while im not a fan of the look of these icons at all, it certainly makes the site easier to use on mobile (since they're much easier to click on)
the quick menu is very handy too!

That could explain it, no worries. And actually, the site seems to be loading normally for me now. Maybe high amounts of traffic on the server cause it to be slow at times? As for the ads, I block them. I understand that's how you help pay for the server, but I block them for privacy reasons. And that's for all sites I visit, not just here.

Well I don't have the best possible server and it's located in France so maybe this could explain it.
Overall some sites use very large images for their styles or screenshots and I should look into it someday.

I know ads can slow down computers (unfortunately can't do without them) so that could be a possibility too?

As for customize the icons, I'll do it and changing the color scheme seems to be the best. I don't want to set all the icons with the same color because it wouldn't make them easy to use anymore.

I will say that sometimes the pages load just fine, but other times it takes a minute or less for a page to load. And sometimes the icons will appear as hyperlinks before they render.

I don't think it's a problem with my computer, as it's only a two-year old Macbook Pro with 8GB of ram. If anything, it's a problem on my end since my router (I have a fast connection) doesn't work very well anymore. But I do know, when it was working properly, that sometimes AS was slow to load. Others have had that problem as well.

I'm sure I could get used to the icons. They give the site an interesting look. I especially like the new flag icons, as well as the pop-up menu.

However, what bothers me is the fact that some icons are blue, a colour which I think looks fine on Balto Source, but doesn't seem to go with the colour schemes of other sites, e.g. Spirit Source. Actually, maybe if the blue icons were instead the same beige colour as A.S. icon to the left, they would suit all the Sources.

Another, trivial thing is the gap underneath the icons - it's a little bit wide.

Perhaps an ''icon version'' option (like there are different site styles to choose from for each Source) could be considered, giving members the choice of either having the icons, or not.

You would have to be more precise... Does that happen on particular pages or every page? Are the pictures long to load?
There was an issue with getting new private messages and the icon with "new" blinked with javascript so it slowed down on some computers, however I've fixed that by using a gif animation instead. I doubt a little gif could really slow down a computer but let me know if it does.

I don't know if it's a problem on my end (although I do know AS has issues with loading slowly sometimes), but the site has been loading slowly for me today. I know my router is on the fritz, however other sites come up more quickly. Is anyone else having this problem?

That does look a lot smoother and more uniform, now that the changes have been made. And I do believe the quick menu is a great addition, to be sure.

I think the smaller icons look a lot nicer.

I've made some changes. Now they're smaller and less cartoonish, more standard stuff.
I really iked having large buttons to click on, but it seems you don't. So be it...