Online Community Refresh

[AARPMichaelP]

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 Start a Topic

How To Reply to a Post

How to Expand the Editor Box When Replying

How To Use the Icons

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.

[jen43]

there ARE nO 3 DOTS ANYWHERE IN THE BOX, THERE ARE THE BACK ARROW, THE B, THE I, THE QUOTES, THE CAMERA, THE VJDEO, THE MACROS, THATS ALL..There is an additional 0ptions box on the bottom left...but no other box..

[sandy]

@jen43, can you confirm how you are accessing the community?  Are you on a tablet, mobile phone, PC, etc?

[Frozenoem]

@sandy 
Last night on iOS 14.1, actually was capable of changing fonts and colors on iPhone, please tell me this wasn’t a fluke and will actually be returning.

For those of us who use smartphones when working, and can’t always use laptop when it’s busy.

Froze

[MsStretch]

@Frozenoem , what browser are you using on iPhone? I am still not seeing expanded menu (iOS 14.1) using Opera Touch or Brave. Haven’t tried Safari or others.  PITA to sign in every time. 😕

[Frozenoem]

@MsStretch 

Last night I think was fluke or they were testing changes to system.

Tonight no options other than bold or italic, appearing on iPhone. Tried Safari, Chrome and the rest of my browsers.

Signing in not a problem, shortcuts and fingerprint login🤣

Think I saw options last night after debate?? Using Chrome or Safari. Correction just re-logged in, fingerprint and 2fa’d.

Was beginning to think it was a hallucination on my part, it wasn’t. Post was made in color.

On iPhone Safari 14.1.

https://community.aarp.org/t5/Computer-Questions-Tips/Lot-to-be-said-for-2-factor-authentication/m-p...

Froze

[AARPMichaelP]

@Frozenoem @MsStretch We are working to make sure the same toolbar functionally is consistent across all devices and platforms. Our apologies for the inconvenience.  

[cat0w]

Once all the tools are expanded there are no more so no ... !

Placing your mouse pointer at each icon will show what it does. To select colors, font size, font Style etc. use the drop down menus. See example image below.

To insert a photo click on the camera icon and select a photo from your computer, use a URL or photos already on AARP. See image below. Click on, tap or activate  image to enlarge it.

[BobH07]

The new format is a total mess. Posts are not in chronological order.

Everything is very confusing. I'll stay off till you get it fixed.

Not sure why you messed with something that wasn't broken.

[1968Hoya46]

I could not have said it better.

[sandy]

@BobH07 

The default sort is the most recent post first. What's different now is that the first post that started the conversations is anchored at the top.  The replies flow under the anchored post and are threaded with an indentation.  This new flow takes away the need to quote and copy information from the message you are replying to because it falls directly beneath.

I hope this helps you better understand the new format.

[MsStretch]

I see this and I do like the concept (although I still have a tendency to quote the post to which I am replying anyway).  This does eliminate those seemingly off-the-wall posts that are out of context and it's hard to figure out what the post is replying or referring to.  Of course this would be more of a problem in topics like P&CE.

The only thing that makes it confusing to me is the indentation is subtle, which makes it sometimes easy to miss the delineation.  I'm not sure how you can remedy this -- a more pronounced indentation? A bolder rule between general individual posts and/or threaded posts with replies?  But then again, you could have replies to replies and so on and so forth.  Oh well, one step at a time.

Not sure if I just made any sense. 😊

(I actually prefer 'oldest to newest', but I get it.)

[GailL1]

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MsStretch wrote:

The only thing that makes it confusing to me is the indentation is subtle, which makes it sometimes easy to miss the delineation.  I'm not sure how you can remedy this -- a more pronounced indentation? A bolder rule between general individual posts and/or threaded posts with replies?  But then again, you could have replies to replies and so on and so forth.  😊

---

==========================

Makes sense to me and it would help if there was some other or additional way to distinguish.  I believe that after so many replies to replies that we lose the indentation altogether - there is only a finite amount of space to the right.

🤔

[MaVolta]

You could have given us a heads up, or something to try out first. You could have asked for some opinions on proposed changes. 

I do like that it is "supposed" to keep threads together the way other forums work. But there is no way to not be in a thread on most topics that I have seen. Only on one topic did I see a "Reply to Topic" space at the bottom of the page. On this page, I can only reply to you or someone else which will become part of a thread. The "reply to topic" is not available to keep it in proper sequence. So this post is replying to you, and it will appear out of order.

And for what it's worth, I don't think that the layout is all that great. Most of what appears in the right hand column is useless information.

[sandy]

@MaVolta, Thank you for sharing what you do like (threads together).

Clicking the reply on the first post, anchored to the top, is the option to reply to the entire thread. It's different than before and still an option in the new layout.

The right rail information pulls forward easy access to our AARP Experts.  It also allows us to showcase the high engaging ACEs.  Since you feel this information is useless, what would you like to see on the right rail?  What would be useful?

[MaVolta]

@sandy  - Okay, thank you. I noticed that I have to do a screen refresh after posting a reply to OP in order for it to appear at the bottom of the page. Without the screen refresh, my post appears out of sequence. 

What's weird is when I reply to an individual, or the last person on a thread, and hit post, a box appears at the bottom of the page with "reply to thread".  ???? That's what's confusing. If you're going to have such a box, why not place it at the bottom of the topic to begin with? (That would be more similar to the way Next Door works,)

As for the right rail, it is a good place for announcements, and I like the navigation links for Discussion. It's a handy space for navigation tools.

[MsStretch]

---

@MaVolta wrote:

What's weird is when I reply to an individual, or the last person on a thread, and hit post, a box appears at the bottom of the page with "reply to thread".  ???? That's what's confusing. If you're going to have such a box, why not place it at the bottom of the topic to begin with? (That would be more similar to the way Next Door works,)

---

Good question. 👍 

I wondered about that magically appearing Reply box myself. 🤔 

[JohnD131536]

Seems our comments are not being read or are being ignored. Not one response to any of the comments presented here. What a total fubar!!!!

[sandy]

@JohnD131536 comments are not being ignored.  We are here providing responses and guidance to all the replies in this thread.  The community team has been experiencing some technical problems over the past few days that have prevented us from responded as we would like.  My apologies for this; we're back now.

[sandy]

@MaVolta 

Clicking the reply on the anchored post at the top will result in a reply to the overall conversation.  Replying to an individual post will put the reply just below the post you've clicked the reply button on.  

I hope this helps.

Sandy

[1968Hoya46]

Insofar as it relates to the Rock and Roll Forum: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. By attempting to fix what was not broken...you broke it. Congratulations.

[sandy]

@1968Hoya46  For the long-running song title word association thread, this new format can be problematic.  It's because the focus (topic) of that game often changes, and when it changes, it's in the same thread.  However, the conversation threads that are started as a single conversation work well. We're considering this as we gather all the feedback received to date.

[1968Hoya46]

Hi. Did you get a chance to read my message sent to you on 10/20? I’d be interested in what you think. Thanks.

[1968Hoya46]

@sandy, Have you had an opportunity to read my message to you, sent on 10/20? I was wondering if any (or all) of my three issues make any sense and what you thought of them.

Thank-you

[1968Hoya46]

Thanks for your reply.

As you are aware, the Rock N’ Roll Forum is comprised of at least 200 different topics (Song Title Word Association, Songs That Ask A Question, Songs About Prayer...the list goes on). I have three issues with your new format as it relates to the Rock N’ Roll Forum.

1) How to reply: As I understand it, if I want to reply to the last (most recent) post, I must reply to the initial post which began the topic, instead of replying to the last (most recent) post. Failure to reply to the initial post means that my reply will not be placed in chronological order. This strains common sense and is needlessly counterintuitive. Common sense says to reply to the last (most recent) post to keep the thread in chronological order. I would suggest deleting this new “improvement” because, quite frankly, it’s confusing and unnecessary. I’m sure the old format did not generate any complaints from your users, let alone the number of complaints you are now receiving.

2) If I want to reply to a post, let’s say in the Songs About Dancing topic, I click onto that topic. Instead of bringing me to the last (most recent) post, the new format  takes me, apparently arbitrarily, to page 13 (containing old posts) instead of page 1, which contains the last (most recent) post. Why? Why doesn’t it simply default to page 1 (containing the latest post)? This same scenario exists with all of the topics in the Rock N’ Roll Forum (the Word Title Association topic took me to page 3,346!) I cannot believe this was thought to be a good idea. Please fix it.

3) There are no “...” (three dots) in the reply editor. You and @jen3 had an exchange of messages a while back on this issue. You sent her a screengrab showing the three dots opening up a second line to enable editing. She did not see the three dots. I do not see the three dots. I am not hallucinating. I have an iPhone 8 and an iPad mini: no three dots, no editing possible. Please advise.

Thank-you.

[MaVolta]

Yes, I understand that. That isn’t my issue.

[GailL1]

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@MaVolta wrote:

Yes, I understand that. That isn’t my issue.

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If you want to REPLY to the topic then you just reply to the initial post that started the topic.  Like on this topic you would just go to the beginning post and hit reply.  See the "REPLY" button at the bottom of AARPMichaelP initial post. (screen shot below)

[GailL1]

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@sandy wrote:

@MaVolta 

Clicking the reply on the anchored post at the top will result in a reply to the overall conversation.  Replying to an individual post will put the reply just below the post you've clicked the reply button on.  

I hope this helps.

Sandy

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I think this sorting style works very well on many of the Community boards where the main topic is usually the complete focus of the discussion.  But on those boards or on those topics where the discussion is actually a discussion - like the Politics and Current Events Board and probably some others - then without some sort of index source for the topic it just gets confusing trying to respond to different posters.

[sandy]

@GailL1  I can see your point and appreciate the feedback.

[LydiaN586309]

Dear Michael,

This whole forum reconstruction was, in my humble opinion, a resounding failure!  What in the world were you folks thinking?  And why no input or request for suggestions from us--the users?  And why no forewarning of these big changes as they make for nothing but  "disorder" and confusion?  

In the words of Nancy Kerrigan (Olympic skater of the '90s), "WHY?  WHY?"😭

[sandy]

Hello @LydiaN586309, sorry you feel this way.  We often get feedback from our site satisfaction survey and review of feedback in posts across the community.  In our current environment, we didn't have the ability to share the new design without a full launch.  Next time we will be sure to give prior notice, giving folks a little more time before things change.