 or so previously. I end up reading (and considering contributing to) many fewer threads as a result.

Please lets get back the old format, was much more easy to spot on posts, easier to navigate and was much faster.

This is to hard to get used to.

Katie, can you not do something for the old format change again, it was the best ever forum I have seen comparing anything on any travel related forum.

Murat

Thanks for pointing out the iPhone/Touch improvement, Therese. MUCH better.

I'm a long-term viewer, too, by the way.

FWIW I never did like the ever-changing list of topics along the left-hand side. I read many different types of forums and I thought the Fodors interface was one of the strangest and least user-friendly set-ups that I had to deal with.

I'm sure that you Fodorites know how to use RSS. If not, you might do a little research. With RSS the stuff you are interested in comes to you and you no longer have to go to it. I use NetNewsWire on my Mac but there are plenty of other choices.

If you use iGoogle for for home page, you can have all of the pertinent things you are interested in on the Fodors forums show up in one place when you launch your browser. Very user friendly. And very 21st century.

I really like the trip report section, and the little "flags" which indicate a trip report.

HOWEVER... When I click on "View Recent Activity for Today", the little "flags" don't appear in front of the trip reports. What's the use of having the flags if there is no consistency?

(Sorry if this was addressed in an earlier post. I didn't read through all 325 responses).

By the way, I really dislike not having the preview and edit options.

Robyn

I am definitely not enthused.

I've already figured out that the way that I will likely use this site is via the daily archive. There are about 2 hours worth of 'recent activity' posts showing on the left hand side. Since I don't check the website every two hours, the only way to see what's been posted recently is to use the daily archive. At least that functionality most closely matches how I used to browse this site.

So, can you please move the 'view recent activity by day' button to the top of the page, to make it more accessible? That change alone might make it a little easier to forgive all the other nonsense on the page.

Also, putting the post titles in light blue makes it really hard to see what they are. I'm much more interested in seeing the post titles than I am the statistics on the post.

I'm not happy with this change, but as long as the post quality doesn't diminish, I'll still be here.

Proves the old adage - if its not broke why break it.

Still can't get used to the "blue on pink" in the left frame.

If we must keep the pink, "black on pink" and the the accessed posts colored "blue on pink" would be helpful.

I posted this in the Forums Help thread, but adding it to this collection, too.

I think the forum would be much simpler and user-friendly if all the 'sections' were collapsed into one or two at most, being the 'Recent Activity/Archive' and 'Trip Reports'. If the Trip Reports remain flagged, they could simply be left within the one surviving section.

I don't think we care about segmenting out 'most replies' and 'new' - just let them flow within the greater population of threads. I don't read threads because they're new or have lots of replies - I read them for the Topic.

The Topic needs to be 'bolded' for easier scanning.

Add back the 'Preview' and 'Edit' function, and you're good to go.

Hi; To all you unhappy people that are leaving Fodor's for a better travel web site, PLEASE post that site for all to see. I would suggest you will not find a better site than the new Fodor's. There are many good constructive comments for Fodor's to consider on this post. When you think about it, all this is, is a 'travel web site'. Many of the emotional replys are incredible. Plus there are also a few 'sick' replys [as in the dart board]. ENJOY Iris

I agree -- I will not be going elsewhere, just not coming here as often -- this is simply too difficult to get through. Much of the appeal of the previous format was its simplicity both to use and visually. Fodors -- Sorry you did this.

In addition to my other complaints above, I think that the PROFILE section is terrible. You are allotting approximately 20 characters for us to list our "favorite destinations???"

A "Destination Wish List" in 20 characters?? Same size for "next trip??" Maybe that works if your next trip is to Las Vegas, or to Paris.

There is no room for any kind of thoughtful response in those boxes.

How can any widely traveled person choose ONE favorite hotel or restaurant?

I doubt if I will look at that section again.

Very Clunky! What made this site nicer than many others was the fact you could easily get to the information you were looking for. Some days I don't mind trolling but this is ridiculous! I guess I don't understand changing things that worked. Everyone wants things faster, is this any faster? I agree with Travelnut, the topic is what I look for.

OK - it's growing on me. I guess we're all resistant to change ...

I still think they threw out a winning formula - but hey, that's 'progress' for you.

Let's hope none of the regulars jump ship because of this.

Steve

Please help me see if I really understand the new format.

Along the left side in the blue box is a list of the latest posts in order of most recent response and including those with no response and trip reports--in short what we were used to seeing as the whole list. When you scroll down that list, you don't just move to a new page, but rather get directed to Archives in order of most recent date of response including a repetition of the list you just viewed--so unless you've viewed very recently you should probably just go immediately to the end of the blue list and punch archives to get all posts in order of last response, right?

The wider right column on the first page of the forum is a list of the most recently posted (today's) posts by start date that have not yet had any responses--apparently to bring them to our special attention even though they are also in the other blue list as well. Right?

Under this are selected threads with the most responses, apparently in order of most recent response, but going back how far? Right? I would swear I've seen some posts with mosre responses and more recent responses than the one I just saw with 97 responses most recent on Feb. 12.

Below these most responses threads are the most recently responded to posts tagged as trip reports, by most recent response regardless of how long ago they may have been started. Right?

Because trip reports are now being tagged as such, some oldies are coming to the surface (not necessarily a bad thing) and getting new responses accounting for the seeming glut of old trip reports being recycled. This will probably decrease over time. Right?

Am I correct in these interpretations of how this all works? Did I miss some instructions that would have made it unecessary for me to figure this all out for myself? Is there anything else folks have figured out that would help me/all of us navigate this site revision more easily.

Frankly, quitting and going elsewhere is not an option. Look what happened the last time that was tried. This is the best place in town. Let's work to make it better and let's figure it out. Thanks.

I absolutely hate it!! Not user friendly. Please lets go back the old format which was easier to navigate and was much faster.

This is to hard to get used to. Not an improvement at all.

Don't mean to be so harsh but if it ain't broken, why fix it?

Would somebody please tell me, what the hell is RSS???

The problem is - it was broke. Frames are an antiquated technology and I usually hate them. The opposite was true here - it really worked from a user standpoint on this site. But... the site has been plagued with problems. Remember all those times the site was down or you couldn't log in or post? That sounds pretty broken to me. And the old layout (frames) were a big part of that problem as I understand it.

Yes, there are some changes to the layout that I disagree with, don't get me wrong. I'm still struggling with a lot of it. But the overhaul of the site was necessary in general.

Hi Julie; <This is the best place in town. Let's work to make it better and figure it out> ABSOLUTELY. Iris

The Change Forums list of forums: the Europe forum line is obliterated by the View by Tag box. When I'm in another forum, the only way to get back to Europe is to back, back, back (NOT!) or make it my home page and go home. Anyone else having this problem?

JulieVikmanis
Yes, you've got the gist of it. The New TOPICS column (top of the middle section) shows the topics that were most recently STARTED. It will still remain there even if it gets responses, until it gets bumped off the list by NEWER topics.

For the MOST REPLIES and TRIP REPORTS sections, they are arranged in chronological order by the *newest* response. So theorectically, I could top all MY trip reports from over the years and I could dominate the entire TRIP REPORTS section.

Holly_uncasdewar I don't have that issue, but it has been reported by other Fodorites as well. My change forum box overlaps (ie covers on top) of the tag box, so the tag box doesn't interefere with the change forum box. I wonder if it has something to do with your browser, OR your screen resolution. You may want to contact the editors (link in top left corner of screen) and ask them.

Holly, I don't know what RSS initials mean, but the idea is to get an update when you're on the internet that tells you something you are interested in has just had some recent activity that you might want to tune into. Kind of like streaming on cable news, but from what I gather, not text telling you something specific--like there's an earthquake in China--but rather a note that your tagged China site has had a new update/post. Please somebody with more experience correct me if this is wrong.

I figured that I would give it a day's experience before posting to get the hang of the new format.

What I like:
1) Wider area for posts so they're easier to read.
2) Listing the OP for each post - especially in the Lounge - is a useful feature.
3) The profiles are fun.

What needs work:
1) All the above posts are right: it is so slooooooow.
2) The blue print on pink background isn't quite as annoying as it was yesterday, but it should be easier to come up with a better contrast.
3) Too much white space - are they keeping all this space available in the hope that they'll eventually be filled with advertisements?
4) What is the point of having the most popular posts listed in the middle?

Holly, RSS refers to formatting for web sites that are frequently updated (like this site). I'd explain in more detail - except I don't understand it myself.

I guess the computer geeks at Fodor never heard of the saying
"if it's not broke don't fix it".

Aranda

Major disappointment.

I know that sometimes it takes a while to ease into a change but this site is much to slow...it takes forever to load.

I have been minimizing the site and doing something else while it comes up.

Too much "white space" The old "compact" site was easier to navigate.

The menu bar in the left is difficult to read.

It is awful. It's overly complex, hard to navigate, and impossible to browse. I don't want to have to decide what to look at according to some pre-ordained categories imposed on me by an arrogant administrator; I can decide for myself, thank you. What do I care what the most popular topics are (just one example)?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I don't like it either. It's too 'busy'.

carolsc

I'm a newbie as far as posting, so i'll be gentle - i have already spoken out of turn once <blush>. But i have been a reader for years...and I'm actually really disappointed as far as the "travel research usability" factor which has become almost nil at this point...

maybe i'm not using it correctly yet - but thus far, i find it extremely unhelpful to have to click on dated links without seeing how many posts are included for that date or if their content/titles appeal to me.

I do understand that the UI "feels" and "looks" simpler and easier to use and for people just finding the site, it may be ok. However, I was in the midst of researching for trips and have pretty much figured out that using the travel talk forums now isn't going to meet my needs...I'm very sad about that;-(

Did they do any usability studies with heavy users before they did this big of a switch? I can't speak about posting, only about searching, and that is actually worse, not better. Everything else doesn't bother me near as much..though i can't speak about the experiences for those that actually post a lot..doesn't seem that they are finding it easier either.

I don't like the new format. Obviously, I don't know how to use it. It is hard to navigate and more complicated thatn it needs to be. The good part of the new format is that I won't be tempted to use it as much. Personally, I hope you change it back to the way it was. It was not broken.

Getting used to it. Not at all as bad as one thinks whebn first confronted. Even the wide open white spaces are more manageable.
No that we can go to 'Back to top' or 'Jump to last reply' All is weel in the world of Fodors - for me at least!

Oh for heavens sake - we still need "edit" function!!!

"Getting used to it. Not at all as bad as one thinks when first confronted. Even the wide open white spaces are more manageable. Now that we can go to: 'Back to the top' or ' Jump to last reply'
All is well in the world of Fodors - for me at least!
Get an edit function please.............!

This is the message I just got when trying to access the Europe forum a few minutes ago:

Error Occurred While Processing Request
Error Executing Database Query.
null, message from server: "Can't create a new thread (errno 11); if you are not out of available memory, you can consult the manual for a possible OS-dependent bug"

The error occurred in /www.fd.com/www/lib/data_community_categories.cfm: line 6
Called from /www.fd.com/www/lib/data_community_category.cfm: line 5
Called from /www.fd.com/www/lib/display_community_category.cfm: line 8
Called from /www.fd.com/www/gatekeepers/community-category.cfm: line 1

4 :
5 : <cfif (not isDefined("request.categories"))>
6 : <cfquery name="cat" datasource="community">
7 : select
8 : category_id,



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SQL select category_id, category_allow_pings, category_author_id, category_basename, category_blog_id, category_class, category_created_by, category_created_on, category_description, category_label, category_modified_by, category_modified_on, category_parent, category_ping_urls, category_forumid, category_regionid from mt_category c where category_blog_id = 1 order by category_id
DATASOURCE community
VENDORERRORCODE 1135
SQLSTATE HY000

Please try the following:
Check the ColdFusion documentation to verify that you are using the correct syntax.
Search the Knowledge Base to find a solution to your problem.


Browser Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0; GTB5; SLCC1; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506)
Remote Address 65.92.39.90
Referrer http://www.fodors.com/community/
Date/Time 19-Feb-09 01:38 PM

Stack Trace (click to expand)
at cfdata_community_categories2ecfm1081062247.runPage(/www.fd.com/www/lib/data_community_categories.cfm:6) at cfdata_community_category2ecfm1152787130.runPage(/www.fd.com/www/lib/data_community_category.cfm:5) at cfdisplay_community_category2ecfm650554902.runPage(/www.fd.com/www/lib/display_community_category.cfm:8) at cfcommunity2dcategory2ecfm1975164265.runPage(/www.fd.com/www/gatekeepers/community-category.cfm:1)


java.sql.SQLException: null, message from server: "Can't create a new thread (errno 11); if you are not out of available memory, you can consult the manual for a possible OS-dependent bug"
at com.mysql.jdbc.SQLError.createSQLException(SQLError.java:946)
at com.mysql.jdbc.MysqlIO.doHandshake(MysqlIO.java:1053)
at com.mysql.jdbc.Connection.createNewIO(Connection.java:2743)
at com.mysql.jdbc.Connection.<init>(Connection.java:1553)
at com.mysql.jdbc.NonRegisteringDriver.connect(NonRegisteringDriver.java:266)
at coldfusion.server.j2ee.sql.pool.JDBCPool.createPhysicalConnection(JDBCPool.java:562)
at coldfusion.server.j2ee.sql.pool.ConnectionRunner$RunnableConnection.run(ConnectionRunner.java:67)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:534)

User-friendly this ain't!

This is not an improvement. I won't be visiting much. Why try to re-invent the wheel.

I am trying to give it a chance, but I was so very used to the previous format. I don't like extra colors on my pages - black and white works for me. Is this change part of the stimulus package to create new jobs.... ????? There must have been some reason for the changes, but I don't understand change just for change's sake. And, I agree with whoever stated above that there is way too much white space and it takes too much "scroll" time. Now back to doing my checkbook with my abacus.

This fish is getting old. Even the cat won't bite. Time to bury it.

The item I miss the most is the left column with the 50 posts.

The second item is don't like is the type size, it could be bigger.

A year or two ago Lonely Planet changed their format and it seemed like it started a war. They did make many recommended changes and now it is a lot better than just after they made the changes. Many said they were not coming back, but I don't know how many kept their promise.

As to all the white space, maybe the are planing to do like Lonely Planet and fill it with a lot of ads.

It is slow and more difficult to navigate. It's harder to find what you want and need. This is NOT an improvement at all. I don't know why it was changed in the first place, the reason I used Fodor's was because it was so much easier than many other travel sites. This is sadly, no longer the case.

I don't like it either. It reminds me of what happened with the Lonely Planet site - and I never go there anymore. This was a fix that just wasn't needed. Too bad.

Fodors - you took a successful thing and...who knows, may have blown it. I would say go back - by popular demend.

Make that DEMAND (I'm always having trouble spelling - the preview button helped me correct these silly mistakes).

I especially don't like having to use the scroll bar at the right-hand side of the page to navigate the Recent Activity bar...that's a waste of time. Also the new site doesn't fit my screen as well, which is what happened when the tripadvisor.com site made its own changes.

Add me to the legions who do not like this new "improved" (NOT!) format. What an incredible waste of time it now takes to find & view topics of interest. There have been 2 reasons I have liked this forum: 1) Wealth of information from other Fodorites, 2) Ease of use of the site. Now, ease of use is gone, gone, gone! Will I find a new travel forum I will like better now that this one has been just screwed up???? Only time will tell.

Signed,
A disgruntled Fodorite (maybe no longer a Fodorite!)

My goodness.....loads of negative replies, .....mostly ALL.
I think we were all use to the previous way, and it WAS a good, simple format. We might get use to the new format, but with so many negatives , I guess I will add mine to the "don't like it very well".
(but I'm willing to try and get use to it. I just HOPE you don't lose too many people.

We will be adding a preview.

There is more color for sure; thank you everyone for feedback related to that. We've bolded the topic titles today and made the peach area lighter. Everything that is blue is a link; just wanted to mention it because some have emailed me to ask why there's so much blue. We will continue to tweak this.

I also note the complaints regarding how "busy" the main forum pages are. There is much more information there; our old forums had a blank white space. So this is all new for us. If there's something you'd like to see on that page instead, please feel encouraged to shoot me an email. I'm all ears.

I just posted this on another thread here in the Europe forum but I hope you don't mind me copying and pasting. It's from an email that I've sent to a few members today who were interested in an explanation regarding the changes:

"We were forced to make these changes for a variety of reasons. The site could not continue to operate in its previous format. We were increasingly experiencing performance issues and since the site has been in existence since 1996 the original format was not scalable. We also heavily relied on the use of frames. External search engines no longer do deep searches of many sites, including ours, that use frames. Many of our members and our traffic comes from these engines. Our search in the old system was essentially broken and needed to be replaced along with the database used to store the topics. Based on feedback and statistics, it became obvious to us as well that many members and visitors struggled with our previous format. Our old format was also very limited in that we couldn't really make any improvements or additions to it.

While many things have been changed in the new format; other things have been added that our members have been requesting for a long time. These items include a new search, member profiles, and a trip report feature. We will continue to tweak this new design.

We're committed to our members and we appreciate all the feedback we've received so far."

The "fun" of frequent checking in is gone!

I hope it gets better.

At least if the left hand column weren't so visually different, the transition would be a lot smoother.

I find it harder to scroll quickly to take a peek at what I want to look at.

I liked it better when you could read the first 50 and go on to the next 50. research is not easy. I prefer the old version. Pity it can't be what it was that made us a fan of fodors, you turned champagne into tea,

Totally agree with the majority. There are a gazillion bulletin boards out there with workable formats and I don't understand why Fodor's decided to come up with entirely new concept. My biggest gripe right now is the New and Recently Viewed pages. There's just way too many places to look for information and it makes me want to leave the site immediately. I remember when Chowhound switched from that old linear format to a more modern bulletin board. That worked. That was logical. The learning curve was short. A user wasn't overwhelmed with too many sections. Wasan't any user testing done before the site was launched?

I must say the glare is worse than my office window (I get the morning sun!) I had been reading a few at a time and resting. It is now almost the end of my day and I barely got to about 250 comments....

Underhill's comment, "Also the new site doesn't fit my screen as well." echoes mine from yesterday, "Katie...
Unlike the previous format, the entire page here (pink and white) does not fit on my screen and I have to constantly shift left and right. Can this be corrected? Can the thread be condensed into more of a column? To use up some of the excessive white space and to take up less room horizontally and vertically, can the typeface be tighter?"

Katie: Can you please address this issue? Is there a reason why this can't be done? I'm not only scrolling up and down, I'm scrolling left and right...

I hate it. Please revert back!

Maybe someone else can also help you with this Tuck but this sounds like a problem that I helped a family member with recently. It's your monitor settings I think.

One idea to check---
If you're running Windows XP:
Right-click on your desktop and select Properties.

Under Display Properties window, click on Settings tab and under Screen Resolution slide bar you'll see something like "Width" by "Height" pixels. This will show you your current resolution. I think it needs to be set above 1024.

Click OK to confirm and close the window.

After the resolution has applied, you will get another prompt whether to apply the new resolution or not. Click Yes to continue.

I embrace the negative comments. As Grandmere indicated, if it ain't broke .... I don't recall much complaining about the old format. The people on this board seem to thrive on substance, not form, and the old format allowed for quick review and substantive comment where warranted. But the beauty of the quick review was the opportunity to easily pass a topic on which there was no interest (or no knowledge). Back to the past!!!

I agree with Katie - TuckH, I think it's your screen resolution problem. That happened to me in the past (different website, different monitor), and it was fixed by adjusting my monitor's resolution.

I will admit I have not been on Fodors in quite some time and wow, what a surprise to see a new layout. I must be honest and say I do not like it. Please bring back the old.

Hi; What's inpressive, is there are many people making an effort to help make the new format workable. The explaination by Katie is out there for anyone to read, why this change had to be made. This new format is here to stay. IT'S FREE. And it will work. Iris P.S I have suggested/challenged [the disgruntled] on other posts to give us a web site that is easier to navagate than Fodor's new format. NO TAKERS

I appreciate Katie's response..... but, from the end user performance has gone down. It's taking way to long for each thread to load.

Iris, I spent some time today playing on TripAdvisor. I am not in love with thier forums either but at least they load fast!

I don't expect Fodors to change because we complain. As has been pointed out it's thier website and they pay the bills. Really if they would just get rid of "new" and "topics with replies" I could probably learn to live with it, but that's just not making any sense at all and considering the reason for the change is kind of stange. Load something that takes MORE work to process???? I find the "new" and "topics with replies" to be see "what we can do, even thought it provides no value" LOL!

Q: What do you think of the new layout?
A: I hate it.

Larger print would be a bit nicer....my eyes are tired after just 30 minutes, even with my new glasses. The reality is that this site isn't filled with a huge number of young, backpacking travellers with perfect eyesight. I'm old....so are my eyes.

I love the trip reports but am having trouble keeping my place in the lists of previous postings. I don't know why.
Perhaps the previous posting headings could be bolded with the type for the headings increased. And....edit would be nice. Sigh. Does it seem like we want the moon?

--Annie

Okay, Iris. Here's a website that's much easier to navigate: Tripadvisor...here's another...Rick Steves...here's another...Virtualtourist.

anniemackie - most browsers have a command that allows you to increase the font size to whatever you'd like. I'm on Firefox and it's CTRL+ (well, CTRL=, I suppose).

Yipes!!! All I did was go to Vegas for a few days and when I get home and go to my Fodors Fix, I find THIS? What is THIS and why is it happening? Maybe I'll like it in the future, but for right now when I just wanted to check in and see what's new, it is way too much information for me to get thru.

Sorry, had a sinus infection for the last several days and have not been surfing the web. On first glance today, I agree with other posters - don't like new format on Fodors!

Convince me - what are the advantages of this new format???

I am going to join SlowTrav.. Cannot handle changes..

Anna

Its growing on me. Its seems Fodors is listening to the suggestions - there are more posts on the left hand side then yesterday, it seems slightly faster today and the "jump to the most recent post" button was added back. I don't love the blue on pink but I do like that trip reports are seperated out. Though I was playing with the search engine and it was very confused by more than one word -it would be great if it could search for related words like Google can "Sarajevo and number of days"...that kind of thing. Anyway some improvements and some might take me more time.

The only must have for me it to continue tweeking with regards to the speed issue.

this was not an improvement. It is VERRRRRY slow now - I really hate waiting for the forums to load (although it does give me time to run to the bathroom while it loads ) - maybe you should go back to old format - that was clean & quick!

My frequent activity on Fodors was inspired by the ease of making frequent check-ins to browse and join in. This easy drop in seems to have been taken away. I hate it.

I fully understand that new technology had to be used to update the site, but the layout sucks. I want to drop in, scan topics, jump in and out of a thread, then move on. It that takes a lot of time to do, or to figure out to do, I'm not as likely to repeat my old user behavior here.

So yeah, we know you can go back to frames. But give us a way to see what's coming up in topics that is similar to what we had before. This just doesn't work for nearly everyone here.

I agree with tuscan. I think the lounge will survive but serious travelers, I don't know.

Dreadful!

Half the fun of researching for my next trip was logging on and reading posts of interest.

Can't do that now. No "50 next" etc. to eagerly scan and as I don't log on each day, much of what passed before will be missed.

annoying, aggravating, absolutely horrible!!!!!

Doesn't seem like anyone likes the new format. If it ain't broke as someone said. Let's go back to the old one which was clearer, less scrolling, easier on the eyes, easier to navigate etc. Could it be the web designers were very young? Lots of over 40s using this forum and this layout is just not as clear. How about you admit this new format is a mistake and go back to the previous one. Please.

Slowtrav has very few posters and lots of rules which they do enforce. For example, I could not mention there that I had been on CNN in connection with my Australian home exchange. They had a rule against mentioning media. I really could not figure out what I had done wrong and simply left the site. I mean the piece was about home exchanging--sort of a relevant topic--and I wasn't advertising for some media.

Another good travel discussion site is independenttraveler.com. They do delete flames but the range of posts there is larger than slowtrav. It is where I put all my trip reports (and I only put them there) because they will delete hostile irrational responses. Since fodors is erratic with deletion of hostile posts (and I have had trip reports attacked upon occasion), that is what I do.

I do not have a problem with the new format though. I actually like it--and I am over 60 so I can still deal with change without the mega kvetching that has gone on on this thread.

The lounge, by the way, has always got more posts than any other section because it is a sort of chatroom and people like that. I don't like it because there are too many attacks in there and some of the subjects are totally stupid.

Whatever floats your boat.

I don't see an issue with the travel boards surviving as over 300 of you so far have figured out how to post on this thread.

I don't understand the complaints about too much scrolling. How does the new format involve more scrolling than the old one? And you don't have to scroll at all -- just tap the space bar to advance down the page a screen at a time.

It just took 9 minutes to submit a posting to an existing thread.

@Iris,

Trip Advisor is much easier to navigate. Not only that its coverage is generally more detailed, speed/level of replies is better and reviews there leave Fodors standing.

Thorn Tree is generally better, too.


@nicki,

Because the font size in threads is way too large and won't reduce to a size I find small enough and the line spacing is too wide.

Very disappointing!!! Very slow!!

I just did a search. I got 5 entries on the first page of hits (there should be 100's). When I asked for the next 5 (I assume I was asking for the next 5) it took so long, I switched to this thread to add this reply.

It is hard for me to keep track of the posts I have read on my "posts with comments". I don't like having to go back to that page and then the ones I have read still are in the blue font so I'm not sure if it has a new comment or not. It was much easier and quicker before when we could just glance over to the left column and see it with a quick glance. The going back and forth between pages and the extra time spent scrolling up and down pages will definitely lessen my time on the site because I can't just take a quick look.

HI; I have only been with Fodor's for a few years, but I like this format better than any other. These people are working to satisify everyone's concerns, but there has not been a lot of 'patience, with them. Take a few days off and then return to see if your concerns have been incorporated. I have been on Trip Advisor and Rick Steves and happen to like this format. We ned some 'patience' here. ENJOY Iris

It is really hard to read and isn't "clean" at all. I hate it.

I'm starting to get aggravated with people. I don't think some of you are trying at all, just growsing.

The 'next 50' is simply now the Archives - instead of by sets of 50, it is by date. I go straight to that, and don't care about what is on the 'main' page.

I have been on 3 different computers, different locations, and have had no issue with speed / response time. Maybe it is YOUR computer /server at fault?

If the font is too small, adjust it on your computer settings.

Have submitted some feedback and Fodors has acted on suggestions. Give them some time to work through the complaints.

Well, that's my opinion.

TRAVELNUT; Put your answer on a new post' for all to see. It is so SIMPLE, with NO problem with 'speed'. [FODOR'S NEW FORMAT.] Iris

Speaking for myself, I am trying. With the number of people having speed problems, it can't be all of their computers/servers.

Thank you Katie and yk for your responses to my problem.

I've tried modifying the settings as you suggested. My present setting is at 800x600 and I moved it to 1024x768. The result is a page roughly 2/3 the size of my screen. My AOL Welcome page and all the other websites I visit appear this way. This setting is not acceptable to me.

I can now read the posts on this thread but the ads on the right side are cut off halfway. The print is of course smaller but the surrounding white space appears more dominant.

Your previous format did not present this problem. It would seem to me that your setting has deviated from the norm.

Am I the only one having to deal with this situation? FWIW, I'm not having "speed problems" as are many others...

Tuck - you probably have to play around with the settings and find something between 800 and 1024, if possible, so you get a full screen view. I'm not having this problem at all (but have speed issues) with the new format. But I agree that you should not have to change your settings for one site. What browser are you using? I have text size problems when using Firefox and prefer IE.

I would welcome the ads being cut off!

TuckH - I'm no computer tech, so I don't know the answer to your problem. My screen resolution is set at 1024x600 and the fodors page fits just right on my screen. Perhaps you can play around with various resolution? If that doesn't work, I suggest you send the editors an email (there's a link on the top L corner) and see if the IT people have a better solution for you.

Tuck -- an idea for you -- if you are using a PC, hold down the "Ctrl" button and hit the minus or plus (+) button at the same time to shrink or enlarge the content on the screen. I find this works for me to customize how I want the screen to display without messing with my resolution (which by the way is set to 1280 x 1074).

Good luck.

Travelnut -- I am also getting sort of weary of all the whining. There seem to be 2 types of complaints about the format: (1) there is too much white space, and (2) it is too cluttered and busy. And 2 types of complaints about the font: (1) it is too large, and (2) it is too small.

I don't mind the questions like TuckH's, who is just trying to find a solution to his problem. Sorry I can't help with that - my page takes up the same amount of space on my screen as it used to. I also don't mind the constructive suggestions, some of which Fodors has already responded to with changes.

using a PC, hold down the "Ctrl" button and hit the minus or plus (+) button at the same time to shrink or enlarge the content on the screen
- tried this exercise out of curiosity, but no changes happened ?

Thanks to those offering suggestions. I'll have to keep trying. I enjoy this Fodor's site and have high regard for all the wonderful contibutors to it.

I guess I should've said enjoyED this Fodor's site...

I thought the old format was much better. Why couldn't you leave well enough alone?

I still can't understand the rationale for breaking up the posts. There are "New Topics" and "Topics with Most Replies." Why do that? Why break up content unnecessarily? And then if you go into a particular country (oops, I mean 'tag'), you get "New Topics" and "Recent Actvity." It's not even consistent.

And I hate that that you just see posts "tagged" by a country and you're not really "in" that country's forum like you used to be. I like being in a particular thread about France, for example, and then looking left to see what other France topics there are, and being able to click on it, rather than going back. It sucks to look over and see a hodgepodge of Europe posts when all you want is France.

I'm actually very sad about this. Strange but true.

Don't like it. What exactly was the reason for changing? I agree with desro, the old format worked fine.

i hate it. i was just trying to do a search and it's so complicated now.

sigh. this was an awesome resource before.

I agree, the search function is ineffective. I can't find threads I know I posted on, even though I'm using keywords I know were in my message. Further, I would like to be able to click on my name and find all the threads I posted on, not just three or four from several years ago.

flsd - I don't know why you can't find the threads. Just click on your name and your profile page shows the threads you've commented on.
http://www.fodors.com/community/profile/flsd/replies.cfm

And if you click on "next Page" you can continue going backwards in time.

I am not a fan of this new format. I use this site to plan my annual family vacations and was very pleased with how easy it was to find information. Now, it seems that there is just a huge jumble of info that will take forever to review for the information that I really need. Can we go back to the old format, please????

I did just do that CTL plus thing and it worked, but I assume it's like the view options on the browser bar which may be easier. At least in IE, if you click view, text size is one of the options and you can increase or decrease it (although I think I've had problems in that it then does that for everything and you have to change it back, but that would probably be true for the CTL thingy). I don't really have a problem with the text size on the new system, just the colors which are difficult to read. Blue is a difficult color for type, and I just noticed that when you've already clicked on a post recently, the title turns gray instead of what is typical on the computer (red or purple), so it's hard to even read it.

As for the search, I don't like that you can't do the advance search without spending time on the simple one first. However, if you can't find something it is possible you just never will, as there were some posts during a time period that got "lost" to a search mechanism for some reason. I don't think Fodors has done anything to get those back, I think they will be lost forever. If it was a new post, though, I don't know about that.

oh, by the way, I was going to comment on the section with the "most replies". I don't know why that is there and it isn't anything I find attractive, however it isn't even accurate so I don't know what it's about. The posts listed are NOT the ones with the most posts, so somehow Fodors is editing that list. I mean, all you have to do is look at some of the most recent posts or trip reports and you can find ones with more posts than the ones they claim have the most (like the what to wear/pack part 8 thread has more posts than some they claim are the top ones). I also just don't see the point of listing historical posts that may have had a lot of replies but have been dead for a year (and should remain that way), for example.

Christina, I don't think that's true for the "black hole" posts. For years, one of my Pittsburgh trip report was in the black hole. I could never, ever pull it up using all sorts of search combos. Now it comes up when I search for it. In addition, when I'm just doing some simple search on London during that "black hole" time period using the advance search gadget, I'm seeing lots and lots of posts which I have never been able to pull up before.

You are always welcome at Travelers To Go--our [relatively] new Yuku format works pretty well we think, even on searchesNo reason you can't be bi-boardual. http://europetogo.yuku.com/

Thanks sfowler. I just tried http://europetogo.yuku.com/ and find its ease similar to the way fodor's used to be - - and was just a few days ago. I do hope that fodors will change itself back to the way it was. Until then I'll be using the europetogo site. I like it!

Thank you!! sfowler for the europetogo.yuku.com site. So much better and easier to follow. Highdollar, you are right, just like the old Fodors. I'll be switching more onto that one now and from time-to-time go to fodors.

Shall be logging on there now!

i t ' s s t i l l v e r y s l o o o o w w w

HAVE BEEN AWAY FOR A MONTH. I HATE THIS NEW FORUM. MOST OF YOUR REPLIES HAVE BEEN MORE THAN KIND.

I have been a consistent user of Fodors Forum for 3 years.

It has been wonderful. so helpful.

Now I feel they have failed us. What is wrong with what works?

Christina - you don't have to do a simple search first to get to the advanced search page. Just leave the search box empty and click on the word search. I do think it would be better to have a clickable link near the search box that says something like "advanced search options", and I have made this suggestion on other threads. But for now I am just happy to have those advanced options available, especially the ability to search back by date so I can catch up when I return from a long trip.

Hey, I just noticed that the word clickable above in my reply box is underlined in red. A spell checker! We didn't have that before, did we?

yk,

Yes, I know to click on my name and get all my posts, but there really is a black hole into which my last Italy trip report disappeared, never to be seen again. Ii's totally weird because all my pre-trip planning posts are there and many of the posts I remember after that, but the trip report is long gone and has been for 3 years. I had hopped that the new search funtion would dig it up, but no.

Anyway, I have been trying, but I still don't like the changes and division of categories on the posts into the "recent activity", etc. Makes everything way too busy and hard to find.

I see a huge drop in the amount of posts and replies here, even more than the economic situation caused. I hope things improve.

Dayle
It's here
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/just-back---dayles-solo-trip-to-italy.cfm

I find it by clicking on your profile name and then the topics you have started. It's on the 2nd page
http://www.fodors.com/community/profile/dayle/topics_1.cfm

BTW, Dayle, if you email the URL of your trip report to tripreports@fodors.com, the editors can tag your Italy TR and also link it to your profile under your own trip report section.

I don't like it at all. Sorry!

After few minutes going over it again, I hate this change!

would often visit the site every day, prior to the change. Will probably not visit much anymore. Can't find my way around

"just like the old Fodors"

No offense to Sally Fowler because I adore her but Yuku (an upgrade from EZ Board) is nothing like the old Fodor's.

I find it extremely user unfriendly. I have been a frequent user of this site but unfortunately find the changes too cumbersome and the site no longer serves my needs. However, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. I have discovered Frommer's travel site. The "Community" button revealed a source almost as good as the old Fodors site. So, thanks for the past pleasures that your site has given me. Cheers!

Hi aljo; I would sugest you re-think your decision. Just looking at the five 'most recent European posts' on Frommer's the time posted was 9:54am, 9:28am, 8:57am, 3:35 am and 2:25. Who knows, on a given day, you may be the 'only' post. ENJOY Iris

aljo, Nice idea, but no one posts on Frommer's, it looks good but there's basically no one there! Seriously.

If you want a different board try Trip Advisor. It's very active but there is no general Europe forums like here, only for Paris, Amsterdam, etc. Different separate forums for different cities, but very good information.

As to Fodor's, I am having a horrible time with the new format. As proven by the fact that this is the first time I've even checked in to the Europe forum since the upgrade. Just seemed to complicated, plus not many new posts anywhere except those complaining about the upgrade!

suze- I don't know why you thinkg there aren't many new posts here today. As of 12:48pmET today, there are at least 111 posts since 12MN and 30 brand new posts. I think that's pretty average for a weekend here on Fodors. Even if you subtract 10 posts for complaints or forum changes, that's still a good amount of traffic.

You think there were only 10 posts about the forum changes?

Also, yk, you keep trying to insist things have improved.

I just tried search the Europe forum for a destination I KNOW has been "talked about" a few times over the past several months. I gave a three year window.

The result: 2 hits, both back in 2006.

Did you search for both the topic and the replies?

I can only say my search experiences so far:
1) one of my trip report from a few years ago, July 4th in Pittsburgh, was lost to the "black hole" ever since I posted it. I used all sorts of words/combo to search for it to no avail. Now I can find it easily with the new search.

2) I typed in Damme in the advance search box yesterday, and I was able to pull up LOTS more previous threads on it, including a fantastic trip report by Meredith from 2006. I did multiple searches last year for my trip to Belgium and very few results ever came up with "Damme"

Based on a count on this:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/2009/02/21/
There are 11 posts about the new forum changes, out of about 120 posts since MN.

I am not the only person who find the new search much better. Sorry that you're not finding the same.

Both Trip Advisor and Virtual Tourist are now owned by Expedia. Their format is fundamentally the same as this one (certainly no page frames) particularly VT which is very clean. TA's format is basically the same as the new Fodors except Expedia adds advertising pop-us, clicking on links will open up promotional windows, and with Expedia's oversight, all direct hotel and B&B links have been removed.

Both TA and VT have added "Report Inappropriate Post" links to everyone's individual comments and censorship can be quite heavy handed.

Both sites do have excellent information but much of it is provided by individuals who post here as well. It's unlikely you'll receive a more informed response to your question on another forum than the excellent responses which one receives here.

Also, earlier in this thread, Dayle said in his reply that his Italy trip report had disappeared into the black hole, and he could not find it even with the new search.
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/so-what-do-you-think-of-the-new-layout.cfm#comment-5464266

But when I use the advance search, I am able to find it (it's the last title on the bottom of the page):
http://www.fodors.com/search/results_community_advanced.html?datefrom=02%2F21%2F2005&category%5Fid=787&author=Dayle&include%5Ftext=1&start=80&dateto=02%2F21%2F2007&search=italy%20trip%20report&link=results%5Fcommunity%5Fadvanced%2Ehtml

It's not a perfect search system, but I'm finding it way more useful than the old search engine.

sarastro~ I disagree. The opinions I get elsewhere may not be "more informed" but I can get a lot MORE of 'em. For example, if I ask about Cabo San Lucas or Puerto Vallarta Mexico in the Latin American forum here on Fodor's there are only a few posters besides myself who will answer. Go to Trip Advisor ask the same question in their destination forums and you'll get a WAY more replies. I guarantee it.

Thanks to 'Sarastro' and 'yk' and others, who are helping people, work thru the new system. I'm beginning to think they are 'paid editor's'. GREAT JOB Iris

suze - I'm not really sure with what you disagree. I have made no references to or observations about quantity. Only that the development of web page design has made page frames obsolete and that on the whole, Fodor's new look is in keeping with what one finds elsewhere yet with the added advantage of fewer advertisements, no annoying pop-ups, and hopefully the return of preview/edit functions.

I shall yield to your guarantees of impressive volume in the Cabo forum found elsewhere.

I'm not liking this at all. Very difficult to search. After reading all this negative feedback left here I wonder if the moderators are reading this as well, perhaps they will take the hint.

Frankly , why change something that was so good and a pleasure to so many? Change for the sake of change not a good idea. Let us go back to the old way.

Hi iris - thanks for the shout-out. I figure I might as well spend my time and energy to "help out" those who are having trouble navigating the site, than to keep on ranting and ranting and ranting.

I opened the page and could not believe it. The way it is now, it is enough to keep me away. I will suffer through withdrawal but I bet it'll be less painful than navigating this!

Did Fodor's ever ask us what we'd like if they were going to make changes? I'm sure we would have had lots of good ideas for them to consider. What they have done is really not an improvement, IMO.

I'm starting to get used to it now, but still have my reservations. The old format was compact and easy to use. In the new format I like the Topics column on the left showing the "Tagged" country and handle of the OP. You can quickly scroll through new posts to pick out the ones you are interested in.

Please, please bring back the preview function. It was very useful for checking links to see if they work, and to proof for typos.

I do not like it at all.

If users have to spend time playing around with the advanced search to get anything close to what they found before with a simple search, that's not an improvement! It's making what was a problematic search before even worse.

Also, on a week-end with the old format, I spent a few hours on Fodors, reading and posting.

With the new formati, I spend only a few minutes a day, before leaving in annoyance. Which is much better, I suppose, for my "real" life. Why spend my leisure time jumping through hoops to satisfy the forum re-designers?

Schuler! like driving through Milano. I've never, but it's a vivid, descriptive image anyway. Succinct and on the nose. I do miss those Swiss exchanges with you and S' and Ingo and others. I don't suppose anyone from the SBB assisted in renovating this site. Probably would have been a good idea. Hello to all,
J.

Why fix something that is not broken?! The new layout is NOT user friendly & is a disappointment to this fodorite. I'm gone.

yk,

You're right it is there now! But - it definitely wasn't there the other day. Now that's interesting.....plus I just had to click and navigate for several minutes to get back to this thread. I don't understand their method of sorting the posts. I'm trying but I may end up as one of those giving up.

I've given up. No more daily(at LEAST!) perusal for me!

TAW - yes, Fodors did ask, and got lots of suggestions, some of which they have implemented. And they are continuing to implement them, hence my suggestion to give it some time.

I for one don't like some things, but I really like others - search will be better since google can now search the site - couldn't before because of the archaic structure. Love the profiles. Like the "report a thread" button. and others, can't remember.

But, let's give it some more time - and if you really have a problem - tell them - right up top it says "send us some feedback".

The speed has improved a lot, and for that I'm grateful. The rest of it I can live without. The good news is, I've gotten a million things done since last Tuesday that I'd been putting off for awhile. I've probably cut my time on Fodor's by about 80 percent.

And have I mentioned how much I hate the sunburn pink? I think they modified it a bit, but I still think it looks like puke.

I don't find it user-friendly or easy at all. I don't understand why they have the "recent activity" posts in the left side of the page now.
Before, that side had the list of specific posts having to do with my search (e.g. hotels in Athens) and I could easily click on each one and read in the center pane, then go to the next.
Now I get the results in the center, have to click on each one separately to read it, go back, then click on the next. Maybe I'm just lazy or old-fashioned (am an admitted Luddite), but I don't see why it is preferable to see "recent activity" on topics I'm not interested in, rather than seeing only posts that I have searched about?
I've been away from the forums for a little while but am about to start research for another trip; but it seems like it will be tortuous to navigate and certainly not as much fun as it used to be!
Yes, I have sent feedback! I hope they will consider going back to the simple format. Sorry if I seem like I am venting without actually having something useful to say or ask!
And, true -- as others have said -- why can't we preview or edit post?!
Sigh....

Hi VDK; Keep the faith; it's not as difficult as it might seem. People that have given advise are still doing so. After using this format and familiarizing yourself with it , it is simple. Even for an 'old timer', me. iris1745/dick

I use a left-handed mouse to spare my right thumb, and having to go all the way over to the right-hand side of the screen to use the scroll bar is a big pain when I only want to look at new posts. The scroll-everything-together feature is really dumb.

the bottom line is they are NOT going to go back to the old format - among other things, it used a technology (called frames which allowed the two panes next to each other that scroll independently) that is archaic, outdated and not at all compatible with the internet as it is evolving. So, we had to keep up with the times. However, within the code that they have adopted, there are many improvements that they can make, and Katie has said that the way the forums are now it is MUCH easier to change things. So, I would encourage anyone to send your feedback, and it may very well be implemented. They seem to have a list that they are working on, and I guess that they are chipping away at it. They do need to sleep sometimes, I guess, and I assume that it's not a good idea to change too much at once, so as to make sure the changes they make are stable, and to be able to keep track of problems.

"...that is archaic, outdated and not at all compatible with the internet as it is evolving. "

Sounds like de-evolution to me. Users be damned, let's make it easy for us to change. And while were at it, lets add "Flash". It's so pretty and fancy and artsy. Who cares if it make it better for the user? More toys for us!!!

regards - tom

Actually, I don't think they are using "Flash" here. Hope I haven't given them any ideas

regards - tom

Horrid!

tom - take a deep breath - don't give them any ideas - "be the first to reply" was enough!

Not happy. Can we go back to the old way, please????

I find this whole thing kind of humorous. We all know this new format and coloring is terrible. Why are we acting like it is ok? Like, we are trying to be nice!

I really don't like the new format at all. I always used to like
going to Fodor's as it was so easy to navigate. One thing that I would like to see changed is the way we used to be able to click on the left side of the pages with the questions and then the answers would come up on the right BUT we were still able to scroll down the left side to check out other questions. Now, everytime you click on the left side you see the answers come up on the right side but when you go back to a new question on the left you have to go through all the previous questions again.
PLEASE GO BACK TO THE OLD FORMAT
THANKS

Either I am a complete idiot, or ya'll are. I have been a Fodor's fan for years. I lurk or contribute under different names, due to change of emails. It is easier to start all with a new name than deal with the hassel of changing everything on this site. That part never worked out.

Now, on to the mess that has been made now, I cannot figure out how to deal with Talk. I go to Talk, put in Europe, then France. Now what? I struggled for two hours trying to find out how to get to Bonnieux. I found three thing for all that looking. I want to put in Paris and see a thousand things for Paris.
What am I missing.
Go back, return us from these gates of hell or print a site that directs us as in #1, 2, 3,4, and so on.
And since I have a mba. and am working on another degree, I don't really think I am a idiot.

I am also so irate, I can't even think straight, much less, write a cohesive sentence. Please go back to the old format and if you must tweak it, do it in small, easy, peasy steps. Thanks, B

I have to agree -- IT'S AWFUL! I work on computers all day, and this is the hardest reading I do all day.

I've always believed that computer programmers belong in padded rooms as they don't see reality as the rest of the world -- in other words they're crazy.

Where's the edit button? I prefer to check how my post will appear.

This new layout and color scheme makes no sense -- especially for old eyes.

I guess I'll use another board as this one give me a headache to try and read.

This really isn't that difficult to navigate, folks. Sounds like some of you still haven't even made an effort.

When you open the Europe page, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on View More Activity. It'll take you to the list of the current day, just like before. When you click on a thread in there, and you're done reading it, just click back once and you're right where you were in the day's list. It even highlights the threads you've already opened. When you get to the end of that day's posts, just click on the previous date in the same left hand column.

There are lots of other helpful hints on these new format bashing threads, if you'd take the time to read them.

This is the first day I am on here since the change and I am LOST
Pat

Well I am so glad I am not alone on this. The old format was easy to navigate. I could jump from trips I had been on & places I was going to & make notes. It seems so burried here.
I have been going to Trip Advisor more. I will keep trying but it is not as fun-Sorry Chris

One question or suggestion. In the previous format by selecting your user name it listed your replies. Then you selected a thread and you could identify your reply by the fact your post was highlighted (in grey from memory). I found this particularly useful when a thread had several replies. This highlight feature seems to be missing now. Any thoughts/comments? Kate? Fodorites?
Anyway now for my rant for the day! I'm starting to find my way around the new format. Katie has explained why the changes were necessary. I can't see how it benefits me personally just yet but I appreciate the survival of the Fodors site depends on "getting with the times". It's good to see the Fodorite community rallying in this time of upheaval. There have been posts made helping members with their issues which certainly takes the pressure off Kate and the crew. This site's transformation hasn't gone too badly compared to the unmitigated disaster at the Lonely Planet Thorntree site. The changes were relatively minor compared to here but the backlash has gutted the forum (Western Europe) I used to post on. I think LP handled its introduction very badly with little regard paid to posters concerns, needs and queries. So bouquets to Kate and crew

I really dread coming to this site now. I guess the "fodor's habit" is almost broken. Are you sure my employer didn't put you up to this?

I've been gone for a week going on other travel sites. I've come back here to see how "it was going" and it's gone.

Off to the other sites. Too bad there hasn't been any improvements.

Yikes. I also miss being able to scroll down the thread topics on the left hand side of the page without the entire page content moving.

Change is always hard to adjust to ...

Well, I guess if they care what the 'current' posters think, they will be impressed how many negative responses (most of them) are here...and if they don't, hope they get a new crop. I still want to know what gives with the front page, getting different page views on my two different computers, which are both tied to the same e mail address. Can't find "start a new topic' for nothing.on my lap top..have asked, no reply so far. Any the pale blue is killing my eyes.

p.s. if they were honest, they would have to admit they 'messed up' and that is hard to do....heads might roll and blame cast...so guess now they gotta defend the format. I simply can not see any improvements and a lot of detriments.

Ciarasong: ? Over here, start a new topic is right under the Forums Help Forum label at the top. See it? If you can't, http://www.fodors.com/community/start-topic.cfm?984;Forums%20Help There's a direct link. (I hope it works, since there's that weird semi-colon in the middle of that URL.)

It seems to me there are many less new posts. It is a distracting formay, AND like any new one, the Perpertrators will just wait for everyone to just "get over it'.

THEY COULD CARE LESS FOR WHAT WE THINK ABOUT ANYTHING. PLEASE ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS. WE DON'T EVEN NEED TO ADD TO THIS THREAD

I find this format quite difficult to use. This forum has been such a treasure to me in planning many a trip and I will use it less, if at all.

I seem to be worknig out the basics, but new problems keep cropping up:

1. old threads being resurrected as "recent activity" when they aren't.

2. the blue of "view comment" doesn't turn grey when I've viewed it, but waits til after I've viewed another comment.

3. I keep coming across threads I've posted on that haven't come back to me, so I've missed others comments. that's realy frustrating.

4. Katie was listening, but I'm not sure she's listening now.

regards, ann

Ann,

With regard to No. 2 - I have found that after I read the post I hit the back arrow, then when my page reloads, I have to click somewhere on that page for the blue to go to grey. It is an annoying extra step but it does work for me.

hi bfrac,

I'll give that a go.

but the blue/grey thing seems to be pretty "random" - posts that have had more comments on them remain grey, other ones which are dormant go read. I keep finding that threads that previously I'd have kept up with are carrying on without me! shame!

and I don't understand why we can have the left-hand column for "recent activity" but not for our own recent activity like we used to.

hey ho.

regards, ann

Hi Ann-

Re No. 1, I get that every couple of days too, with random threads that resurrected from the deae when NO ONE had topped them. I have emailed this problem to Katie recently but have not heard back. I guess it's some kind of a bug.

Re No. 3, I seem to notice that my "Profile" page doesn't always refresh, EVEN AFTER I refresh it multiple times on my browser. There are times that the responses lag by 30 minutes or more before they show up on my Profile page, but they do show up, eventually.

Just terrible. What is up. Colors are SO distracting. You get "new" posts, and if that is any indication of the number of posts, I would guess it is so far down it mirrors the economy.
What genius sold them this "improvement". SO AMAZING

anhig
<< I keep coming across threads I've posted on that haven't come back to me, so I've missed others comments. that's realy frustrating. >>

THANK YOU! I thought it was just me...that I was somehow screwing up, or (because I'm paranoid) that I was imagining it.

hi luci,

I'm stil struggling with the blue/grey thing.

I've found that the only way to make sure I know I've read a thread is to click on the title, then go to last reply.

if I click on "view comment", that line goes grey [bit only aftre I click on the page again] but the title stays blue.

very confusing.

I can feel RSI setting in.

regards, ann

I just realized why the new layout of the site bothers me: it's the width of the topics column, which requires scanning most of the page. The original design had columns that allowed the eye to go down rapidly--now the side-to-side motion slows things down considerably.

I missed the frame layout instantly !! Hope they can come up with something close to frames.