i not only dislike these new forums, i find they actually repel me from your site. i have to force myself to stay to look for pertinent information, where previously i would have a window open to your forums all day and poke around while i render. i frequent many other poser sites, but this was my favorite because of the people but also because of the format. 1. I hate the override of my personal preferences. I had a nice black background I had intentionally chosen. This background literally induces migraines if I stay at a screen for a half-hour or more (my head is beginning to throb as I type). The change is like having my comfortable dimly lit bar turned into a fluorescently lit computer lab. The right hand nav I find truly irritating to use. If others like it, fine, but I really hate being forced to use something most other designers eschew with reason. 2. Please get rid of the visual noise. The yellow stars are useless. No matter what I do, they don't go away. E Even if they worked properly, this is too high frequency a site for the stars not to be so ubiquitous as to be functionally meaningless (same goes for the bolding of all titles). And even if they weren't meaningless, they should be more subtle and less intrusive and take up less space. Also, I do not care when you last posted or when you became a member if I'm just reading your post. If I could IM/PM you from said post, then it might be relevant. If I could visit could visit your website or your store, again relevant. Since all I can do is go to your profile (which was possible before, only all it required was the poster's name and not a separate link), there's no real benefit. 3. Sort by recent post. If that was the main request that instigated this change, why isn't it the default? And why does it seem I need to set it each time I visit? 4. The speed has definitely decreased. Is this because you placed the forums on the same server in charge of distributing all the products? Whatever the reason, it's adding insult to injury. 5. The search is much less useful than the low usefulness it had before. If it wasn't within the past week, I have no idea when I last read a post. And sometimes people simply refer to posts, as in Anton posted how to use the gather node for lighting. I couldn't tell you how long ago that was, and I shouldn't have to guess whether my search didn't return anything because I was using the time period, the wrong keywords, or what have you. And I really need to be able to search by username. i really am sorry for being so cranky, but i keep wanting the old forums back, visiting the forums, and leaving with a smidgen of the information I used to get, the beginnings of headache, and some annoyance at sudden changes made without any "beta" period. and this just looks unprofessional. it looks like someone looked at phpBB, didn't understand that their interface choices were actually functional, and skinned a less functional forum tool. all i can say is that i won't be frequenting the site unless some changes are made. i don't say that as a threat at all, and not as a declaration of purpose. it's just i literally find myself repelled from your site where previously i found it welcoming. which is why it was my main stop. not poserpros (since you seem to be trying to borrow their forum design). oh, and where i used to look at the product forums once a day, i just visited them for the first time in several days. so i'm sure i'll be buying less. not that i'm a big spender here, but if i'm not the only one, it'll hit your pocketbook.