Well it seems the topic has shifted from the slowness of the forum (i.e. number of posts/hits) to the slowness of the site (time for the site and its threads/posts to load up). I have had no problem with the latter though it seems to be a little bit slower loading in the Internet Explorer browser than either Firefox or Safari.

Kathie
If you are in touch w/Gloria, give her my best. I'm one of the few here who have actually met her face to face. We had cocktails at the O in the Bamboo Bar, back in about 2005 or 6.

JamesA
I don't notice that it's quite as s-l-o-w as it was when I initially started looked at things on the newly reconfigured site. It seems a tad faster now (or maybe I'm used to it).

I do agree that the Asia forum isn't quite as active as it used to be. Europe is busy, as is the lounge.


Carol

I'm not sure the speed (or lack thereof) of the forum has any significant corelation to the number of hits/posts. However, until we get some numbers from Katie (or her ilk) we are only using anecdotal evidence. Typical for Yankee fans (Craig actually put this in his profile) , but Red Sox fans are driven only by the numbers (two championships in this decade, for instance).

These numbers are easy for the editors to provide. It's the lifeblood of their ability to sell advertising. They must know these numbers. Again, we don't need the actual numbers, just a comparison to the old days. Please.

JamesA, Your problem may be with your internet connection being too slow. Are you using a "dial up" connection. I noticed that when I was in Cambodia and some bkk internet spots we had a dial up connection which took forever to load pages of my favorite sites. So frustrating!

Gpanda-You might want to re-post this on the 'Forums Help" board since Katie has not seen it here.

I don't really thing the boards are slower in terms of speed and my impression is that yes, usage is down, but that may be due to fewer people traveling.

My usage tip: I open threads on new tabs (I use IE 7) by clicking on them with my mouse's scroll button. That way, I don't have to re-load the page to read each thread and I can more easily keep track of what I've read.

When I'm at home on the Mac with Safari, it loads pretty fast. But, when I'm on the borrowed computer(s) Mozilla/Firefox, it takes forever and I sometimes just give up. Happy Travels!

On travels it sometimes can be dial-up but getting quite rare these days, ( though that was the case in a few remote spots this week ) but at home and office I have 256 ADSL which is fine - I am talking about this site as opposed to others, I don't have a load time problem with most sites but this seems to take long.
I wish the posts on the left were just more simple, the amount of space I find scrolling up and down.

This time of night/morning internet is quite fast, but this page just takes longer and therefore just a little frustrating getting down to posting.
The full screen before starting to scroll just shows Andy's post and then Carol's one line, I just honestly think it could have been more user-friendly in design also.

That was an effort again to get in - anyway, had a look on the Africa/middle east and their post similar to this one;

http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...your-alive.cfm

i'm finding the speed very slow the last day or two, especially tonight

Haven't been on for quite a while but it is definitively slower then I remember.

I am worried about the perceived reduction in participation. The strength of this forum is the diverse input from regulars and newbies. The numbers will indicate whether our perceptions are correct. Come on katie-give it up!

On this topic, here's a statistic that I found rather interesting: I posted a link to a brand-new webshots album of mine (about the Philadelphia Flower Show) on Fodors in one location; it only received two responses, but the album at this point has been viewed....1,060 times. I realize some of that may be Webshots generated, but usually that only applies to a couple of hundred views at the very most. So I'm guessing that there are a lot more people reading than participating!

Here's the link to the post: http://www.fodors.com/community/fodo...lower-show.cfm

My trip this year is to South Africa, and I actually don't have too many questions as it is, of all things, an OAT tour. After three solo independent weeks in India last year, I needed somebody else to do all the planning.

I have not spent as much time on the forum since the format change. I still have a hard time figuring out the difference between the three sections (OK, I realize one is trip reports only). But it seems more difficult to browse and so I just don't read/respond as often.

My perception is that even before the format changed things were slow across the forums reflecting the changed economic circumstances of many people .

If people want to know something they will find a way to ask .

Same old posts ( I say respectfully ) linger at / towards the top for days and days now where once they fell down the line very quickly .

I stopped looking in soon after the changes. Maybe it was coincidental but I will now make an effort to get used to the new format.

If you update and improve a website the response 'should be' -

Wow, great, fantastic, so much better, so much easier, so glad this happened !

I am no expert but I have read that what appeals to viewers in fast load, clear, easy to navigate, easy to understand, easy to find what you are looking for.

Look at Google, most reports I have seen has said one of the key reasons for success is that it is clear and simple.

If you are marketing anything you need to get the basic message across in 'seconds', whether a website, press ad or whatever and that surely is what designers should be thinking about.

No one seriously minds about adapting to a new layout - but that really should be an improvement and overall we 'should be saying ' wow, this is great !

Before having to touch the mouse and scroll down you should on that first page load see within that area all the key points.
Forums should be listed as easy links along the top on one line, then a simple search box.

I think Fodor's is a superb forum made up by great people - sure improve but I don't see many people raving about how 'fantastic' the new format is.

We are lucky to have fast load times from where we are in Thailand but a lot of people around the world do not have high speed internet and people on their travels to many parts of the world perhaps reporting back during their trips will find load times a problem.