I'm still getting those dratted pop ups, even on Mozilla. Can you remind me how to set it so those are disabled? Don't know about what you mentioned regarding the "already read" posts.

Julia - The posts I have already read are still showing up a different color but the whole appearance of GW appears different than it did Saturday! Or, is it just me?

Mary

You need to add Ad Blocker Plus so you don't get the pop-ups or ads appearing. Those ads and pop-ups slow down the page loading and ABP makes it go faster.

Click on Tools, Add-ons Manager and it should take you to the Firefox Mozilla home page where you can search for Ad Blocker Plus. Here is the original post with the instructions attached.

On the other version of GW, when you read a thread, the color of the wording on the title of the thread would change so you knew you had already read that thread and no new posts had been added. I sent a message to the administrators to see what the hiccup is. It could very well be the color of the font they are using now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ads

This post was edited by juliany on Mon, Feb 11, 13 at 12:09

Mary: Yes, the whole format changed. The background behind and the forum messages positioned in the middle of it. It reminds me of how blogs are set up. I guess for them to get to the next level of improvements they needed a software update and this is the best they could find.

Julia

I never seem to like changes. Too "set in my ways."

And I particularly do not like being unable to, see at a glance, whether I have read the post previously as the previous color variation made possible.

I did increase the size of the page, which helped the appearance a bit.

kay

Count me in, I dont like it.

Julia-mine is showing which posts I have read. Maybe it's fixed.

It's so bright! I like a little color, but maybe it's just temporary.

I cant tell whicgh ones I have read eaither,and I sure did lke that feature.Some thing today is different but haven't figured out what it is yet...............

Jean

Yesterday morning all the links were black, but now they're back to the familiar blue (unread) and violet (read).

If you look near the top of the forum main page, there is a section called "What's New on Gardenweb" with a link that somewhat explains the changes.

Nate

Today it does look like I can tell which ones I've read already but I think it is too light yet. I'm not sure I like the forum page looking like a blog. I get the feeling of being squeezed by the narrowness of the posting area within the page. I guess it will take time to get use to the new format.

I am curious as to why all the empty space, ie border right and left, on either side of the area where the posts are. Are there ads in there?

Julia

I have the color changes today too, so can now tell if I have read the post. The format is a look I am not fond of, but it is a free site. Do you think they attempting to "hook in" with Fcebook in some way? It seems everyone wants to be associated with Facebook, but I don't go there.

Julia, I have Adblocker, so I suspect the blank areas are ads, but, at least don't have to see them. Increasing the font size gives a little better balance, at least on the left side. It does seem awfully bright.
kay

The white on white background makes it extremely hard to read - at least for me with my aging eyes. Guess I won't be visiting this site as often. Very stark look....

I'm surprised they didn't run a beta version and ask folks to give their input like they did when they asked for suggestions.

Kay: Very bright but thinking about the upside here. When we all post our pics, those flower colors are sure going to pop :-).

If folks are unhappy with the change, contact the site to give them your suggestions. After all, we are the target audience for the advertisers. No audience, no advertisers.
There is a Contact Us link at the very bottom of the page in the darker area.

well,I still can not tell if I have read a posting or not, so still having to reread a lot of them, or back out of it and go to the next one.Also cant find the :whats new on garden web, either:

jean

Funny, I've always had a white background here. I wonder if there is an option for different looks.

Nate

Jean: You may want to log out and then log back in and maybe then the colors will change for you. Seems like they updated the info and found forum members are sending in their suggestions with some issues.
Here is the Info:
For more than a decade GardenWeb has provided a free and open platform for the exchange of ideas, questions and answers, and general support for gardeners, home and apartment fix-it-uppers and and all around Do It Yourself (DIY) enthusiasts. Recently we asked you to tell us what could do to make GardenWeb better and promised to act quickly on those suggestions. We have started to make good on that promise, introducing new features like the ability to edit posts after you have made them and being able to upload photos with your messages. At the same time we have fixed a number of minor bugs and continued to enhance the site's speed, stability and security. In short we have been busy working in the garden!

Today we are excited to begin rolling out a new logo, updated headers and footers, and some general page layout improvements.

In the coming weeks and months we will continue to improve the GardenWeb service. Some of the specific projects we are working on include improving:

- the quality of search and discovery
- site navigation and overall ease of use
- member profiles and personalized services
- iPhone, Android and tablet support

As with any change there may be unexpected consequences, but we are committed to addressing them as soon as we learn about them, guided at all times by our overarching motto to "do no harm".

Feedback you have given us to date have set our priorities and will continue to guide our direction. We look forward to continuing to give you what have asked for. And, as always, we welcome your comments.

Team GardenWeb

************************************
Update: 2.12.2013

Thank you for all of your helpful and constructive feedback. We are currently working on the following updates/issues:

- Softening the page display on the message forum pages. This includes color and font weight changes.

- Photos and text overlapping into the advertisement area.

- Mac/Safari layout issues.