Please Keep the Old Format!!!
 

I much prefer this good ole format! It's easier on the eyes, easier to navigate and MUCH faster!! Fodor's, please consider not fixing what wasn't broken in the first place, and leave Travel Talk the way it is now. If anyone else agrees, please chime in! <BR> <BR>Thanks Fodor's!

Ditto, emphatically, Sam. I have already posted on US forum because I was completely fooled for a moment, thinking this was yet another, new version, which I much preferred to the last one they tried. All I miss is the "jump to most recent" feature. But this is so much better.

Another vote for the return of the older and better Fodor's! Have to agree with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" comment, what was wrong with it that it had to undergo such revisions?? Seems great the way it is now.

Yes, yes, yes . . . Please keep the old format, what was wrong with it anyway? <BR> <BR>This was an awful three days for me without Fodor's . . . it was easier to quit smoking! <BR> <BR>Sandy

YES! yes, yes, bring back this original format. Just keep the tool that automatically fills in name and e-mail.

Fodors: <BR> So glad you are back -- you were missed. Sometimes the old ways are best - Travel talk is wonderful just the way it was - and hopefully it will stay that way.

Emphatically disagree. the new format had so many advantages. Problems getting through the transition should not be confused with the superior possibilities of the new format. <BR>

Agree! This feels like coming home again, and I was thrilled to see the restored site today. Please keep it just the way it is now. Fodor's has the best travel site on the web, why change it? <BR> <BR>P.S. Sam asked for those who agree to chime in, not for Rex's incessant opportunings. Please do not bother to respond again (and again and again) and overpower yet another topic with your insatiable desire to argue.

Another vote to keep the OLD format.

I, too, prefer the old format primarily because it is SO much faster. I found the new format took so much time to load that I lost interest in getting onto the site. I appreciate the attempts to improve it; however, the only change that I was able to benefit from was the "jump to most recent" feature. Whatever other benefits there are did not balance out the slowness of loading, however. So unless the new format can be speedier, please keep the old one!

My vote is for the old format. It is so much more user friendly. And much easier to read without all the fuss and muss of the "new and improved?" format. I have absolutely no problems in finding my way around the "old" site and, when I use "search", it gets me just what I need. <BR> <BR>FODORS, PLEASE LISTEN!! THANKS AC

Another vote for the old format, so much quicker to load and I prefer the font size to the 'new' version.

I too have always found just what I needed from the search function, and I've never had problems with server speed or loading time until the "improved" format came along. Too many graphics and links just increase load time and are, IMO, basically nonessential and somewhat confusing. Everything you need is on this format, and it IS much nicer to navigate and read. <BR> <BR> <BR>And just to throw in my additional two cents, I for one didn't really appreciate the constant censoring that went along with the new format. Didn't Fodor's poll its users about that and determine that most people did NOT want increased censorship? Yet there it was. I saw completely benign posts deleted as soon as they had a few responses. Who was making those arbitrary decisions to delete? I noticed that people started complaining about how boring Fodor's was during its "new and improved" phase as well. <BR> <BR>Start the chant....keep the old Fodor's, keep the old Fodor's.....

I think the 'new' version should be given another chance - if they can sort the bugs out - from the Editor's post on the US forum it sounds like the glitches were due to third party software. Talking about glitches I've has a shedfull of these messages today:- <BR> <BR>"We're so sorry, we're currently unable to display the page you requested. That URL...." etc. Had Some before but nowhere near this many ( More traffic due to Easter break ??? ). I even got the left hand list of postings 'mirrored' in the right hand frame ! Never had THAT before - bizzarely, it worked fine ! <BR>

<BR>The old format is better. <BR>It looks better. <BR>It feels better. <BR>It reads better. <BR>It is better. <BR> <BR>AH

I loved the new format - found it much more convenient to navigate & find information. <BR> <BR>Once Fodors irons out the technical glitches, I'm sure performance will improve.

I too have always found just what I needed from the search function, and I've never had problems with server speed or loading time until the "improved" format came along. Too many graphics and links just increase load time and are, IMO, basically nonessential and somewhat confusing. Everything you need is on this format, and it IS much nicer to navigate and <BR> <BR> <BR>And just to throw in my additional two cents, I for one didn't really appreciate the constant censoring that went along with the new format. Didn't Fodor's poll its users about that and determine that most people did NOT want increased censorship? Yet there it was. I saw completely benign posts deleted as soon as they had a few responses. Who was making those arbitrary decisions to delete? I noticed that people started complaining about how boring Fodor's was during its "new and improved" phase as well. <BR> <BR> <BR>Start the chant....keep the old Fodor's, keep the old Fodor's.....\par <BR>} <BR>

I like the look and feel of the old! BUT LOVE the jump to latest reply + I like that it automatically filled in name and e-address. Plus the chance to jump to another window, while viewing posts was great! Maybe they could take best of both worlds? Judy ;-)

I'm on the fence here. On the one hand, I disliked the new format so much that I just stopped visiting the site entirely. Yes, certain features were better, but I thought the balance tipped in favor of the old format. The new format was much easier to resist. <BR> <BR>Now that the old format is back, I'll have to battle the addiction demons again. (By the way, you can jump to a bottom of a post on the old format with CTRL + Page Down).

Please oh please oh please oh puhleeeeeeeze leave it this way! I love Fodors but I hated the improved version too. I was weaning myself away from the site because it just wasn't fun to me any more. You'll always have those who will complain no matter how much you try to accomodate them with new features, so don't worry about it. You have a great product just as it was and now is!

<BR>The only 3 things I don't like with the new format are 1) the self-loading of the text of the first question 2) the delay between a message being pushed to the top and actually being available to read and 3) the message script frequently requiring use of slide bar. <BR>

Well, today was absolutely dreadful trying to get this site up, so I don't know that a return to the old is such a great thing. I love the new hyperlink url, not having to post name and email address every time you reply, and personally (with just a 56modem) the new site loaded faster on my home PC than the old.

I was just getting used to the new format, and now really miss two features of it when I go back to this old format: <BR>1)being able to click on the email address of a poster and email him directly <BR>2)having posters list a web site, and being able to go directly to it, not losing your spot in Fodor's, and return at will.

Another vote for the old format. So much easier. Thanks, Fodor.

I also vote for the OLD format. <BR>Thank you.

Frankly, Fodor's bulletin board software is probably the suckiest I have ever used. <BR> <BR>Most of the better sites are using Ultimate Bulletin Board Software, by http://www.infopop.com/

The old Fodor's format is like a familiar old friend. Please keep it this way, with the possible exception of the "jump to most recent" feature.

I'm one of those who doesn't often reply, but I check daily for my Fodor's Fix on Germany, Switzerland, and Austria before I can retire. When the new format came out I quit checking and I haven't slept as well since. I always go to the threads on these countries, and although the new format has a seach option, whenever you typed in Germany you only got threads that had the word Germany in the text and some of them were over a year old. Places like München, Berlin, Romantic Road, Berchtesgaden, Black Forest, etc. were completely left out unless they actually had the search word in the text. My choice is for the old format.

I agree with Sam - the old way was easier on the eyes, easier to navigate (love the way you can jump to the next 50 and not change the post on the right hand side), and the speed of the old format with the new one apart from the animated bannars that gave me eye strain I hated the way the posts returned to the top after you posted a reply and therefore losing your place in the lists <BR>BUT <BR>I did like the most active, being able to click on the email address of a poster and being able to list a web site and to go directly to it. <BR> <BR>So the lesson to be learnt is that there is good and bad to both ways perhaps Danny and the folks could after they have eaten their Easter eggs combine the best of both worlds, <BR> <BR>Happy Easter <BR> <BR>Cathy

I think the old format was great. Glad to see it back on and hope you will keep it like this. It's sooo much easier to read. Thanks for providing this forum.

New format please. It is faster, more user friendly and whislt I'd prefer a two phase search function, at least the search function worked.

In the hopes that Fodors will listen to its users, here are the things that I liked about the Old and the New Forums. Maybe Fodors can combine some of the good features of the Old Forums with some of the features of the New Forums. <BR> <BR>Things I like about the New Forums: <BR> <BR>1) The clickable URL are great! <BR> <BR>2) The short "unique thread" number - for a while I was not topping anymore! Now I'm back to topping, which clutters the "new" message area with old messages <BR> <BR>3) The fill-in-the Name and E-mail address <BR> <BR>Things I like about the Old Forums: <BR> <BR>1) MUCH faster - I have a cable connection and the Old Forums is instantaneous gratification. For some reason the New Forums took a while to load and, after clicking on any message, it took a while to display on the right-hand page. With a high-speed connection, NOTHING should take a while to display. <BR> <BR>2) The fact that after you respond to a message it does not take you back to message #1, which is a waste of time. <BR> <BR>3) The Old Forums has a much cleaner and readable look. All the "e-mail message" is useless and it only served to clutter up the information, making it harder to process. <BR> <BR>Thanks Fodors for listening!

Somebody else said it before, too many bells and whistles on the newer version. Whenever Microsoft, for example, updates its software, is it always an improvement, or was the old version often better? The KISS rule (Keep It Simple Stupid -- sorry, not meaning to call anyone stupid) really applies to web sites too I think. The cleaner the page, the faster it loads, and the easier to navigate. I love this old format, please don't "improve" it!!!

I agree -- I'm so glad the old format is back & hope it stays. I like it better than the "new" format -- plus, that was the second time that they tried the "new improved" format and both times they tried it, the site was slow with lots of errors and ultimately was down for days. Please leave well enough alone! This site is great but it's no good if you can't access it.

I went a way for a week and camne back to find the old format was back. Hey, what happened? Was I the only one who like the new format? I liked the clickable URL's, that I did not need to retype my name and e-mail address each time, that I could jump to different forums without going "home" and then to a new forum. Maybe it had some room for improvement but overall I much preferred it.Whenver our local newspaper changes something in its format, it seems there are always people who can't cope with the change and can't work out that the TV guide has moved to a new section. <BR> <BR> Fodors, can't you take a vote? Not all change is bad. <BR> <BR>I am sure there were people who complained when electric lights started taking over from gas and color tv replaced B&W.

Oh, great. Lisa likes the new format, so she has to say a bunch of nasty stuff about people who like the old format. We are not fossils. We just like the features and reliability of the old version. What's so horrible about that?

Apparently there are no performances of Shakespeare plays during the dates you seek. The website - - http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/home.htm - - says: <BR> <BR>"The theatre season runs from May to September 2001 and features King Lear, Macbeth, Cymbeline and a Kyogen Comedy of Errors and many special events. In advance of the theatre season itself, Shakespeare's Globe welcomes back Umabatha, the Zulu Macbeth." <BR> <BR>King Lear starts May 12. <BR> <BR>Apparently, the Globe has now contracted all ticketing out to Ticketmaster. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

So happy to return from a short trip and to find the forum working again and in its old fast, easy-to-read state. Thank you so much, Fodors!

Very interesting - - some manual tinkering behind the scenes? - - my sot about the Globe theatre was on a different thread - - and has somehow ended up here. <BR>

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease bring back the NEW format!!!! I'm inclined to agree with Lisa - soem people just don't like change & don't want to take the time to get to know the new improved features not to mention the benefits of a search function where my hair won't go grey waiting for it to spit out an incomplete list of threads!! <BR>