Please voice your opinion

About the new format:

This question is specifically directed at the presence of the question at the bottom of EVERY post:

Was this [post helpful to you?  Yes  No

I feel like this question is inviting a judgment on the post.  I don't like it personally because "anyone" whether they speak up and post or not, can vote.  I fear that people who are doubting whther or not they should even speak up will back off knowing that some sort of vote or judgment is being passed on what they say.  If people do not find a post helpful, so what?  They can ignore it and move on.  If people do find it helpful, my experience is that they post and say so.  Either way the question is not needed.  I asked MedHlp to remove it.   but I did so without consulting you?

Are any of you bothered by the resence of this question or think that it might have a chilling effect on some people's willingness to dive into the forum and say private and intimate things?

Quix

[sllowe]

I agree.

This feature, and button, absolutely has the potential to totally skew any data collected via it.

It's simply not necessary for our forum purposes. And, can do more harm than good for those who wants to take advantage and create negative waves.  It would in no manner garner results worthy of reporting.

SL

[Amyloo]

I don't need it, nor would I use it.  Who looks at the "yes'es and no's" data anyway, and what purpose does it serve?  Amy

[mokibear]

I too think it is useless for this forum. I really don't think it applies here at all and I totally agree with you that it could deter people from posting.

Moki

[Want to feel well!!!]

That feature should only be on the comments given in the doctor's forum pertaining to a doctor's response...not in this conversational forum.  

And I don't like the community thing on the side.  

Was this comment helpful to you?  Maybe...perhaps...not at all...annoying...

[Heartshome]

This is not relevant to this forum. I simply ignore it. I don't feel that it has a "chilling" effect on what I would/would not write though.

[Rena705]

I have to agree that this query at the bottom just throws people off and if the forum's host requires this information it is as simple as reading the posts to decide whether the information was helpful or not.  To be honest with you...I get on this Forum and I am feeling almost panicked...it is very messy and not near as comfortable as it was...the color maybe, not sure?

Rena705

[monotreme]

I do not like the comment section either.  It is very intimidating to me.  I also like the old format and page much better.  This whiteness is very hard on my eyes.

craig

[pennst8r]

I agree. I see no purpose and much potential hurt feelings from this button. I would be happy to see it go. What may be helpful to one may not be another, but that should not detract from it's merit as someone's thought-out opinion.

I know I mentioned the white page in another thread, but I'm with Craig, the white page is downright painful. I have to wear sunglasses to read the forum now. It may be chic, but still...

Penn

[RIDDICK_777]

Totally agree with you Quix, i dont think it is necessary one bit and i dont like it whatsoever so i just forget it is there anyways, hope they remove it, thanks for asking them to do so

take care David.  

[cjacks]

Quix,

I agree.  Its of no use to this forum.  It just adds more non information that the eyes have to sort out ,  besides taking up valuable space.

Jo

[Jazzyfizzle]

I agree, I would be happy to see it go.  

Reena - I feel exactly the same way.

Jazzy

[ELT]

I had just become accustomed to the way the forum was.  

  My brain is not managing to read through the forum entries as easily as before.  It's taking me a bit to get used to the new look of the page, I'm far too easily distracted by change.  

  No, I don't think the question at the bottom of the page is necessary, If we feel the need to comment on what somebody has written, it makes far more sense to write something in the comment box, like now. :)  

  Besides, it is the response to a persons question which is, or is not, helpful, not the question itself.  

[Heather3418]

In my opinion, every single post is helpful to me.  I see no need to have such a question on this kind of forum.  It's intrusive, not to mention condescending.  But like opinions, every body has one.

All of everyone's posts, are helpful.  So if the quesiton is left there, then I think we should all ignore it and just not use it.

Heather

[RIDDICK_777]

Hi both, you see the bit at bottom of replys on the right hand side that says REPORT THIS was this on the last forum page as i did not notice this either

all i can think of when i see this is what granny hotwheels mentioned from the other forum when she was reported for an innocent and non harmless comment and was removed from the forum banned so to speak so i dont particularly like this neither

please get back David.

[essdipity]

Guess I'm an old dog having difficulty learning new tricks, but this new stuff is still hard. I absolutely don't like "Was this comment helpful to you?" Who cares? It might be helpful to someone else.

Anyway,  I'm ignoring that and also all the extraneous filler in the right and left columns. But the one thing I really can't ignore is the brightness of the screen. I'm squinting as I type. I've never worn sunglasses at my computer before! If they could just get rid of this I'd stop complaining about the rest.

ess

[LLWB]

I agree with all of the above comments. Screen way too bright, too much stuff on sides, we don't need the community members stuff. And certainley not the comment boxex. Too much info! You go girl! Hope you're having a good day.

[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

[spankyandrex]

I would like to see a button to edit our own posts after wesend them through.  A lot of the websites I visit have that option for a certain amount of time after you post.

Also, I do not like the "was this post useful" to you either.  Who cares?   ;)

[Heather3418]

On my screen the "Was this post helpful to you?" is gone...how bout yours.

Heather

[spankyandrex]

Yay, it's gone, WOOPS LOL! ;)  Thanks.

[Ley5792]

I can understand how a question like that might be helpful under something that is strictly related to a posted fact. But alot of people on here are posting their hopes and fears.....I personally don't find it a necessary question for a forum.

[needanswers54]

Thanks to everyone for posting their opionions.  I agree with practically all of them.  As far as the right side I did not even see it as all I look at is this main section, anyway.  It does not even show on the screen the way that I have it set.  It is just a waste of effort to me, anyway.

Well, if nothing else, perhaps our comments can be used as a learning tool for others in some manner.

I do wish to thank MedHelp for trying to improve the site and for responding back to our comments.  This has been a real headache maker, though.  I am glad that they are changing it back soon.  I did not want to lose contact with all of you!

Now, if the package manufacturers would just pay attention to some of this.