Someone posted this same question on the Perennials forum. Yes, I got the email. I deleted it without replying. I reserve the right to post no more than my login name and USDA Zone. Sorry to be cynical but in my experience nothing's free. They want information so they can use that information. I'd miss the GW forums if I felt compelled to abandon them but would do so in a heartbeat if it meant Internet security/protection.

Looks like they really have changed it - no on topic/off topic sides anymore, that I can see.

I don't like it....seems like GW has been reduced to a footnote, under "Advice" on Houzz.

As a former GW user I'm not happy that they imported all of my prior posts and pictures without consent. I asked if they could be removed or that account deactivated and they said no. I imagine that there was something in the fine print from days gone past that allowed them to do it, but Houzz just dropped far down on my like list.

Gosh, glad some of us made it back here tho. Yeah, it's strange alright but we've been through other changes. As far as posting photos, I probably won't be posting as many as before because GW just felt safer. Besides, I really didn't know much about Houzz until now except the name.

Hate this new thing Houz what a bummer ! Hopefully- at least maybe they'll upload my photos right side up from my iPhone ???

Well I'm mellowing, I read somewhere that we might have lost GW altogether if Houzz hadn't picked it up, whether this is a fact or not I don't know.

hmmmm lots of businesses and sellers now trolling and participating in the furniture forums..arguing with clients about any bad reviews they post etc. It feels like less of a grassroots forum now and more like members are there to be harvested.

not a problem on the gardening forums IME. You can always flag a poster who is unpleasant.

It's a shame.

Houzz is basically a corporate site run by corporate propeller heads -- they made a lot of money on it, they went out buying other sites, and their fate will be the same as Yahoo and so many others. If there is still a houzz.com in 10 years (or five), nobody on the current staff will be there anyway. I've done time at these places and know how it works. When they have investors interested, they aggressively buy out sites that have real followings and real users, like Gardenweb. And it never turns out good for the sites that are bought. The UI here is done by some millennial in some San Francisco cubicle who not only never made a post on Gardenweb, but who never even read a post on Gardenweb. They don't care, they don't get it, they just have stock options and huge salaries and a $580,000 condo to pay for.

Gardenweb was such a wonderful site. It was easy to read, nicely designed, well indexed, and it had a community. As far as I can tell, just about all of that is gone.

Creed, that's exactly what happened to Garden Guides when they were bought out by a corporate media company. The forum lasted another few years until it filled up with spam and drove all the members away.

I think it's been about 2 years now since Houzz bought Gardenweb. I'm surprised it's still going.

I'm with gardengal. I like the new format and am grateful thats someone is paying (servers, help, $$) to allow GW to continue for us free here on Houzz. There aren't many ads on the web format (yes, there are on mobile) and I often wonder if it's worth their while to keep us going (so many complaints for some extra traffic). I've never received junk emails from them as I do from pretty much every other site. I just hope they get enough back to keep us going.

I'm happy with the new format, too, and am also grateful Houzz is hosting. None of this stuff that is free to us is free to the the sites hosting. There is cost involved, and I'm grateful they are paying it. In addition, it has introduced me to investigate other areas of Houzz, which have been helpful as far as home issues, too.

I can only sign on about 1/3 of the time, so I'm going with, "This new format sucks."