I have been having difficulty with the Houzz website this week. It makes me start to wonder if we can't all migrate to another garden site, before we try to get on the site one day and they're not here any more.

I'm still directed to GW -- I always use a desktop, never a mobile device, could that be the issue for some people?

Me, too. Maybe a good start would be posting identical threads on another site to see the response. Maybe Dave's Garden? Where else?

I have no difficulty at all in accessing through GardenWeb and rarely ever see any of the glitches others complain about ad infinitum. But I never sign out and I only access on my laptop. So I see this as less of a Houzz/GW issue only but more of a combination of device issues and ongoing site software "upgrades".

Unless the entire site shuts down, these forums are not going anywhere. They just bring in too much traffic.

I have always used a desk top computer. I woulld sign in on gardenweb. Then I noticed, that sometimes gardenweb would be directed to houzz.

Recently I got a new desk top computer. I sign in on gardenweb, but it directly changes and goes to houzz now. I don't know why. I don't like when I see partial responses where I have to click to see more. I don't like the "best answer." I find it a waste of space and I am not sure it is the "best" answer! The responses seem to be in order for me.

I use both an iPhone and a laptop without issue. About two years ago I noticed that if I cleared my cache on my laptop I would get redirected to Houzz but if I checked a couple of threads on the Bird Watching Forum it corrected itself. I have no idea why other than the way gardenweb was partitioned (and maybe still is) back in the day.

tj

I use my phone..I had both the Houzz app and the old Gardenweb system..I use the old version to edit and search..recently my old version disappeared..I typed in an old address to get back on but it didn't work..when I got a new phone I did this and recovered the old version..I miss the old days..

back to say..notice that I can edit this comment?..I pulled out an old phone and I'm still connected :-)

I use my laptop exclusively, I don't have a smart phone. And I stay logged in. And I don't often have all the issues others seem to have, but there are issues. Threads that I respond to, that I should have an email notification on, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I might see a couple of email notifications and then fine 8 notifications on the site.

Yesterday, I tried to use the links on the left side of the page where I have selected certain forums that I visit on a regular basis, and they failed to bring me to that forum. I tried multiple times. I did find another way finally to get to that forum.

And I'm looking at the web address window right now on this thread, and it is houzz dot com, not garden web dot com. And I arrived here by clicking the link in the notification window for the responses that have been made since I posted.

But in trying to put some meat to some of the issues here at Houzz, I did do a google search for 'Houzz difficulties'. I did find links to some of the threads that have user complaints in them. I found a link to a report of Houzz being hacked back in 2019. Then there was a report I read in April about layoffs at Houzz. I also read an employee's account of being laid off without notice right before Christmas at some point. So more than once they have laid off people.

April - 180 employees laid off

From someone who worked here....

Glass Door Review

From the perspective of one of the designers....

Houzz

From my perspective, as a Gardenweb user, I find the activity on the Gardenweb forums is very quiet in comparison to what it used to be. I don't enjoy the way the website operates. I put up with it, is about the best I can say. And too many people find difficulty using the site. Sooner or later, people get tired of the frustration and find another place to frequent.

Any company like Houzz, that is purported to be a 4Billion dollar company, and their entire business is an interactive website, should run easily and well across all platforms, in my opinion. And I really think they do not care about the Gardenweb forums. I suspect that they thought there would be a crossover of garden web users to the Houzz site and it's been a disappointment in that regard. So they care even less.

I use the gardenweb.com to sign in and like gardengal, I never sign out. I bookmarked the link.

debra

I never sign out, either. In addition, my bookmarks are shared through the cloud between my laptop and my desktop. The desktop the other day continually redirected to Houzz no matter how many times I tried using GW's "backdoor" URL's and pathways. My laptop and phone still go to GW with those same bookmarks. BUT, the desktop actually has an OLDER operating system than my laptop! I don't understand it. Hopefully next time I use my desktop I can figure out a way to get to GW. The Houzz threads are nearly useless, especially if there are photos. During the school year I use my desktop 90% of the time, so it's important that the threads be readable! Thanks for all your input.