TalkMail mentioned a new look FT.

Hadnt noticed anything different .... until just now when I went to www.flyertalk.com (normally I access forums directly).

What do you think about the new look?

Wow, if it weren't for you I would not have noticed either.
Rita

The design is much more modern (the old one was kind of 1996ish). At first sight, it looks like the frontpage design could still be made just a little bit less cluttered, though.

The content on the page is much better than on the old page to induce traffic to the forums, and it is good to put a pointer for new members on the page.

The "Recent Posts" thing is good, because actual topics will induce people to check out the forums much more than just a word like "TravelBuzz" or "Miles and Points forum" which will not tell a newbie much.

Even though perhaps design/usability wise, it might not be the ultimate/perfect solution yet, it is a good thing that it was attempted to fit everything in one page so that you will not have to scroll on a regular 1024 x 768 screen.

It is key that all pages have the same header so that there is a consistent navigation to fall back on. I would actually have considered/attempted to put one and the same header above the editorial content of Flyertalk as well as the chat and the forums, to more create the "one Flyertalk" impression. I bet a lot of people (like myself) almost never paid attention to the main Flyertalk page and just went straight to the forums.

Ideally, after a member registers, the "My Flyertalk" would somehow be integrated with the start page or elements of it - so that the large number of members who still goes straight to the forums gets more of an incentive to participate in polls, shop, etc., and go to the other areas of Flyertalk...like the chat, the photo gallery, etc. - as it is right now, the forums and the rest of Flyertalk have not yet reached the maximum amount of possible integration yet.

In any case, it is a vast improvement (huge) over the old version - I know what a huge effort it is to have a whole website redesigned and implement a new navigation structure - congratulations!!! .

Actually, the more I check it out, the more I like it...I have just been browsing around a bit more, and tried to remember how Flyertalk was a year ago...before the new forum software was introduced...and with the old design...and where it is now.

It's a million times better now. One can always nitpick, but it's really been a huge improvement.

Thumps up! ^

At first I thought I had gone to another web site by mistake. It took me awhile to figure it out but now I have to look at all the changes to see if I like it or not.

But I do have to say they are trying to make it better each and every day.

The one thing that's missing (unless I just couldn't find it) is a link to "My Flyertalk" on the front page.

No direct link but under Forums (not Jump to Forums) there list includes MyFlyerTalk.

Also under Members.

Pardon my ignorance, but I don't see a thing different with FlyerTalk. Looks exactly the same to me as it's been for months.

Edited to add: Never mind. Figured it out. I always enter Flyertalk by going direct to www.flyertalk.com/forum

I've never entered it via that www.flyertalk.com mainpage, mainly because I don't like the table frames that generates on the bulletin board...so I always bypass it.

The forums havent changed (yet?) - but go to www.flyertalk.com and take a look.