This new format
 

I think it's awful and very confusing. I wish well enough would have been left alone. Happy Travels!

Just exactly what's do you find so awful and confusing?

To me, everything seems the same, except to click on my own name, the name is displayed on the top right instead of top left.

I like the new look- just goes to show- different strokes for different folks!

I think it's great.....so far.

Happy Posting!

It's defintely different strokes for different folks. I don't know why the word "Talk" had to be changed to "Community". I was also fine being a forum and not a community.
I wonder if there have been other comments on the new format over in the other forums...oops...I mean communities. Happy Travels!

guen, I know what you mean....I now have to think where I am going on this site and all my pre planned hand clicks to get around this site have all changed, lol. :-B

Oh well nothing stays the same forever unfortunately.

I did notice that once you get to the talk forums they haven't change much yet but I do expect that to change shortly

I do like the new color scheme.

Aloha!

I don't care about what they call it. The web address is still fodors.com/forums, and the pulldown menu on the left still says "forums".

There may be more graphics or formats change on the front parts, but the forums here work the same.

Plus la change, plus la meme chose. In every organization, sooner or later someone new is going to arrive and institute a "wonderful and exciting innovation". As these tend to go, the change in format is rateher mild. The substance of the forum appears to have remained the same.

BTW, I refuse to be in a community with Bob. Come to think of it, doesn't that make him a communist? Perfect, workers unite!

If you go to the Asia forum page, and then ask your computer to add that page to your "favorites" list, and then name it fodors, it will take you directly to this page! No need to stop by the home page at all. Just click on that link from your favorites list and here you are.

(did that make sense???)

Carol

I agree about where they've moved things being confusing - I keep clicking the wrong button when I'm posting! (The buttons are in one position when you start to post, then flip after you've previewed. Wierd. In fact, there's all sorts of problems like this; seems like it didn't get reviewed before it went live!)

"Community" was a big dot-com buzzword - about six years ago. What bothers me about the name change is that they're not consistent about it. If you read the "Fodors New Look" post and other Fodors-generated info about the redesign, they refer to the forums as Travel Talk. But if you're new to the site and interested, you'd have no idea where to go for that - because Talk is now Community! duh. I'd say it was an identity crisis...

I also don't appreciate that they moved the Flash-y ads on the Post a Reply page to that obnoxious location adjacent to the text box, smooshing this box I'm typing in into a narrow column. Then when you go to Preview, the font is now large-size Arial - still smooshed in that narrow column!

It's all just a cosmetic change, nothing of substance - though they say that's coming.

Phew - glad I got that off my chest! Thanks Guenmai! ;)

Carol, I've had the Asia forum page bookmarked forever, it seems. So the only change I see is in the colors and where my name appears. I guess this means I should visit the Fodors home page to see the changes... ah, when I have time.

Honestly, it doesn't look all that different to me. I never looked at "talk" or whatever anyway. I just scrolled down to Asia and clicked on that. It still works.

Now that I've brought up the reply screen, I can see a difference. I've always bookmarked the Asia Forum (community) so its no problem navigating to it.

I'm always on borrowed computers. So, I start with the home page which now to me is a mess of color and busyness. Just too much stuff. Just let us get to the forum and quickly. And I'm used to clicking on "Talk".

On one computer, earlier today, the orange box on the home page was just that...an orange box. No info popped up into it. Now on this computer, info actually popped up in the orange box. So, this is the first time I'm seeing info in the orange box along with other info that didn't appear on the computer I used earlier today. Happy Travels!

Hmm, they seem to be making tweaks even as we "speak" - that large-sized font I mentioned before has thankfully gone away. And the Preview and Post buttons don't switch places like they were doing before. Odd, though, that Fodor's seems to do their QA after going live... Maybe instead of hiring someone, they just rely on us LOL. At least it's getting fixed though! ;)

same, same, but not really that different.

Thank you for your comments and reactions. We've already made some layout changes here in the Forums in response to your feedback.

Your confusion in regards to the various names is valid as well. We certainly aim to make the site easier to use; your feedback and opinions all always taken into consideration.

This was a major relaunch for us in regards to the exciting updates that we brought to our destination guides. We're excited to turn our attention to the forums, user reviews, and other sections of the site where our members have an opportunity to interact with us and with each other. Behind all of these changes is a desire on our part to deliver a better experience for you.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Katie, a long time ago I made a suggestion, I do not know if you saw it or you considered that it is not useful:

The scroll bar in the left side of the screen (to see different threats) should not include 'change forum" box and the name of actual forum (for instance Forum-Asia). It should allow to browse only the threads.
This will allow to change the forum without going up to the first message.

valtor--

did you mean that it should include the pull down box as you browse the threads so that you can switch to another forum without going to the top?

Sorry-- I think I'm misreading your suggestion, but I just want to be sure that I have it right.

Yes, the "change forum" drop down box should be fixed, ouside of where the scrolling threads are listed.
Thanks!

Yes Katie. Probably I do not know to explain clear, but Kristina did this for me!

Thank you.

You know,now that you mention it I can't stand that word "community" either. The word just sounds way too left wing ,politically correct, communistic, etc. to me, sorry.

How about Neighborhood or Travel Talk, something that makes more sense?

Travel Talk makes more sense and there is little doubt people will know what this is rather than Community.

Yeah...Travel Talk...I hate the word..."Community", too. And I'm not going to remember that when friends who are new to the forum asks me how to log on. Before I just told them to go on fodors.com and then click on Talk and then Asia..."REAL" easy and easy to remember. Happy Travels!

We hear you loud and clear! Internally here we often refer to member-oriented projects as "community" projects. I really like receiving your feedback on this point as we often discussed name consistency.

Eventually, we would like that main landing page to be a more consolidated and communal space for all things "member-minded". Perhaps "Talk" will still make sense to use; perhaps we will shift to something else. At the moment, I admit that it is confusing; I will look into having it changed back to "Talk".

The fixed topic box improvement is a good one. I will pass that along as well.

Hi Katie, here's my two cents: It seems like Fodor's has reached a sort of tipping point with the popularity of the forums, matched by the company's desire to do more for this area and its incorporating Fodorite tips in the guidebook Word of Mouth quotes. One aspect of this is that, from what I've seen, the forums are frequently (always?) referred to as Travel Talk. To change the nomenclature to Community at a point when there is (I assume) increased traffic has the potential to be confusing.

Since you mention that the changes to that main landing page would occur "eventually", my suggestion would be to make the name change at that point. It will make more sense from a user perspective to change the nomenclature with a significant functional/cosmetic redesign, and to have the name reflect those changes. You might find that "Community" works best, or that something completely new occurs to you as you flesh out those (eagerly anticipated!) enhancements.

Also, I figured out what was making it so disorienting for me to find my username. On the main Fodor's page, the link is in the middle of the header, below the banner ad and the menu bar. On the forums pages, there is no ad at the top, so the link is actually in a physically different place, above the menu bar, I'm sure in order to save real estate. Not much to do about that, I'm afraid!

Overall, the font and graphic elements are an elegant improvement. I look forward to whatever comes next!

Hope this helps! ;)

Suggestions,

Talkroom
Travel Talk
Travelchat
Travelchatter
Traveler's Opinions
Chat room
Travel Chatroom
Travel Views
Traveler's Reviews
Fodor's chat
Talk About It
Talk About Travel

ok, wasted enough time, back to work

Aloha!

The voice of the Fodorites have been heard! Community is now "Talk"
Today we conquer Fodors... tomorrow the World!

I'm having log-in problems. Sometimes the site recognizes me, sometimes not... If the site doesn't recognize me, when I sign it, the sign-in doesn't work. But if I sign in (and it doesn't accept my log-in) but I click on Talk, then on the Asia forum, it than has me signed in. weird.

I can't click on the Search function or scroll on the box to the right of it.

I am not having any problems. I am using Firefox-- which browser are you using?

I also use Firefox and am having no problems.

I use Firefox too and have had no problems at all.

I'm using Internet Explorer here at my office. I'll check it tonight on my Mac with Safari.

Using a Mac with Safari now. No problems with scrolling or searching. I like the new fonts and layout.

Great..."Community" is gone and "Talk" is back. Sometimes one just has to stir things up to get change. Smiles. Happy Travels!

All right! Using my Mac with Safari and it's fine!

That's a nice change. Usually if something is not compatible with a browser, it's my Mac that has problems.

Kathie, I have had the same experience. I have a PC at work and a Mac at home. I now use Firefox on both computers. I like Safari but there are certain sites on which it does not work.

Want to follow up on this today--- are Mac users still having any scrolling issues?

Glad you're happy about the return of "talk"-- I am too. Thanks for the spirited opinions!

I can only use the search function if I change my text size which then makes the results too small on my PC.