No doubt some software geek told the bean counters at Patch HQ in NYC that this betaware would enhance the value of their stock options.

Sorry boys (its always guys who muck up a good thing, no) this test gets you an F- grade

The graphics unpleasantly dominate the text. The fonts are too big. Visually, I don't think this works. Too much visual verbiage to slog through trying to find out where things are.

And.....where is "Home?" If I want to go back to the front page I have to start all over again? Annoying.

Initial 2-minute review: interesting.

I like the Nav Menu on top that is always accessible. However, I'm not sold on the use of tiles like a Windows phone...it places a huge emphasis on the pictures and when I'm looking for news, I'm looking for headlines. I also dislike that it mixes all the categories together. There are some sections that I would rather ignore. I see that I can click on "News" for specific sections...but then I have to scroll through lots of text instead of just viewing headlines. When you look at what CNN and Yahoo News have done, it seems that Patch has gone in the opposite direction.

There is an annoying overlap of text in the first "News" block as well. I agree with other readers that this layout is less user-friendly/ less readable. The advertising also seems to be more prominent.

not visually appealing to me but change is hard, isn't it?? i'm still getting used to surburbia and it's been 6 mos (will I ever acclimate??)..

It's fine, I'm all for change for change's sake. Except that headlines get truncated so all we see (for example) is:

Reston Association VP Thomas Won't Run For Re-

Reston Community Orchestra Receives Art

FCPS Facilities Planning Advisory Council Continues Listening Tour at

Looks too much like Pinterest which is crazy confusing. Maybe I am just an old fart. I find this layout too hard to navigate and find things.

I want to see everything on ONE screen without having to scroll down for half an hour. It takes too long to get all the way to the bottom. I am an old fart, too, with limited years left and I don't want to spend any more of them than I have to trying to decipher the Patch blog.

Ugh. I'm obviously logged in, but when I try to use the feedback button it thinks I'm not. And it won't let me login using the same name/pass I use for Patch.

Thanks, Steve L.

This isn't about the New Look but since Feedback doesn't work for me:

Events gives too much emphasis to the venue which washes out the comments below it pertaining to the ACTUAL event. Take a look at Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/events/washington-drinksgiving-3-0

It's clean, gives you all the information you need, and encourages community discussion.

The front page shifts around each time you go off of it to read an article then go back. This is a bit confusing as I can't find the other articles that I wanted to reach without hunting for them. A more static, less graphics heavy front page would be nicer.

FYI, the Reply button doesn't work in Chrome. But it's probably not one of your supported browsers anyway.

Steve L - That;s been the case for a whole. We finally (well, about four months ago) how to write headlines to fit the new layout.