What the bloody hell has happened to this site?

reply to post by TDawgRex


I do miss the old site, but I'm embracing the change.

IMHO, there's too much political discussion here. Corrupt politics is old news. I'd rather read about other conspiracy topics.

Meh.. not my rant thread so I'll stop

reply to post by snewpers


Well it would appear that the mods in their wisdom do not consider my "Rant" to qualify as a rant as this thread is now in "General Chit Chat".
For christ sake ! no wonder people are flocking to GLP, what a load of bollocks how in gods name has posters venting spleen about a specific topic become general chit chat??? Why not just go and ban anyone who has the audacity to question the gods ?

reply to post by ChristianJihad


Proves that change is not always for the better ( resists urge to add pea soup thingy )

I really am struggling with this new look, plus the bandwidth drives me nuts !!! ( adding a pea soup thingy... not a chance )

Plus where are my pics and messages ??? ( ok...lets add a puzzly pea )

Bring back the old ATS.
Pretty please, not ugly peas

reply to post by ChristianJihad


TEST :- Am I visible , want to know if I have turned into a ghost on this site?

reply to post by ChristianJihad


I feel your pain! I dislike it, smileys ~ ummmm...yuck. LOL.

They took away Our "Wall" then brought it back. NOW ----- they've deleted all private messages. Hmmmm, I had some very verbally, vehement, abusive ones there too, I was saving. Oh well, I don't come here much anymore. So, if they're trying to drive people away, it's working, on me at least.

I'm not bothering with inserting emoticons, not the same. Any of it. Ta ta.

I like the way the new site looks. It's easier for me to see it.
(I have old eyes and 'visual snow')
I don't like the smilies ... yuk .... but other than that, this is fine for me.

reply to post by ChristianJihad


When you start paying to post to the site then you can bitch./s

Said it before and I'll say it again, ATS now looks like a kids site, thankfully someone listened and removed the racial icons, seriously whoever thought this was a good look needs to kick their guide dog for agreeing with them.

I keep expecting to find a drawing page with elephant shaped stamps to try out..

I used to recommend friends to join ATS for the great banter and excellent level of info but I doubt many would get past the look before being put off, looks are not everything but they are important if you are trying to promote a site as sophisticated and brimming with exciting news, making it look like it was designed by a colour blind acid tripping bloke isn't a good start.

This isn't Facebook, its ATS, we don't come here to tweet, trend or share Justin Beiber photo's (well hopefully not)..

Bash me all you want, I could care less.....but I think S.O. has done a freaking fantastic job in updating ATS to modern standards and if any of you ignoramuses had ANY clue whatsoever how difficult and time consuming it is to code a website from scratch then you would staple your own mouths shut.

Bloody bunch of whingers.

Mclaneinc
Said it before and I'll say it again, ATS now looks like a kids site, thankfully someone listened and removed the racial icons, seriously whoever thought this was a good look needs to kick their guide dog for agreeing with them.

Hey thanks, that'd be me.

I used to recommend friends to join ATS for the great banter and excellent level of info but I doubt many would get past the look before being put off, looks are not everything but they are important if you are trying to promote a site as sophisticated and brimming with exciting news, making it look like it was designed by a colour blind acid tripping bloke isn't a good start.

Well it's a good thing your doubts aren't driving decisions here. We have an average of a 20% increase in Google Analytics across all metrics for new visitors... just over 30% for new mobile visitors.

Kryties
Bash me all you want, I could care less.....but I think S.O. has done a freaking fantastic job in updating ATS to modern standards and if any of you ignoramuses had ANY clue whatsoever how difficult and time consuming it is to code a website from scratch then you would staple your own mouths shut.

Bloody bunch of whingers.

You've got some... wh.... what's that brown stu.... ? You've got brown stuff on your nose..

reply to post by TDawgRex


Thanks Dawg, I see the stars now. Also I am not totally against politic type post. I just don't want to see every post about it.

OpenEars123
You've got some... wh.... what's that brown stu.... ? You've got brown stuff on your nose..

Really? Is it possible to be any more childish?

Seriously... how inane.

SkepticOverlord

OpenEars123
You've got some... wh.... what's that brown stu.... ? You've got brown stuff on your nose..

Really? Is it possible to be any more childish?

Seriously... how inane.

There's people on this thread (and many others) who have VERY VALID qualms about this subject.

Yes it was a childish and inane comment, it was meant to be.

But calling a thread full of people with valid qualms 'whinging ignoramuses' isn't exactly being Mr etiquette is it?

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I figured if I read this or a thread similar to it, that SOMEONE would show up and shine a light. I just tuned in and was a little shocked at the new look and functionality re-organization, now heading over to the link you supplied. Thanks!

SkepticOverlord
Well it's a good thing your doubts aren't driving decisions here. We have an average of a 20% increase in Google Analytics across all metrics for new visitors... just over 30% for new mobile visitors.

But isn't that just getting back to near where it was before?
I was looking at the stats before, during and after the new "makeover" and there was a massive reduction in the number of new visits and posts and threads.... and then now slowly, things are picking up again.
But it's not as much as it was (according to your own stats page) and certainly not the numbers that were using the site before the makeover.

Maybe I'm just reading them wrong, who knows.

reply to post by ChristianJihad

I am having big issues with the new design as well.. It has gotten to the point where i barely visit the site.
Not only do you have to navigate using more clicks to get to things like live and hose, but it opens up in a separate window and all the links opens using scripts, which means i cannot even do simple things like right clicking the link and open a new tab. I want to be able to browse the live/hose and actually open the topics i want in a separate tab, but that is just impossible with the design that is now.

I wonder why everyone has to overcomplicate things with scripts, when a simple link does the job better.

blupblup
But isn't that just getting back to near where it was before?

Where it was "before" the new site wasn't a happy place. Overall new visits were declining... and pages-per-visit for new visitors was declining the most.

and then now slowly, things are picking up again.

The overviews on our stats page don't give the granular data I can pull. For example, overall pages viewed fell somewhat because we removed a great deal of page-reloads from the mix. Starring, flagging, and many staff actions are now all AJAX calls, including some PM actions. Pages viewed for logged-in members dropped dramatically... while also increasing nicely for first-time visitors.


Before launch, I found a 14 people (mostly admins of other large discussion boards) who had never seen ATS and let them see the two versions (ATS.2010 and ATS.5/3) and choose which makes the most sense from a first-time visitor standpoint. ATS.5/3 won with unanimous praise. I've also been fielding a few emails form major forum software makers with questions about our new architecture, design, and approach to mobility.

juleol
but it opens up in a separate window and all the links opens using scripts, which means i cannot even do simple things like right clicking the link and open a new tab. I want to be able to browse the live/hose and actually open the topics i want in a separate tab, but that is just impossible with the design that is now.

Apparently you haven't noticed the "live" button in the main menu, between "new" and "archive"? We offer two ways to access the auto-updating overviews. For people who have large or two monitors, the pop-out window offers the most convenient way to monitor trending topics while browsing the site... or heading off to other sites.

For people like yourself who prefer what you described, the live button in the main menu shows all three, with normal links.

OpenEars123
There's people on this thread (and many others) who have VERY VALID qualms about this subject.

Not to come across dismissive, because I think I've been exceptionally open to input...
1) screen shot and video previews months ago
2) updated screen shots in an ongoing way
3) over two months of member-involved beta testing -- resulting in changes/refinements
4) one week of open access to all members to the "release candidate" -- resulting in changes/refinements

...so...

Which qualms are valid?