Forum Upgrade (going live february 18th)

[Josh DUK]

Hello Forum Users,

I would like to personally thank everyone on the forum for all of the knowledge that has been built up over the years to support, help, and educate others affected by diabetes.

Diabetes UK are in the process of upgrading the forum to the newest version of the software. Please keep an eye on this thread and we may be in touch for some of our members to test the new platform in the future.

Josh DUK
Online Community and Learning Manager

 

[MrDaibetes]

Hello Forum Users,

I would like to personally thank everyone on the forum for all of the knowledge that has been built up over the years to support, help, and educate others affected by diabetes.

Diabetes UK are in the process of upgrading the forum to the newest version of the software. Please keep an eye on this thread and we may be in touch for some of our members to test the new platform in the future.

Josh DUK
Online Community and Learning Manager

Sound fantastic can't wait to see the changes, hopefully not too drastic and others find it for the best.

 

[Docb]

Please don't break it!

 

[Pine Marten]

I do hope it will be easier to read? I mean, no more grey type on pale backgrounds, please.....! There is nowt wrong with black type on a white ground

 

[SueEK]

I think the whole forum is great, we all need a bit of an update occasionally but hopefully nothing too drastic. Thank you Josh

 

[Josh DUK]

We have a test server up and just have to apply the software to and play around with the system. What sort of changes would you like to see on the forum?

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

As few as possible, please - it takes me ages to process changes (because of severe cognitive dysfunction)! Please only make changes which people who use the forum think are necessary, don't change things just for the sake of a fresh look or anything like that ...

 

[SueEK]

I think it works well as it is, except that I’ve noticed people post on the new profile post which gets overlooked, rather than posting on newbies or the general message board.

 

[MrDaibetes]

We have a test server up and just have to apply the software to and play around with the system. What sort of changes would you like to see on the forum?

Dark forum skin please Josh ^^.

 

[silentsquirrel]

Agree that the Profile Post facility is unhelpful, many new members seem to get stuck there.

Also agree with @Pine Marten about readability of different print and background colours - please ensure that combinations can easily be read by older people with imperfect sight, not just by youngsters with no sight problems.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Agree that the Profile Post facility is unhelpful, many new members seem to get stuck there.

Also agree with @Pine Marten about readability of different print and background colours - please ensure that combinations can easily be read by older people with imperfect sight, not just by youngsters with no sight problems.

Being able to customise appearance on a per-user basis would be helpful for some people I think?

I also agree that the profile posts seem to confuse many new members who get a bit stuck there and may not get many responses.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Being able to customise appearance on a per-user basis would be helpful for some people I think?

That would be good for me, especially if I could keep everything just the way it is! Though I agree with people who say there could be more contrast between text and background.

I agree about the profile posts too, I'm sure we must lose newbies who think they're being ignored, when actually it's just that no-one's seen their messages.

 

[Eddy Edson]

Being able to customise appearance on a per-user basis would be helpful for some people I think?

I also agree that the profile posts seem to confuse many new members who get a bit tuck there and may not get many responses.

Agree with this. Apart from that, if it ain't broke ....

 

[Ljc]

I agree about profile posts.
It would be great if we could customise the appearance to our personal needs.

I would like to be able to sort the order of my watched threads into my own requirements.

 

[Northerner]

I've been asking since 2015 for Profile posts to be removed, they are nothing but trouble and not in the least bit useful in a forum of this nature! 😱 So much confusion for people is apparent, given the number of people who post on member's profiles thinking it is a Private Message, or new members posting questions there instead of starting threads New members need to be given clear instructions about how to introduce themselves via a thread in the Welcome message they receive when joining (that might also stop people using the 'Contact' option to ask their questions because they don't know how to start a thread).

 

[MeeTooTeeTo]

It would be great if the width of the posts could be reduced. I find it hard to read posts like @Northerner's above.
and prefer shorter lines like this. The extra space gained on the right could be used for displaying alerts, inbox
and your profile and doing searches without having to scroll back up to the top so often.
Oh and @Josh DUK, I've had plenty of experience beta testing software and would be happy to provide feedback on the new platform if required
Dez

 

[Ralph-YK]

It would be great if the width of the posts could be reduced. I find it hard to read posts like @Northerner's above.
and prefer shorter lines like this. The extra space gained on the right could be used for displaying alerts, inbox

The posts fit to the width of the window. So if you un maximize your browers and change the size of your window, then you can in effect set the adject the width of the post window.

Personally I'm not a fan of limiting the width of the main content, and putting loads of other stuff on the page taking space up.

 

[Northerner]

One thing I would say is that the first rule of User Interfaces is 'Don't make me think', so whenever and wherever possible the most obvious course of action should also be the correct course of action 🙂

 

[MeeTooTeeTo]

The posts fit to the width of the window. So if you un maximize your browers and change the size of your window, then you can in effect set the adject the width of the post window.

Personally I'm not a fan of limiting the width of the main content, and putting loads of other stuff on the page taking space up.

Yes @Ralph-YK I'm aware you can do that - however, when you have maybe a dozen or so web pages open in tabs (as I tend to have) it's a bit of a faff sizing and resizing when you switch from one to the other. Most all of the forums I use have a better readable layout eg like this
https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/
When you land on the page you can start reading right away without the bother of resizing windows.
Dez 🙂

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

It would be great if the width of the posts could be reduced. I find it hard to read posts like @Northerner's above.
and prefer shorter lines like this. The extra space gained on the right could be used for displaying alerts, inbox
and your profile and doing searches without having to scroll back up to the top so often.

Sorry, but displaying things in the margin really wouldn't work for me, to the extent that it might make the forum completely unusable for me. I can't have lots of different things on the same section of the page, it's too confusing for me (my cognitive dysfunction is really very bad, I can only cope with one thing at a time).
I think any major changes like that would need to be customisable so as to allow people like you more freedom without putting off people like me who would find them overwhelming.