Re: AC website bloated!
Hey guys - I definitely appreciate and hear your frustrations/feedback regarding the footer and have communicated them to those who've been working on it. There were a few hiccups after the footer was originally enabled that resulted in non-responsive and/or crashing IE9 and IE8 browsers. A fix was put in place Sunday that should have addressed the issue.
The mods and I did some testing on our phone web browsers; including Dolphin, Samsung, HTC, and Motorola's. On my desktop PC I tested the most current versions of Chrome, Firefox, and IE. On my Mac I tested Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. I also have laptops running the same browsers. Based on each of these checks passing - and the feedback I was hearing in the other thread - the footer was re-enabled.
Leslie is probably reading this and saying "it just happened to me yesterday!"

If anyone is still experiencing browser lockups - or what you would consider unacceptable page load times - do not hesitate to post here. Please provide as much detail as you can regarding your browser/version and whether you're on a PC or Mac. Listing any plug-ins you might be using would also be helpful.
Regarding feedback specific to content and/or value of the footer. Every single feature we've added and/or aesthetic change that's made is done for one single reason: to enhance and provide a unique user experience. If you ever see something that doesn't pass that test - anywhere in the forums - then we want to hear from you. I can tell you that the guys behind the scenes have been and continue to work
really hard on the footer and are passionate about making the site better for our members. I know they aren't finished working on it yet, and adjustments will continue to be made to optimize performance and content.
As for the everything between the header and footer -- I have more direct control (aka blame me) over these areas, so if you see anything in these areas that doesn't look right - or isn't performing well - be sure and let me know. I can usually address these issues quickly. If you see something that needs urgent attention, feel free to hit the contact us link or email me directly: cory.streater@androidcentral.com. I am also emailed every time a new thread is started in this forum, so no feedback is ignored.
Also, if you're not registered and/or logged in, be sure and do so. Logged in members do not see the side bar and will benefit from a reduction in flash ad's - which by the way isn't some evil thing sites do to torture their visitors - it's how sites generate revenue for the infrastructure and bandwidth required to provide content to those who visit. That said, we have one flash ad at the top of the forums and an occasional pop-under, but overall I think we have fewer ads than any of the Android specific forums I've visited.
Cory