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- Re: Online Community Refresh
Online Community Refresh
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Online Community Refresh
Hello Community Members!
Online Community has updated the site design in our discussions area to make it easier to connect, follow a conversation and access resources.
The new look and feel will be rolled out in multiple phases starting with these initial improvements in the conversations and replies levels.
Overall, this redesign provides a cleaner, more user-friendly experience. We appreciate that any change can be hard, but hopefully, in short order you’ll not only find your way around, but will find new ways to participate and engage in our Online Community.
The enhancements that we have immediately rolled out consist of the following.
To aid legibility and ease of use, we:
- Updated formatting for lettering, color schemes and discussion threading
- Removed duplicative navigation links that caused confusion
- Removed design elements that cluttered the page and discussion
- Implemented the industry standard for post length and height and offer Read More… option when post is truncated
To follow discussions and replies within a discussion, we:
- Moved date and time to the left of the message number, all on one row
- Kept the first post at the top of the conversation with replies following
- Used indentation to associate replies to specific posts
To facilitate interaction, we implemented the following:
- Kudos are now represented by the universally used thumbs-up
- Moved action links to one place
- Enhanced the Social Share option
To provide better access to key announcements and resources within your community, we cleaned up the right side part of the discussion pages to include:
- Search, Announcements Feature, Two new Custom Component Features (allowing for HTML) ACE’s and Experts
- Top Tags and Top Authors components have been removed
For those of you who used the Quick Reply option, you will now need to use the ‘Reply’ button.
- Removed the Quick Reply option
Here are some "How To's" links to help you demonstrate, execute and properly navigate your experience:
How to Expand the Editor Box When Replying
How To Set My Viewing Preferences
How To Display Discussions in Chronological Order
Thank you for being part of our Online Community. Let us know what you think of the updates by clicking on the red ‘Feedback’ tab on the right of the page.
AARP Online Community
Always there for you.
Experts. Tips. Connection.
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Hello @JohnD131536, we are here, we are listening, and we are taking note of all the feedback being provided by users like you.
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l believe that any companies Customer Service Reps just have a set of of faq book that they reference for questions. Most of the time they don't have the answer to your question. The next person up the ladder doesn't know either. I recently got in touch with AARP about missing Points and they want me to call them. They should be able to check my transaction history and see that my points are missing. Just saying
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To all of us who have been here for a VERY LONG TIME, this is not our 1st rodeo and we have never gone back to any previous version.
Adaptation, i.e. learning a new format, seems to be what we have all had to do through the years.
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Webpage designers are mental mules who blindly copy each other's mistakes without giving serious thought to ergonomics. AARP blindly imitated the most common anti-ergonomic feature of webpage design, this WhatchamaCallIt:
Instead, everything should be listed on one page because it is always easier to just scroll than click and scroll and it makes using your browser's search function easier.
For example, it is done that way at https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6011784/vp-biden-introduced-to-ukraine-exec-through-hunter#n=2....
There are better and worse variations of the WhatchamaCallIt. A better version is when users have the option of selecting the number of items displayed on one page but, even then, the default is the minimum number (Why?). The worst version is when the WhatchamaCallIt only appears at the bottom of the page and there are no numbers between Previous and Next. Recently, I tried to search through a list of in-network physicians at an Aetna website with that worst WhatchamaCallIt. I looked for a physician named Hr... so I clicked "H" at the top, scrolled to the bottom, saw that I was still on Ha..., clicked Next, scrolled to the bottom and saw that I was still on Ha..., so I gave up.
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@aruzinsky, it sounds like you favor the option of infinite scrolling. We don't have infinite scrolling in the community, but we did increase the number of replies you see in a conversation thread to 30 before you have to click to the next page. We also offer pagination at the top and the bottom of every conversation thread.
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It’s now day six that I cannot navigate this new site.
Despite multiple postings from mostly unhappy
members, I’ve seen no sign that we’ve gotten through. No postings by AARP for DAYS. As a
place who always seemed to pride itself on
feedback from its members, AARP has totally
dropped the ball here. Time to actually listen to
your members and do some good!
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Hello@BeatleloverKT. The community team was experiencing some technical issues that prevented us from posting over the past few days. That's resolved, and now we're back. We are here listening to everyone who has posted to this thread and a few others across the community. All feedback is being reviewed with a few changes already in place, like the increase in post length before having to click on Read More. We also increased the number of replies in a conversation to 30, resulting in a reduction in page advancements a user needs to take to read the entire conversation thread.
We are currently working on several How To's on the navigation of this new design. You will be able to find these in the About Our Community forum as soon as they're complete.
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Now this post is under "Reply to topic." But to get here I had to reply to AARPMichael's original post. That reply is under his post. Then this reply to topic window opened.
This is exceedingly strange.
-- Anna Kendrick
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Is there anyway that the " READ MORE " indicator at the end of each post, if there is more than the allotted space will hold, could be made more distinguishable because sometimes it is so close to the end of the post that I miss it. Different font - maybe bigger or another color - just something.
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As a member of the most contentious forum Politics and current events. I will be very clear with my opinion. The changes SUCK big time.
Of course, if the developers of those changes would have had the courtesy to take into consideration the opinion of the users. perhaps you wouldn't have failed so greatly.
In my very personal view, they should all get fired. and get competent people that can implement channges that are efficient. uer friendly and logical.
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To "REPLY" to the TOPIC, you just hit "REPLY" on the post that started the topic - it is the one at the very top of the page(s) - Then your post will end up right underneath it in chronological order.
Just like you did with this question.
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If the topic was started by X and the post is at the top of the page hitting "Reply" on that post takes me to, "Reply to X" not "Reply to topic."
I have seen the reply to topic option so I know it exists, I just can't find it.
-- Anna Kendrick
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The "REPLY TO TOPIC" button no longer exist -
The original post IS THE TOPIC.
Let's say if we wanted this format to look similar to the old one - that can be done by EVERYBODY just responding to the ORIGINAL poster (which is the topic).
But once somebody responds to a post other than the ORIGINAL post (original topic) - then it is downhill from there.
It is AARP's way of trying to keep the post ON topic - for many of the individual boards on this AARP Community Forum, this format works well for most post like the "Medicare and Insurance" Board - People start a topic, other people respond to their topic. Even if there are other posters who want to post a comment to someone else, it still works well because those topics are usually not too many post.
Not like here, where sometimes threads go on and on forever, even though the main topic of the initial post has LONG morphed into something else.
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I hate to dog-pile on AARPMichaelP, but I do agree with a lot of the posts below. I have a difficult time navigating the message boards. Also, I used to be able to access private messages sent directly to me. Where those are and/or how to get to them is beyond me! But back to the message boards —they don't seem to be all that intuitively designed for anyone to figure out or follow, technologically savvy or not.
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@AvocadoDog, nothing has changed with private messaging. You can still get your private messages by accessing the inbox in the upper right of the community. Notifications are still being sent to the email address you used with registration on AARP.org unless you turned them off in your My Setting.
Inbox:
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Good heavens. There's a little envelope there and everything. It couldn't have been more obvious. Is my face red!
I've become the out-of-touch, easily confused person I've spent my younger years mocking. Well, it was bound to happen at some point. That's karma for you!
Thanks Sandy! 🙂
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This morning I tried to read the most recent post on the Birthday/Announcement topic but big
surprise I COULDN’T FIND it. This is just one
reason why the new format isn’t working! I
would think AARP would want to keep us
paying members happy yet I haven’t seen
one reply from AARP on here for THREE days!
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I have read all the comments and digested them. This is after FOUR days of A. Thinking the problem was with me and my devices B. Finally figuring out that it was AARP and reaching out in several ways and getting NO ANSWER OR HELP. I am on the Rock Forum everyday and it has provided me with great joy. As of Tuesday, I have not even been able to post as there is NO FORMAT to it. The Song title games need to be in CHRONOLOGICAL order in order to play and that is NOT happening. I don’t get what needed to be fixed, NOTHING WAS BROKEN. You all have taken a great format and ruined it. I’m having a real hard time in my life right now and that forum is sometimes what gets me thru. I don’t even have THAT anymore. No excuses, it needs to be FIXED NOW
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AARP has a problem with designing these forums (and other matters) from the viewpoint of a younger generational viewpoint rather than from that of an older one. Indications of this is that in the past the site had been more active than now. This is probably since the management or designers/programmers is younger. There wasn't any warnings or trials as to what the users would prefer.
But what's new since this has been the case in the past.
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Hello Rewards Warriors,
Rewards has constant issues with the website.
Transaction History issues, Black Banner issues, Gift Cards Not Valid, Ace Badges Disappearing, Member Status Reversals, Points Only Gift Cards Disappearing, Members Locked Out, Instant Wins and Points Only deals that don't benefit the entire US, Earning Activities not Awarding Points, etc.
The New Refreshed Look on Reply forums is yet another failed attempt to satisfy members. It is a debacle of unorganized post, see more or less options, unable to view entire reply, advertisement blocking page mess.
I would like the user friendly Reply pages back and an IT department that actually fixes issues instead of creating them.
What's your opinion Warriors!
Have a Blessed Day
Marylin
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oh yeah, the Refresh Community page is okay I guess A place for Knowledge and venting our fustration with this new Rewards Program.
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