Does anyone else find the "Eye on Spain" amatuerish and boring.Is it fit for 2015?

I find the site extremely informative and has helped me to settle in Spain.Without it the scenario would be a nightmare.Long live EOS!

I posted the original question not as a condemnation of EOS but just as a discussion point. I think that although there is quite a lot of good info and discusion on the site, the site itself is a bit jaded and dated. Some of the blogs and articles would be a lot more interesting and entertaining to a wider readership if presented in an up to date format. if there has to be adverts perhaps they could be incorporated  in a more magazine type of presentation. I know everyone has there own opinion of virtually everthing and so they should. Also some people don't like change, but it is a fact of life that if "you are not moving forward you are actually falling back". EOS could be updated and it wouldn't change its character or purpose just its readabilty. If you Google "living abroad in Spain blogs" there you will find some examples of simple friendly sites that have the "feel"of what I mean. I know there are all sorts of restrictions on including advertising in forums and so I stress that I have no connection to any of these sites and that I have deliberately picked sites that shouldn't be a threat to EOS readers. Take a  look!
 

TTWHO

Apologies but I have to disagree with you.

Many other forums / blogs do look different but they tend to have a lot of silly things going on with sarcasm, bad language and rudeness. Although EOS has a few it is much better monitiored and far less idiots on here

I don't think change is necessary and a change is not always a good thing and people certainly don't like change for change sake

It's not broke so no need to fix it

Based on most of the comments so far it appears that you seem to be the only one who thinks the site is outdated or needs change

Good topic for discussion though

Sorry if I didn't make myself clear but I was commenting on the presentation of the "Site" not on the monitoring or otherwise of the forums/blogs. As I said everyone has an opinion and some people like to express themselves in a less than acceptable way which is why I have never been able to understand the fascination with "social media". I would rather run naked through the streets than ever get involved with the sheer mindlesness of facebook or twitter but some people can't live without this constant stream of drivel. EOS doesn't seam have too much of that sort of contributor which is good but I don't read a lot of the blogs. I am more interested in the articles but find the weekly list less than inspiring. 

I find the presentation of the site acceptable. I am not kee on all the 'extras' - advertising and such like, but I remind myself it is a FREE site and nothing is asked of us except to be nice and help each other. (I have been a member of various Forums/Groups since they started 7+ years ago? and find some of them negative and have left.)  I do not come here as often as I used to. Maybe Wendy this is because there are lots of Brits who have had to return to the UK for financial reasons?

I was a great contributor to another site (that existed before this one) but the owner did agree it needed simplifying/a make over.  I cannot really say this of this site though.  It is what it is, and does what it does. (NB The reason I rarely go on the other site now is not due to the old fashioned feel to it - although I will say that their catagorisation of topics was better than this one, but more due to lack of traffic. It has dwindled to almost nothing from being a great site for anyone interested in any topic on Spain.) 

EOS Team if you do decide to change anything, please make it a gentle transition ;)

From what I recall, Justin and the team coded this site from the ground up. It wasn't an "off the shelf" product like IPBoard or VBulletin. Wherease these off the shelf forums are used all over the world by many different people, they also have the users to develop the addons that are liked on the other forums. For that to happen here, the code would have to be written by someone to integrate it into being. Not sure if the current owners have that capability, or if they would have to outsource it.

By all means, suggest away for additional features, i'm sure they would still be welcomed, but I don't think there is going to be much of a grand re- design.

Mark

I wondered the same as you, Susan, that perhaps the people contributing alot to the site have either moved on to other sites, moved back to UK (and perhaps this site doesn't provide the answers they wanted to questions) or moved on with their lives in Spain (ie enjoying their lives and not finding any benefit from this site).

In the past, I found the unnecessary comments / arguing quite offputting - especially some of the negativity directed at individuals. It certainly put me off from contributing.

It seems to me the daily threads have reduced, as have the blogs.

Having said all this, I still check the site out as there are at times useful answers to questions raised.

Edited to also note that the new 'articles' are practically  non existent now, which is a shame

I can speak as somebody that has been on this forum for many years, as a poster, advertiser and writer of articles and I can say that it isn't the forum that has changed,  but more the market and the requirements of the readers, where we have gone from a booming maket with thousands of new home buyers, to a much more controlled market, agreed still with its fair share of problems

It is also one of the only property forums that keeps going, moderated and still provide very useful information

I do agree that it does lack Justin's specific input and yes it needs a refresh but the forum only remains as good as the contributors and yes the numbers of posts have dropped off and I am not sure how bust the site is, compared to 5 years ago in the boom times

I cam absolutely say that I have benefitted from the forum, even now I get regular enquires for advertised rentals

Like or dislike, as far I am concerned,  adds nothing to the forum or the postings and I don't normally look at this and would normally comment in a response

I think the main reasonthat  less post go onto this forum along with others sites like it , is because people who have bought a property over the years, these people are now posting on private owners forums.The main Polaris forum can now go for days without a post going on it.

Interesting discussion. I can assure you we are paying close attention to it. All constructive suggestions will be welcomed. Look forward to reading more. However, I can assure you that eventhough it may be simple and functional,  it is anything but amateurish.

I shouldn't worry about the dislikes, they'll be gone soon, it was an experiment and not very successful !

Ian

Ahhh, dislike button removed this morning!!

I'm perfectly fine with the format of this forum.

It doesn't need to be all bells and whistles. The format does its job and that's what matters.

The real value of a forum lies in the people who post there, not in the design.

I have received some genuinely useful advice on this forum.

There have also been some smart alecs who take joy in shooting down and ridiculing perfectly legitimate questions, but you get those everywhere.

Amogles reply is , IMHO,  the perfect answer and I " liked" it.

So pleased the negative box has finally gone because am sure this was the cause of unnecessary problems.

Feliz Navidad

EyeonSpain has lead the fight against developers, banks.... after the real estate / financial crush for years. IO think we are now in a quite moment as many people has already solved or are solving their problems

I bet for EOS to become now the best site in Spain for english speaking buyers, company owners, retired people, young people... to relocate to Spain. For them to obtain the best deals, those who are not necessary in the flashy letters of adverts but have proved to work along the years and are recommended by users

There are many you can obtain in Spain at good prices if you know how to look

When we  bought in Spain 8 years ago this was the site to go to.Many great contributors and great advice available. Sadly for me when the moderators stopped being and seen to be active the site became more about posters scoring points off of each other. I now find the site very repetitive the same subjects over and over and nothing really instructive or that helpful, but that's me. I do feel the input made over property scams, non builds, illegal builds etc etc must have and does give people renewed hope and stories of successes are great to read. Those that regularly contribute there have my admiration. Personally I think if you're sorted in Spain you need something more regionalised and if you're new do a little researche by yourself before taking the easy way out here. I accept advertising is needed but even writing this is hassle! For me EOS is just tired and going through the motions. Before I get told if I don't like it don't use it, thanks but I know and don't very often. David

I've read this with interest, and I have to say I've stopped using the forum because of the negativity - but that's not EOS's fault, it's down to the contributors.

However, I have to say I do not believe the site is at all amateurish. When I set up my first blog on EOS 18 months ago, it was a walk in the park - and I'm very technically challenged. The site is geared to help the contributors and readers, and when we point out where something can be improved, Ian listens. That's the sort of behind the scenes stuff you don't see front of house, but it's what keeps the site up there in the top expat sites in Spain.

I average 10,000 views a month on my blog - that's good going for an amateurish site!

Like other posters, I've read this with interest too. I've used EoS for a good number of years and have found great advice offered by some lovely people. But has been pointed out there are a number of posters now who are so negative that I don't use it as much as I used to.

Regrading it being dated - yes I do find it a "old hat" in appearance and maybe a small revamp would be helpful.
But one thing I would like to see added is a better index of the threads I have posted on (there are times when I want to go back to read a thread and it takes me ages to find it).

I'm happily a bit old fashioned, but I find the question posed rather rude.  As someone said before, if you don't like it, don't use it.  It's not compulsory.

For me EOS is useful.  You get to know who knows their stuff and who are the drama queens and I feel better informed on many subjects due to it.  I'm also pleased that EOS have now improved the "like/dislike" system.

I use the parts that are interesting, and I find it works well.  I comment MUCH less frequently on the forums as a year ago it was nothing but arguments and sniping, though I note that it has improved slightly more recently so I might give it a go again!  I enjoy reading some of the blogs, though am frustrated by the large number of "blogs" which clearly AREN'T blogs but adverts for shoes or dogs.  I've been a member for about 6 years and would usually look here first when I need a bit of information.

If its not broke,why fix it?