apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

looks great...the kitchn layout is broken in firefox. not sure about other browsers. the ads are loading into the main column and the left column is loading to the very left of the page not within the defined space.

the links to the slideshows of the house tours don't work for me. also the 'to all house tours' link is broken.

and i hope the archives also get a "cure" in the future, at the moment they are a bit overwhelming without the possibility to search for specific terms or tags.

beside that i think the new layout looks nice and i love the fused view of all at blogs

I think I like the new design, but it will take some getting used to. Good job.

In the kitchn, it told me to register or login, but then said I was already logged in. I was unable to comment.

Thank goodness that the "back-button error" is finally resolved!!!!

I like it ... mostly because I used to click to LA/SF/Chicago anyway.

But after the new-ness wears out, are we still going to be able to link to Kitchen / Nursery / Green / Tech at the top of the page?

OK, me too. Can't comment or participate in survey on Kitchn, because it says I am not logged in, but when I try to log in it says I already am. I am sure these types of kinks will be worked out, tho.

Yay, the triple click is gone!

I'm not understanding how this is a combined site. When I look at the stuff on the other city sites, I don't see some of it on the main site. (and I don't mean the city-specific shopping.) Huh?

I just typed something into the search box and I got a message that said that Google is indexing the site, so good searches must be on their way!

The bugginess on the Kitchn should be fixed now. Please leave us a comment over there if there are still problems that you see. Thanks!

All of AT on one page... heaven!

No bugs here :-)

Jeez, am I the only one who thinks this is a huge let-down after the big build-up? I think this new design looks impersonal and commercial, and it's way too busy. Doesn't at all convey the kind of serenity we're striving for in our homes, with the help of AT. And what's with "ohdeedo"? Kind of cringeworthy, although perhaps I'm missing some key reference.

Pixie - I "think" (not 100% sure) that the main page is just a sampling of what's going on on the city specific sites, not all the posts combined. I found it unclear as well, but I think i just need to get used to the new look.

Overall I find the look of the page a little cluttered as well. I wish the ads that fit in between the posts were all relegated to the side column, I think that would help a lot for some reason. I know they were there on the old site, but somehow I find them more bothersome now that the outlines/defining grid of the posts have changed to a lighter weight dotted stroke.

Overall though I think it just takes awhile to get used to since we were so comfortable with the old look.

My one huge complaint thus far is that there is far, far too much crossover of content between the local sites. I like moving from area to area so I can see a bunch of different posts. Currently, the new site design takes the whole lot of joy out of browsing.

Bug report:

When I try to click through to a post from Bloglines, I just get sent to another page on Bloglines, not the post itself.

RE: "The bugginess on the Kitchn should be fixed now. Please leave us a comment over there if there are still problems that you see. Thanks!"

I am still having the same problem and can't leave a comment over there (that is the problem!) :}

I hate it.

My daily routine was to start with NY and click my way across to whatever city or site I wanted to look at.
Now i'm scrolling like crazy. I have really look to find the city the post is from; the other sites are seperated?! awful!
It actually feels WAY less professional. The endless sidebar on the left that I have to scroll through to find other links reminds me of the personal blogs one can find all over the virtual world of someone posting all their interests and hobbies. If I wanted to look at design & home stuff on 'myspace' I'd join "myspace".
Oh well.
I really liked the community feeling that is absent now.
I'll try to adjust and come back daily through the holiday's, but if it still feels like i'm reading some advertising blog; well i'm out in the new year.
bummer, bummer bummer. :(

Oh frabjous day! No more triple-clicking.

Ditto, MelissaDC. I find it cluttered, too. The type is too fair as well. I'm having a hard time with the light colored type against the white background.

1 on the cluttered feeling. I feel like there are even more ads.

I feel like I'm missing posts because new ones are not always added at the top. Just now I scrolled down the page and saw 3 new ones buried within old ones since I last visited (1 hour ago). I feel like I might miss something because there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to how things are posted.

So, AT:

1. I get an error msg when trying to click on the NY Shopping Guide.

2. I was hoping that the Shopping Guide was the equivalent of the old "Products" link, and was disappointed that it seems to be just a collection of plugs for shops rather than advice about products and things I might be interested in.

3. Is the "Main" page comprehensive (I hope)? or is it just a sampler of the other pages (not so good)?

So far, I prefer the old site(s).

Very, very elegant....love it.

On the NY page, once you scroll down to the Gehry and Lanya home tour, all the entries are showing up twice.

On the NY page, once you scroll down to the Gehry and Lanya home tour, all the entries are showing up twice.

This is what I like:

Finally you can scroll to past pages at the bottom instead of that "more" button that just took you to the archive listing. Thank you for making that change!

This is what I hate:

I do not find the site visually pleasing. It is cluttered, busy, the opposite of peaceful, jarring, and tacky. As someone else mentioned today, pretty much the opposite of what we are supposed to be doing for our homes. It would be nice if the visual look of the site could emulate the AT philosophy rather than contradict it. (And despite my earlier protestations on the adverts, I do now feel that it would be possible to design a site that was beautiful and visual pleasing and still gain revenue from adverts.)

This is what I haven't decided on:

Functionality. I will have to play around with the site(s) for a bit to see if I like how the re-design functions in terms of moving from one city to the next, being able to post or find posts, search, follow along, etc.

Unfortunately I agree with Melissa in DC... I don't like the look...

Ugg, the Glade ad just expanded on me like a pop-up - I had to clock close for it to return to its normal size. Pop-up type ads are deffinitly not welcome!

I always hate change, so I'm feeling a little grumpy about the site redesign, just because I always like the old way better. There are definitly things I like though - the top posts/top house tours lists are really nice up at the top. I like the bar at the bottom w/ the links to the other sites and their posts, but I wish it was at the top of the page - I've been bumming around here all day, and only just saw it now b/c it's hidden way down at the bottom.
I agree w/ people who say it feels a little cluttered. I think one of the things that contributes to that is the massive list of links to other blogs on the lefthand side. I wonder if that list could be moved to the bottom, and the links to the other at sites moved to the top, or to where the link lists currently are? It seems like the other AT sites deserve more a visible space than the links to other people's blogs do...
I do really like how the city sites are combined on the main page - I was too lazy to look at the local sites other than NY before, so that's an improvement in my book.

Also, it looks like the changes like being able to edit/spellcheck your comments and expanding people's profiles to include photos, etc. have not happened. Are these still in the works for this overhaul, or are they not happening this time around?

still not counting comments properly on the front page

I agree with MelissaDC. The website is no longer warm and welcoming - it is now corporate looking, cold, and generic. My first impression was very negative.

Matilda - Yes! I scroll down through posts I've already seen to find brand new posts have snuck in! What's up with that?

I like the ability to switch between "all posts" and new york/sf/chicago. I wish tech could be included to that though. The new names for the subsites seem bizarre, like they were the only domains left over.

I'm okay with the aesthetics, as far as I can tell beyond my initial change-hating gut reaction, but it does look like there are a lot more ads than there were before.

My instant reaction was "oh YUCK now they look like everyone else." That may not be entirely accurate, but I don't like the design now.

There are a lot of sites that look good with the center-column layout but AT is one where I really prefer having the left-column layout (i.e., main content in left column).

me no like. But I'd fallen out of love with this site for sometime so I guess this is goodbye for me.

This is a change for the worse. Its busier and its not nearly as easy on the eyes.

I'm not sure yet...I'll get back to you after trying it out for a couple of days.

i agree with everyone else who cited the new site's impersonal feel. it's busy and cluttered and just flat-out yucky. i hate it. i'm feeling like a target consumer with all the ads.

whoever mentioned the names for the other sites, i agree with that as well. they seem like leftovers.

i'd rather do a bunch of back-clicking than look at the new layout.

this is really a shame.

When I click on the 'shopping guide', I get this error message: "Query failed: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '' at line 1"

(Then I clicked on the AT Store, and it was like a breath of fresh air, going back to the lovely original design, with no extra ads or clutter....)

Awww, man. The three-column thing? But that's like on every other mainstream design blog I browse. I'm fine with moving other blogs to other sites (as long as you keep the links to them on the main site, even after the initial; introduction), but now I'm boxed in by ads and links...

I'll still keep returning, but the other layout was warmer. I also can't see my cursor when I'm commenting. This is a problem because I edit my comments a lot.

OK, I seriously don't like these new names. With so many different branches couldn't you make the names more descriptive. Re-Nest doesn't equal green design. Ohdee-what! Come on! Really, I don't understand this renaming.

Also, I can't see if people have left comments on a post without clicking on the comments button.

i don't like the new changes. the old site was simple and pleasing. :(

After viewing a slideshow for any of the house tours, clicking the link back to the main Apartment Therapy at the top of the page actually takes you to http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/

I'm going to echo a lot of the opinions already expressed. The new layout feels more cluttered, sterile and commercial than the old one. I preferred the left column layout and soft edges of the old design. Having the links to the Kitchen, Nursery, Tech, and Green sites at the top of the page is convenient so I hope that stays even after the "Welcome to our new design" announcement is gone. The new site names are a little tacky though - I'm not a fan of de-voweled, oddly-hyphenated, awkward site names ("ohdeedoh"? "re-nest" as a play on "re-cycle"?).

What I DO like is the ability to click through to pages of older posts - that's fabulous.

I didn't read all the comments, so it might already be mentioned...

The "Related Links" for every article I've read have the same url as the page itself.

The rss feed link in the footer is broken.

I think the redesign is a step in the right direction. Could definitely use a bit more "pruning" though. It's hard to criticize the abundance of ads when that is what pays the rent of the people who run the site. But hey, that's why rss feeds are so wonderful.

I'm also not liking the new look at all. It's so visually complicated and cluttered, my eye has nowhere to rest and actually absorb anything. Isn't this exactly the opposite of what AT promotes? And there's so little whitespace between the posts and the far-too-numerous advertisements, with those negligible grey line separators, that it's really hard to tell what's what. And the new blog names--kind of senseless, if you ask me. I'm pretty sad about this *improvement*. I know people worked really hard on this, but...

I really wish I liked it. I've spent the past 20 minutes trying to get there... but it's not happening. I'm also confused by the bargain bin domain names.

The good thing is, the content is still GREAT, and that's why I come back everyday!

Sea-

Wow, you are right. I clicked on the AT store per your recommendation. Indeed, like a breath of fresh air. The difference is amazing. I wonder how long it will be before that page is made ugly too?

I am feeling so sad.

services? where are services? how will I find a plumber/ electrician/ painter in my neighborhood now?

is this the inevitable result when you feature all those questions from buyers of bland condos and contest entries from owners of minimansions? Sorry, I did refrain from complaining about the proliferation of ugly suburban spaces on the blog, which I always thought was really meant for the folk who appreciate older quirkier spaces (be they urban or rural), but I guess that's my wishful thinking.

Of course, it's all about progress, and NO, I would not begrudge the AT founders success, advertising and franchising. God bless. But let me be a little sad for what's gone lost. The neighborhoody blog.

Love the new look and wider format. The ads are better separated and I can find everything I want in the left nav. Well done AT.

I just read through most of the comments and frankly I'm shocked. Understandably a lot of loyal users are going to have to adjust to the way they use AT but from a design perspective the new site is superior in everyway. The previous site was effective but dated. If you use the waybackmachine and check them side by side you'll see. If you are on an 800x600 screen you might not see the difference but at larger resolutions the new site shines. I really don't understand the "busier" and "cluttered" references. I always found the right nav on the previous site with to be inconsistent with the nav buttons and text links and ads all so near each other. The separation between church and state is much clearer now.

I'm also a fan of the new names. They may not have been my first choice but they are definitely out of the box and memorable. Who knew what Google was 7 years ago or Yahoo! 12 years ago. The naysayers all want easily digestible names but those don't survive and eventually sound like spam.

Sorry about the rant but I had to throw in my two cents.

First off...I LOVE ME SOME AT!!!, BUT my gut reaction to AT 3.0 - way too busy.
Remember when we were asked to vote on the T-shirt logos? Most of us voted for the simpler designs, because they really stood out and personified what AT is all about...simple, great design ideas.
This new launch does not reflect that at all. Yes, certain things have been improved, like search functionality.
I would have been much happier if the mainpage consisted only of the AT logo seen on the right nav var, a link for each of the city-specific sites, the 4 existing sections at the bottom of the page for kitchen/nursery/tech/green, and of course...NO ADS, not on the mainpage. Maybe there's an AT 4.0 brewing somewhere...

I have an RSS question. I primarily read AT on my RSS. If i subscribe to the feed at the bottom, I'm getting all AT sites, yes? And how do I know which AT site it's coming from?

Too commercial, too cluttered, too jarring on the eyes, and I'm feeling a bit anxious trying to navigate. The busy-ness on the left and right columns makes it difficult and not peaceful to read the middle...which by the way, not everyone has nice big screens in which to view this website...I'm on a lap top and I can barely navigate through the jumble...

Pretty disappointing... :(

I used to come to AT every day, all day, and now only come back occasionally. Part of the change in habit is due to a shift in personal focus, but mostly because AT started to seem somewhat commercial to me, a place where "inspiration" translated into "consumerism" and product. The house tour square footage got larger and that went against what brought me to AT in the first place. (I found AT through a "small space" google search.)

On the positive side, AT Europe is wonderful and I think separating the kitchen, nursery and tech sites is a good step forward. It makes room for AT DC (maybe?) and brings the focus back to saving the world one room at a time.

Likes: I actually don't mind the redesign. I like that I can click back at the bottom of the page rather than going to the archives. I like the "top posts," "house tours" on the left. And I like the aggregator, but I think that's because I don't live in any of the specific cities (AT DC baby!). I have no problem w/ blog roll, as that's how I find new fun sites (and how I found AT way back when).

Dislikes: I'd prefer there to be a link to the other new sites at the top of the page, because I too click to them quite often. I too am finding new posts sneaking in farther down the line. I have no problem with Kitchn (because it makes me think of "Chik'n"--vegetarian "chicken") but I don't get Ohdeedoh?

Bugs? The blog roll only appears sometimes on the left-hand side, but maybe it's just my computer.

Thought: Is there a way to move the ads that are in the middle of the page between posts where the written content is to the right hand side of the page where the rest of the ads are? FWIW, I do click on ads here and there if there's something interesting to me.

eww! ugh! gross!

i agree with so many of you...staciaD in N.Cal said absolutely
everything i was thinking....Maryja, Lori2, MelissaDC, Pixie's second comment......i agree with all of you, and so many others.

believe me, i am all for change and improvement, but there was no improvement here! my eyes are bugging out, hard to focus.......

i am so bummed :-(

Yuck.

This kind of change happened on another blog I used to read (a wonderful site called "Not Eating Out in New York"), and now I no longer read it.

Perhaps other readers will be better able to adapt to the change, but for me the visual impact of the new design marks a dramatic and unfortunate departure from what I liked about the old AT.

OK, didn't realize this until today. I am a habitual AT reader and click over a few times a day - usually once in the morning, once after lunch and then at the end of the day. When I do so, I read, scroll, read, scroll until I get to a post I've read already, then I know I am where I left off, right? WRONG! Now there are new posts interspersed with the old & I don't know where I left off. Yuck, I don't like that part. Isn't that one of the standard formats of a blog, that posts are chronological? I can't say I wills stop reading, but this is definitely going to bother me.

Very happy to see the back button fixed.

Regarding the integration of geographical sites: I haven't spent a lot of time testing this too closely yet, but it seems to me that if you click a city at the top of the screen, it filters out the postings from other cities - not sure if the latest appears first though. It was definitely better to have the postings appear in most recent order.

The drawback to integrating all cities at the main site, is that some city-specific postings - such as classifieds - show up and are basically useless for those who live cross country. This clutters the screen.

The "related links" (What's Hot in ELLE Decor...plenty!, Stay Inside!, Sssh! Clutax is Here, Midlife Crisis Martha, Martha on the Rise) at the top of this page all display an error 404 file not found.

Ditto on all the triple-click comments. Nice job.

I'm afraid I don't really like the new layout. And the cutesy "Kitchn" and "Ohdeedoh" names are awfull. The site lakcs the old ones's modern feel. I feel like I'm perusing an Omnimedia product. So sad.

Bug: I've noticed a couple of threads that have 1 comment but the text on the main page says there are 0 comments.

I'm sorry, but this is awful. The layout is cluttered, there's no focus, it looks boring and commercial... I'll echo all the previous comments. I wish I had something positive to say, but this is extremely disappointing.

This is not "pruning". To follow your analogy: Instead of "pruning", you cut down a character-filled old oak and replaced it with one of those little trees held up by string.

Too busy: cluttered sidebars, distracting linear graphics. Oddly, it's very non-Apartment-Therapy. If this website were a home, it would need the deep treatment.

Well, I've tried to live with it a couple of days to see how I feel, and frankly, I have to echo a number of posters about the graphic layout being much weaker and more cluttered.

Keeping everything white makes everything jump out at you, and puts the same value on the ads as the editorial content. Your eye doesn't know where to go first. Very jumbled, and not a clean, airy look at all (if that is what you were trying to achieve by going white). It might help if you blocked off the sidebars in two different shades of grey (one for each side), and made the text blacker. That might neaten it up, and keep the "whiteness".

You can really afford to do more colourful headers for the other sites -- for kitchn, the font could be heavier, and the colour stronger; for ohdeedoh (please explain the name) the font colour could be less duty and pastel (and a heavier or bolder version of the font); why go with yellow for unplggd? somehow it doesn't work; and finally, "re-nest" seems to suggest that the site is about re-using -- it doesn't capture the fullness of the site concept. If you leave it as "re-nest" you are not going to get much new traffic, and it will wither on the vine.

I have more thoughts, but that is for starters.

I always hate redesigns and then a week later I've forgotten all about it.

The only thing I'd say is that it seems like most of sites I read these days have switched over to a "content on left, ads and links in two columns on right" thing. That seems to me more appealing than stuff on both sides of main column. I don't really care about "top posts" or links or anything in the left-hand column, so I'd rather have that all thrown over to ad side, maybe a little lower down.

It's hard to immediately distinguish between what's actual content and what's an advertisement. I was looking at the kitchen site and below a recipe post were two ads: diabetes meds and gastric bypass... that was a bit depressing. Not crazy about the addition of Main - preferred things starting with New York. Main seems redundant. The top beige bar with Kitchen, Green, Nursery, etc. looks like an advertisement.
I'm not sure the new design reflects how wonderful the site content is - I feel like the ads have really taken over and it's hard to read posts without constant visual ad interruption.
That being said, I super appreciate all of the hard work that goes into apartment therapy and am grateful to all who contribute to the site.

its lost its cozy homemade feeling

progress

I want to echo a lot of the same sentiments as others have said. I do not like the new layout. I'm have REAL trouble with the "main" site. I'm fine with the idea behind it because I read all four city sites daily. However, the posts MUST be in chronological order. It is incredibly annoying to read posts, check back 2 hours later and see new posts pop up below what you have already read that were not there before! sdl;fkjsdlkfj.

The new layout makes my eyes hurt. Its too busy and its difficult to concentrate on the content with so much other crap going on on the front page. I'm not fond of the new names for the Kitchen/Nursery/Green/Tech sites but I never read them that much to begin with. Unplggd sounds like an anti-tech site to me. And I do not "get" Ohdeedoh or Re-Nest at all.

Most importantly - what happened to the upgrades to the comments we all talked about?? I thought it was a general consensus that we would love to be able to edit/delete our own comments and DEFINITELY to flag nasty posts.

I agree with Julianna and others who have said it takes time to get used to a new design. I remember when you added the little automatic google ads at the tops of the posts and everyone flipped out, including me. In a short while, I didn't even notice them.

I'm unsure what's happening to the renamed sites (I don't like the new names at all, but I never read the kid site, so my vote probably doesn't count on that one!)--will there still be links to them at the top of the page? I read the green and tech sites often. I liked that they were under the AT umbrella.

Also, I previously commented on this and others have too: what's up with posts suddenly appearing in the middle of everything instead of being added chronologically? It's really unnerving and annoying.

Also, I still don't understand if all the city content will be added to the main page or if you are only adding some of the content. It's pretty annoying to get a lot but not all - that results in either having to click on the other cities and scrolling through just what you've missed or (more likely), losing the incentive to check those sites anymore. Why have city sites at all?

There are other things I like about the redesign, but I've run out of time for now.

I agree with itsthehouseshow-- AT has lost it's cozy handmade feel.

Why is Kitchen and unplugged missing vowels?

What the heck does ohdeedoh mean?

Re-Nest sounds like what you do when you get divorced or married for the second time.

I tried to give this a second chance this morning...AT is something I read several times a day across all the city sites and my once-favorite Kitchen site... can't do it anymore... too cluttered, confusing, jarring, not easy on the eyes and although lots of advertising is good for AT to keep afloat, the placement of the ads looks more commercial and spam-y than the old design.

The old design was more reader friendly...this new design sends me into anxiousness... not a fun read anymore.

I'll miss reading every day... :(

I like the old design better. Too cluttered/busy/confusing....The articles seem lost in all the other stuff going on around them.

Fugly. I'm disappointed. It's so cluttered with ads now and I miss clicking on each city individually. Oh well.

Did I just see a giant ad for Folgers?

I'm noticing that a lot of the threads show 0 comments yet when you open them there are comments. It isn't a consistent bug as some do and some don't.

I liked the old site better. This is much too cluttered. "sometimes one should just leave well enough alone."

The only improvement should have been the accessibility of the archives.

Ugh, I'm really not liking it. Same content- just not as interested in reading it. Amazing what a difference just design makes (of course)... Looks like a blah white blog page. The left links look important, but mostly really aren't. And the page is very wide now- but it doesn't really matter because it seems as though the only thing I am cutting off is ads anyways.

Something is wrong with the RSS feed. I have been using Bloglines to view the feed for quite some time. Since the redesign, when I click on a post heading (to go to the site to read the post on your site) it screws up and opens a new Bloglines window.

A new design always takes time to get used to. But I have to admit, I do not like this. It's so jumbled and hard to navigate. And I feel I am constantly being marketed to, whether by the plethora of ads or the products being pushed in the editorial. Alas, after nearly 4 years of following AT, I feel I need to find a new design site.

I wish you all well and will check back in a few months to see if the site has improved.

Sorry, several days later and I like it even less, not simply because of the clutter but because as a DC resident, I really identified with the east coast aesthetic of AT NY.

Plus, while it's always cool--and always was possible, with the old site--to see what's up in other AT site cities, it's discouraging, for example, to see notice of some interesting happening only to then see that the happening is 3,000 miles away. Or to read of an interesting store, to visit when in NYC, only to realize the post is out of AT LA.

The site seems so jumbled, jumping from place to place to place, all across the counrty, from post to post..... I feel disconnected.....

Just returned from a visit to the Southwest to find this redesign. I'm definitely NOT feeling it. Who are you? And where have you hidden Apartment Therapy?