Overall, I LOVE the new Xomba design. It was worth the wait kids :-)

I've been a Xomba member since 2006. So you have to understand that I still feel a bit nostalgic for the good'old design :-) I mean, it perhaps looked a bit "less polished" than some of the other similar sites out there but everything was presented so together, everything was in a context. At just one look you could immediately see who posted what, including the comments and all that. It always gave me a superior bird's-eye view to look at the old Xomba screen. It still is that way to a certain extent but less so. I believe the old design used to display more stuff on the same page.

Now I'll have to get used to the new tabbed environment. Some of the things that were out there in the open are now tucked away, for a cleaner screen. That's a good thing of course. And so far I could not see any comments on any of the articles perhaps because there is a new database that has not yet accumulated enough comments to display? Or it might be my browser? Perhaps I'm missing something there... (POST SCRIPT: Yeah okay, I see the comments on some articles. No problemo!)

I love the SOPHISTICATED way this new design looks. It really looks like a professional designer designed it. It must have cost Nick something to get it done but it's so slick now. It's really a delight to look at the new Xomba interface. I've already recommended it to a few friends of mine who are looking for part-time jobs for themselves. I said: "you'll never find a job more pleasant than writing for Xomba if you need an extra $500 or even a $1,000 a month." And I mean that.

Let me add that I also love the way CATEGORIES are grouped very neatly inside a small box, with smaller categories hidden underneath major entries. That's excellent housecleaning. Well done.

I have 2 problems with the new design so far.

1) One is minor: the "hspace" attribute for IMG tag does not separate the right edge of an image from the left edge of the text next to it. I'm sure that's something that Xomba engineers will take care of soon.

2) The second issue is a bit more problematic that all Xomba users should be aware of because I don't think it can be fixed easily:

As you know Xomba uses Kontera automatic ad-link insertion service. Some of your words are automatically linked to advertisers, which is fine with me.

But what happens is this: if the automatically-linked word is one that you've already linked to your own web site or affiliate product, then your link does not work anymore. The new Kontera  link overwrites your link automatically.

So with this new design I advise you to check your links carefully to make sure that they are not overridden. If they are, change your link structure otherwise you won't get your links.

And after all is said and done may I also share with you one MAJOR characteristic about Xomba design that I still think is rather rare and very precious:

Xomba TRUSTS its writers enough to allow them to EDIT THEIR OWN MATERIALS right away!  There is no wait to get anything "approved" by "supervisors" with Xomba. DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM of EXPRESSION will not get any better than this folks. No "First Amendment Cops" around here. For that alone I feel like I owe a special heartfelt THANKS! to Xomba.

To a better, richer, free Xomba, for all of us!