Medhelp Page Changes

[sllowe]

All: I thought it might be a good idea to use one thread with our concerns and problem.  

Medhelp has been such a blessing to all of us, and I thank them, and hope some of these suggestions would help express our concerns with the new layout, and together, maybe we can come up with some compromise.

1)  The left column is fairly empty.  Consider expanding the actual forum posts (appears more in the center of the page now) into this area of the setup, so the post and the responders are not so close together.

2)  The photo box next to the user appears "on top" of the post and takes up a lot of space and blurs the subject line because it places them too close together.  Suggest allowing the mouse hovering feature over the name and poster (as it was before to the left) in order to make this more suitable for the eyes.

3)    The subject line was in a list format previously (without the pic, etc).  This allowed the eyes to actually see the topic/comment or question much more clearly.  The above suggestions may allow for this feature to work for us again.  

[Med Help]

Hi,

First off, we'd like to thank all of you that have provided feedback regarding the new look and feel at MedHelp. Your feedback is extremely valuable to us and we take it seriously.

We received feedback mainly in regards to two areas: 1)The new look is harder to read, in particular when on the site for an extended period of time and 2) The new look is too cluttered

In response to this, we've already made a few changes and we're working hard to build several others. Here is what we are doing:

Harder to Read:

* We will be adding a background color to the discussions to reduce the glare while reading
* We will add a new setting so that you can chose the size of the text in the discussions.
* We will be increasing the size of the discussion title.
* We will be changing the date format back to the old format, but keeping the time stamp.

Too Cluttered:

* We have already reduced the size of the right hand column if you are logged in.
* We have already changed the forum so that replies are listed by default, just like the old design.
* We have changed the order of replies so that the newer replies are now on top.
* We will be expanding the "preview text" in the forum so that it stretches more.

Regarding to the new right hand column, over the coming weeks and months we will be rolling out a lot of new features that will leverage this column. This way we won't need to keep modifying the forum panel every time we want to roll out new functionality. Please bear with us as we believe you will see the value as we start rolling out more features.

We hope these changes will address all of the key issues that have been raised. Our members are what make MedHelp the best health community on the web and your feedback is what allows us to become even better. Keep it coming and thank you.

MedHelp

[supermum_ms]

**PLEASE DON'T POST ON THIS THREAD**

Note this relates to the 2008 site changes and do not reflect the site as it is today......do not post!

Cheers........JJ

[susan400]

Before, I could look at my forum and scroll down and see the name of the people that had posted.  Now, I don't see the names of who has posted.  Names and/or there user name.

[needanswers54]

I will come back in a few days and see if things are better.  Otherwise, I may just have to quit most of this.  This is just too much.  And why do we have to have was this comment of any benefit to you?

I guess I am missing the bigger picture.  But, this is just too tiring.  I totally dislike this.  I appreciate the effort.  But, how about just restoring the old system?

[needanswers54]

I am with Quix and the others.  I do not like this new page.  It hurts me to read it and cause me to skip what others are saying.  Also, I like it when they listed the questions the way that they were listed before.  It was helpful for me to see which questions I responded to and see if other had more responses or moved on.

I cannot keep looking at the pages in this format.  Please, go back to the old format and the old colors!  Thank you!

Otherwise, it would be helpful to have the list of letters that we posted to somewhere that we can see individually listed in MyMedHelp.

I like everyone here.  But this is just too much....

[sllowe]

Douplication 2

Tags are douped, as well as weblinks.  Small and out of the way is nice (as they appear on the actual post).  Related tags appearing 2 times (recently added on the right) uses critical space.

[sllowe]

Adding to the list:
Douplication

-  Pictures of members appear 2 times
-  Posting time, appears 2 times.  It appears on the top of the post and on the "recent activity and members list."
- Joining 2 times to appear in the joined is redundant

[Jazzyfizzle]

I think you are  so right Quix.  SL, I think your post was right on target.

Jazzy

[Quixotic1]

nothing anyone says is going to hurt my feelings.  I understand that MedHelp may be trying to accumulate statistics on individual comments, but we have upwards of 100 comments a day.  And It still think the question will deter some of our less confident people from posting.

[sllowe]

Quix, you know I mean no disrespect w/my Dr forum comment above.  I'm sorry, I really was thinking those practing Drs out of specific clinics that may have some purpose unknown to us to keep track. . just wanted to clarify, because I'd hate this to come off wrong, because I wrote it up badly. . .

SL

[pennst8r]

I agree there is way too much going on around the postings and the page in general. Also this bright white REALLY hurts my eyes.

I do hope at least some of this can be rectified. I cannot stay on for more than a few minutes before my eyes are killing me and a headache starts.

Penn

[sllowe]

Medhelp and All:  I agree with the busy Quix mentions.  It's all busy, all the time, and yes, so well said, it takes away the intimacy some how.  And, a big Nay, if we are allowed to vote on:  The Question being helpful to us.  A feature maybe the Dr forum would want to keep stats on, but for our purposes,  it pretty much just takes up needed space, and is unnecessary.  No need to keep track of such things.

SL

[sllowe]

Medhelp and Forum:

I'm sorry, and don't want this to come off as complaining, and I'm sure your already aware, but the "Q Medhelp Member's Question" post area, the main focus of the forum area, it's smaller now and seems as looks like it's swallowing up the posts.

Thank you again for working on making this nice for us, I know I speak for all when I say we appreciate the forum you've provided us.    

It's just the "Recent Activity" and "Related Tags" area now that is almost as wide (on the right side) as the forum Q and A.

Thanks,
SL

[Jazzyfizzle]

Ok, I just can't take this stuff on the sides and our posts being crammed in this little box in the center.
It is so hard for my mind to focus on the message as it is. I dont' like the new colors either, they are hard for me.
I want the old forum back!

Jazzy

[Quixotic1]

This is a repost of my concerns;

)  The black on bright white is truly hard on my eyes.  I didn't realized this before , but the whole white background of the screen is painful. I have to limit my time here.

2)  There is FAR too much going on in the periphery.  I realize the ads pay for the site (drat!) but they are everywhere.

3)  On my screen and becasue this community is sooo busy, I feel the boxes that list who has recently joined the forum and who are the community members are one and the same.  The little picutres are vsiually distracting.  On our page we always could see who has recently posted, it doesn't need to be a separate space with info.  There are TWO SEPARATE PLACES to see "Community Members.  Couldn't we choose someway to hide these or display them?

4) I don't like the tags in all of their brilliant different sizes.  Again I wonder if there is a way they could be hidden or shown at the member's discretion.  I assume the different sizes indicate how many references there are for them.  I would like the members to try to use this window to see if they can truly get useable information.  If you all or some of you like it, then it's fine.

5) Thinking about it, when I click on a thread to see everyones posts and responses, it feels way less personal.  Because all of the extraneous info is still there on both sides.  I would like to see most of that disappear so that our discussions feels more private and intimate.  So that our discussions are pretty much all that you see

6) The main point I have is that the page is too visually busy.  It is too distracting and I can't keep my eyes where I need them.

7) I am adamantly opposed to the question of "helpfulness" at the bottom.  If something isn't helpful we can ignore it.  If it is we say so.  I don't particularly want to post when I know that anyone can "vote" on the usefulness of what I say.  Even people who don't post.  People who are self-conscious or doubting the validity of what they say do not need this spectre of someone passing judgment on what they say.

The forum has been flying along and I don't feel that most of the "fixes" are helpful, but I do thionk that some of them have hurt our ability to communicate with the intimacy we had.  Espeically with the format we had yesterday, when you clicked on a thread to read the discussions, a lot of the extra stuff disappeared and the page was pretty much dedicated to the discussion.  It felt intimate and nondistracting.  This way all the  distractions remain all the time.

I also have been in contact with MedHelp with my concerns.  I suspect they'll get back to us tomorrow.

Quix

[Rena705]

I agree with the suggestions that everyone has made as to the format we are able to use.

May I ask if there is a possibility that along with a larger font to enable our users to read this without confusion and strain, that we might be able to have access to using the B-Boldand _-Underline features so that we may be able to make certain points stand out to our members?

[Jazzyfizzle]

The new format is very confusing to my mind also. Gets my head spinning in about 10 seconds.
Thanks Heather for all your work and effort!!


Jazzy

[spankyandrex]

I just don't like the shortcut thingy on the left hand side..  I like the way it was before.  But I am in the category of not liking change LOL!  However, I totally understand why you're doing it and it's fine ;)

[Heather3418]

MedHelp is looking at everyone's concerns about the new forum format, as we speak.

Hang in there.  I will let all of you know what's going on.  Since this morning, I see the MedHelp has already made some changes from what it looked like this morning.  It's starting to look better.

MedHelp is a FANTASTIC orginazation.  Please have faith that they want to do everything possible to make the forum easy to read and use.

I expressed concerns to MedHelp about people with Neurological problems and trying to "sort out things" in the brain...they ARE listening.   With the clutter on the forum page, it makes it hard for most of us to keep on task and avoid confusion.

MedHelp IS LISTENING....I promise.  They are wonderful people to work with...so hang on while they make some changes.  As with everything that is new, the "kinks" have to be worked out.

They want your experience on the forums to be an inviting, easy experience....we have to hold on as a group, while they work on the kinks.

Thank you for your patience.....You all are wonderful....

Heather  

[cjacks]

MedHelp,
1. Could the color of the page be changed ,softer not so bright.
2. The above suggestion which describes the writing to the left of the posted area used to be smaller print and on the left, this worked well .
3. There are too many extras in the boxes used for posting , too confusing for the brain to sort out.
4.This might seem picky but not for me , I have dyslexia ,  on the front page, the list of who posted response  list, with last poster first     then coming to the posted page ,the last poster is last, confusing. Is this how it was before.

Jo

[Heather3418]

People with MS or even those with other neurological disorders can have many problems with their eye-sight and the ability to sort out web pages that are "too busy" with printed content.

The size of the font for people with MS is very cruicial.  This very tiny writing makes it almost impossible for people such as myself, to read without using the screen magnifier.  I cannot even read this page with glasses on.

Mind confusion is a big part of having Multiple Sclerosis and when I encounter pages with a large amount of information on one page, it makes it very difficult for my brain to try and sort this all out, without making me MORE confused.  This is not something I can consciously control.  This is part of having MS, for most people.  

The first poster in this thread makes alot of great suggestions.  I totally agree with her.

I hope that MedHelp will consider the limitations of people with neurological disorders and help us to find a happy medium for our forum and its usage.

I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my post and hope you will give it your consideration.

Thank you so much, Heather

[sllowe]

4) Disclaimer.  This gray box appears on the left, and could appear as "disclaimer" in another area of the page, and would free up space in that area to allow for more actual post space on the screen.

[sllowe]

2 (a) Correction.  Ref. the mouse hovering feature.  Sorry this was stated wrong.  This feature was off to the "right."

[floridamom2]

I agree!  I am having trouble with all the extra stuff on the page now, it is very hard to get my mind to focus on just the posts when the ads on the sides are so big.  Thanks SL for your help in trying to figure this out!
Kristin