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Impossible to use the recently updated site now. Renewed my membership 4 weeks ago as BNA was a great resource over the last couple of years on my family ancestry search....... however I now can't use it. Unable to refine my searches......and end up getting thousand plus returns when I search for something! Extremely disappointed.......and regretting renewing my membership.

I used to love this site: by far the best for newspaper research. If only the company had bothered to do some research amongst its users before it launched this disaster.

I work with a lot of tech and I'm used to programs changing so I thought I'd give this a go. Often things do become intuitive once you've worked with them a little.

Alas that is not the case with this update. I created a new collection but cannot import any of my original bookmarks into it: they each have to be viewed and then saved into the new collection.

Well, you'd hope that would be the case, wouldn't you? I created a new collection, painstakingly clipped, annotated and saved three test clippings into it, only to find out that my collection had completely disappeared when I went back to try and find it via the menu.

The 'new' bookmarks are an unhelpful disaster as far as finding anything goes. The title of each clipping is gobbledegook. The date against it is the date you accessed it, not the date of the original article.

Fortunately I always make a document copy of my research, but I like to double check things and BNA have made this completely impossible.

I don't know who was responsible for coding this disaster, but for future reference, there is a thing called beta-testing you appear to have entirely ignored. If, as I sincerely hope, you restore the old functionality to the site, for God's sake beta-test it.

I have to agree with all of the negatives views regarding BNA. The site worked perfectly well without this upgrade which is appalling. I have been a member for many years but as my subscription renewal is due in October I may well look at the alternative site on Ancestry.com. I used to enjoy this site so much but can only say, "if this is progress, forget it”. Very disappointed.

The changes to the site have made it exceptionally difficult to use . As a result I haven’t renewed my subscription (after using for several years) and won’t until they go back to how it was or make big improvements.
The only positive is I did like the ability to look more easily through an entire edition and move easily to the next one . But that’s it - the rest of it is now a shambles. They have ruined what was a fantastic resource.

Through some administrative glitch, my annual renewal had not been processed two months ago. I found the telephone number to ring on the website Contact link. It was answered promptly by Joanna who acknowledged what had happened, advised me to pay for renewal there and then, and offered me some discount so that I wasn't being charged more than previously. Excellent service and very pleasant manner. Thank you!

Ruined a perfectly good site! The new layout is not user friendly at all and takes more time to find my saved bookmarks; which took me long enough to find as I thought they'd been wiped! You can't put them in alphabetical order so I have to scroll through loads of pages! Not Happy :(
Please change back

Many thanks to Sophie for prompt, courteous and helpful support in resolving payment issue.

The new site is a shambles and completely un-user friendly. Did the British Newspaper Archive actually consult anyone who uses the site before making the change? All I can see is a lot of fluff, extra clicks and complexity, where the old site - whilst not perfect - was clear and easy to navigate. My suspicion is that they based the design on integration with Find My Past, but failed to appreciate that many many many people who aren't genealogists - including me - use it for other forms of research.

They need to provide an option to revert to the old site or go back to it wholesale.

What a dreadful mistake it was, changing a tried and trusted format for this ghastly replacement. Search facility rubbish, all saved records gone and can't be viewed without paying again. Are you having a laugh? What set of crooks! And no - I won't be renewing.

I have already complained about the new website design. As a long-standing customer I am increasingly frustrated by the complicated and inefficient searching process that Advanced Search entails. Printing off results can be done but it too is a lengthy process. Unlike other complainers I always printed off my searches in the 'old' system which was much more straightforward. I am unsure what market BNA now is trying to attract - if it is serious long-term researchers then you will lose their interest. I think giving the new format even one star is hugely generous.

I recently paid one year subscription to this newspper archive. It is nigh impossible to search for anything. The search engine is complicated and it takes ages to search and nothing relevant comes up. Some editions of newspapers aree not on there, years wotth! i.e. Tottenham Weekly Herald 1976 to 1980. Hornsey Journal 1976 plus, and some sixties editions of the Croydon Advertiser.

I was one of the early complainers about the new but not improved website, the former I had used for years. Since then I have tried using it almost on a daily basis, trying to get some method that works. Unfortunately, unless some major changes are made or reverting to the old model, you will lose customers and if it is a case of "they will get used to it in time"....people will not and it will become a last resort site rather than a go to.

I’m horrified at what has been done to this site. I found it so useful and efficient for local history research and paid for an annual subscription for years. It’s now like working in blinkers wearing thick gloves under officious restrictions. You can’t download a legible full page any more or get up a range of local newspapers for a set period. Is Findmypast trying to attact an American market or what? I won’t be renewing my subscription.

I am an academic researcher and long-time subscriber to this site and the recent changes have been horrendous to navigate, making vital discoveries I had found now untraceable and the site so much more difficult and clunky to use in every way. I use this for my job and the amount of anxiety these changes have caused me is unbelievable. Horrible site to use now.

A few months ago my review would have been five stars. I loved the BNA and found searching and filtering articles easy and effective. I’m fortunate to be towards the end of writing a historical novel, the research based almost entirely on contemporaneous theatre publications. Now if I go to my saved searches I see only the name of the paper and the date I accessed it - or the occasional now jumbled associated comment. I pity anyone starting their research now. They will have nothing like the pleasurable journey I experienced and are unlikely to come across much of the material the old system made easy to discover. Did no one think to road test this first?

BNA's new presentation is nothing less than a shambles; This is a good example of 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'. the version that many of we subscibers have used for years, was clean, easily understood and versatile. What we have thrust upon us (for no apparent reason) is a model that management ought recognize, would be best to be binned immediately before further damage is done to the brand BNA.
Edit 21/8/2026; I have read the replies of other reviewers and must agree with comments made and the probable likelihood that comment from BNA is AI generated. There is no recognition of the damage being done or urgent response needed; just a review in time. Being an annual subscriber whose subscription is automatically renewed, I feel that I am now receiving an inferior product from that to which I originally signed up. Surely, this must come under the Trades Description Act. Unlike BNA’s reaction, I can now say I have reviewed BNA’s response and have decided to suspend renewal of my subscription (and advise others to do similar); BNA is in the fortunate position of taking money in advance and so will not notice until the bank does not fulfil their request to renew. I suggest the shortfalls be made up by the individual(s) who signed-off the poor product forced upon us.

I had been using what had been a wonderful site of information daily. Constantly checking "Today's". Uploads. Not any more. I subscribed regularly and for several years had annual subscriptions. Due to the upgrades and the ruination of the site I will no longer be a visitor to the site. So disappointed as it also helped in my genealogy searches. It's no longer part of my daily routine. What a shame. Thank goodness I didn't have an annual subscription this year.

After subscribing to the British Newspaper Archive since its inception and using it intensively for my research over many years I am profoundly shocked by the 'Upgrade' and introduction of the new website. The functionality, ease of access and user friendliness of the site have been effectively destroyed.
DC Thomson and the British Library should be ashamed and, hopefully, working fast to repair the damage and restore what we enjoyed previously. Why were any of the changes deemed to be necessary? Was a trial/pilot undertaken with existing users?

The new website layout actually makes using the site impossible. Things that took seconds to do and organise are now made very complex and confusing. All the notes attached to old saved stories are gone. A new 'workspace' option added - not sure what that is for or who asked for it.

This has gone from being my favourite place to spend a few hours to dreading having to use it. It's awful.

Bring back the old layout. Save your money and go elsewhere.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
What a mess!!
What a mess!!! I loved browsing for hours, as a fun pastime. I just wonder what level of critical assessment and market research went into the launch of the new format. I don't believe that BNA will find a single user who feels that the new system is either an improvement or a pleasure to use. I can only imagine the level of frustration felt by those subscribers who use BNA for work related research.
I hope BNA will have a rethink, apologise and replace