LOL, same here Bruce, I too double checked what site I was on?

It would have been nice if they chose a non-white background, I find black type on a white screen akin to counting ants on a light bulb. I'll live though ;-)

Bill

I have to agree about the back ground. Black text on a tan (parchment paper) back ground would be good for the eyes. Since there isn't a whole lot of graphics on the site, the black on white is just as you say "akin to counting ants on a light bulb". Sometimes the letters on my monitor even seem to move.
Bruce

I like this New Look, really I appreciate, thank you GW.

New container gardener,

Caelian

The White has to go. To hard on the eyes.

Hah, yeah I went through closing and opening, restarting my computer and so on and so forth trying to figure out what was going on last night.

Eventually I came to my senses.

It took me by surprise too. The black and white don't bother me, but for some reason I don't like the blue bar... It isn't a very garden-y color. Small fry. I do like the new font. It is just that little bit easier to read.

Enjoying the refresh, I agree with the white being too hard on the eyes, a soft blue or green would be nice and match the current scheme.

Don't know what y'all are talking about with the black on white, as it was always black text on white background for me...

Only thing I don't like is the new layout for the main forum list. They changed that so I have to scroll down to find the old layout.

I find it rather easy on the eyes(I also like the font), but I'm old and seem to need more light to see well these days. I don't know if you could customize the skin, but if it were possible that might help those of you that find the white harsh-looking.

I'll get used to it, I suppose.

Has a cartoony, unprofessional feel...like something one would paint in a child's nursery.

Josh

I too LIKE basic black on white, and the Arial font is okay. I find it easier to read a serif font, though, like Courier (or whatever the Wall Street Journal is using these days).

It would be nice to introduce skins so that charcoal crayon on parchment is a actual possibility, but I'm sure that will come in time.

My retinas are burning...

It was always B&W for me too Edymnion.

Since they were revamping the design it would have been a great time to use an off-white background, you know for guys like me with midlife eyes ;-)

I wasn't complaining, just an observation. Hey, you still can't beat the price of admission!

Geez, now I am looking over my shoulder. I haven't paid anything for admission.

What the H#((... I don't like this at all! Sorry garden web I already have eye issues. Now I have to turn down the brightness on my screen just to read this. Gardeners are subtle relaxed people; not hyped up facebook junkies. I'm here to relax...
Well I guess I've got to put my sunglasses on and get used to it since after all it's still free to be here.

Eric

Btw folks, for what its worth, I sent off a gentle request to the administrator(s) of the GardenWeb asking them to consider toning down the background. I also complimented them our informative site that we all enjoy. Happy growing fellow chili heads.

Bill

The new garden web to the eyes

I know change takes time to get used to but I personally love the new design. Sure the white background and black text is not the best combo but I find the site and posts much more easy to navigate.

Prior to this format I found it hard to browse the forum and determine which posts were new and whether or not people had replied to them. I find this look much cleaner as well and it gives it a more 'modern' browsing experience.

I seem to be one of the few, but i really like the changes.

I do agree for the most part it's improved a lot and I like the features for the smart phones, as in uplaoding pics straight from the iPhone instead of going through other channels to post a pic.

Mark

It would take two minutes and just a couple simple changes to the HTML code for this web site to change the back ground to a more subtle color. I imagine they are getting "suggestions" from other lists as well and maybe they will call their web master back in for an hour of overtime....very soon. They can keep the layout as it is.
Bruce

I requested a more stringent search engine and to edit posts.

1 down, 1 to go.

Layout is fine imho.

I like it, easy to read, looks less busy. As a designer myself, i understand the balance between functionality, features and aesthetics. this seems like a good balance, honestly I like it way better than the color combo previously used.

Yep. Google was a breath of fresh air with their clean, spare, functional design. I'm so glad to see that concept making its way around the net. I HATE HATE HATE low-contrast, busy schemes.

(I was a UI engineer for a while, btw, Not web pages specifically, but the concepts are the same.)

Dennis

I agree that a little more color contrast would be good, but it's not a big deal. I also like the Arial font. My problem with it is too much wasted space for the background. They need less background and more room for text.
John A

The look surprised me at first too, but I like it.It's not busy, it's professional looking, and I don't think the coloring is harsh and my eyes aren't young either.

For nine years I've enjoyed this site; I am very grateful that a site like this exists and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for admission.

Sandy