I know I've contacted her in the past - she and her sister look after the site - one researches looking for new patterns to add, the other does the technical aspect. Looks to me like the "new" format has added some advertising - likely for income. Times are tough for all of us, and the fact that these two ladies made the links available to all of us for free for years - yes, there was a donate button, but no obligation - I think it would be considerate of us to NOT complain about it being a little more effort to navigate the page. I wouldn't say "harder" myself, you just have to scroll a little farther to get past the ads.
And would it really hurt to click on an ad or two to help support these wonderful people?