Firstly thanks for the well thought out and genuinely constructive feedback. I have to ask, why didn't you put your hand up for the pilot? These sorts of suggestions would have been really useful a month or even 2 weeks ago!
The excessively large "white space" up the top is something Rick and I are discussing at this very moment, so expect that to change shortly.

What makes you say the revision is two steps backwards? Any site that takes a large number of hits, especially interactive sites (as opposed to information-only sites), generally have a teething period post-release while bugs are ironed out, layouts are bedded down etc.
Granted, the previous site was more refined, but it had seen 5 years of refining to get that way.

I was one of the original Beta testers but someone banned me from the site and therefore was removed as a Beta tester.
After that I had minimal involvement in the site up until recently.

I understand that the site performance will be on the up and up from here on, this much is already apparent and was never a concern for me as I know that moving the information across to new servers and indexing takes time to settle.

In saying that this format is two steps back is in reference to it's current look and feel. If this is something that can be changed with relative ease and if you guys are open to suggestions, then that is great. If you are interested and feel that you can receive value from my input and experience, then I'd be more than happy to to help out in any way possible.

I have to agree with most of you there, especially CodeBurn3r.

I just recently registered to this forum, which was probably 2 weeks ago and i was just getting used to the site, which was easily done and navigation was simple.

The new site seems difficult to work around, finding things (posts, etc..) is almost an assignment (to me anyway.)

Again, people dont like change.. this was certainly a big one.

I say, the more simple, the more friendly user.

But other than that you guys have worked well.

James

I'm going to have to agree with all of the above posts in some way or another, even though it has only been like this a couple of days I find myself coming to the site less frequently as I don't really like the way it is set up now...

I also found the old site alot easier to use compared to this one. This one seems to take longer to load and does have the clunky feel to it....

Yup, I agree with all of the above.

This new forum is a step in the wrong direction. It is slow and cumbersome to use.

For example, to view Todays Posts, I have to hover my mouse over "FORUM" and wait for it to expand a box out. Or to view a members location, I have to hover my mouse over their avatar and wait for a box to expand out again. Its just more work on my part. This forum obviously wasn't designed for user friendliness, but rather visual fanciness.

Furthermore, I don't find the visuals to be particularly good. Its too busy and that orange colour used for all links dominates everything, and not in a good way. It detracts from simply being able to read the forum and use it as a resource.

And whats the SD and HD formats? Why can't it just be one size like most forums? Forums should be able to automatically resize itself to fit to ones monitor. I'd be okay with it except I have to press HD everytime I log on in the morning, which again, is more work for me.

I can't believe everyones passwords, avatars and PM's were lost. That is unusual for a forum transition; that usually doesn't occur. I promised two members I'd PM them when I was ready to sell my rims but now I don't have their details anymore so I don't know what to do. Its hard to view old threads with pictures as the formatting is completely stuffed up. In addition to that, I receieved PM's according to my e-mail but I couldn't find them in my PM box. Instead now I'm getting messages in my junk e-mail folder. This desperately needs to be fixed if people are to begin using the Classifieds section.

Also some of the formatting icons are hard to see because its grey on grey. Thats a fundamental flaw. How could this get past the Beta Team?!

Anyways, with all these issues pointed out, I trust the admin have enough feedback to go and fix this place up.

BTW - I'm glad to report this forum is responding a lot quicker than the initial few days. Seems reasonably quick now

walts22 wrote:

and what the hell happened to the "my ride" section

I'd like to atleast thank the guys who did the change. If it was something i paid for i would
be dissapointed.
The only problems i've had are the 'go to first new post button' and generally getting used to
all the new stuff. It will be better once we get used to and bug are ironed out. Clearly few people here realise how complicated making a site like this actually is. Give it a few weeks.
Think of it like a new car, takes time to work out where buttons are and how it goes around
corners.

i'm fuggin loosing it with this site
maybe it should have stayed BETA a little longer.
i'm logging off before  i say stuff and get banned.

I dont have any probs with the new site except for my avatar not showing ..

Looks great and is very easy to navigate ...

I am an open minded person though , that is not scared of new things

Cheers

Just in case you are still thinking it is a couple of isolated whingers, chalk me up as another who thinks the new layout and colours are absolutely terrible.  I have been struggling to use it and went looking for a thread to provide feedback.

Hey guys, I am another who prefers the original site.
The main concern with the new site is that it takes quite a while to load pages. Can this be improved at all? I have been trying on a few computers, using explorer and firefox, all seem to be slow.

Other concerns are a lot of wasted space with the size of posts etc increased in size, no myride section (is this coming back?), overall is more dificult to navigate.. but I suppose it is not what we are used to.. give it some time to sink in..
cheers

Theres a "SD" and "HD" button on the top right corner. Press HD to get it wider.

Other forums are able to just automatically resize to fit screen but this one makes us do it. Furthermore, it resets itself, so I find myself having to press HD when I log-on in the morning....

I think that feature should go.