Just for reference, I am posting on a 13" Macbook with Mojave in Chrome, where the screen is 28.5 cm wide and my chrome window has a usable height of about 14.8 cm.
The width used by the texts of posts is <13 cm (this is less than half the total width of my screen), with the total column for posts 14.7 cm wide. The height of a one-line post from borderline to borderline is 5 cm, so I can only view around 2-3 short posts at a time.
The space and symbols for the like buttons are way too big. (The height between the post time and the bottom borderline of the post is 2 cm.)
The auto-loading ad video is 8 cm x 4.5 cm. I can stop it only if I disable Javascript (but then I can’t post; but I have to get it turned off as my computer is burning up…)
Another suggestion: dislike that the member level is shaded - distracting compared to its lack of importance.
“You need to post this info prominently on each forum open page. Most folks aren’t going to even be able to find this…never mind that most people do not read this area.”
Beside slower response time, which I hope will be resolved in time, this new interface displays much less information on a page, requiring too much scrolling and too many additional clicks to get to the right page. The new trend in aesthetics influenced by mobile-centric computing shouldn’t come at the expense of usability. Unfortunately, CC is not the only website making these mistakes these days.
PLEASE either revert to the old version or give us a “classic” option. The old version was easy to navigate and read. This is neither, by a long shot. Yucky.
I did not have high expectations when I read that a major forum update was occurring, but this update is worse than I could have possibly imagined. I am seriously considering no longer participating in the forum, due to this update.
It’s awkward to find many forums, with the lack of a forum table structure, and missing links to the most popular forums on the left. Finding particular threads is even worse due to the large height between each thread in the thread index. You need to scroll far down to see the threads, it’s not as obvious which threads I posted in. I could previously identify the threads that interested me with a glance. Now I need to spend much more time and effort.
The ads are much more prominent and unpleasant, and there is too much white space and gaps between lines of posts. I much preferred the former format. The one and only thing I like about the update is the smile button is removed.
VBulletin code still seems to still work, so I’m guessing the forum still uses VBulletin? Maybe there is a way to still support the more standard VBulletin format that is used on VBulletin’s website (https://forum.vbulletin.com/ ) for those who want it. For example, it sounds like this update may be more directed at phone users. Maybe persons viewing the forum through a phone could be redirected to this new format, and persons viewing through a computer could be redirected to the traditional VBulletin format.
I can’t get to anything in Parents Cafe. Don’t tell me the only way to post a new thread is to use the G-d awful drop down which lists every category known to humankind. The mods will be spending all their time trying to move posts to the correct threads. Did the system designers ever get on here and USE this website?!?
It took me 12 minutes to get to this page.
I don’t like that I cannot see all the threads in a compact way, so its harder to read, and the spaces as I type take up too much of the screen on a laptop. I can barely see two comments above as a type this. With a laptop screen, this new format is not working well.
@MaineLonghorn , the College Life Forum seems to be gone. Perhaps we can make a running list of forums that appear to have disappeared or that people can’t access?
If I try to access my bookmarks when I am in the Parent Cafe - only three come up. If I pull down list with my finger (I’m on an iPad) I can see them but cannot click on “all bookmarks” without the page covering it up again.
I don’t have that problem when I’m in this (Community and Forum Issue) forum.
ETA that it’s now doing the same thing with bookmarks on this page, too.
Would be great if we could post screen shots on this site so those who have to deal with these issues, could see what the pages look like.
The forums use Vanilla as the underlying platform, some of the old bbcode stuff still works though.
Just turned off my ad blocker, and what do I see - a floating ad window that pins itself at the top of the window, with “allow=autoplay”. So say hello to video ads that will automatically play themselves and follow you around as you scroll! One of the worst features of current website design… maybe it was there before? Idk, I never run with my adblocker off.
Is there a way to turn off the videos in the corner? I just can’t focus on reading the forum posts with that amount of movement taking up half my vision. Guess I won’t be wasting as much time on this site any more!