1) Registration has made everone run away
2) The people who stayed can't post b/c of technical problems.

I'll disagree with half your post. First of all "everyone" did not run away or there would be no one left to have technical problems. It seems that there are a great many of the helpful posters who have registered and have been making excellent and helpful posts. In fact I think mainly the ones who went away are the ones who were only here to post nasty remarks and add drivel to the board. Unfortunately a couple of those have still remained.

But you are right about the second part. This is so very frustrating.

I'm weary of this techno mess too. I'm headed to Lonely Planet too.

'Course you know the wacko's are over there too.

Topper, Slightly dDisagree with your registration theory.
Agree on the technical probs.

Very frustrating when you don't have that much time to spend here.
I sometimes use it as a pleasant break from work while trying to catch up on vacation paperwork and to keep getting the run-around....ARGGHH
Mahalo,
Kal

Hey things seem a little faster now!

I was neither for or against registration. However, now that it's been implemented this site has been frustratingly slow and very boring. If this is the outcome of registration, I don't see the plus side. I've been on lonely planet, cruise critic and cruise addict and none compare to the overall format, design and frequency of posts that I USED to enjoy on Fodors. What a bummer.

Registration took me 3 trys. I have a friend who tried 5 times and gave up. Replying to messages is a nightmare.

There are just SO many messages unanswered either because regular posters who knew the answers have been unable to register or have given up trying or becasue those posts just don't go through.

In many countries that peoles ask about modem connections are not like in Europe/USA, I run on a 28k connection! Imagine that. There are other forums and unless Fodors get this sorted the whole site will die.

If someone is traveling and has a question they will rarely bother to go through a registration process. Many sites work with moderators or at least have a fast registration. Biggest problem though is the constant problems of a technical nature, unless these are solved FAST it will die for sure.

The system seems to be working fine now (fingers crossed) so let's hope the techies have the bugs worked out.

As for Lonely Planet, if you aren't a backpacker or need hostel information, there's not much there.

In frustration, I have also checked out Lonely Planet and Rough Guide for some decent chat - nope Fodors still had/has the best potential.

I reckon in time all will smooth out - if we all stick with it - then everyone won't disappear! Hmm - not very profound I know but hey....

Things seem to be working better now... fingers crossed

I agree with Topper.

Period.

I agree...seems to be working better now...I just hope it doesn't come crashing down again in another 3 minutes...

There probably aren't a lot of people who spend more time here (on the US and the Europe boards) than me. I am as frustrated as the rest. But I can't believe that even when the whole site is down for several hours as it was early this morning, that within minutes of being back up there are a lot of people posting. How addicted are we that we can't walk away and have to keep checking every few minutes to see if it is working now?

I agree that this is the best site and that sooner or later they'll get all this fixed. To think that the editors aren't aware of the problems and aren't frantically trying to fix them is silly.

Lonely Planet is not for me. I get tired on Frommer's waiting for anyone to post anything new. I could never follow the format of the AOL boards. This is easily the best format and covers the most territory. So I will stick it out.

This message board will live on. It's the best thing out there - by far!

The technical problems are, indeed, frustrating. eBay went through similar problems in its early days. You think this is bad? Have a hot auction going and have the site go down an hour before it closes! There are one or two other boards that had similar teething problems when they made major software changes.

This, too, shall pass. And I think this board will continue to be an excellent, and valuable, travel resource.

Yeah, this board is extremely boring since registration. I use to come in here for alot of laughs (like Peter and Paul arguing), now the most boring people have registered. Yawn.

I just think of poor Vance, a poster who used to love posting "Southwest Airlines will die because of extra security" and "SWA is doomed." Southwest is doing fine, as will fodors.com. Predictions of doom and gloom often don't come true!

I think the site will be better than ever. I stoped telling friends about the site because of all the abusive language and more importantly abusive posters.

Now that the board is becoming much more user friendly, I think in the very near future you will start seeing more posts.

All the people who left or were chased off the board will come back and see the changes for the better.

One thing to keep in mind is that this is a travel site not a chat site. People come here to ask and answer questions which was the original intent of the site. It was not set up so that people could come here just to inflame and insult other posters.

I am so pleased to see the positive changes and applaude the editors for bringing it back to a friendly and informative site.

Thanks Fodors.

Thank you Fodors for all the problems you have created. In the mean time I found a travel board site which beats yours hands down.

Fodorites, check out TravelPlanet.com and go to thorn tree. I didn't know what I was missing after being on fodors all these months.

Well, it took me a while to get back here but here I am. I am not thrilled w/ this new format. I resisted registration. I miss all my old buddies. I think that we need to liven thimgs up around here!

I think "Jor" means Lonely Planet rather than Travelplanet.com, which doesn't seem to exist. And I'll repeat that the Thorn Tree is full of backpacker kids with no money. If you're into that, GREAT! If you're not (like most Fodorites), then the site ranges from useless to frustrating.

Just be patient and hang on while fodors.com fixes the technical glitches.