topic Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure in Discussions & Feedback

Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Marjo — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 16:10:06 GMT

Hi everyone!

We have seen feedback and comments related to the forum board structure from many of you, so it would be awesome to collect your views and ideas in more detail in this thread and get a discussion going.

We would like to make the forum boards structure easier and clearer so that it would be better for both old and new members to find the content and help they're looking for and easily engage with each other.

Please let us know your thoughts on how you think we could improve:

Board structure: what categories/boards would you remove or add and why?
How would you improve the clarity of board names and descriptions? For example, would 'Guides & Reviews' be clearer than 'Community Knowledge Base'?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Your feedback so far Updated 11 September:

Board names and descriptions:

Clarify the purpose of 'O2 Home' section | Update: the name of the board has been clarified as "O2 Home (Smart home products)"
'Guides and reviews' would be a little clearer than 'Knowledge Base'
Current signposting is ok. Only add/change what is needed.

Board structure:

Clearer structure: show 'mobile', 'apps', 'smart home' under products & services, and then clear subsections under that
Apple devices shouldn't be its own area in the Knowledge base unless other device areas added
Less main categories on home page (e.g. 4,5,6 max)
Remove the standalone section of O2 Home
Separate boards for PAYM/PAYG?
Enforcing community rules and guidelines (new board?)
Have a hardware or device section (like the get help with your device) and then split to manufacturer/type?
Move O2 home from the top of the page
Apple, Android and Other Devices are valid. How about adding Roaming etc.?

Other feedback:

Mobile skin: mobile view on smaller devices and in general should be improved
Mobile skin: With a 6.1" screen the view is not too bad, however cannot make long posts
Mobile skin: have a separate mobile app instead
Ideas section: not working, revive/archive?
Re-design: clarification that this is not customer services but a peer-to-peer / self-help community
Re-design: change the layout of the home page and community forums in general
Re-design: display full path (instead of just name of section) in the new post dropdown list
Re-design: hover-over description over the make a post dropdown that lets you know what the section is about
Re-design: old forum preferred; it was more logical and clearer to use than current forum
Re-design: have out-of-date articles auto lock
General: The forum is currently good for an older person and for a deaf person.
General: Bulleted info easier to read in community page description.
General: Clarify that O2 community is self help and not Customer Service
Lithium bugs: fix them & a list of current bugs visible to community (e.g. in a thread)
Feedback to O2: making sure changes are made and forum members listened to
Feedback to O2: change the Lithium platform to something else
O2 website top header changes: not fit for purpose, i.e. it is more difficult for regular users to navigate it in order to help new users

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Daddydoink — Tue, 16 May 2017 15:15:02 GMT

Hello Marjo

If I am honest - the categories you have are fairly self explanatory. Sometimes small tweeks (like Community Knowledge Base to Community Guides) are good ideas but the bigger issues come when you browse the forum on a mobile or tablet device - it's not the same experience.

The community idea's system - I've not seen many updates to ideas since it launched - could this be revived or archived?

The knowledge base - Does Apple Devices need to be part of the forum? Do they get the hits? There isn't an Android or Windows Devices area.

That's it in answer to your question. However, if I didn't get 70% right then I clearly didn't revise...

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Beenherebefore — Tue, 16 May 2017 16:08:08 GMT

I guess it would be asking too much to dump Lithium so I will go away and put a sensible thinking cap on and return later.

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

adamtemp64 — Tue, 16 May 2017 16:19:46 GMT

Regarding the layout and structure that could be a long debate and the same for board software etc .

But it is the CLARIFICATION that this is not customer services and a "customer to customer" self help community (discussed many times) It really is time that this major issue was addressed first over layout and structure.

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

MI5 — Tue, 16 May 2017 16:29:47 GMT

Separate pay monthly and PAYG, rename O2 Home to something that people can understand and enforce the community rules and guidelines.

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

madasaf1sh — Tue, 16 May 2017 16:55:42 GMT

I would look at how the forum / community works on such as the new fntechs such as community.monzo.com, and then try and strip down the forum, i think their needs to be 3 or 4

I think it should be

o2 Services

Devices

Any other business

o2 news

I think that covers all the bases, but as well it needs explaining that this is a customer to customer forum.

Ta,
Andy

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Anonymous — Tue, 16 May 2017 20:08:11 GMT

Separate pay monthly & pay as you go boards as some can get confused. Needs stating that this is a customer forum not o2 customer service. Also move O2 home from the top of the page as people always go there & not to the correct board

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

gmarkj — Wed, 17 May 2017 10:04:58 GMT

For me the layout (structure) isn't too bad.

Structural changes would be a more clear definition of what is where - so products and services could show mobile, apps and smart home as a header with the different subsections under that.

Perhaps one change would be for the new post drop down - currently it just lists the different sections but it could be useful to have the full path.

For example, if you have a question about a Samsung it should show Get Help With Your Device -> Android.

There could also be a brief description that pops up if you hover over the drop down that lets you know what the section is about.

I agree that guides and reviews is a little clearer than knowledge base, particularly given most of the content is a review or how-to guide as well as the fact that Apple devices is mentioned specifically but nothing for anyone/anything else. Maybe have a hardware or device section (like the get help with your device) and then split to manufacturer/type?

The point about how the website works on mobile is probably the most telling. Trying to view this on a 5.5" screen is bad, but anything smaller would be ridiculous. And switching between mobile and desktop views is not great - ideally you want something in between for non-desktop use.

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

ashleybristol1 — Wed, 17 May 2017 11:44:05 GMT

the page for pay as you go need go on one page not go into paymonthy/pay as you go in same page it is hard to what you looking for. also the community does need better layout as well

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Beenherebefore — Wed, 17 May 2017 13:21:43 GMT

This is from another Lithium-based forum and is the main header on the home page :

Welcome to the Sky Community

Talk to other customers, get help with your products and discuss your favourite shows.

The layout of the Sky Community home page is simple, uncomplicated, almost minimalistic.

There are just 6 distinct boxes to designate the subject matter.

http://helpforum.sky.com/

Now is the Sky Community home page easier on the eye than the O2 Community's ?

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

adamtemp64 — Wed, 17 May 2017 14:48:30 GMT

another lithium based one https://community.plus.net/ I use I like this on the main page

Welcome to the Plusnet Community

We're a friendly bunch of Plusnet customers helping each other out, answering questions and talking about everything under the sun from broadband to what we're having for breakfast.

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Beenherebefore — Wed, 17 May 2017 14:57:33 GMT

@adamtemp64 wrote:
another lithium based one https://community.plus.net/ I use I like this on the main page

Is it ?????.......I can't see the "powered by Lithium" logo.....are you sure it's Lithium ?

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Beenherebefore — Wed, 17 May 2017 15:04:11 GMT

My apologies Adam....you are correct......but there's no reference to Lithium on their web pages unlike here, Sky and other forums

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

adamtemp64 — Wed, 17 May 2017 16:14:25 GMT

@Beenherebefore I guess they pay to debrand it mentiond in some posts about updates to the platform https://community.plus.net/t5/Community-Announcements/Community-updates-March-2017/td-p/1425130

and in some users sigs eg @browni over there Browni is the same user as here

I like the debranding and the layout of plusnet

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

browni — Wed, 17 May 2017 19:55:24 GMT

I'm being haunted by lithium forums, they're everywhere!

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Beenherebefore — Wed, 17 May 2017 21:29:02 GMT

@browni wrote:
I'm being haunted by lithium forums, they're everywhere!

They must have a very good contract negotiation team......BT, Plusnet, Sky, O2, Skype, Virgin etc etc

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

jonsie — Thu, 18 May 2017 10:03:58 GMT

But o2 must be way down the Lithium priority list as forum faults still exist such as unread posts. On this thread I had to scroll back half a dozen posts to get to the first unread. Some of the suggestions here are excellent,especially splitting pay monthly and P&G which is something we asked for over 2 years ago.

By all means, ask for suggestions but from long experience I and others have found that our suggestions are largely ignored and the community team just carry on regardless with their own strategy. This was particularly evident at initial changeover to lithium when we 'guinea pigs' were first used, abused and 95% ignored. We had special logins to the new community keeping that and the regular forum going
By all means make necessary changes but let's factor in present site problems and get Lithium to make O2 a priority (but maybe O2 have a cheapo deal with them?). It seems so difficult at present to get the smallest issue dealt with.

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Beenherebefore — Thu, 18 May 2017 11:17:22 GMT

I think the consensus is that changes are needed but to have too many changes logged will have a negative effect and only delay changes that are urgently needed.

So I would suggest :

1. We request that all current faults already logged are remedied by 30 June 2017.

2. The Community home page displays a statement such as @MercedesS has used, i.e.

"The O2 Community is a place for you to ask other customers like you, we are not O2 CS I am afraid.

Please make sure you don't post personal information. Like any other website, the community forums can be viewed by anyone or searched via Google and other search engines. For your safety and privacy, please do not post personal details such as phone numbers, address details, email address."

This statement should have a prominent position on the home page and also on the "Register" page.

This change should be made by 30 June 2017 at the very latest

Once the above have been implemented, we should then construct a list of other recommendations.

If by 30 June 2017, points 1 and 2 are still outstanding then I suggest we need to think hard about our future involvement with the O2 Community because it would suggest to me that O2 are not taking our concerns seriously enough.

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Cleoriff — Thu, 18 May 2017 11:32:53 GMT

The unread posts issue was first mentioned in February of this year. Identified as a 'bug'... STILL not fixed

https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/Discussions-Feedback/More-Forum-Issues/m-p/1050186/highlight/true#M91301

Re: forum board structure. For me the biggest waste of space and most misused section is O2 HOME.

New customers post in this section in error. I am constantly reporting posts as NOT O2 HOME.

Is it necessary to have a standalone section on O2 Home anyway...??

Re: Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

Marjo — Thu, 18 May 2017 11:51:33 GMT

Hi guys, going through the feedback that you've posted so far, thanks so much!!