• Soro (unregistered)

    Admit it, having "fuck" in the name was not business friendly. So when you sold out you had to change it.

  • (cs)

    Who cares what the name of the site is? I don't read the submissions just so I can brag to my buddies that I read a forum with an "edgy" URL. I also suspect Alex couldn't give a crap if people threaten to unsubscribe from the RSS feeds, or whatever other dire threats are being made. I mean, does that mean you won't pay your monthly subscription fee? Personally, if this change loses a few readers, I'll be ecstatic. I miss the days when the average IQ of posters here was higher.

    At any rate, I suspect the complaining was to be expected. You should have posted the article on a school night...

  • Name (unregistered)

    This is censorship at its finest. F in WTF means "fuck" not fudge, failure, fridge or fool. This web site is not dedicated to our granmas, we can say "fuck" here and that's why I liked it here. I don't know if I'll stay any longer, the new name is really so stupid.

  • Ann (unregistered)

    Unlike some other people, I don't intend to stop reading because of the name change (if the content changed, and I didn't like the content, I would stop reading). However, I count myself in the company of people who like the old name better.

  • (cs)

    Crap name. Really, really, crap.

    I will not be changing my bookmarks to the new domain. I will also continue to give thedailywtf.com out as the domain to people when it comes up (and it has, many times).

    And if the old URL stops redirecting, I will stop reading. Why? Because there's no way I'm going to remember a crap name like this.

  • my eyes have seen the glory of the trampling at the zoo (unregistered) in reply to Broderick Brydeson

    new name sucks. that is all.

  • Nick H (unregistered)

    Read almost every article on this site for the past 18 months. This is the frist time I've felt compelled to post.

    Bad decision with the new name. This site will only ever appeal to software developers. 95% of them will not be offended by 'WTF' or what it really stands for.

    DailyWTF is a brand that you've spent time building, destroying that and starting again is madness.

    If you really wont go back to the old name, someone posted a good idea... Have a 'clean' site and a 'DailyWTF' site.

    I often IM or email my developer friend and say "There's a good daily WTF today". Now I have to say "Look at 'worsethanfailure.com'"

    Lame lame lame.

  • (cs) in reply to Otto

    When I first saw the new name I actually thought I was at the wrong site (you know how many popular sites have clones with very similar names to catch people that miss a key-stroke). Nope, worse. Change...

    Can't you hear the site caling?

    "Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken... Hello?"

    Soro:

    Admit it, having "fuck" in the name was not business friendly. So when you sold out you had to change it.

    WTFs are not business-friendly either and yet...
    Otto:

    I will also continue to give thedailywtf.com out as the domain to people when it comes up (and it has, many times).

    I'll second that: I can't speak for the future, but for now it seems it will always be TheDailyWTF to me.

    I don't like the new name. Does grandma read the site? Than what does it matter?!

    If your family doesn't appreciate this site than don't tell them about it in detail. @#$%, lie if you have to! Hell, the Internet porn industry is thriving... Don't you think those developers have grandmothers!? I doubt they have the conversation:

    “So do you still write that website ... oh, what did you call it? MILF..?”

    “MILF Doggy-Style...”

    “Ah yes. I can never remember, what does M-I-L-F stand for again?”

    “Well, Grandma,...” [runs away!]

    Not all WTFs are worse than failure. Sometimes they work, but incredibly inefficiently, etc... But they >>work<<. What's better: 3 months of work for a bad solution that works or a complete and utter failure with no deliverable? (Even though we all hate maintaining WTF projects and it would be great to just start over and do it right).

    I don't know. The name seems less catchy and less witty.

    When I first heard "TheDailyWTF" I was immediately interested... Not just in the article, but in the SITE. I'm not sure "Worse Than Failure" will have that same effect.

    But again, I don't hate the new name. Maybe it'll grow on me.

  • anony-mouse (unregistered)

    first the good content, now the name. what will this site lose next? oh yeah, popularity

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to anony-mouse

    The obvious reason to change the name was that selling non-xxx advertising and job postings on a site that has the word "fuck" in it isn't easy in the US. Guess money rules, huh.

    Without the name the sites is only half as funny, and grandma won't read it anyway, nor is this a "family" site. Stupid move. Content was lacking anyway, so site removed from bookmarks and good riddance. kthxbye.

  • Tom (unregistered)

    You are a pussy!

  • (cs)

    I would've prefered 'TheDailyWhat?". Worse Than Failure sounds too harsh. The real WTF is that they didn't just write:

    10 read from $s.mag = 8*"TheDailyWTF" print; next i;
  • nimai (unregistered)

    Don't kill the brand. New name is worse than fuck. Website.RenameTo("The Daily WTF")

  • Changed Name (unregistered) in reply to john q public
    john q public:
    Stupid to change the name. dumb move.
    Aye!
  • (cs)

    It seems this site collects WTFs of its own, now:

    -The name (sucks as a brand; psychologically bad) -The forum software (sucks) -Granny marketing (WFT?!) -Alex himself in certain regards (myopic and fanatical resistance to open source; opposition to anything non-corporate, non-Windows; and to open the political can of worms, conservative/republican worldview; etc)

    Thus, as Zach said, "at least symmetry".

  • Someone Fluffy (unregistered)

    With the new name abbreviating to "WTF", it is not too bad. The W, T and F could do with a bit of emphasis, though; making them a somewhat larger size should do it. The letters combined with the smilie face would then make the real intention bloody apparent.

  • (cs)

    WebsiteManager.Undo();

  • maht (unregistered)

    at least you didn't call it "Worse Then Failure"

  • ugh (unregistered) in reply to maht

    long time reader, first time poster.

    this is incredibly lame. wtf is going on here lately?

  • Sigh (unregistered)

    Oh jolly good. More US-centric censorship. Violence is okay, but sex and swearing? Oh no, we can't have any of that.

    Quick, better rename a site that was memorable to its target audience to one that is an expansion of an acronym that ISN'T EVEN THE CORRECT EXPANSION! It's bad enough that we have to contend with so many acronyms, but making up new meanings for old acronyms is a wtf in itself.

    Naughty, naughty Alex.

  • giskard (unregistered)

    WTF? Why throw away a perfectly good brand and replace it with a creation that sounds like the outcome from a tedious management comittee?

    Then again, ironically the name change perfectly encapsulates what this site is all about, as my first reaction the the article was: What the fuck!

    Though it has to be said that it was the first genuine WTF in a while as I thought the overall quality of the submissions had been going down.

  • Dominik (unregistered)

    What the fuck? That's like Microsoft changing their company name to Miniware??!

  • jon (unregistered)

    I don't mind the name change but the reason was incredibly gay. so typically american to be afraid of swear words :D silly silly...

    you get -300 respect from me. keep up the good WTF-posting thou

  • JDS (unregistered)

    You wanted a more appropriate name for this site?

    I can't believe you didn't go with my suggestion of www.thedailyfloodofcaptchas.com

  • Jonny (unregistered)

    Another long time reader, first time commenter here.

    I can't decide which is the bigger WTF - wilfully destroying a brand which was perfect for your target audience or the absurd self-censoring reasoning behind it.

  • JDS (unregistered)

    May I just say on a more serious note that the name isn't that bad. I don't think it would have caught my attention as much as the last one, but it's not horrible.

    We'll probably get used to it in no time, like I had to get used to wrestling's WWF now being WWE. MAN I HATE THOSE PANDAS!!

  • Squid (unregistered)

    Sorry Alex but I agree with the majority here. The new name IS lame. A sad day indeed.

    Website.RenameTo("Worse Than Failure").NOT!

  • Andrew (unregistered)

    What The Frig? Where's The Fire?

  • Fortyseven (unregistered)

    Fuck the people in the 'real world'. This site isn't FOR them, it's for the technical community.

    It may seem like a trivial move to some, but this is seriously disappointing.

    It's like when a raunchy comedian/actor becomes a parent and decides he wants to clean up his act, so he takes on family comedy fare.

  • coditza (unregistered)

    This is sooo weak. If you had problems explaining WTF to anyone, why not change it from What The Fuck to Worse Than Failure. And keep the name of the site as it was.

    At least bring the old domain back up and tweak a bit the code for the site so when you get to the site from thedailywtf.com it shows that in the title.

    If you can't afford to pay for that domain too, just say so, and I bet $10 that you will gather enough money to pay that domain for a life. Same applies to the code I was talking about.

  • (cs)

    Alex, I am guessing that you won't care about this but I am going to post it and then that will be that.

    I am deleting this website from my bookmarks. I will never look at it again. I am going to outline the reasons to you, you may take this criticism as you see fit.

    Since 2005, the site has gotten worse and worse. Here are some of my quarrels.

    1. Moderation: for a time, you made available a script to let all users see what moderation was taking place. You stopped that. A moderated forum by secret moderators is not of interest to me. [Not to mention the fact that the moderators are still doing a piss poor job.]
    2. Long stories: I don't know why you made this shift but the long stories with no code are terrible. If this is truly the direction you want to take this site in, I would suggest that you either hire a writer or really work on your writing skills. They leave much to be desired.
    3. The data-backup blurb: you put this advertisement into one of your posts as though it were part of the story. I am fine with advertisements in the side panel. Placing ads in the text of the article as though it were part of the piece is just terrible. And I question the validity of the post itself. You received an ad for a data backup site. Did you then make up that story about data backup so that the story would fit the ad? Curious.
    4. Disregard for forum regulars.
    5. Arrogant attitude.

    Again, I don't expect you to change from the current road you are travelling down. I would suggest that I and others, who were regular members of this site, have left in numbers. If losing the people that supported your site from the beginning was part of your vision, then congratulations - you are on your way!

    Last post from me.

    sincerely, Richard Nixon

  • whiny wee bastard (unregistered)

    This is weak. I am sad.

  • steven Bredenberg (unregistered)

    This is really fucking lame. Is this site owned by a 12 year old girl?

  • steven (unregistered)

    This is really fucking lame. Is this site owned by a 12 year old girl?

  • PetPeeve (unregistered)

    Isn't it easier just to keep everything the same and just change only the official name to "The Daily "Worse Than Faillure".

    The whole WTF hasn't been used in it's original meaning on this site anyway. (More used as another word for "horrible mistake") And

  • whiny wee bastard (unregistered)

    I also wanted to add that BOFH would be ashamed.

  • Ned Flanders (unregistered)

    You could always just say it stands for "what the fiddilydangdiggily"

  • NickH (unregistered)

    but now the site just doesn't seem as interesting. I liked sending people to 'Daily WTF'. And no, it's not the same. WTF != Worse than failure.

    Oh well. Just sorta feels like a bait and switch now. Think I'll dump it from my daily surfing. Was getting a bit boring anyway.

  • Matt (unregistered)

    Personally I don't like the new name much, but at the end of the day it's Alex's site and he can do what he wants to it.

  • Trix (unregistered) in reply to Matt

    I'm apparently in the minority here - someone who read the site despite, not because of, the name. So from my perspective, THANK YOU. Love the new name!

  • Bob (unregistered)

    I respect your decision to rename the site. Even if the reasoning was (partly) based on trying to please everybody. I liked the phrase Daily WTF. It had something close to a brand identity that i liked. 'Worse than failure' might turn into the same acronym, but it's not WTF. Then again, if the site evolved into more than just WTF's of the information technology, it's only fitting that its name changed to suit its present form.

    Bottom line is i respect your decision, but i resent it. A friend told me to look it up, because it had stuff worth reading, and the name itself made me curious enough to actually do it. If that same dude had said "go to 'worsethanfailure.com', it's cool", i'd probably think it's something about crash tests gone bad.

    End Note: does this mean that 'the daily wtf' is available? Because i'd like to take it - it's a cool name, and my grandma is usually online on ymsg on her laptop anyway, so she's probably used to web acronyms :)

    Captcha: bathe. wtf? how did they know? Bastards! :D

  • UDontKnowJack (unregistered)

    OK, come oooon!!! DailyWTF sounded just great! WorseThanFailure... please, what is this?!? I've visited your site daily and this change is absurd. The mere reason that this is my first comment should mean something - you really dissapointed me!

  • Scourge (unregistered)

    Fuck this new name

  • (cs) in reply to PetPeeve

    I can understand the motivation behind the name change.

    This site really is an impressive and useful accomplishment. Alex should be proud of it.

    But it's hard to flaunt something, or list it on your own résumé, when it has the word "fuck" in its name, even implicitly.

    However, I directly disagree with this statement:

    That said, there were a few reasons that I wanted to rename the site, perhaps the biggest being that “Daily” and “What The F*” don’t quite describe it anymore.

    That's utterly wrong. Long before I found this site, and many times since having found it, I have been looking at someone else's clearly novice code, in a commercial product, and I have muttered, "What... the... fuck?" And you know what, I even make a face that's very similar to that red circle-guy at the top of the page. And I've seen other people make that face when looking at legacy code.

    PetPeeve:
    Isn't it easier just to keep everything the same and just change only the official name to "The Daily "Worse Than Failure".
    Exactly what should have been done. No one tried to make a replacement for RTFM; they just found a gentler expansion of it. If you want to describe the site to your grandmother, just say, "Oh, it stands for `Worse Than Failure.'" Heck, that's downright funny.

    It should be pointed out that "worse than failure" is not descriptive. Heck, it's utterly obfuscatory. It'd not even a tenth as memorable as "thedailywtf.com" is, which is important if you want to have repeat visitors.

    If you really want a less vulgar name, and since you're obviously willing to move to a whole new domain anyway, consider some of these:

    The Daily DGI ("don't get it") The Daily ITI ("IT idiocy" or "IT injustice") The Daily HTEW ("how'd that ever work") The Daily PFN ("paid for nothing") The Daily Unprofessional

    (I hereby place all of the above names in the public domain. Go wild with 'em.)

  • (cs)

    IMO the new name is in itself worse than failure. My recommendation for a compromise is to keep both the old and new domain working, so that depending on the domain used, the site would have a different title but the same content. This way the "grandmas" could use the new address, and others the old address.

  • Matt V (unregistered)

    I didn't put worsethanfailure on my Google homepage, I put thedailyWTF there. So when I woke up to this impostor, I immediately removed it.

    You want to cater to the clue-deprived masses, fine - but the internet's too big to waste time with weak-ass, pussy sell-outs.

    Send up a signal when you grow a new pair.

    (I wonder if theoccasionalWTF.com is taken?)

  • (cs)

    Alex, could make the front page work without JavaScript? The WTF is this:

    	<script type="text/javascript">
		function setDisp(disp)
		{
			var exp = new Date();
			exp.setDate(exp.getDate()+365);
			document.cookie = 
				"HPDISPALL=" + (disp?"Y":"N") + 
				";expires=" + exp.toGMTString();
			window.location = '/';
		}
	</script>

    ...
    

    <script type="text/javascript">
	if (document.cookie)
	{
	    document.write('Display: ');
	    if (true)
	    {
	        document.write('<b>Full Article</b> | <a href="JavaScript:setDisp(false)">Summary</a>');
	    }
	    else
	    {
	        document.write('<a href="JavaScript:setDisp(true)">Full Article</a> | <b>Summary</b>');
	    }
	}
	else
	{
	    document.write("Tip: Enable Cookies to toggle full article text");
	}
</script>

<noscript>
    Tip: Enable JavaScript &amp; Cookies to toggle full article text
</noscript>

    All of this should be done server side, so that seeing the full articles on the front page would not require JavaScript nor even cookies.

    The solution is to have links such as Full Article which would set the cookie and show full articles. This way enabling JavaScript would not be required for all NoScript users. Also, this solution would not even require cookies, if the "?full=1" parameter would be kept on the address line after clicking the link (so no redirects for "cleaning up" the URL).

  • MrHen (unregistered)

    While I am not surprised that people are bitching about the new name, my opinion is that they all need to grow up. I enjoyed the old name, but I completely understand the switch and think it is cool.

  • (cs)

    I just want to add my vote: I think the rename is pretty lame, but the excuse actually made me go WTF? The name was part of the identity of the site, it's really dumb to just throw it away. At the very least you should keep the old name up and change the title depending on the domain. I've removed the site from my RSS feeds - not just because of this - I was starting to get a bit bored with it anyway, this is just the straw that broke the camel's back. I'll probably come back and have a look from time to time, but not daily like before, and I doubt I'll remember the new name, so I hope the old one stays up for a while.

  • Wildpeaks (unregistered) in reply to wgh
    EnterUserNameHere:
    The REAL WTF is that the intent of renaming the site has had the opposite effect and actually resulted in MORE of the F-word!

    Seeing the current title, if I was a first-time reader, it would tend to make me think that TDWTF is the one that is worse than failure... (a WTF in itself)

    wgh:
    Man, this is a sad day. I _really_ like the old name so much better.
    Yup me too :-|

    CAPTCHA: ewww, indeed

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