Seriously, whoever picked this vendor should be fired. I can tell from the update that we will get little relief.
@CCadmin_Sorin
Thanks for returning to this thread. Good to know you are working on some improvements. As you can see, the reaction to the new forum set up is quite negative across the board.
Is it going to be possible that when a user opens “Forums” to see a master list of ALL Forums? And if so, without scrolling way down to see that? I truly believe this one thing alone will improve the current format of the site. It would allow members to see all forums offered and easily navigate to the ones they wish to read. Right now, finding forums is horrible. This seems very basic to me. I really hope you can make that revision, as it seems so key to much else, along with being able to view more within a window than can be currently viewed. I don’t mind updates that modernize the look of a forum, but to lose the functionality and the browsing is NOT worth it!
“Not possible to revert back”? Why not? This is worse than just “bugs” and “functionality issues”; this whole design simply does not work, and you can’t “fix” this. You have to scrap it completely. I’ve been logging on every day just to see if the update has been reverted and I am sincerely disappointed when it is not. I don’t see myself being an active user/reader of this forum anymore.
@CCadmin_Sorin writes: “This product relies on functionality from a vendor, so not all issues are addressable and items that may “seem” easy to fix are not necessarily quite that easy.”
I get this and I also sympathize. Your business (this website) is at stake, though, and I (if I were you) would do everything I could to protect the great asset that has been built over many years. The easiest move in a sea of tough choices would be to ask the vendor to roll back the site to the prior version…reverting back should be relatively easy. Then the needed changes could be made without the time pressure of knowing that readers, traffic, and revenue are being dramatically impacted. (EDIT: Sorry, just re-read and I see the line that it will not be possible to revert back. Our tech guy here at work – who has been hearing me kvetch about this - feared this outcome. ugh)
i write this as person who supports this site in every way and don’t want to see it go the way of failed new releases by other sites in the past. (and, to put even more pressure, right now you’re losing daily traffic…but soon your search results/rankings will be affected and that’s surely 70% of CC traffic and that is a deep hole to dig out of.) Sending good thoughts to the entire staff…working through these things is a bear.
@CCadmin_Sorin Thanks for getting the video removed.
It might be helpful if those posting here indicate what kind of device they are using to access CC. From my side, on a MAC laptop, some tweaks and improvements should definitely be made but it isn’t unusable. In fact, the font/background is more readable to me. However, I do realize that many users are having a different experience on different devices. Sounds like smartphone users are facing the biggest challenges.
@CCadmin_Sorin, I used to be able to read this site in the evening for an hour, usually much more, at one time. Now, it’s very hard to be on this site for very long (even during the day) d/t eye strain/fatigue and headaches. The style and color of the font make it difficult to read, especially against the dirty-white background. I hope this is something that can be changed along with the ease of site navigation. Thank you.
Edit to add:
@doschicos, good point. I mostly use this site with an iPad mini.
Also, maybe if the style and color of the font were changed, the dirty-white background wouldn’t be so bad, but all three of them together make for eye strain issues that many posting here have complained about.
^Yes smartphone user here. This site is non-navigable on my iPhone. It’s so hard to find what I want to find. Everything looks as if it is zoomed in 200%.
@CCadmin_Sorin and other moderators:
In terms of the various issues introduced by the recent change, probably the biggest ones in terms of usability are:
- The large amount of vertical space used for each entry in the list of forums, list of threads, and messages within a thread, resulting in much more scrolling needed, and preventing users from seeing indications of new posts/threads when first getting to a given forum list or thread list (like the "page 1 of a resume" phenomenon).
- The excessive amount of space (both vertical and horizontal) used for the featured discussions at the top of http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/ . This also requires scrolling to find what is new. Other space-consuming useless features like the list of posters who post the most are also an issue here.
- The less obvious way of finding and navigating to some forums.
Hate it, not just because it is different but because it is totally counterintuitive. Can’t find forums I want to read. Funny that the “improvements” make the site HARDER to use. Signing off for tonight, going somewhere else. Good job CC!
Disheartened to hear that rollback is not possible according to admin. I don’t think that’s true.
If it is true then the incompetence is beyond my comprehension. That’s a “what were you thinking?” moment saved for teens with undeveloped brains. Yes, tweaks needed making and those were never addressed either over the years so maybe it is true.
So I’ve rediscovered reddit as my new favorite site. I don’t have a chance to help anyone there and maybe won’t receive some of the terrific advice I’ve gotten here but at least I can find what I want to read easily.
I don’t have time for egg hunts. I’ll check in a couple months to see if anything has changed here. But I doubt it.
If vanilla forums was used as someone surmised I think it’s laughable that they say it’s great to bring people together (since I can’t find anybody). Templates are not one size fits all.
Someone (I’d say who but afraid to leave here) said the site needs new blood and that’s a reason for the change. Maybe new blood but not to the detriment of your current base. Many senior posters have great experience that I respect. I know who knows about what.
We’ve got doctors, lawyers, nurses, college experts, financial experts. People who relate their own experiences that let others learn from them.
And the parents and those with solid experience in their field are the best posters with actual useable advice. They are the absolute backbone of this site
Turning this site into a Facebook serendipity site defeats the purpose for its existence. When those long time posters post less or leave it’ll be a great loss.
The simple fact CC has a “leader board” shows the shift in attitude from an in-depth board to a game mode.
I did have to laugh that the most helpful posts and featured threads on the homepage were all negative CC makeover.
And the avatar has changed from a crotch shot to a dodgeball.
Having the date/time at the bottom of the post is BAD. On this post, it’s not an issue, because I know all the posts are from the last two days.
On any other post, I have to scroll through to the bottom of the post and look at when it was posted before I respond. Otherwise, I might be commenting on some post that’s five years old, or five months old. I’ve already written a response on a post that’s not relevant because I then realized the post was very old. That’s very inconvenient and a waste of my time.
No one wants to search around and find the end of the post before deciding if there is any point responding because the post is no longer relevant.
I never did see the video so don’t notice its absence but I do note this afternoon that all of the posts are in a feasible size font. That’s an improvement.
Sorry apparently I can’t access the edit feature but “feasible” should be “reasonable” above.
@CCadmin_Sorin thank you for replying.
And here in lies the issue. The vendor seems to come first and not the users. Seems backwards to me. The functionality from the vendor should have been vetted BEFORE the change, or at least in a strong beta test, to see if what this vendor had to offer met the needs of the users. This didn’t happen.
I say that as someone who has done more than a bunch of beta tests for various vendors…and provided feedback which they considered in their final product.
Re: the video…this is sort of like the old format stream of ads at the bottom of the page for lurkers (those reading who are not logged in). Frankly, a new user isn’t going to be impressed by a video running in the corner, and may elect not to creat an account ever.
The other thing…while there seems to be a push for an appearance that appeals to younger posters, please remember that there are many really good veteran posters here who aren’t 20 somethings…or in high school. Parents and grandparents post here for advice and give advice as well.
Not a fan of the “New Fresh Look”. Too much empty space, hard to find topics I’ve been following and when I do, it takes me to the initial post/first page instead of the latest post. Probably some way for me to fix that but I’m just not tech savvy. I have enjoyed this group, not sure if I will come back often. I have been following several of these threads for quite some time, been a member since Feb. 2017. Guess that makes me “too old for the New Fresh Look”. I hate to bail on the next gen of parents though.
Post dates at the bottom are meant for glowing reviews of a product being sold so you read the review before realizing it’s 10 years old and the business is no longer viable.
So android Pixel user. I don’t have videos etc but the white is not right. Also the phone doesn’t really matter. It’s the inability to find things. They put links over a picture. Like 3 different fonts and the wrong color for the links to see them on the picture.
Also when using a template design it is pretty easy to “turn off” features like the leader board. Go to your backend and just turn it off. I have a great web dude that can help if you want just pm me.
I have also beta products for medical companies. Doing one now. Amazing that the Admin admitted that he liked the design after seeing it for a bit. That’s the problem. Your using the forums daily. No excuse not to bring in users, moderators etc when doing a complete overall.
And yes you can revert back. Your company is choosing not to. When ever you do a new website or design you always make a backup and preserve the database connected to this site. Pretty standard stuff.
I know it’s not the outcome you wanted but the inexperience kills me when your on a site like this. I am sure there are web people here that could of helped.
Ditto. Many of us are IT veterans and cannot be placated by such nonsense as no ability to revert. Technically, you certainly can but, for business reasons, you have chosen not to because your (ad/revenue) goals for this site are not met by the older interface. It’s always about following the money. No one here is fooled.
Ironic that the powers that be should’ve posted for advice before this fiasco. So much freely given professional advice. Just saying.