on 04-02-2019 09:58 - last edited on 04-02-2019 18:06 by Marjo
Hi everyone,
I'm sure you've noticed if you've visited before, that our forum is looking a bit different today. We've been working hard for the past several months on making changes to the community homepage, and finally went live with the new version this morning!
We have been listening to your feedback from our discussions around what you like or don’t like on the homepage, passing it on to the designers and developers, along with ideas that you’ve come up with, and tried to get as much as possible included. A BIG thank you to everyone who have provided your views over the years.
The update has brought several changes to the layout and to the different features of the page:
Welcome and search
Notification Feed
A new feature on the right side of your avatar, next to your "My Settings", "Messages" (PMs) and "Unread posts" links when you are signed in. You can see a list of recent activity here related to topics you've participated in, e.g. if someone has given you a Kudos, replied to your posts, or @-mentioned you on the forum.
Community Topics and contributors
Most Popular Searches
Latest News
Popular Topics
Activity
We know that big changes can be annoying and even stressful to users if the old layout has been there for long (we had the previous look since 2014!!), and some of the abovementioned elements are both new and different from what we've had before. Now that the changes are live, we will be testing and monitoring over time to see how the page performs.
We'd love to hear your feedback:
We'd love to hear what you think of this new change. Do you like the design and feel of the homepage and its new sections? Do you think it's an improvement to the old design? What is your initial feeling around navigating the forum, finding and replying to topics, etc?
Also, since we've just gone live today, don't hesitate to alert us if you see something that's not quite right. We've done a lot of testing but there can always be some lingering bugs or issues that we might have missed.
Your continued feedback will be much appreciated as always to help us plan for future improvements.
Cheers,
The Community Team
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on 08-02-2019 12:13
on 08-02-2019 12:13
@Cleoriff wrote:We haven't been discussing lack of email notifications?
The issue about notifications was in relation to Private Messages. If we had a PM in the past there was a number next to messages. So we were aware immediately that someone had sent us a PM
That's the part which is no longer working.
Yes I get an email notification that I have received a PM, though as I don't keep flicking back to check emails it could be 4 hrs before I know I have received one.
Change is a good thing ONLY if it improves a service. This change hasn't improved the community at all. It now takes a lot longer to answer a question if you need to provide links. What used to be a one click process, now involves a lot more clicking about.
As someone who posts on here on a daily basis, I can't see any improvement whatsoever.
I embrace change as a general rule. So I can't be accused of not trying.
I'm 100% with you on this @Cleoriff. Change that brings improvement and makes things easier, I'm all for it. But change that makes life more difficult I can definitely do without. And the recent changes fall into the latter category.
And like you I post here on a daily basis several times throughout the day, night and early hours when most of you are asleep. Only 2 other members are around in the early hours apart from me.
on 08-02-2019 17:55
on 08-02-2019 17:55
This link takes me straight to the sign-in page and then straight to the unread posts from there.
https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/forums/unreadpostspage/tab/message
on 08-02-2019 18:30
on 08-02-2019 18:30
@jonsie wrote:This link takes me straight to the sign-in page and then straight to the unread posts from there.
https://community.o2.co.uk/t5/forums/unreadpostspage/tab/message
Thanks @jonsie
I have bookmarked that.
Veritas Numquam Perit
on 08-02-2019 18:46
09-02-2019 17:18 - edited 09-02-2019 17:18
09-02-2019 17:18 - edited 09-02-2019 17:18
And another oddity of the new Community Forum Homepage (on mobile at any rate):
The blue text in the big search box does not go away when you click into the box, you've got to delete it yourself in order to type in a search term.
Most other sites' search functions zero or clear the text in the box when you click into it...
on 09-02-2019 17:31
on 09-02-2019 17:31
And once signed in, the sign in or register doesn't go away.
on 09-02-2019 17:44
on 09-02-2019 17:44
on 09-02-2019 18:27
on 09-02-2019 18:27
And when I search for something, it invariably changes what I type into what it thinks I meant, as this search for 'Oswestry' shows...
Stoopid computer thinks I was looking for posts to do with 'ancestry'
09-02-2019 19:32 - edited 09-02-2019 19:33
09-02-2019 19:32 - edited 09-02-2019 19:33
@pgnthe part about leaving the wording in the search box doesn't happen when on PC.
However, the search box changing the word from the one you are looking for isn't new. This has been going on ever since I joined the forum. Hence google being a better search engine that O2's own.
Veritas Numquam Perit
on 09-02-2019 21:04
on 09-02-2019 21:04
@Cleoriff wrote:@pgnthe part about leaving the wording in the search box doesn't happen when on PC.
However, the search box changing the word from the one you are looking for isn't new. This has been going on ever since I joined the forum. Hence google being a better search engine that O2's own.
Thanks, @Cleoriff, must check it out when next on the laptop - still, behaviours on all platforms should be broadly similar - let's say the Search Box behaviour is a "bug' for @Marjo to take back to the Lithium team, I think.
As for the dictionary Lithium uses to determine what it thinks you typed... That's a bug that has been around much longer, I agree. It is one I have seen on other forums that rely on Lithium (Virgin Media, for example).
The new forum layout is not perfect, partly because some of the underlying bugs remain yet, I think.