OK, everybody, let's all just take some deep breaths. I've been looking at মতামত within the last half ঘন্টা about the new ফ্যানপপ layout that has thrown all of us for a loop.

There was a similar outcry of disbelief over, what I am choosing to call, the link. I am here লেখা this to gather everyone's collective panic and misgivings into one place, as well as to try and look at the positives of these সাম্প্রতিক changes, in an attempt to placate some of your fears.

First of all, let's get the obvious out of the way. AH! OMIGAWD! ফ্যানপপ LOOKS WEIRD AND IS ALL DIFFERENT! It's like ফেসবুক and YouTube had a baby and named it Fanpop! It's FaceFanpopTube! Danger Will Robinson Danger! FREAKING OUT! PANIC ATTACK! TROWING MOLOTOV COCKTAILS INTO ফ্যানপপ HEADQUARTERS!

*Hyperventilates.*

*Calms down.*

OK. There. Some of আপনি may still need a paper bag to breathe into, so go get one and then finish পাঠ করা this প্রবন্ধ because now I'm going to try and address these new changes in a rational way, and try to be as impartial as possible.

First of all, yes, the above was (somewhat) close to my first reaction to the changes. DarkSarcasm can attest to that. Not that I would ever consider throwing Molotov cocktails into the ফ্যানপপ office, because that's blasphemous... But still, it captured my sentiments. So I do empathize with everyone who is freaking out and has automatically decided to hate all the changes. I want to hate all the changes. I fear change. Change is scary. I was afraid of the new ratings system four months ago, but I've swallowed my pride and, for the most part accepted it. From past experiences, I have a feeling that four months from now, people will be used to these changes, as drastic as they are.

সেকেন্ড of all, let's just remind ourselves that ফ্যানপপ is a labor of love. It was made for the অনুরাগী and for the community. And running any sort of society, even a simple online community, can be tough and decisions will be made that will not be জনপ্রিয় with every member of that community. So my hat off to the great ফ্যানপপ Four, who do their best to make ফ্যানপপ as awesome as possible for the rest of us. They did not change ফ্যানপপ to ruin your online life. They did it to try and make it better.

Let's look at some of the new features, OK? Like the new walls that exist on spots and profiles. A মতামত wall, such as those on ফেসবুক and MySpace, has been suggested দ্বারা users in the past (link). And, based on that example, আরো people ব্যক্ত they would LIKE a মতামত দেওয়াল than WOULDN'T like it. So আপনি can't say that this wasn't in demand.

Also, let's think about the benefits of the মতামত দেওয়াল for a minute. Several of us, mostly the grumpy old fogey users, complain about how উত্তর is used to make link. I can only hope that this দেওয়াল feature will eliminate the need to abuse the উত্তর feature as much. Secondly, it may stop যেভাবে খুশী and/or pointless props, and perhaps get rid of that dreaded holiday "props day!". So those are two things the দেওয়াল could be good for.

So the মতামত দেওয়াল seems like not a bad idea, right? অথবা at least not as bad as আপনি first presumed. Hopefully.

One qualm I do have is all this clutter. I kind of wish the boxes were organized in a different order, so that I could put my own মতামত দেওয়াল on the bottom of my page, অথবা maybe disable it alltogether. The option to enable অথবা disable your personal মতামত দেওয়াল should be provided. That's my first critical suggestion about the new lay out. Keep in mind that for a মতামত to be "critical" it should mention something that could be improved, and suggestions for how that could be done. "This sucks" অথবা "Fanpop is Fail" are not examples of critical comments. They're just complaints. But complaints have their place in a public ফোরাম as well.

Thinking critically about these changes, I'm wondering why certain categories (like প্রতিমূর্তি and videos) were grouped together. If আপনি want to group things together under tabs like that, why not put them all (images, videos, answers, forums, picks and questions) all in ONE box with several tabs? Also, where are the links? They seem difficult to find. Should they be paired with the প্রবন্ধ section? Perhaps if these things took up less space, it would feel less cluttered. Somehow, it feels আরো cluttered than the layout before it. These are just some critical notes I've made.

Back to the positive! (Compliment স্যান্ডউইচ yay!) This new layout provides opportunities for মহাকাশ saving. And yes, I know I JUST ব্যক্ত it feels cluttered, but hear me out. The tabs are actually kind of helpful. I think they categorize content fairly well.

Also, not everyone is upset about the new change. Some people are excited about it:

"I really like how the spots look. The নবীকৃত তথ্য section took up too much unneeded মহাকাশ at the শীর্ষ of the page, so i like that they moved it to the right and made it smaller. I like that প্রতিমূর্তি are on শীর্ষ because that's the first place I always look and i like the condensed picks/links/articles." - link

Others accept the change with a grain of salt, realizing it's not the end of the world:

"I guess we'll get used to it. Just hope people will use this দেওয়াল function for decent things, not spamming and bashing." - link

"Actually, it might not be that bad. At first glance, it seemed aweful, but maybe it's the type of thing that just takes a bit to get used to, then আপনি প্রণয় it." - link

Still others have jumped right into the new features with reckless abandon (and I do mean RECKLESS):

"Team Rosalie For Life! =D" - link

My best উপদেশ to those of আপনি with less-than positive attitudes about the change is this: Try and be flexible. আপনি may not like it immediately, but give it a chance to grow on you. In a month, আপনি might not even remember what আপনি were so upset about.

A few other suggestions I've heard/seen.

"[The ফ্যানপপ 4] could have doubled [links] up with the প্রবন্ধ like [they] did with প্রতিমূর্তি /videos and উত্তর /forums and picks/quizzes." - link

"Wall posts should have a প্রতিবেদন button..." - link

"I don't exactly like the new পরিলেখ layout... with the দেওয়াল & everything because it's totally uneven, the right side is way longer...they need another section on the left. My only other problem with the দেওয়াল is that the text is too big... but other than that i really like the new additions/style" - link

A personal suggestion from Yours Truly would be to allow users to use the "old version" of Fanpop, at least until they are ready to accept the new version. I am not an HTML wizard, অথবা adept at running a website, so if this is too difficult to do, then apologies. I only know that this is what some websites and programs do to help sooth the savage অনুরাগী beast - I mean, base. I know when ফেসবুক transitions, it does that. Then again, a lot of people are complaining that it's too much like Facebook, so maybe that would be kind of paradoxical. But whatever.

Actually, just লেখা this প্রবন্ধ has helped me, personally, calm down a lot about the changes. I no longer need my paper bag. I'm coping. I'm moving on. I hope a lot of আপনি are calmer now, too, and maybe even looking at these changes আরো positively. Have a great rest of the week everybody and link because I hear that only TWO PEOPLE have voted. So get your butts in gear! </FGT plug>.