Today was the most trafficked Ars redesign launch ever. So much so that even though we were prepared for the demand, it overwhelmed our expectations. We apologize for the downtime and the issues with logging into the site; we know people are missing being able to read and post comments on our stories. We anticipate being able to turn everything back on tomorrow (Thursday, May 10 in the US).

We're working on a number of issues as we speak, but we wanted to thank everyone for your astounding feedback so far! We're really passionate about Ars Technica, and appreciate that you share that passion. It means a lot to us that our readers really do consider this one of their homes and care about what we do here so much.

We'll post an update in the morning for everyone (again US time), but in the meantime, here are the answers to the two most popular questions we've gotten so far:

If I find the front page multi-column layout doesn't work for me, is there a way to turn it off?

Yes, and it's easy. Just click the toggle in the upper right-hand corner. Switch back any time.

What happened to the dark theme?!

It's still there, and better than ever (it's even available on our mobile site by popular demand). Simply go to the Main Menu and you'll see it on the right side.

We appreciate everyone's patience.