Testing Testing - Ok so now here's our new look (but you don't have to have it, do you hear?)

[JustinExcelsisMumsnet]

This is a sneak preview of our redesign - it's planned across the whole site but we thought we'd give you a preview of Talk so you could give us your thoughts. ETA is early in the new year (God willing).

Two things we should make clear:

First Customise talk and Mn Classic WILL STILL BE AVAILABLE so don't panic if you really hate it!

Second it's not finished yet so not everything works perfectly - it's a test site.

You might wonder why we are bothering with a redesign by the way. We have had quite a lot of feedback that newcomers find the site a little hard to find their way round at first so we are trying to simplify it. We haven't changed much overall in nine years but we've added quite a few bits and bobs on, and to newbies it can be quite daunting we think.

And one more thing - we've found in the past (and we know ourselves) that change can be disorienting but do give it a go for a wee while before you trash it completely, please? .

There's no link to it yet - YetMoreTech will post it in a minute - he wants to add more caveats before he posts it up!

Hope you like it (or at least don't loathe it) - let us know your thoughts.

(Please address all complaints to [email protected])

Are we going to get more smileys too? Surely a vomit one is a must??? Preferably the ones that move (not asking for tickers, honest guv).

I really like it

The big gap at the top is an IE thing - it's OK on Firefox & Google Chrome - and YMT has said he's going to fix it on Monday.

I now have at LEAST 50 lines of --> between the top of the page and the list of threads in the Chat topic. GRR.

Change frightens and unsettles me.

Therefore I shall be keeping MN classic, thankyouverymuch

"Are we going to get more smileys too? Surely a vomit one is a must??? Preferably the ones that move"

Oh FGS NO, NO and NO again.

[old]

I don't think the Active Conversations layout is as clear as the current one.

it's awful

I say NO to moving smilies as well. Especially those irritating ones holding placards and the one that laughs while beating the floor.

no no no no no NO!

Next there will be a profanity filter and then we'd be fucked.

4 seconds since I last fucking swore

It's very nice.

It looks very like a number of forums out there though. No uniqueness. Maybe that's what you want though.

I'm omni-forum-capable so it doesn't bother me anyway

wouldn't mind a profanity moving smiley choice

fuck orf - with the finger
knobhead - with the wanking hand
shitstirrer - with the Stick Of Poo

Oh and yes, I likey the new layout

it's so jumbled.

seeing all the thread topics on one page is better than more...

How on earth can anyone think this is easier? I always look at special needs first and it's taken me ages to find it in a horrid drop-down thingy.
This is like lots of other sites that I've given up on because they are just too confusing.

[whispers] I like it.

But...

I really would like a 'next thread in topic' type link to help navigate through the quagmire of posts.

If you visit a topic frequently, you only have to find it once, then drag the icon at the left of your address bar onto the 'Links'/Bookmarks bit of your toolbar. You can rename it so it says 'Special needs' instead of 'Mumsnet Discussions - Special Needs' & it'll have the MN icon there to remind you which site it's from.

I dont like it. It does look "cleaner" than the current site, but the advert is irritatingly big, and would probably put me off using mumsnet, having to scroll past that everytime.
When I looked active convos only seemed to go up to the last 10. I much prefer being able to see the last 100.

As Tech said above, having to scroll past the advert is an IE problem and is going to be fixed. (If you're getting it on another browser, he'd probably like to know)

And I think there are only 10 active convos showing because they are the only ones that have been added to on the test site - if you look now, there should be 11 because I've just added a post to another thread.

i never use active convos. will miss last 15 mins (used on mobile) andlast hour optoins, used on desk computers.

rest is ok, that i've seen so far. may get more chance to play later

The ad is still very large in Firefox.

the posts are too cramped too. they lack the blank space separating them like the "classic" layout has.

I want to try it out on my new iphone, but DH says I'm not allowed to use it till Christmas Day.....
[sulks]

Hello, just a couple of things:

Is there a way to click again to get rid of the drop down menu once you have looked at it?

Also, can we have a way to keep our profile photos after a name change?

Thanks.

I can't even get any active convos to show up.

Are you on IE santa - have you scrolled down the page?

Active convos list seems to have lost the listing of Replies/latest/by - is that because of the looooooong thread title?

I think it looks fab. One thing though - is active convos on there ?