After working with the new network for a little more than a month, I have two unsolicited suggestions, and a request. The suggestions are:
1. With such a comprehensive overhaul, next time maybe take some of the most popular features of the old system (e.g., favorites, alerts) and make recreating those elements in the new system as easy and obvious as possible. That way people can have at least a little island of familiarity immediately while they explore the rest of the new system.
2. Once the changeover is made from old system to new, ask maybe a couple of dozen of your most prolific posters to make notes on what worked and didn't work for them the first month. After a couple of months, prolific posters are going to have facility with the new design and might forget what was most challenging about the adjustment. Their early input could be invaluable in making the transition easier for people the next time around.
And here's my request for the next upgrade: please give us a choice of getting alerts via email (as we do now) or getting them in-network (as we used to). I can understand that for people working with the network it could be a huge help to get new messages without having to be in the network all the time. But some of us liked to roam around the old network, maybe bump by chance into postings we never would have seen otherwise. Initially, I liked getting alerts in my email. Then I started to realize that when I was reading them I didn't feel like I was on the network. Well, I wasn't, really. And I started to notice that I was opening email alerts that said things like, "I agree completely!" and, of course, to have a clue what that was about I'd have to click the link to get into the network and figure it out. That's crazy-making with dozens of messages a day. The alerts used to be my way of keeping up with things I was interested in on the network, and now they just seem to add to my estrangement. The old network was like a comfortable neighborhood to wander around in. The new network feels like the lobby of a huge and very busy office building. I want my old alerts back! I don't want anyone to have to give up the new email alerts if those work better for them, but I do want to be able to work with alerts in the new system the way I could in the old one. So that's my request.
Melody, we appreciate your input, but we don't plan on having a "next time"! Although there won't be another major overhaul, we are constantly working on improving and updating this site.
There has been, and still is, extensive testing of the new system and any improvements done by a wide variety of users.
There will not be the option of getting Alerts in the same way that you did on the old Network. Actually, many of the technical problems and speed issues on the old Network were caused by the Alerts system. There is, though, an alternative to receiving e-mail alerts, and that is using RSS feed. You can find information on what RSS is and how to use it here.
I am putting this in 2 places
What do I do when I make a typing error?. I have made a few really bad ones, and did not notice until I have seen them in print. Use to be able to fix them I cannot figure out how to correct them now. very embarassing.( this is when I make a comment)
Also I am signed up for alerts on a couple of groups, but I have never received a alert once. Help
I am a hopeless computer nerd. It is very difficult for me on this new site
Thanks Marla
Marla,
I'm no pc tech person but If you have enhanced email there is a ie spell download & it works like an add on.
I don't always spell right either so I needed it.
If you will notice on your posted comment it has reply & more on the upper right side. If you click on more one of the options is edit & you can correct it that way.
I am just clicking on things to see what they are. Might be something I can use.Maybe it will help you too.
Nancy
Hi Marla -
On your post - you will see a "More" drop down on the top right corner of the box. Click that and you will see "Edit"... click on "Edit" and you should be able to edit your text.
Hope this helps.
Hi Marla,
I feel your pain. I'm a bad speller and an inept typist. On the tool bar where you are posting you will find a an icon that has "ABC" and a check mark. That's Spell-check. Just click on that before you post and it will check for spelling errors.
Pat
"The road to a Forever Home is paved with Sleepovers."
Thank you everyone!!!!!!!!! I will definately try your suggestions.
Marla
Hi, Joy, thanks very much for your response. As you can imagine, I'm sorry that having in-hetwork alerts will not be an option, but I appreciate now knowing why. Setting up an RSS feed, unfortunately, still takes me out of the network, so it doesn't present much improvement over getting emails, unless I'm missing something about the RSS feed (which wouldn't be surprising).
By the way, when you activate the link in your last sentence, do you get the RSS information? I got only several lines of html code, character strings, and the words "Access Deniced" and "Request has expired." I was able to access your document using the "rss" in the Tags box. I thought your explanation was terrific!
I'm really not obsessing about alerts, but I did notice I haven't gotten any since last Thursday. I haven't changed any options in my profile, or made changes to my email account. Is there a problem with alert transmissions?
Thanks again.
Hi Mimi,
Here is another way to access the RSS information. Click on Media Gallery and you will find the same RSS Word document. It's just in another place is all.
The email alerts are currently not working and the Tech Department is aware of the situation, so no need to worry about your profile selections.
I've now fixed the link in my original response.
I HATE the fact that you can not easily go back and edit your posts. I write to the Turkey Go Local, and have had one title typo (my mistake) and the need to update information in the articles, but you can not do this easily. Actually, title typos have defeated my editor thus far and I have resorted to comments to leave story updates. I like some things about the new network, but the inability to edit kills me
Sigh, ok, end rant :)
Thanks,
Kopekler aka Erica
Hi Erica,
You should be able to edit all of your Forum posts by using the drop-down box in the upper right corner labeled "More". That's where your edit function is stored. When it comes to typos, are you utilizing the spell check tool found at the top on your tool bar?
Editing a news story does take an extra step. Open the news story you want to edit. In the lower right-hand margin you will find the "News Administration" box. Click on "Edit This Post" and your story will be in edit mode and you can change or add anything you want, including the title. Be sure to click "Save" at the bottom when done.