New Forum Look and Feel

[Med Help]

Hi,

We've been getting your feedback on the new look and feel and wanted to explain a few things that will hopefully eliminate some of the confusion.

- The right hand column - Some of you have noticed that the right hand column changes size if you are logged in. When logged in, the panel is much skinnier to provide more room to read the posts. The reason we've added the right hand side is to give us a place to add more features to our forums. Already, the "Tag Cloud" is there to help drill down onto specific terms. We also have the "Recent Activity" which I'll talk about more below. We have a lot of things coming, like tools to help track Pregnancy progress and Health News Feeds. The new look and feel is just the first step in what will be a lot of great new features.

- Recent Activity - This will give members much more visibility into what other members of the community are doing. New Journals, comments, even mood changes will all be listed here to highlight what is changing. Right now, it's mostly people joining, but in the communities that made the switch already, we've received very positive feedback about this once it really gets going.

- Seeing who commented: At the top of the forum, beside the drop down to sort by "Date Started" or "Last Post", there is a check box called "Expand Replies". If you click that, you will see who has replied to each post, just like the old format.

- Clicking on a "comment link" will now bring you directly to that comment, no need to scroll down anymore. Someone was asking about that.

- On the left hand side, there is now a "My Shortcuts" box. Hovering over that will show a drop down of the Communities you are watching or have joined so you can navigate quicker.

We do appreciate the feedback and we are reviewing it all. Please feel free to keep it coming and thank you for helping out.

MedHelp

[dainsey]

yes, please bring back the old forum....this is was too busy...I don't think any of the things on the right hand side of the page are necessary...I find myself not wanting to spend any time on here any longer ;-(

[mlb1234]

I also like the old forum better.  What I like about the old forum is that you can see the dates that people posted, their names and those who responded and when without actually opening the post.  It was simple and easy to read.  This new forum is too much.

[stephie4]

maybe give the forum itself the peach background it once had to make it stand out from the rest of the clutter on the page?

[stephie4]

too many words,
maybe separate the actual forum by having a tan background, so it stands out from the white background of the rest of the page. Also, everything on the right side of the forum (recent activity, community members.... tag words...)  just not needed, its just adding to the clutter, and doesn't really have use, we see recent activity listed in the forum, we don't need it listed again  on the side.

[kellym]

Yes, I agree, I am so used the the look and feel of the old forum that to me this is just a hassle. By the time I find what I'm looking for, I'm annoyed and confused. You will find me logging on MUCH less, I'm really disappointed. The ONLY thing I like is the time the person posted. Bye

[cpatow]

This format is so horrible. The old was so much better; much easier to read, navigate and visually enjoy. I'm enjoying this new sit so little that I am logging on less and while I truly appreciate what this forum has done to help me in my own pregnancy I simply don't want to spend time on this site when it is so "uncomfortable" to do so.

[azqtpies]

This new forum is terible very busy and confusing ! please change this to a more inviting forum layout!!!!