I didn't have a smooth entry back, either, but at least you made it. Very few are fond of the new format. Everything just kind of blends together, nothing is done by date, and you can't tell how long a thread is before you click on it. At least we can post more than one picture at the time.

Well, I take part of that back. I just noticed they've moved the number of comments off to the right instead of having it with the posts.

Hi Melissa - It's easy to change the name that displays on your posts. If you click on 'Your Houzz' at the top right of the page and then 'Edit Profile', you can then change your 'First Name'. This is the one that actually shows to others. Think of MelissaaiPapa as your login and Melissa_theGarden as your display name. I've included a screenshot below - as you can see my user name and display name are different.

The banner across the top can't be removed, but if you look just below the banner, you'll see a breadcrumb trail that will help you navigate to the GW forums.

I know that change can be a bit difficult at first, but I hope you'll give it a chance. Many of your friends have had similar first reactions, but have spent some time on the new forums and are finding their way around. Everyone wants to help, so if you have questions, just let us know.

I had a huge problem getting on. Nothing was right

with my name or email, and I had to type in endless numbers that were hard to see. I can't tell a zero from a capital O. O0.

It seems to me that once we are back, every effort is made to help us adjust. Tamara is still here, and there are many to answer question. I think Houzz is a functioning company, and they just absorbed Garden Web. They have everything in place, and are looking for slots for GW.

I am so glad you are here, Melissa.

Sammy_gw Tulsa, zone 7

Thanks, Sammy.

for Tamara: one very minor detail that irritates me no end: the sample post question. Could it be made to refer to gardening instead of house stuff? Much as Howlz would love their bran-new captive audience go shopping with them, we former GWers come here to talk about plants and gardening. Thanks for considering the matter.

Hi Melissa -- I'll definitely pass along your suggestion!

Thanks Tamara for the screen capture. It really helped :-)

Tamara, a point I've addressed before and which I think would make a lot of us feel better is to have some sort of scenic or garden-related picture somewhere at the top, anything to change that "white fog like feeling" that Melissa mentions and which I completely agree with. Or for that matter, put something anywhere on the page where it will fit. Pictures of luscious old roses would be great too; they don't even have to be large. Overall you and houzz have been very helpful and have much improved the format and ease of use, but I'm still homesick for our old home. Forgive the analogy, but this is like staying at Motel 6 instead of luxuriating in an English manor hotel complete with romantic garden. There's just a sterility that I can't seem to get comfortable with. If you could do something to change that I'd be so grateful.

I downloaded something that allowed me to have a background of Morning Glories. (I DETEST Morning Glories, but you take what you can get.) Maybe someone can help you find that.

It doesn't get rid of the white at the top, or the stupid sample question, but it's a bit helpful.

I, too, dislike Houzz! I came back from vacation, sat down for a good GW catchup and whamo. It's like finding your house torn down and a new one built in your absence. I suppose we will all get used to it, but...

I too downloaded the morning glories and it is so much better.

Good to hear from you Melissa.

Daisy

Hi Ingrid,

I know that it's something they are taking into consideration, so please know that your voice is being heard.

Here -- we learned the hard way that morning glories never die off, and will eventually take over the world. Think Kudzu.

I agree that some sort of subtle botanical design would be far preferable to blank white. The white page may look clean and modern to web designers, but if you actually use the site, that white gets glary and unwelcoming pretty quickly. Morning glories, roses, leaves, vines, trees, old botanical prints... or at least a light gray or pastel color... would ease the attack on the eyes.

Tamara, if you're still there. there is an annoying problem with the "link" function. If you would be kind to convey it to the tech guys at Houzz?

I've added screen captures to elucidate my problem:

As you can see I select, the word Houzz and click on link:

If I click submit it disappears altogether.

The only way link works correctly is if I
1) Click link
2)Past Web address
3) Correct text to display
and click insert.

It could really be helpful if the guys can arrange this glitch..

true-blue, I assume you are trying to reach one of the rose forums when you go through this maneuver. I simply type antique rose forum into the search box, and after doing that a time or two you can type in "ant" and the complete name will appear below and you can click on that. I never go through houzz because that's an exercise in frustration but this way it takes only a moment. I hope this is what you were after and find it helpful.

Ingrid, the Houzz link I used was just an example. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear enough :-)

It helps sometimes, when we recommend a rose, to add a pertaining link to simplify the work of the poster.

A fictitious example would be:

I recommend Souvenir de Malmaison & Prairie Peace.

Hi true_blue,

I'm trying to understand because I've not heard of this happening before and I've not had any luck replicating it. Does this happen every time that you try and link?

I linked the above words and nothing jumped down to the next line.

What browser/computer/device are you using?

Tamara,

It doesn't happen every time. Right now I tried several times to reproduce the error with Firefox and I couldn't reproduce the error.

By the way I use Firefox 36.0.4 - Mac - Snow Leopard.

Tamara was posting a link on another thread and I had the problem again.

I tried it here and the same error happened, with a different link.

I thought at first, maybe the system is word or site sensitive, but it seems to be a more of an haphazard glitch than any other thing.

The funny thing is that you cannot remove the offending link at the bottom of the page. But the moment you submit, it disappears...

Testing another link failed. Here is a screen capture.

Every word I typed failed. Going to the end of message as you can see.

Are you using FF on a Mac or PC? Are you using any add-ons?

Mac. Yes actually only 1 add on. I recently refreshed Firefox btw.

My laptop crashed completely a few weeks ago and my husband spent more than a day basically rebuilding the whole thing. When I used it again, there were quite a few things that were different, usually in a bad way. Nothing major, fortunately, but it took some getting used to. I've given up trying to understand the logic of computers. Sorry I misunderstood your meaning before

Hi Tamara (apologies to Melissa for switching topics on her post, but this seems to be a new site to communicate with Tamara at Houzz):

I've had recent irresolvable problems posting pictures in comments or my own posts lately. I'm on Safari on a Mac, and I have tried three or four strategies to post photos. When I click on the regular photo link, nothing happens (either single or double click). When I click on Houzz photo, I can find and select the photo I want, but it will not upload, even though the upload button "clicks". I've tried submitting that anyway, and there's an unrecognizable icon on the message if I do. I've also tried cutting and pasting photos from the original photo or other sites, although that's not the recommended method, and that hasn't worked either. I know I can do this because I've posted photos before from the same computer in Safari, so has something changed recently? I've seen other people posting about trouble with photos, so it seems like there may have been changes behind the scenes.

Thanks for checking

Cynthia