Campground Reviews Gets a Spiffy New Look!

Hitch2go, the problem here is if you actually put in "Ft" the system did not find it because the place is spelled "Fort". Unfortunately abbreviations such as Ft, and St (Saint) cause problems in any system, not just ours. You can easily find listings in Fort Bragg this way:

On the Home Page (US map) click on a state on the US map or click on a state name in the list on the left side of the page.

Either one of these methods will display a page that has "(name of the state) Campgrounds" at the top. For example: Utah Campgrounds.

Scroll down on the page and you will see a section labeled "Browse (state name) Campgrounds by City".

Click on the Show More box, and all of the cities in the state will be displayed.

Click on a city name and the page for that city will be displayed. This page layout is different, but it contains all the information from the previous site along with some new sections.


And, here is another way you can search for a city:

In the search box, the Home Page, type in the name of a town and the state it is in. Notice that a dropdown menu appears that has suggested cities listed at the bottom.

If you see the city you are looking for, click on it. If the city is not in the list, click on search.

The system will display the city page if it is in our database.

Please let us know if you need further assistance with any of our other website functions.

 

I just searched on "Fort Bragg, CA" and got 19 results...

 

I agree, hard to follow and locate anything. ☹️

 

Click on the state, click on "View More Cities", and then click on "Show More" to see the full list of cities. For the individual reviews, select the campground and click on "'n' Reviews" next to the stars and in the floating bar that docks at the top of the screen when you scroll down.

 

As a long-time user of this site, er, RVParkReviews, etc., I am dismayed by the "New" look. I fully understand that this website needs revenue to survive and provide the service RV'ers across the country look for. However, what was once an extremely user-friendly site has now been custom fitted to 'push" certain campground that perhaps pay some kind of "sponsorship fee" while at the same time making it more difficult to find an array of campgrounds around the town or city you are planning your trip too.

My most recent search involved looking for campgrounds in the Pocono Mtns. region of Pennsylvania. Since I have never been to this area, I am not familiar with the various towns involved. The previous version of CGR allowed you to pick out the towns in a state and then check out the campgrounds in that area. This was helpful with using Google Maps and other resources such as state tourism guides to narrow down your area of interest and the assorted campgrounds in each region.

With my search for the Poconos and a couple of campgrounds I came across it seems there is no longer a link to CG's website you may be interested in, or, you want to find out more about them. Again I have to wonder if a CG has to now pay to have their business linked to CGR.

Disappointed in what was a great and easy to use tool that now. appears to have gone corporate.

 

It always takes a little time to sort out a new site, and sometimes it seems like a site upgrade is a little harder to get used to than a completely new site that we've not been to before. That said, the campground website links are still there as you can see in the screen grab below. To find that one I just zoomed into the Pocono area on the PA map and clicked on a couple of flags to see what was around. Checking on that campground also listed 25 others in the general area. The information is there, it just takes a little different digging to get to it.

 

Please read my post #41 and if you will tell me about a specific instance where you had trouble locating something on our site, I will be glad to help you.

 

Yes, we do have "featured" campgrounds, but they are a small part of all the information we provide.

Did you happen to read my instructions in post #41? These steps for locating cities and campgrounds are really not all that different than the old site. The presentation of campgrounds near a city has a different look from before, but it should not be any more difficult to locate the towns and campgrounds.

The links to the parks' websites are still there. They are located on a park's listing on the right side of the page across from the park's address just where NYDutch showed in Post #46.

No, we list parks on our site free of charge. Plus we do not charge for memberships and guests are allowed to view the site. Having some advertisements on the site keeps all those things free.

Please let us know if you have more trouble locating information on the new site and we will be glad to help you.

 

Thanks for the reply to my previous post.

Some of my criticisms in that post come from me first searching for campgrounds around the Pocono's and being somewhat surprised at the totally new look of the site. I even checked to make sure I was at CGR and not some other review site.

So, after I read this thread, not every post but many, added my two cents worth, I went back to search some more for CG's in the Pocono's. Yes, I zoomed in too the region on the state map, found a bunch of CG's and noticed also the link to their website! Imagine that!

So, with a bit of mia culpa, I'm sure the new-look site will work as good or better than the past and I and my DW both look forward to the 2020 camping season with CampgroundReviews.Com being out lead agent in search out CG's and area's to visit.

 

I'll bet our new look has been quite a surprise to many of our users who have logged in the first time since the change. And since things are not in the same place, it takes a little getting used to. I'm glad you tried your search again and had better luck. Thanks for your support.

 

Andy,

ONE point I was trying to make with my previous post about the "Details Matter" comment and changing the name of this site is that the TWO (the comment and the name change) seem contradictory (RV parks versus campgrounds.) If the "Details" comment was supposed to say that the reviews here are better than those on other sites, why didn't you just say that! Having been an adult tent camper for almost 20 years before buying my first RV in 1990, I know the difference between a campground and a RV park. I found your explanation weak, questionable, and self-serving,

 

Thanks, Andy for the response. I'm glad you all will keep the map feature. I think small things like this provide incentive for us to post reviews: we get to see (on a map) where all we've been and can look back through our reviews to jog our memory and at the same time you all get to broadcast those reviews to benefit others and your site. The map feature is certainly important to me.

As an aside, another profile feature that would be valuable would be a map of the US which automatically shades the states in which you've reviewed a site (e.g., my profile pic).

 

I'm a long-time user of the site and consider it the gold standard for searching and selecting places to park; however, I'm not a fan of some of the new features. For example, I'm using the site to search for parks in a specific area - I have no interest or need for "recent campground photos". I'd rather see you return to the ten visible new sites. Also, I'm not going to move a few miles to my next site, and so "nearby campgrounds" is of no interest. Finally, the "questions" and "tips"....??? I'm searching for a campground or park in a specific area - if I'm looking for a site in Montana, why do I care about a "tip" about a park in Texas or a "question" about tents? Keep these at the location where they are meaningful; as currently displayed, they take up space and are a waste of my time. Admittedly, I'm probably not your core audience; we've been full timing for 15 years and usually I'm in a hurry to do research. Having said all that, I'm still a fan and will continue recommending your site to fellow RVers.

 

The new format is certainly much busier than the old format, in my opinion.

Information that is most important to me and thus what I'd want to be able to locate quickly and efficiently, whether on my phone app or using the website:

1. Accurate but robust search feature.
2. Quick access to ratings and the actual reviews. I don't want to wade thru photos and tips before I get to ratings and reviews.
3. Quick access to price and contact info.

Just my $0.02.

 

Exactly - I just spent time plotting...and plodding through, a long trip this spring. Too much window dressing gets in the way of searching. And I need to know the hookup status without having to open another window. Needs to return to K.I.S.S.

 

I agree with many other posts. The new website is a nightmare and not user friendly at all. Sure the information may still be there, somewhere, but it takes way too much time to find it and it's not obvious. People don't want to have to go to school just to find an RV Park or campground on a website. It's also much slower than the old website to download which makes it even harder. I've have recommended the former site to many fellow campers over the years but no more.

 

Not enjoying this new format. This feels like the start of the internet 1990's, not an easy to use site. Hard to find campgrounds, cumbersome to get around and so infested with ads. I know you have to pay your bills. I have worked hard to post honest reports and not blame weather, kids, size of my rig that I should make sure fits, etc. People want to hear about bathrooms, tight spaces, sloped sites, what to see and do, swimming, trails, kid and pet friendly and campground host friendly. We'll see if I stay to post useful reports or move on. Good luck to those fumbling your way through as I am.

 

My next issue: At the end of each review there is a statement that says: "Marking Reviews as helpful makes sure you and other members see the best reviews more often." As with my previous issue questioning the meaning of the "by an for RVers" comment, what is the meaning and purpose of this statement. How does the fact that somebody marks a review as helpful make sure we will "see the best reviews more often."? Among other things, without the "not helpful" option, a bunch of people marking a review as helpful is meaningless considering the questionable opinions of the people making these judgments.

 

The reason for the option to mark a review as helpful is to contribute reader opinion to existing reviews. On a given park page there is a sorting option to display helpful reviews (if any have been marked). While chronological is the default sort, there are several other options.


Regarding the "not helpful" option...the intent is to elevate great reviews and the positive affirmation works for this purpose. A negative one contributes no additional information and it seems to run afoul of the old adage: "if you can't say something nice......."

Glass half full