Old version better.
This new version looks great ! The website now has the design that looks like a 2016 website with responsive pages and bootstrap pattern. I'm testing the functionallities to discover new features as well.
Thanks Italki!
I like the appearance of the new website, but I am struggling to locate things that I could find easily in the old version. I liked that I used to see a list of people at the side of my screen who had recently joined the site and were natives of the languages I am studying. It was a quick way to see potential language exchange partners without going through a search. But I'm sure that with time we'll get used to the new layout!
PS: I find it strange that people have clicked 'thumbs down' on some of the other comments in this thread. If someone has a different opinion about the new website, in my mind it does not justify clicking 'thumbs down' on their comment. To encourage people to freely express their opinions and contribute to discussions, I recommend that we use the 'thumbs down' button sparingly. I only use it when the user provides factually incorrect information, or is particularly rude/impolite. If it's just a difference of opinion, their comment is still welcome in the discussion, so I wouldn't click 'thumbs down', as it will discourage them from participating, which would not be a good outcome. Of course you might not agree with this and that's your prerogative!
Big thumb down for the new version. A few reasons:
-It loads much slower because it is - and image-heavy. I would rather have a more minimal design that loads faster.
-They switched to a cheesy Sans Serif font that doesn't render sharply and isn't dark enough. It is especially tiring to read Notebook entries in this font. There is a reason websites stopped doing this in the Windows 98 era.
-The lists on the Discussion and Notebook pages now take up three times the vertical space as the old version. This isn't a big deal on a laptop monitor, but it makes for a loooot of scrolling on my phone.
-The circular avatar photos cut off tops of heads and sides of faces. It also alters the non-portrait pictures that people use. Please go back to square frames.
-I haven't found a single useful added feature. Worse, none of the features people have been asking for were added. Adding the ability to edit posts is trivial from a programming standpoint, so by now it is obvious that they just refuse to add it.
-As others have said, there are fewer configuration options available.
-Did I mention the slower load time?
Slower load time, reduced usability, cheesier interface, fewer options, no added features. How many man-hours went into this, and for what? I will go back to the old version for as long as it works I guess.
