[Mac291]

Guys I realize everybody HAS to roll out a re-design EVERY August or so but really!
This is by far one of the worst pieces of crap I've EVER seen. Why oh why do the jerks
always have to screw up what works?! Do I have to list your stupidity? Your homepage is
nonsensical. When I go to a webpage I expect to see a home "link" at the top, some
identification, not this weird page topper of two articles. It looks like it was designed
by high schoolers.
In case this has anything to do with the wonderful world of W8, lemme tell you I'm
about to switch to linux for good as I've had it with MS once and for all. Your site
is supposed to be a guiding light in the dark cave of the internet. You're seriously
screwing with your 'fanbase', got it? I don't know how long since the change, or how
many crybabies like me but the look is awful, just PP, as in PISS POOR. I'll read, I'll
use the forums but reading other's observations re: navigability makes me think you
hired some expensive anusbrain who told you this would "drive eyeballs to your site".
You're one of the few reliable authorities that straddle print and web. PLEASE don't
start acting up like Cnet and giving us viruses from downloads and other dubious behavior.
Really REALLY disappointed people. Hate this kind of absolute CRAP. I can swear like a
proverbial stevedore but I'm controlling myself. I just want to kill who's responsible.
Squeeze their neck until their eyeballs pop out, then squeeze their head off entirely.
I'll be checking out the competition in print as well as new agglomerators in case I
decide to 86 you.

[Mac291]

And by the way, since the only way to 'contact you' links to the forum I have to say
that's underwhelming as well. Guess you have to post (or not) my reaction. It's too
late to go in depth re: various specifics, the new "homepage" will have to do for
starters. Hope you're not going to start lopping off the writers pool while your
punter top dogs show how they "made improvements" / "did something". CRAP job.

[dfschmid]

Hi Mac291.

I agree, the redesign of the PC World website is pretty much crap, to say the least.

I tried the new look for a few weeks, but I'm having a hard time trying to find articles. Don't worry. The guys at PC World will soon realize their mistake when they start analysing their web stats.

Can anyone tell me where the Windows articles are?

[KarlMonster1]

Mac291, on 17 October 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

Guys I realize everybody HAS to roll out a re-design EVERY August or so but really!
This is by far one of the worst pieces of crap I've EVER seen.

I personally think that Mac291's strong feelings may detract from the message, but he is right. This website redesign is horrible. Let me count the ways.


1) You have destroyed your own identity.
I could never have made this up. Your home page, the very centre of your online presence, which should contain bold icons and definitive statements establishing PCWorld as a preeminent and trusted source of information, is a complete shambles, in many senses of the word. If a soldier had been killed, fell on your home page, and then been run over by heavy armor, it would not look as bad as what you have done. Your home page is so full of ads that users cannot immediately identify the site as PCWorld. Your PCWorld logo is obscured by the large image of a photocopier that has been 'strategically' placed behind it. Not only have you destroyed your own identity, you did it strategically. Congratulations.

2) It is not user-friendly.
Not by any stretch of the imagination. Your home page is so cluttered with ads that I was tempted to close my browser and run an AV scan to make sure I didn't get malware through a malicious cookie. I can't even tell your featured content apart from the ads. On my 15" monitor, your list of 'featured' content is 5" wide, while the ads on either side are more than 7.5" wide. I guess its pretty clear who wears the pants in your family. Oh. Wait. The ads on the left side (2" wide) are actually featured reviews. There is so much clutter, which is very offensive to my eyes, that I couldn't properly identify your legitimate content.

3) Your search functions have been severely crippled, and are not worth the user's time. (See #2)
So let's say that I'm looking for TWAIN scanner software, shall we? Nothing useful on the home page. Just a lot of ads (or articles?) for Windows 8. Oh boy, does that get old fast. Fortunately, clicking on 'software' in the site navigation bar takes me to a page that is much more easily identifiable as PCWorld. (But it's too late for that, you've already scared a lot of people away with your home page!) Near the top of this page is a large image of a guy swimming with walri (or sea otters?). It's big and colorful and garish, and it looks like another big ad. So I actually have to scroll down the page to see if I'm really on a web page that is any way useful, or close to what I want. In fact, I *have* to scroll down in order to determine that the 'Find Software' list down the right side is a legitimate site navigation aid, and not really another ad. [Protip: the software named "Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim" shipped with glitches, and therefore should not rate 5/5 on any plane of existence. Good features (or ad revenue) do not absolve poor quality control. You should clearly compartmentalize your game reviews in order to preserve any facade of reviewer integrity.]

Finally, I can click on "Utility Software" for windows, having finally identified that it is not an ad. Finally, I'm on a page where I think I can search for software. The top of the search application is all the way at the bottom of the page, but so far this is one of the best PCWorld pages that I've been on so far, since it clearly has "Find Utility Software" in large letters that appear in the middle of my screen. It still leaves a lot to be desired, but by now you've set my expectations very low. And no hits at all for scanner software. Can that be right? Ironically, if I put "scanner software" in the search field at the top of the page, I get 4871 hits. They can't both be right. [Protip: 'Software' in that search field should result in hit #1 being a link to your 'software' page.] The words appear 4871 times, but the site acknowledges no software in the 'Utility' category?

After some fiddling around, I get 8 hits for "scanner" in 'Business and Finance Software'. I can't believe that you've screwed up your own database (or search engine) such that a search for "scanner" in one category won't detect multiple occurrences in a different category. There's a further single hit in the 'Photography' category. Two more (Unique and Different!) hits in the category 'OS & System Enhancement Software'. Now I'm up to 13 hits across different categories, but none in 'Utility'. Being an experienced user, I would normally have left your site after I found no hits in 'Utility Software', as I expect your search functions to be competent at a minimum. Boy was I wrong.

Honestly, what am I to do with you, PCWorld? I've had you bookmarked since about 1998. I guess its time to free up a few bytes of space in my bookmark list.

This post has been edited by KarlMonster1: 05 November 2012 - 09:47 AM

[MajorOz]

KarlMonster1, on 05 November 2012 - 09:42 AM, said:

Mac291, on 17 October 2012 - 05:53 PM, said:

Guys I realize everybody HAS to roll out a re-design EVERY August or so but really!
This is by far one of the worst pieces of crap I've EVER seen.

I personally think that Mac291's strong feelings may detract from the message, but he is right. This website redesign is horrible. Let me count the ways.


1) You have destroyed your own identity.
I could never have made this up. Your home page, the very centre of your online presence, which should contain bold icons and definitive statements establishing PCWorld as a preeminent and trusted source of information, is a complete shambles, in many senses of the word. If a soldier had been killed, fell on your home page, and then been run over by heavy armor, it would not look as bad as what you have done. Your home page is so full of ads that users cannot immediately identify the site as PCWorld. Your PCWorld logo is obscured by the large image of a photocopier that has been 'strategically' placed behind it. Not only have you destroyed your own identity, you did it strategically. Congratulations.

2) It is not user-friendly.
Not by any stretch of the imagination. Your home page is so cluttered with ads that I was tempted to close my browser and run an AV scan to make sure I didn't get malware through a malicious cookie. I can't even tell your featured content apart from the ads. On my 15" monitor, your list of 'featured' content is 5" wide, while the ads on either side are more than 7.5" wide. I guess its pretty clear who wears the pants in your family. Oh. Wait. The ads on the left side (2" wide) are actually featured reviews. There is so much clutter, which is very offensive to my eyes, that I couldn't properly identify your legitimate content.

3) Your search functions have been severely crippled, and are not worth the user's time. (See #2)
So let's say that I'm looking for TWAIN scanner software, shall we? Nothing useful on the home page. Just a lot of ads (or articles?) for Windows 8. Oh boy, does that get old fast. Fortunately, clicking on 'software' in the site navigation bar takes me to a page that is much more easily identifiable as PCWorld. (But it's too late for that, you've already scared a lot of people away with your home page!) Near the top of this page is a large image of a guy swimming with walri (or sea otters?). It's big and colorful and garish, and it looks like another big ad. So I actually have to scroll down the page to see if I'm really on a web page that is any way useful, or close to what I want. In fact, I *have* to scroll down in order to determine that the 'Find Software' list down the right side is a legitimate site navigation aid, and not really another ad. [Protip: the software named "Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim" shipped with glitches, and therefore should not rate 5/5 on any plane of existence. Good features (or ad revenue) do not absolve poor quality control. You should clearly compartmentalize your game reviews in order to preserve any facade of reviewer integrity.]

Finally, I can click on "Utility Software" for windows, having finally identified that it is not an ad. Finally, I'm on a page where I think I can search for software. The top of the search application is all the way at the bottom of the page, but so far this is one of the best PCWorld pages that I've been on so far, since it clearly has "Find Utility Software" in large letters that appear in the middle of my screen. It still leaves a lot to be desired, but by now you've set my expectations very low. And no hits at all for scanner software. Can that be right? Ironically, if I put "scanner software" in the search field at the top of the page, I get 4871 hits. They can't both be right. [Protip: 'Software' in that search field should result in hit #1 being a link to your 'software' page.] The words appear 4871 times, but the site acknowledges no software in the 'Utility' category?

After some fiddling around, I get 8 hits for "scanner" in 'Business and Finance Software'. I can't believe that you've screwed up your own database (or search engine) such that a search for "scanner" in one category won't detect multiple occurrences in a different category. There's a further single hit in the 'Photography' category. Two more (Unique and Different!) hits in the category 'OS & System Enhancement Software'. Now I'm up to 13 hits across different categories, but none in 'Utility'. Being an experienced user, I would normally have left your site after I found no hits in 'Utility Software', as I expect your search functions to be competent at a minimum. Boy was I wrong.

Honestly, what am I to do with you, PCWorld? I've had you bookmarked since about 1998. I guess its time to free up a few bytes of space in my bookmark list.

Agree in all respects..........wish I could have said so as succinctly.

Both the web site and the magazine have, increasingly, become shills for he advertisers, turning the zine into a tekkie version of US Magazine and the web site into a teeny-bopper facebook page.

And........is it just coincidence that the new home page looks like a Win8 opening screen...........sure..........

My subscription comes up for renewal in Janary. I am letting it lapse. It has nothing to do, anymore with the fundamentals of PC usage and enjoyment, just ads.......and more ads........and articles shilling......the ads.

And this site is off the toolbar, replaced by CNET.

Sad..........kind like watching your baby sister grow up to be a hooker.

[ionlyjoinedtocomplain]

This website surely has lost a lot of consistent users since its' obnoxious new layout. If they change back to something sensible then I will be back but for now farewell old faithful because you actually stink right now.