…Or is it just me ?
Discuss.
yes the new interface sucks…it’s turning people away.
I agree. Although I don’t post much here, AF WAS the website I probably went more than 10 times per day from work, home and my cell phone. Lately, not much as there are not that many new posts…Check the link below, if I look at this chart correctly, the traffic definitely goes down. We need to have numi, bromion, many others back… http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/analystforum.com#
I also agree. The old interface was easier to read and use if you ask me. This new layout is perhaps more in line with other web forums, but not as nice to spend time here anymore. It’s a bit more difficult to browse old threads, especially threads stretching over several pages. I guess the real answer will come in the next 1-2 months, when people start to get serious about studying for the exam. It’s still early November, so many have not started yet.
Yeah that’s true, Numi isn’t around anymore, and he accounted for a legit piece of the old traffic 
i think the quick and speedy format of the old site made it easy to read and post. now theres way too much scrolling and clicking around. thats on top of the random errors that pop up like the blank screens
I suspect that any traffic dropoff is likely unrelated to the new site. As wawa suggested, there is relatively little to for CFA candidates to talk about in November. I would expect AF traffic to peak each year in May/June/July due to the June exam/results, then drop off significantly thereafter.
well the level 1 exam is in one month… wouldnt that fit in your time frame??
There is one CFA exam in December, however there are three CFA exams in June.
Over the years one of the things I’ve noticed is that AF tends to attract more Level 2 and 3 candidates. I have no idea why this is. Maybe it’s that most people learn about AF after they take their first exam when they are looking to see what everyone else thinks. When did you find AF, before or after an exam?
I first learned about AF when I was looking for answers to some L1 questions I was having. I think I discovered it a week or two before the L1 exam. I think people getting used to the new format is part of the drop-off, and there are probably network effects too. In that, if someone else isn’t posting, I have less to react to and post myself. However, if you have use statistics, it might be worth looking to see if activity in the L1 forum is greater than or less than this time last year and years prior. Presumably, people about to take the L1 exam are going to be looking for a place to post their questions. The rest of us maybe have less to talk about. I noticed that Dwight has not been on here since the change. Not sure when we lost him, but with all the Euro turmoil, I thought he’d have stuff to say.
One factor that is probably suppressing AF traffic since the new AF site came in, is that the site is probably now getting a lot fewer new users arriving via google. I’ve noticed recently that when I do a google search for a particular finance term, I find that google results that point to pre-mid-2011 AnalystForum discussion, lead not to the AnalystForum discussion thread but to a dead link.
New registrations are pretty consistent with historical trends but I will look into the issue with old links. I’m not sure if there is anything that can be done but I will check to see if there is a way to redirect the traffic to the appropriate post.
What happened to Numi?
I really really liked the old format - it was simple, easy to get around, user friendly. I don’t like the new format at all - no offense to Chad - I just don’t like it. Too much white, too much space, looks cheaper etc. I have stopped coming on here as much since the change.
I liked the old format MUCH better. Although I am adjusting to getting everywhere on the new site, I really find there is way too uch WHITE…it’s over whelming.
The actual posting area is less than half of the page, and it strains the eyes a little. I wish the posting area was stretched out. The old format wasn’t that good and an improvement was needed, but I don’t think we’re quite there yet.
There will be an improvement to the forum layout this week which widens the posting area reduces the blank space between posts.
I’m not bothered by ‘The dreaded white’. Must be just me then.
The new format is great. The old one was lovely, but I’m not complaining. How about getting a discussion going? Starting a quality thread? That could bring back traffic. Chad, if you don’t mind me asking, how (if) are you marketing the site …?