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.  

[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 ;)