It hasn't always been this way, and I'm sure it will be better once it's changed over to the new site and all is settled. It does get a tad trying at times, but all those other sites that work so great aren't going thru the changes that WC is, probably.

I do enjoy reading all the rants and ravings here tho.

Especially when Brad gets tired of it...lol.

But that is off topic...Steve, I'm sure it will get better. And I'm sure it will get worse first.....have fun!     

(P.S.   You finally got some images on the Blue Wing WIP thread!)

i had uploading issues this morning, im guessing it will be all okay tomorrow, i also noticed my overall download number droped by about 20 thousand yesterday, in the hall of fame, but todays its back to normal, so i think they are fixing the stuff that went wrong.

My stats are totlally wacked as well and have had issues accessing for the last couple of days. It does get a bit weary!

Uh...yes it has. When I first got to this site 7 years ago the site ran much better. Since all it's incarnations from then on it's been one thing after the other. I have no idea why it's so hard for a site that's been around so long to get the site running a lot smother than it does. And other sites go through changes as well I'm sure...but they at least get the main site running smooth...even graphic intense sites.

I don't bitch about to much stuff...but these constant site problems are getting old.

Same Problems here. I can't logoff or rate Skins, ...and it sucks! . And the worst thing is that pages are not loading correctly. Some times i have to load a page 3-4 times to visit it. Yesterday i rate a skin (yes it worked  ) but nothing happened! And my latest Article is gone, ...Is someone hacking this page or something  . Well, but it's still the best site around the web. So guys, fix those problems!

I know we've spoken about it many times, WG. There must be a heck of a lot of screwy code that never got fixed correctly and just got layered over....but I think the design (the basic look) of the current site is better than the new one (not that it matters as it's going to happen anyway).

I'm sure the coding used to make this site isn't up to date with todays standards. With that said there are more problems than the coding, like server problems or other things. After having a web site for many years and coding myself I know there aren't that many things that can be wrong so tend to believe it's the servers everything is stored on. For the most part I have been using the beta site as it seems to run much smoother most of the time. On the beta site I think it's time to make it the main site but still keep then old on e for awhile. When there is a link on the old site to go to the beta one you could make the new one the default and have a link for the old one on it until the last bugs are worked out on the new one. The new one does run much smoother, the thumbnails are larger and easier to see so it's time to switch over as it's will most likely happen soon anyway. All this is only my opinion of course but the reason I have been using the new one most of the time is the old one works and loads when it feels like it and it as was stated and really gets old waiting for the loading if it loads at all.

Personally I feel that if a web site has this many issues, even if the coding is old to start with, that the programmer(s) should have it fixed within 30 days, permanently.  One would also think that a good programming team would have been able to build the new WC site completely within a 60 day timeframe. This of course depends on whether or not you have a team of programmers, or just one or two individuals. I would hope that a company the size of Stardock had a pretty good sized team of programmers.

There are no excuses in business. 

I don't disagree. Probably too much is being asked of too few, however that gets tired after awhile. We pay for membership, and I expect the website to function correctly. Period.

I see no such problems at FreakingNews nor at Worth1000. Those sites are graphically richer than WC.

I wonder why it can't be fixed?  In this day and age, there are plenty of people who have sufficient Graphics/coding education and experience to fix this site once and for all.

So what's the real story?

Its very disappointing almost daily and has been... on and off.. for years... I just don't get it. I experience almost none of these almost daily issues on almost any other site.

I've been here, quietly, for almost 10 years and have seen many incarnations of the site. Yes, it did run a lot smoother way back when but that was before there was so much content available. WinCustomize was at the forefront of the whole "skinning" boom. There were only a handful of apps and only a few categories to choose from on the site. Now there are more apps and more categories, forums, personal sites for each member and a store to purchase all the great stuff. There's A LOT more content now than there was back then! A site of this magnitude is going to experience problems now and then.

I agree the site has been slow as of late but there is a beta site in the works. It's not like the powers that be don't care...they're actually working on a new and improved site for all of us. We just have to be patient and have faith that the new WinCustomize will be well worth the wait!

I, for one, will still visit everyday regardless of the shortcomings of the site

Ok, so I'm not the only one that has sat waiting for a page to load, sometimes actually getting up to refill my coffee cup, knowing it MIGHT be loaded when I get back. I too, have been a wincustomize visitor for many years and have put up with it because I'm a customize freak and the skinners here are the absolute best! I do agree that the beta site loads much more smoothly, 'for me'. I do use No Script, with a Firefox knock-off (Flock) and the add-on doesn't tend to improve the load times much. Note: Made no difference if I loaded pages in IE, it was still slow as molasses. All I could guess was that it was the ads or what-not. And that is an issue if user's are either truthfully or mistakenly thinking the slow load times are due to ads, it can build some resentment, I'd think. I want to thank the OP for bringing this up and giving me the courage to add my 2 cents.

Rats, I'd love to edit my post for forgetting to capitalize 'Wincustomize', however, it wont let me!

I put a link to this thread in the Stardock and WinCustomize IRC channels maybe it might bring an answer to what is going on. 

I would guess that deviantart has more traffic than WC and it still feels smoother than here. Also Neowin, which runs on Stardock servers must be a mare to aministrate given the amount of users, still it runs good. What I asked myself for years is why not learn from Neowin and do the forums with Invision Power Board, that would take a lot of work away from anyone envolved and that could therefore be spent on the main site. It is totally not common nowadays that forums go 'boom' nearly every day...

I can't say I disagree with the problems over time.

However, at this time the current site has mere weeks left and then it's over to the new one. 

Over the most recent time, the development has been pushed to the new site, not fixing minor issues with the current one. 

I would personally prefer everyone hit the beta site and give feedback so we can eliminate any issues that are coming up.

Amen, amen. All I've heard is server issues for the past 2 - 3 years along with various other excuses. The fact is this is the slowest, most annoying site that I visit. The content is great, so I keep coming back for the headaches.  

I've been on the old site for a couple of hours and it was running smoothly for once. Just arrived at the new site and it froze on me 

See what happens when you irritate Chuck, Fuzzy?

For me, the beta site takes twice as long to load!