I will be honest and say its been a while since I have logged in to Active Rain. It seems as though every time I do, things look a little different. I guess that is a sign of growth, huh?

The changes are both good and bad though. Not in any way a dig on AR. But in general, constantly changing the look and feel of a website can present issues. It can also present a fresh outlook for the future.

The new look is nice. The colors and overall feel are more modern and attractive. While I have not gone through the entire site, I can feel a freshness to the site.

There are a couple problems though with the changes. Specifically to AR, I have noticed that the footer bar (that grey bar at the bottom of the page) is behaving in unexpected ways. When posting and adding to groups, ect the list grows longer and gets covered by the footer bar. This shows that the coding of the footer has a bug or two in it that needs to be addressed. I am sure the AR guys are working on that, but it does present an issue in the mean time.

However, constantly changing a site can leave its members confused and lost. Even if they get used to the "new way", constant changes suggest another "new way" is coming soon! Taxing your members by frustration is not something one should do.

If you are wanting a fresh look, that can be a good thing. However, design and test the new look "offline" and then include a small test group for feedback prior to launching it. This way the majority of your members and visitors will continue to enjoy the content and keep coming back. Too many changes too often will typically stop people from coming.

For more information on Website Design for Realtors and Mortgage Professionals, visit www.FoundByDesign.com