We've been busy behind the scenes this year and no doubt things look a little different 😄

Here's what we've been up to:

Design

• Forum homepage display changed to a grid layout

  • We are trying to better display our forum areas. Using Life & Wellbeing as a an example, previously all that was visible was "Lifestyle" and a list of topics across all the sub-categories. Now all 5 sections are viewable on the home page and the clicks required to view discussions have reduced from 2-4 to 1 in most cases. Better navigation, and better "at a glance" display of the areas of discussion. This change has been applied site wide.

• Forum topic display includes a snippet of the original post rather than just the title of the discussions

  • Modern list displays almost always display a snippet of the content contained within and we feel this is a useful design change.

• Forum homepage links banner removed, and replaced with an updated start topic button

  • The old style banner was really just a repeat of the header menu links next to the logo and took up valuable real estate just above the first list of topics and discussions. On mobile and different screen sizes it pushed discussion further away from what is visible at a glance. We also wanted the primary call to action to be starting a topic, encouraging engagement rather than sending users of in 5 different directions. Engagement and activity is the priority so that's what we're trying to incentivise and make easier with this change.

• Remove ads/sign up widget added for guests

  • Only visible to guests, encourages signup/in to guests when browsing the site.

Forum sections

• A new "Gambling help" forum has been added to the money and finance section.

  • We hope to encourage support and discussion in this area.

Adverts

• We have revamped the way adverts, specifically Google ads display on the site.

  • Various tweaks to blocked areas and display styles to maximise earnings.

  • We will continue to tweak and test what is and isn't working.

    • Google adverts aren't visible if you are signed in or of course for guests with ad blockers.

• As always the goal with ads is to strike a balance between visibility, intrusiveness and site access with the ability to cover our operational costs to the point that the site becomes cost neutral to run.

Other

• We have banned an increasing amount of spammers and advertisers. Please continue to report this content so it can be removed.

  • On average we have a few hundred attempts each day from bots trying to sign up and spam - 99% of which are blocked before they are even able to sign up.

Any issues, feedback or suggestions let us know.

@Sam, this new grid layout really feels like a breath of fresh air! It’s so much easier to spot the different sections at a glance without having to dig through multiple clicks. I especially like seeing snippets of the original posts right away - it saves time and helps me decide what to jump into.

Appreciate the effort behind the scenes to make navigation smoother. It’s those small tweaks that make a big difference in daily use. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves!

On 02/12/2026 at 1:34 PM, Sam said:

We've been busy behind the scenes this year and no doubt things look a little different 😄

Here's what we've been up to:

Design

• Forum homepage display changed to a grid layout

  • We are trying to better display our forum areas. Using Life & Wellbeing as a an example, previously all that was visible was "Lifestyle" and a list of topics across all the sub-categories. Now all 5 sections are viewable on the home page and the clicks required to view discussions have reduced from 2-4 to 1 in most cases. Better navigation, and better "at a glance" display of the areas of discussion. This change has been applied site wide.

• Forum topic display includes a snippet of the original post rather than just the title of the discussions

  • Modern list displays almost always display a snippet of the content contained within and we feel this is a useful design change.

• Forum homepage links banner removed, and replaced with an updated start topic button

  • The old style banner was really just a repeat of the header menu links next to the logo and took up valuable real estate just above the first list of topics and discussions. On mobile and different screen sizes it pushed discussion further away from what is visible at a glance. We also wanted the primary call to action to be starting a topic, encouraging engagement rather than sending users of in 5 different directions. Engagement and activity is the priority so that's what we're trying to incentivise and make easier with this change.

• Remove ads/sign up widget added for guests

  • Only visible to guests, encourages signup/in to guests when browsing the site.

Forum sections

• A new "Gambling help" forum has been added to the money and finance section.

  • We hope to encourage support and discussion in this area.

Adverts

• We have revamped the way adverts, specifically Google ads display on the site.

  • Various tweaks to blocked areas and display styles to maximise earnings.

  • We will continue to tweak and test what is and isn't working.

    • Google adverts aren't visible if you are signed in or of course for guests with ad blockers.

• As always the goal with ads is to strike a balance between visibility, intrusiveness and site access with the ability to cover our operational costs to the point that the site becomes cost neutral to run.

Other

• We have banned an increasing amount of spammers and advertisers. Please continue to report this content so it can be removed.

  • On average we have a few hundred attempts each day from bots trying to sign up and spam - 99% of which are blocked before they are even able to sign up.

Any issues, feedback or suggestions let us know.

@Sam, these changes sound like a solid step forward! The grid layout definitely makes it easier to see everything at once without hunting through multiple clicks. I especially like the snippet preview on topics - it’s way more helpful to get a quick sense of the discussion before diving in.

It’s cool to see the focus on smoother navigation; sometimes small tweaks like these make a big difference in how welcoming a forum feels. Looking forward to exploring the new setup more!