How to change W2G back to old layout

Good Afternoon,

I accidentally clicked the “try the future of watch2gether” and I cant stand the new layout. The ads are to big and the screen is too tiny. On top of that, it feels too cramped and doesn’t make sense to me. Like, why is the left ribbon so thick with no option to shrink it down? Go back to the old way were it was integrated into the bottom bar.

I want to change back to the old layout, but even clearing site data isn’t working for me. How can I get back to the old version of w2g?

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Hey, thanks for you feedback. For the moment you can switch back to the old layout by visiting:

Watch2Gether - Watch Videos together

Hope that helps!

Not working anymore, give it back please :frowning: <3

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Yes, the old design has been disabled. More than 99% of our users use the new layout and it’s too complex to maintain two different layouts. But I am very open to suggestions on how to improve the new layout to make it work for you as well.

Hi Florian - I never saw this new layout until today and wow do I hate it. It’s truly awful. You made the video screen tiny, and shoved everything to the side for… reasons? No. It needs a redesign, and stat. Frankly, if you can’t have the new layout and the old layout (you can only maintain one layout like you said), then get rid of the new one. I think you should have done a survey that went out to a sample size of volunteers to test it before you went ahead and implemented this - if you had, I highly doubt you would have gone through the trouble of implementing it in the first place because you would have received a lot of negative feedback. If you are open to suggestions like you say you are, then here is my suggestion on how to fix the new layout (if you refuse to get rid of it and revert to the highly superior older layout):

  1. Recenter the video screen. Having it off to the side is the most bizarre choice I have ever seen and it makes no sense. You’ll find that the best video websites never do this - they put the video screen in the center, where it makes sense to have it.

  2. Resize the video screen to its original size. Having it tiny does not encourage watching together. You want this to be “Watch2Gether”, not “Lean Forward So You Can See What’s Happening Together”. Right now, it’s the latter.

That’s it. In any product, the smallest details can make or break the experience. Having the video screen off to the side and tiny breaks the experience. I don’t want this. My boyfriend doesn’t want this. I highly doubt anyone wants this - but I suppose you must, since you implemented this change in the first place. In any case, if you want to retain your users, the best path forward is to either revert or at the very least make the two changes listed above. I hope you take this feedback to heart and make these changes, because otherwise I don’t think most people will stay. I’ve already seen threads asking for suggestions for alternatives to Watch2Gether.

Thanks for your feedback. Do you know the screen resolution of your computer and / or the size of your browser window?

Can you explain how either of those things would be relevant to my feedback? This is not a problem with my screen or my browser. The browser window is always kept maximized. The problem is with the new layout, as I stated. Please re-read my comment and get back to me.

I wonder whether you are actually seeing the site the way it should look like or if you encountered a bug. Could you post a screenshot?

Oh, and this is how it looks for my boyfriend, too. It isn’t just me. Which means that this is “the way it should look”. So, again, I direct you to my original feedback and how to fix it.

Thanks for the screenshot. This is indeed the layout in use for the last 6 months. The empty space that you are seeing should usually be filled with ads. They are probably not loading because you are using an adblocker? I agree that it looks a bit unbalanced this way.

You know very well that it being “unbalanced” was not my complaint. You’ve zoned in on “no ads” because you see that as bad and therefore that’s all you want to talk about. You tried to set a trap for me by asking for a screenshot, and so I decided to set a trap for you by providing it. Well done. You walked into it. The sad part is, you have every opportunity (and have had, since quite literally the majority of your user base have complained about this horrendous layout choice which prioritizes your ads and makes it impossible to actually watch together (I don’t think you actually know what that means anymore)) and you have dug in your heels to defend it as if it’s something good. You know what you’ve done. You’ve done your best to ignore it. You’ve done your best to redirect the conversation to “no ads” and “unbalanced” - dude, come on, you know for a fact that ads don’t balance ANYTHING and that the absence of them is not a negative thing for the userbase. In fact, unless you are completely and irrevocably incapable of comprehending English, you know that my complaint was about 1) the size of the video screen and 2) the placement of the video screen off to the left. Yet, you decided, “I don’t want to admit that this is a terrible design, despite the fact that I’ve had tons of complaints about it. I’ll ask for a screenshot, and then if there aren’t ads, AHA! I win because I get to talk about that and redirect the conversation!” Well, I’m sorry, man, but I’m way better at these types of games than you are. So, let’s try this again, shall we? I give you feedback and your options are to a) say, “You’re right, according to all of the feedback, this was a poor choice. Let’s revert, or update this layout to make it so that the video is the same size as it used to be and recenter it on the screen.” (the honorable and correct choice), or b) say, “I know you’re right, but I refuse to change this because I worked hard on this and I don’t like that nobody likes it and if this entire site goes down because there aren’t any users left, well that just means they are too dumb to see my genius (even though my genius failed).” Your move. (By the way, we already have an excellent alternative lined up in case you choose to dig your heels in - which is what I suspect you’ll do.)

Oh, and P.S. I’m not using an adblocker. My browser is just the best one out there and does it automatically for me. And it’s not the only browser that does this - more and more do it. Say goodbye to ad revenue, as it is quickly becoming a thing of the past. No one likes ads.