New layout for the forum is really bad

Looking at Alexa, the new site is tracking up but after 2 months is still lower ranked than the old one. I can't see the actual stats so don't know the combined numbers (there are still people going to ausbt.com.au and being redirected).

Have David or Chris any reason for this?

Surely we should hear from you as to why such a heavily posted thread was removed from the main page.

There are probably more replies to this than almost any other topic on this web site so it's not as if it's something we don't care about.

A response or reason would be most appropriate.

Looks like I might be done with Ausbt :(

Thanks for the good reads over the last few years. OMAAT, here I come.

Hi everyone. Firstly, thank you for sharing your feedback, and to those who have reported bugs or issues, thank you also: I know the site's IT and ownership teams are monitoring this feedback and have been implementing a number of fixes and improvements - both those reported by readers, and those requested internally by ET staff - so if you do encounter technical issues, please continue to report them.

Some readers have also asked why I've not personally given any input into this thread. Simply, the matters raised have more relevance to other members of the team, such as the IT department and the owners of the company, rather than the Associate Editor (that's me) who has other responsibilities and a full work schedule wrapped around those.

However, to the question on this thread disappearing from the homepage. No discussion stays there forever, even if there are lots of comments: half the list is 'latest discussions' which, as you'd expect, only shows the newest threads.

The other half is 'most viewed' which brings together a list of popular threads based on readership (not the number of replies), and which the software curates automatically. It's worth remembering that many readers simply read (and don't comment), so the number of comments in a discussion or under an article doesn't usually give an insight into readership. For example, take a look at the 'Most Popular' list on our News and Reviews pages - many of these have few, or even no comments, but are currently some of the most widely-read stories and reviews on the site: the same is true when it comes to 'most viewed' in the Community, which, as with Most Popular, is not something we can manually override.

Chris, thanks for chiming in but that's a huge cop out. You're the face of this site, you ‘own' this sort of issue in your customers eyes. Trying to deflect to some faceless back office person none of us know or whatever is just bad form. Plus you haven't answered any of the criticisms or questions.

Or maybe, your response just underlines why so many people feel the site has lost its soul

Hi aggie57, hardly a "cop out": I've taken time to respond to a question that falls under my area, however, as in any business, different staff have different responsibilities: mine is working full-time as an employee on the editorial side, which is why you'll often see my name and mugshot appear on the site beside my work. However, it's not for me to 'take over' the roles of other people or to speak on their behalf, and I'm not going to debate this with you. At ET, IT matters fall to the company's Chief Technology Officer, and commercial decisions are the remit of the CEO, who are both better-placed to answer questions that concern their own responsibilities, if and when their (incredibly hectic) schedules allow it.

OK, fair enough Chris. Hopefully then the message has got through to those people that what they're giving you to work with is not popular with a bunch of folks you rely on to be successful. Everyone in the world, and every business, has one or more customers.

OK Chris.

You have explained your bit as you see fit now it's up to the "Commercial " division.

I really doubt that they would forego the precious dollar just to satisfy those who are the soul of this site.

Lose readers/ contributors you lose income , lose income = lose site .

Very simple really , listen to the people without whom you won't have a web site.

I've seen this happen to a few good web sites that were started by individuals then bought out by money makers and then it's all down hill for readers.

Makes money for a while then after a while it's gone.

I do hope the CEO and owners listen , if they don't then it's off to some other web site for me.

Don't want that to happen as I used to enjoy reading and contributing to what was a user friendly site.

Note that the 'leading headlines' today are: some chef flogging watches, some random woman flogging AmEx and something about wine from Chile. Oh dear, the crash and burn continues unabated.

Hi everyone, just to provide a quick update here, again from the editorial side: we're currently working with the IT department to make the distinction between News, Reviews, Expert Guides and Lifestyle content clearer. Currently, the News section of the site is displaying lots of 'articles', which might be News, an Expert Guide or indeed a Lifestyle piece. While these will all still be programmed onto the homepage as our publishing schedule dictates, once this update has been rolled out, the News section of the site (accessible by clicking News in the main menu) should instead be highlighting only actual news stories, helping readers to find content that's of most interest to them. Of course, from time to time an Expert Guide or a Lifestyle piece might be considered newsworthy, which would be flagged in the system on a per-article basis, but of course, not everything the site publishes is 'news'.

As it's also clear that many readers enjoy following particular writers, we've also rolled out a new feature on the website where you can see the last 20 articles published by a specific writer. You can access this page by clicking on a writer's name at the top or bottom of an article or review, as well as from the site's main About page where there's a list of writers. For example, if you enjoy reading articles and reviews written by me, you can find the latest here.

Also as a general note re: lifestyle content, it's important to remember that these pieces are all filed by expert contributors, and are published in addition to our other content, rather than replacing it. David, myself, and our newest journo Brandon aren't now filing less travel content in favour of lifestyle: we're still writing as much as we were before. While you will see Lifestyle content featured on the homepage, it doesn't mean there's less of the 'other stuff'. Hopefully these changes will help readers find the stories of most relevance and interest to them.

Again, thank you all for your continuing feedback.

Very good to hear from you Chris and that you and your IT people are listening to our comments and suggestions.

I , and I'm sure all other followers will eagerly await the results of the proposed changes.

They can only be for the better and we can then all enjoy “ ET” once again.

Happy readers and contributors make a good web site.

Thanks for listening Chris.

Good improvements Chris, thanks for the information and taking an active role in how the new site operates and is presented.

I have to agree with other contributors. I don't really like the new format. Very few new articles, content all over the place, articles with very little interest for me. Has become overly commercial. Previously this was a site I would visit every day. Now I can't really be bothered!

Sad to say my time on this site has dropped off hugely since the changes. As much as I've enjoyed AusBT over the last few years this new site give little value, it's way to much weighted towards product placement and marketing dressed up as news items.

I'm not after a lifestyle site, I'm after travel info and tips shared between a community. So sorry. as they say on that basis I'm out. Good luck guys.