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Sunday, June 29, 2008

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Switching back to My Yahoo classic

Posted @ 4:42PM

Categories: Tips

Tags: Tips

On Thursday, Yahoo rolled out changes to my.yahoo.com updating the layout of the page with a beta version. One of the items that seemingly got lost was the link to switch back to the classic layout. I’ve played with the new layout and still prefer the old classic style that I’ve used for years now. Fortunately, at least for the time being, you can still switch back to the classic layout using this URL.

[Update: July 9th 2008] Well that was short lived, below is a message from my current Yahoo page. Thanks a lot Yahoo.
[Update: July 9th 2008 8:30am] I posted a comment last night to this Yahoo blog post asking James, a My Yahoo! Product Lead, why he provided a link to switch back to classic knowing it would last only a week and the comment was deleted. I had included a link to the post I wrote about why Yahoo has frustrated me and indicating that this decision to kill Yahoo Classic was simply yet another reason. I guess that was just too over-the-top.
[Update: July, 14th 2008] Now that we’ve all be forced over to the new page I’m now getting hundreds of search engine hits on this post. Looks like I’m not the only one who like the "Classic" style.
[Update: July 15th 2008] According to one commenter Yahoo is now deleting requests to support the Classic mode from their web site properties though this page is still alive at least for now. I’m now getting 100’s Internet search hits for this post so this is a pretty popular subject. Feel free to digg this post and see if we can shine a little more attention on this.

Comments [12]

permalink

Sunday, June 29, 2008 6:45:49 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

I must admit, I don't get Yahoo. What do they do? I never visit the site (maybe once a year), I don't know what services they provide, and going to their homepage just now to check it out I can't find anything really useful that would make me want to come back. I must admit though that Yahoo seems VERY US focused (I am in Australia) so that can't help.

Craig

Sunday, June 29, 2008 8:59:48 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

Craig,
That's a good question. Over the years they've clearly lost focus which has left them in the position they're currently in. I don't use Yahoo anywhere near as much as I used to and in fact I'm switching everything away from Yahoo. The main reason I wanted my old page back is I didn't/don't want to learn their new layout. I'd just as soon stick with what I had and eventually stop using it altogether. One of the only remaining parts for me is the Fantasy sport section which I don't think is available in the new layout though I don't really care to spend the time and find out.

Steve Trefethen

Monday, June 30, 2008 11:22:16 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

Steve
Thanks for the URL to be able to switch back to the old Yahoo format! We all resistant to change at times but the new layout is not so user friendly and does not flow. I changed back. Now how to get rid of the you sure want to see why cant the site remember I have made a choice?
cmpx18
columbus ohio

CMPX18

Tuesday, July 01, 2008 6:36:21 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

Thank you for this post! I tried a few days ago to find if there was a switchback link and could not find it. This works (as you say, at least for now).

Alex

Monday, July 14, 2008 1:54:22 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

The link to change back no longer works as it will just take you back to the new format when you log back on to your homepage.

Ken

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 9:23:29 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

I don't like the "new" my yahoo page because it has too much advertising on it that draws from the coolness of the actual page. The classic my yahoo was really great. Too bad they're being lame about this "new" my yahoo page.

Silamanagic

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 12:28:37 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

new my yahoo stinks

bring back classic my yahoo

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 2:48:45 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

Here was my feedback comment back to yahoo. Can you say boycott.

Why don't you yahoo guys get the hint that some people don't want to change to the "NEW" yahoo. You guys can track everything else, why don't you track how many times people keep changing back to their old yahoo page. You need to realize that you yahoo decision makers created this monster, by giving us the ability to customize our own pages. This was the great part and reason I have kept "my yahoo" page as my home page for many years. Now some (yahoo or yahoo's) in management have deiced that advertising dollars are more important than user loyalty. You can either tell your users how to change back ( like maybe a link that doesn't get removed from the page ) or you can lose your users ( and me ) to GOOGLE. What nerve! To take away from people a freedom that you gave to them in the first place. And worst yet, a real person probably won't respond to this feedback. " The American Way"

John Davis

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 5:22:37 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

The increase in the number of hits on your post seems to be the result of Yahoo taking down all of the negative comments on their sites.

Last night I searched for an answer on how to switch back to classic my yahoo and the results included a large number of hits to Answers.yahoo.com. Today, they all seem to be gone. All the top links are for switching back to classic mail. Your post is the first in the list on this subject. I guess if you don't like what the people say, you can just ignore them and censor their comments.

Pretty stupid on yahoo's part. first they change the formula a la Coke Vs. Classic Coke and then they slam everyone a la the phone companies years ago and now they practice stalinistic tactics by deleting the negative press and that's supposed to make it all right. Pretty Damn Scary!!!

Friday, July 18, 2008 12:35:06 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

Dear Sirs,

I hate the new Yahoo look. The classic one was just right for me. Why should you decide what I SHOULD LIKE?

Janet B. Bowman

Janet B Bowman

Saturday, July 19, 2008 1:41:22 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

me, too... i'd like to leave but i feel stuck. i appreciate the free service that yahoo! has given me over the years but nowadays i just feel like a victim.

i've been using yahoo! mail as my secondary email forever. i really appreciated that the mail preview pane on the my yahoo page. now i have to use my password to see the preview. giant step backward. and they have all my portfolio information.

i'll probably move my portfolio's to google finance. not sure what to do about yahoo! mail. i've read a few blogs on how to access the free yahoo! mail via imap but i haven't gotten it to work yet. once i do, i'm out of here! yahoo! is the only web service that has gotten consistently worse with time!

josh

Saturday, July 19, 2008 4:37:55 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)

josh,
Sorry to report more bad news but Yahoo's IMAP support cost ~#20/yr and I've found the spamguard plus to be of no benefit. I'm switching to Google myself.

Steve Trefethen

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