=][= "NEW" BUTTON AT TOP OF FORUM - EXPERIMENTATION =][=

[Brother Tyler]

The NEW button has been created at the top of the forum. This is part of an ongoing experiment to see how we can improve visibility of some of the newer, but woefully underutilized, features of the site such as Blogs (our priority) and Articles.

 

If you click that button, you'll be taken to a feed of all new (unread) content. You can customize the content that appears. So instead of having to search (sub-)forum by (sub-)forum and feature by feature, you can just scroll through that feed to see anything that is new (the default is 100 new content items since your last login, I think). And if you want to look at other stuff, you just have to click the appropriate button at the top of the site to go to that feature (you're used to seeing the FORUM feature as the site's home page, and that page continues to be the home page - for now).

 

Please take a gander at the new page and work through it. It may be unsettling at first (it was for me), but try it out for what it seeks to be and consider how it might be useful for you (and how we might improve it). Once you've read all of the new content [that you are interested in], it's easy to click the FORUM button to go back to your familiar home page.

 

The B&C started as a discussion forum and the older versions of the software leaned on building around the Forum structure. Discussion will always be vital to the community. However, the software includes a number of other features that are much better at supporting needs the community has long emulated via discussions. We are trying to find ways to promote usage of these features without adversely affecting the community (i.e., you're not going to see us push the Forums out of the limelight).

 

The creation of the new button is just one part of a range of options that we are looking into. You'll also notice some other changes taking place here and there - notably some adjustments to our sidebar and footer blocks.

 

This is all experimentation. We'll consider your feedback as we continue to try to improve the site.

 

One recommendation - don't provide feedback right away. Change can be upsetting and our instinct is to cling to what we're used to. Give it some time - perhaps a week or two - to give the change an honest chance. I doubt that we'll go with the experiment as it currently is, but we won't have a good feel for things unless we give them a try. Note that we may change the home page to the new page as part of the experiment. That will be a temporary measure, and we won't try that out for a bit (I don't want to make the change without everyone knowing what to expect ).

 

The staff are also looking at some adjustments to the Forum structure - consolidating and expanding where appropriate to support the community's needs. We have already consolidated all of the Liber forums into a single forum, and there are some other changes on the horizon.