Guardian Hell

I have a problem with the Guardian Website. I think its just me but it seems to be the worst designed and most difficult to use website I've come across in a long while (And I've checked up Steam's tech support)

Now I don't ask for much, all I really want to do is look up http://www.guardian.co.uk/, and from there search for a certain columnist called Charlie Brooker who's ranting I particularly enjoy, and to any sane person the best way to do this would be to pull up the site and search for Charlie Brooker, or Brooker or some combination of those. Particularly as I'd like to read his comment columns as well as his ever popular screenburn.

However I'm thwarted at the first hurdle. Instead of taking me to the Guardian's homepage, which I would expect, I'm forwarded to the guardian's log in screen. But I just want to read your articles, why do I have to log in? Fortunately I did create a Login for here in the dim and distant past, and I actually remember the e-mail and password I used. So no bother and soon I'm looking at my details. Same as I left them, so i press the finish button and am prompted for my password again, which I dutifully give only to be brought back to my details screen. In fact just about any link I click here takes me to my details, why, will you not let me look at your website unless I agree to let you pass my name along to Internet scammers?

Frustrated I decide to google the guardian. First result, with the most detail brings me to, my personal details again. Second result brings up something resembling a homepage, I'm even logged in (So I bloody should be, I've typed my password about 4 times). Could we be making progress?

Well I can read papers by published date but if I wanted to trawl through the Guardian I'd buy it, but they have a search box, only apparently it can't find any of charlie Brookers articles no matter what permutations I use. In fact searches on things such as Gordon brown don't bring up anything other than the childishly coloured "Sorry" message. So, a search function that doesn't search. Joy.

Oh it could be in Guardian unlimited, lets go there, nope, you want my password again, I'm not falling down that hole again, back we go.

Looks like its trawling the A-Z listings for his name. Last ditch in bad web design. So I find Mr Brooker's name and sure enough a nice list of articles under a picture of him. Could this be it? Hang on last one is dated March 15th, either he's on holiday or this isn't all his stuff. Running down the comment is free section reveals a further truncated list of articles. No use there.

I know he posts up 2 articles a week, but due to a non functioning search and completely absent architecture on the site I seem doomed not to read it.

Is it just me, or is the guardian's website monumentally badly built. Perhaps I can e-mail Mr Brooker and ask him to send me his articles, I think its the path of least resistance.