Thanks again for your feedback and constructive ideas—while we work on the best ways to help you find what you're looking for, a helpful workaround is to go to our site map, which lists columns by name and is linked in the footer on every page of Food52: https://food52.com/sitemap
I don't like the new arrangement. Where is genius and small batch column? I use to drop in several times a day and browse my favorite columns. Now it's a mad search and I still can't find them. Sorry, but I won't be visiting as often now.
I agree with all the "column" comments. Please bring them back in chronological order.
I'd also suggest that browsing isn't the same as searching. Yes, I can search if I know what I'm looking for, but the ability to easily look around and find interesting content from people I know and like is/was a big draw of this site.
Thank you. We would also really appreciate the return of the list of columns in the left navigation pane. With the increased (some would say, "excessive") percentage of infomercial, aggregations of existing content pieces, and other not-helpful-to-many-of-us content that is being presented here, I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has come to rely on that to go directly to the columnists we can trust (at least for now).
Speaking of infomercials, is anyone else here curious as to whether the Alice Waters 15 tools campaign falls within the FTC's celebrity endorsement rules? ;o)
After attempting to search for a "feature" this morning, I became totally frustrated. I miss the the column headings that appeared in a column on the left, I miss the chronological order of the articles, and I miss the "newest recipes" link. This whole new relaunch leaves me frustrated and with a feeling of helplessness. The uniqueness that this site possessed was the ability to navigate relatively well. That user ability has been taken away.
The ability to easily navigate to columns seems to have disappeared. I can't find my favorite columns and overall the new designs seems difficult to use. I am also tired of so many ads for the shop!!! I come here for recipes, not to buy expensive kitchen stuff.
Also, the re-launch has eliminated the list of column titles in the left navigation pane, which list is even more necessary now than it was before, as it allowed us to find easily content that is not sponsored fluff, infomercial quality or "The Shop"-based. ;o)
P.S. May I also respectfully suggest that Food52 consider focussing a bit more on quality, and less on quantity, in its editorial content? I'm sure your data analysts are figuring out what produces the clicks to produce ad revenue and to generate sales in The Shop, and you have to do what you have to do. The current trends from a user perspective - well, this user's - are disappointing. I'll be happy to provide more detail privately, if you're at all interested.
I agree AntoniaJames - about the puantity/quality issue in the editorial content. I still recommend Food52, but suggest readers go to the community recipes rather than much of the editorial content.
I agree some editorial content has become too simplistic (e.g., 'the only thing you need ....' type pieces, that reveal something very obvious. I often get to the end and think, "where is it?") Some articles can (should!) be light and fun, but many feel too clearly like space filler lately. But for me, there's another direction I find a bit alienating - the content skews increasingly towards a 20-something p.o.v., regarding cooking and life in general. I enjoy some of those pieces - my kids are that age and I find them and their world extremely relevant - but I feel it's become disproportionate as a focus. I understand this is an important demographic for ad revenue and such, but as someone who's a little (ok, a lot! ;) older, it creates a bit of a disconnect. Similarly, a preponderance of advice from that perspective can be frustrating. Again, I'm fine with (in fact, welcome) a balance of pieces geared to a younger audience; I just wish they didn't seem to be gradually supplanting ones more inclusive of 30+ readers.
Thanks for your thoughtful feedback—it's always helpful to hear, and we appreciate it. Since Food52's beginnings, we've been known to play around with new article formats that fit within our worldview of inspiring home cooks (remember our wonky old videos and Amanda's Thomas Keller impersonation?), and it sounds like you've been noticing more of the experimental types of posts lately. Rest assured that, as a community site, keeping a diversity of experiences and viewpoints continues to be very important to us. We have so much in the works, and you'll be hearing from a big variety of contributors, including all kinds of experts in various fields—makers, appliance testers, cookbook authors, designers, you name it—anyone who has something interesting to say, as well as longtime community members and contributors to Food52. We've long accepted pitches on columns like Not Recipes, Kitchen Confidence, and Heirloom Recipes, and with the updated design we've been tinkering with, we'll be able to do so on any topic you can dream of. Stay tuned for more on that soon, and thanks for your patience as we grow and figure it out together. By the way, we're getting closer on bringing back a chronological feed—more soon!
It will be interesting to see what happens with Food52, and where the dramatic changes in the past year in the content and user experience will take them.
If they continue to lose the interest and participation of more experienced cooks (like us - who are looking for relevant, helpful content), for the sake of drawing more page views and shop purchases by a new, larger group of users who actually like what's being served up these days, well, so be it. It's a business after all.
Whether advertorials, posts that do nothing more than link to other recipe/article pages, and pieces written by and for a much younger and/or less experienced audience is sustainable remains, of course, to be seen. ;o)
I agree. One of the other things (and maybe it's just me) that I wish they still had was the newest recipe link where you could go and see what other folks had posted. Now, I can only see what the Featured Recipes are and if I want to see what someone has been up to I have to search out by username. Keeps me from discovering new recipes/cooks.
I sorely miss the "new recipes" option, and have yet to understand why it disappeared and why, despite our input at the time it disappeared, it has not been restored. I'm trying so hard to seek to understand before seeking to be understood, but no reason other than "we're trying something new out" (not a reason) was ever given. ;o)
I find the new look and feel extremely user-unfriendly. I realize that it causes more clicks, which results in more revenue for Food52, but it's made our use of the site quite cumbersome, and less enjoyable. Using the search box is not a viable workaround as well when I want to find an article noticed but not read during an earlier visit, given the severe limitations on the search capabilities here. Please bring back the chronological list of articles.
I suspect I'm not the only use who would appreciate a smaller preponderance of commerce photos / links, as well. I realize that is an essential part of the business model, but ultimately it's going to drive users away, and prevent other new potential regular users from returning.
Lately when I have recommended Food52 to friends and relatives, they've told me that the unidentified links to the shop and content aggregation pieces (click bait) detract from it to the point of driving those potential users away. In fact, I no longer recommend the site for that reason, as it's gotten embarrassing dealing with those objections. (Bad for my brand, too.) ;o)
I really liked the cronological presentation Columns used. I could just review the list of topics until I got down to something I had already seen to catch up on what had recelty been added. If I wanted to search for something, then I could do a search.
My two cents-- I also miss the columns section! The other thing I really miss is being able to see how many people have commented on an article/recipe before clicking on it. I very much value the input of the community of Food52 readers as much as (and sometimes more than...!) I do the input of the editors-- and I like being able to tell which articles/recipes offer the most reader discussion!
Just my two cents . . . as someone who often is only able to get on the site once or twice a week, I really loved the columns feature. It allowed me to review all the latest columns in chronological order since my last visit so I didn't miss anything. I really miss the feature.
I completely agree with this. As a user who does not frequent the site daily, I liked being able to catch myself up by scrolling chronologically. It makes logical sense to me as well. This new features inclusion makes the whole site less user friendly.
The columns feature was one of my favorite aspects, too! Now I find myself googling "Modern Comfort Food52" to get to one of my favorite columns - which works, but for the old articles in it (I assume).
Not a huge fan of the relaunch. I think it makes browsing more difficult. Plus, with the inclusion of the store items feel like those ad pins on Pinterest. Would be nice to have an option to not include those among the columns and recipes.
Thanks for your comments, all—this is a new design we're testing that should help you discover even more articles on topics you care about, but we're taking all feedback into account and will keep working to improve it. You can also still search articles (or recipes, or Hotline questions, or shop, or users) in the search bar on the top right of any page.
Kristen, can you provide some suggestions for how to get relevant search results? A good example, which demonstrates the need for the chronological listing, is this: I saw an article mentioned about photos taken by staff over this past weekend. I did a search this morning for "weekend" under articles. I got this page of search results, which mentions (down the page) last week's comparable article, but not the most recent one: https://food52.com/blog/search?q=weekend
Perhaps your user experience team could post -- not as an article, but somewhere permanently on the site -- some tips and tricks for getting relevant search results via the search bar. Google generally works well, if you can remember exactly the words you need, but seriously, why should I have to leave the site to find its content?
Thank you so much. ;o)
Further to Antonia's comments on search & her request from food52 editors to help us get better results.
When I do get results, I'm often overwhelmed by the number of threads on a topic and - with no way to sort hundreds of pages and thousands of entries - give up.
Suggestion: give us ways to refine the search, either or both at the start and once we've got results.
A few variables should suffice:
>date (e.g. actual date span, or choice of past week, month, year or - as my laptop cleaning function has it, since the beginning of time);
>popularity (how many "I agree" with a comment in the thread);
>author name;
>another key word (in addition to the original search term).
Yes.... also the column link on the bottom of the page doesn't show all columns with their names. I liked the old way better cause I'm always reading the same columns ;-)
It seems like the columns feature is now called "features" but the ability to quickly find a favorite column quickly (selected from an alphabetical list or by stalking the most recent posts) is gone. Now, articles are presented by themes on the Features page.
43 Comments
I'd also suggest that browsing isn't the same as searching. Yes, I can search if I know what I'm looking for, but the ability to easily look around and find interesting content from people I know and like is/was a big draw of this site.
Speaking of infomercials, is anyone else here curious as to whether the Alice Waters 15 tools campaign falls within the FTC's celebrity endorsement rules? ;o)
P.S. May I also respectfully suggest that Food52 consider focussing a bit more on quality, and less on quantity, in its editorial content? I'm sure your data analysts are figuring out what produces the clicks to produce ad revenue and to generate sales in The Shop, and you have to do what you have to do. The current trends from a user perspective - well, this user's - are disappointing. I'll be happy to provide more detail privately, if you're at all interested.
If they continue to lose the interest and participation of more experienced cooks (like us - who are looking for relevant, helpful content), for the sake of drawing more page views and shop purchases by a new, larger group of users who actually like what's being served up these days, well, so be it. It's a business after all.
Whether advertorials, posts that do nothing more than link to other recipe/article pages, and pieces written by and for a much younger and/or less experienced audience is sustainable remains, of course, to be seen. ;o)
I find the new look and feel extremely user-unfriendly. I realize that it causes more clicks, which results in more revenue for Food52, but it's made our use of the site quite cumbersome, and less enjoyable. Using the search box is not a viable workaround as well when I want to find an article noticed but not read during an earlier visit, given the severe limitations on the search capabilities here. Please bring back the chronological list of articles.
I suspect I'm not the only use who would appreciate a smaller preponderance of commerce photos / links, as well. I realize that is an essential part of the business model, but ultimately it's going to drive users away, and prevent other new potential regular users from returning.
Lately when I have recommended Food52 to friends and relatives, they've told me that the unidentified links to the shop and content aggregation pieces (click bait) detract from it to the point of driving those potential users away. In fact, I no longer recommend the site for that reason, as it's gotten embarrassing dealing with those objections. (Bad for my brand, too.) ;o)
Voted the Best Reply!
Perhaps your user experience team could post -- not as an article, but somewhere permanently on the site -- some tips and tricks for getting relevant search results via the search bar. Google generally works well, if you can remember exactly the words you need, but seriously, why should I have to leave the site to find its content?
Thank you so much. ;o)
When I do get results, I'm often overwhelmed by the number of threads on a topic and - with no way to sort hundreds of pages and thousands of entries - give up.
Suggestion: give us ways to refine the search, either or both at the start and once we've got results.
A few variables should suffice:
>date (e.g. actual date span, or choice of past week, month, year or - as my laptop cleaning function has it, since the beginning of time);
>popularity (how many "I agree" with a comment in the thread);
>author name;
>another key word (in addition to the original search term).