I've been posting things about the survey in Diary but I just realized that they are really better placed here, where people feel more dialog-y. You have until the 15th to take the survey, so if you haven't taken it please do so soon. It's fast and only asks about your opinions, not your personal situation (ie, no questions about your income and so on).
Advertising
What I found extremely amusing is that the people who complained the most about the ads were unwilling to pay the subscription price to get rid of them. Friends, one way or the other this thing has to be paid for. I'm doing enough better with Google Adsense that I've decided to try dropping the pop-unders and see how that goes. I've also moved the banner ad to the bottom of the page, in part because Blogads (the service to the left) wants to be higher on the page and it part because it was making the page too frickin' ugly.
One reader writes:
I am a member but the advertizing is very overwhelming. I realize that you need to support the site. Could it be done in another way?
I'm all ears; what do you suggest? (And yes, this person wasn't willing to subscribe for an ads-free view.)
I'm constantly working on ways to "monetize" the site without driving us all bananas--and, just so you know, my own experience of TNH is with full ads, so it does affect my viewing as well. I'm always adjusting things, trying this or that, to see if I can make things better for everyone: Me, the readers and the advertisers.
Navigation
Most of the survey responses I've gotten have been very positive on navigation, except for one I received today, anonymously. This person said she couldn't find a thing on the site:
First of all I love the premess of your site. I am very excited to dig in and look at it all. I've found that I get lost in the pages, trying to find things etc. Just very confusing for me. I've been on some other sites. Family Forum, CurEvents, They list all of their Threads in a very upfront manor. Newest to oldest. I would love to get to know you all here but, I have no idea how. So I'll just keep working on it. Just lurking around. Maybe I'll figure it out. Maybe I'll give up and go somewhere else. (sigh)
If you're reading this, my best advice to you is to use the tracker as your home page. I've just added it to the top menu bar as "Newest." It's also in the menu under your name (or the word "Navigation" if you're not logged in) as "recent posts". It has everything posted at TNH newest to oldest. If that's your preferred browsing method, check it out.
You can also browse topically using the categories in the top menu bar. You said elsewhere in the survey you had trouble finding recipes; they're listed in the top menu and you can browse them by category or newest to oldest on that page.
Feature Requests/Comments
"I liked it years ago when I could have my news feeds on the home page." -- A goal for 2006 is a customizable home page for registered users. This would be part of that.
"I would like to see more new articles. And more different smilies (I miss the old ones)!! " -- Working on making sure more new articles go up, most of them written by me or syndicated because I still can't afford to pay anyone. Different smilies, I'll see what I can do. I'd like suggestions as to what kind of smilies you'd like 
"Perhaps something for those of us who have children with disabilities?" -- I think we have a section in the forum for discussion on special needs kids. I'll keep that in mind for article picks in future.
"It would be nice if links opened a new page rather than navigating away from the site" -- Trying my best to do that but can't make it 100%.
"Maybe a book club?" -- We used to have two but they both fizzled out! Suggestions? I'd love to start a parenting one; I could even get chats with the authors since I know a lot of parenting authors.
"The option of more detailed personal profiles might be good" -- Sure, what kind of details?
"Articles about teens" -- I'll keep that in mind when I'm picking out articles.
"It'd be nice if the recent comments list was extended again. Sometimes I think I miss comments that have already scrolled off the bottom of the recent list." -- Use the tracker instead of the home page.
"I would like to see more detail and more diversity in the articles, especially the ones that help you, such as cleaning, cooking, or relationship help. It seems very generalized to me." -- Can you give me some specifics? 
"more recipes and Bible studies" -- Recipes I can help with (so can you all), but Bible studies (I actually got two requests like this) are beyond the scope of this website. For those just joining us, this is a secular website. People of all religions and none hang out here. I myself am Neo-Pagan, and I keep my religion relegated to a separate site though it infuses everything I do, as it does for many Christians. Lots of places for Bible study; this isn't one of them.
