Hi everyone. I would be very interested in hearing people’s honest review of the site please? With examples of good and bad.
I have had real problems tonight ending in tears. Unusual for me. I am going to formulate feedback.
Thanks.
Snne
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Its too busy, too fussy and to much white space everywhere makes our eyes sore. i did filter that back when i was testing beta.
not sure why they had to change the old one it was fine for our needs. they could have just added the image app, without a huge cost and change. i find it hard to navigate and i am computer savvy.
I dont think for an MS site the designers have grasped how MS actually affects us.
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I don’t like it either. I used to check in several times a day to see what replies and new posts had been made. I could see this at a glance but I’m finding this difficult.
Hopefully this will get easier with time but I’m not sure as I’ve already reduced the amount of time I visit the site.
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I think the new site is just going to take a while to get used to - its like alot of things in life - its different & new - I hope we all get the hang of it
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Hi Anne, It’s too difficult to follow posts and reply to them. I’m hoping I’ll get use to it. At first it hurt my eyes with the font they used and the brightness. I’m still trying to fathom it but its difficult
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Anne, (and others finding the new site a struggle)
The thing that I found difficult, due to the layout change was to identify updates to posts in the old conversational way. I used to be able to work my way back through a thread. Not sure I can do that yet. BUT I did have a breakthrough moment when I clicked on: 
then onto the horizontal bars on the right:
Sorry if you all did that anyway but I was excited to start thinking that I was finding my way. M
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I’m still not back as my former self, I still haven’t received a reset email. So I dug out an old email and registered as Nancy.
First impressions are not good.
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Hi everyone.
My name is Jen, I’m one of the admins on here and I’ve worked on creating the new site. It’s really useful to read all your feedback, good and bad, and we’re working on changes to help make this the best possible site for users. If you’d sooner give feedback privately, please do message us by hitting ‘contact moderator’ on the forum homepage or you can email forum@mssociety.org.uk
Thanks everyone,
Jen
Personally I think it’s a vast improvement on the old site. This is beginning to feel more like a modern online forum than an old fashioned message board. It was easy to lose track on the old site of conversational threads with replies appearing all over the place (yes I know they were under the post they were replying to but they didn’t keep the conversation flowing).
There are one or two things I’d like to change but having owned and upgraded a number of small and some massive online forums it’s a difficult job.
Keep tweaking and making the little changes and eventually everyone will be comfortable with the new (21st century instead of late 20th century) site.
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Hi Jen,
How do you go back to the next thread?
Can we have a ‘return to Everyday Living’ button at the bottom of each thread please?
I asked for one on the last forum when it was new too.
Otherwise you have to just to back button on browser.
Thanks
Jen
Hi fellow Jen,
Glad to see you’ve resurrected the profile picture!
There’s a couple of options that may help you navigate back to Everyday Living.
-
The scroll option to the right of the thread is a really quick and easy way to get to the top of a long thread. You can then click on the Everyday Living option to get back to that category. -
If you’re at the bottom on the thread, you’ll see Suggested Topics. You can click on Everyday Living from any of those topics with that category listed to jump back to the main Everyday Living category.
Hoping either of those options will be useful for you.
Have a good day,
Jen
Thanks Jen
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Thanks Mogace. Anne
Cheetah, I hear what you are saying. May I ask? Do you have cognitive problems? Eye sight problems, very little movement in your hands? These are the problems that make this new site difficult to use.
It was not a simple message board from the 20th century. It was a web site that was geared towards people with problems. We have to help the weakest first. The more able can whizz ahead.
Anne
Hi Anne28
I have no cognitive problems (that I am aware of), no eyesight problems at present but have had in the past and yes I do have limited function in my hands.
The big problem with forums and forum software is it gos out of date very quickly. It is a challenge to keep on top of it and to ensure it remains secure and stable. When the software ends being supported by the creators it is usually time to move on and upgrade.
It’s a bit like an old car. It will still work and get you about but over time the parts become harder to source to repair and maintain it. The locks are old and it makes it easy to steal. The people who have the skills and ability to repair it and maintain it start to disappear.
I have no inside information but I would imagine that the Admins and owners were somewhat force to upgrade the site due to age and support for the software.
I have owned and run a number of large online forums as well as creating them from scratch from purchased software. If you want bespoke things or to maintain an old platform the costs very quickly become prohibitive.
Always the largest challenge to a new forum and software is getting people to use it. I understand peoples reticence in adopting new things and when folks start from a position of ‘I’m not going to like this’ that challenge is vastly increased.
With online software upgrades it’s not always a change for the sake of change, most of the time it is a forced change.
I am aways happy to help anyone just ask and I will do what I can.
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Thanks for yr reply Cheetah
Anne
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10 minutes since finally managing to log in and I’ve had enough already.
It’s actually giving me an headache trying to work out what all the info on the page is for and is it really needed.
The pages are too white, the posts are too bold and it’s not a place where you want to stay for very long.
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I agree I’ve stayed away from it as now to hard to use. used to post nearly every day now not at all. had built up electronic relationships with several people that helped me with meds and I helped others with meds etc now nothing. how do i contact people now ???
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Hi All,
Thankyou to those of you who replied to me about the new site. I see that replies are still coming in.
We still have not heard from certain regulars, my fear is it is too difficult for them to use.
As people keep saying, they have made friends here. Now they can no longer keep in touch.
This is heart breaking.
For some people this forum is their only contact with others.
I know change is difficult for some but this problem it not about change. It is about change for changes sake. We only needed a few tweaks to the site. Not a complete overhaul. Many on here are severely disabled in some way. They need easy sites to navigate. As was the old one. I feel this site has been put together for computer whizz kids, without disabilities or concerns for those who have.
I am not on here as much. Many are saying that.
For those interested I have sent feedback to the Society. Explaining the problems above. I have not had a reply yet.
I am very very saddened by this.
I miss Bouds, amongst many others. They helped with their laughter, knowledge, chat. Where are they?
Anne 
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Ditto to everything Anne said. I just can’t be on here any more.