My first reaction to the design is: It looks cleaner, more legible. The subtle gradients in the interface are a nice change. I like the way that the post snippets are laid out on the front page, with links to the full story. Good job!

However, what I'd like to see is some of the previous Wise Bread personality put back into the design. While the new layout is clean and refreshing, it's starting to feel 'default' by its lack of identity. Maybe that old pig with glasses isn't the answer, but I'm starting to wonder where it went. The use of grey & beige on the page doesn't match the energy in the writing content.

Here are a few nit-picky things (feel free to ignore/dismiss):
- Grey subscribe box on top right should be much smaller
- Try increasing color contrast between main column and the right sidebar

I'm a little bit with Dana about the colors on the page not really reflecting the energy and the vibe of the bloggers on this site. I think maybe the pallette is too soft, and making the colors more bold might pump it up some. Then again, the lighter colors don't detract from the content all that much, which is important.

But I gotta give it to you guys: a lot of the blog sites I visit are hard to read, navigate, focus on, whatever. This layout makes it easier and easier to follow, which is good.

About articles and posts and such? I would love to see a post about frugal gift ideas for Christmas--maybe a post like this where people can be entered for a gift certificate (which means more people post ideas!).

I love some of the posts that discuss anything-saving tips (money, space, food, etc). I can't tell you how helpful most of those have been!

I have just started frequenting your site and therefore cannot give you a comparative, but it looks great now! I do agree about the bleeding on the "Preview Comment" and "Post Comment" tabs below ~ doesn't look good. Small oversite ~ love the colors!

I am a regular through my google widget and also only end up here following links. That said it looks great. The light colors give a real fresh feel. So what keeps me coming back?.... hmmm? Well I am a frugal kinda guy (pronunced cheap bastard) and wisebread is all over the map. On any given day I can get a good bread recipe, Book reveiw and a coupon. For me this is just more frugal(cheap). All the stuff I want and I don't have togo to four "stores" to get it. Frugal for me is not just saving a buck but a minute here and there too. Rock on Wisebread!! I'll be here as long as you are.

IMAGINE WHIRLED PEAS
Kyle

I think the layout is really nice, but I do agree with the commenter that said the colors make the site look a little bit generic.

That being said, I will continue to read. I keep coming back for the great content. Keep up the good work!

I'm pretty new to the site, but I like the new layout. I did really like the old color scheme and graphics, though.

As I scroll down to read the articles, it keeps popping back up to the top of the screen. Is it my settings or your website design? Otherwise, I like the new design.

I really hate the way it pops back up to the top after I finish an article. Otherwise, I think it looks pretty good.

I am curious about what is the least amount of money it would take to eat healthily for a week. Has anyone done an article on that? Really frugal food that still has enough vitamin content. Like, could a person eat for a week for $10 and still get adequate nutrition?

As an occasional reader on the site, I agree that the new appearance is more formal, less personal and homespun in tone. The color palate is rather cool and subdued; so pale that they nearly fade out completely depending on the angle of my laptop screen. But the links and layout work well for me. Whether or not the appearance makeover was a success or not depends on what you were aiming for, I suppose. Certainly it seems solid in terms of performance.

I am another individual who does not like the 'leapfrogging' back to the top of the page in IE 6.0 and XP. Whenever I open an article and start scrolling down to read, the browser 'leaps' back up to the top of the page. The back arrow behaves the same, forcing me back to the top of the previous page. That is rather annoying to say the least. However, the site will not even load at all in Netscape 7.0 (my browser of choice, compared to IE 6.0), which is worse than annoying. While your site does have good content, and I am allowed to post coments without a long, rigorous registration process (a major advantage), these browser quirks cause me to visit less often than I would otherwise.

I know these aren't exactly the 'latest and greatest' browsers, but they are what I have on my work computer and there are no plans on updating the browsers anytime soon. I use FireFox on OSX 'Tiger' at home, but haven't had the chance to view your site from home to let you know how it performs there.

Re Raymond's comment: please *don't* make it any more feminine than it is at this moment. It already looks like a spread from Real Simple minus the whitespace. I do read the magazine as a "guilty pleasure," but mostly because all of the "women's magazines" my grandma reads are total visual overload, stuff crammed into every corner. Anyway, this design is already plenty pale and fussy. (And there's the thing about the tiny comment font, but I emailed you all about that before you put the open mic up.)

Well, the site is not jumpy at all with FireFox on OSX, so apparently the main problems are with Windows. Why am I not surprised....

I think it is prettier. Easier to navigate. Clean and simple.

Lately I haven't seen any postings about freebies. Gotta love them! Give us more! Overall, love this blog.