Get involved: your thoughts on forum board structure

[Marjo]

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!

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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

[Daddydoink]

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...

[Beenherebefore]

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.

[adamtemp64]

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.

[MI5]

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

[madasaf1sh]

 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

[Anonymous]

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

[gmarkj]

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.

[ashleybristol1]

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  

[Beenherebefore]

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 ?