The new forum is here!

[lexilou3]

Hi Nennie, I suggest you go to the broad headings.... *Have I got Breast Cancer* / *Recently Diagnosed* / *Going Through Treatment* etc and possibly post there or view threads there... The welcome to the forum pages appear to be less visitied. Hope all is well for you LL x x

[Nennie]

First time on this forum. Very confusing.

[lexilou3]

Help pls,,,, despite seemingly having reregistered on my desk top computer i cant find "me" nor messages or posts i have made. To search on my phone is tricky and impractical.please help ,,, thank you

[saffronseed]

I don't seem to have any changes forum pages and the layout is the same. I do find it easy to navigate and find what I am looking for.   The tips and hints above are good for users not familiar (new or old members returning)  so maybe have a pinned thread on tips and hints for navigation on the latest threads or somewhere else prominent so that members can see it.   Thank you BCC you are doing a wonderful job and I know when making changes to the forum is difficult in what pleases one person doesn't please another.

[nicky08]

Oh dear, another change that isn't so good when the forum is updated ie 30/7/15

why do I now not get capital letters at the beginning of a paragraph? ie when I press return.

like

this?

i used to

i use a table most of the time and this used to happen when using the private message facility, as did the slowness of showing what you were typing.

this us extremely annoying

please correct it

nicky

[Jenifer]

Here's another thing which could be improved: The Post button should be to the LEFT of the Cancel button at the bottom right of the posting box as it is on other internet forums. I find it really annoying when I write a reply to a post and then inadvertently delete it instead of submitting it. 😞

[Lucy_BCC]

Hi JSA

I am sorry that you are having trouble finding your way around, the reconstruction threads are in 'surgery' in the 'Going through treatment' section on the home page, hope that helps

Best wishes
Lucy BCC

[JSA]

I haven't been here for a while and it's all changed. I am afraid I found the old version of this Forum difficult to use, but now it's worse! The category sections seem random and why these coloured blocks? Why not a normal vertical list?

Was trying to find a forum section on reconstruction but there doesn't seem to be one.

Sorry to be negative. 

[stressy_messy]

If you click on your avatar next to your post all your previous posts will come up x

[northumbrian1]

I put in a request a few weeks ago for advice (was it on a thread called 'Reconstruction Week' and I asked if anyone had any ideas for what to do with redundant prostheses- Now I am looking for any answers and cannot find where the thread has gone- agh! I find this forum impossible to navigate easily- agh! This is probably why I stopped using it when it all changed- and will stop using it again! Agh!

[Jenifer]

It's certainly not just you, cornishgirl.

Latest Posts need to be more prominent, and that means there needs to be a coluured box  on the front page. Please,  BCC!

[cornishgirl]

Hi JCJ,  Yes I know, I was just thinking for any newbie's (or even older members who haven't been on BCC for some time)who would /always liked  this feature  ,Latest Posts as they are ,are still pretty hidden away, so can be pretty easily missed, most people will see the brightly colored boxes with each separate category as  they clearly stand out  ,but likely don't bother scrolling down any further, in fact I think the whole of the "Featured Threads" are pretty hidden away and don't stand out either, also I think most people after the initial forum launch ,would  likely rarely visit forum feedback unless they had something specific to ask BCC, So probably not likely to stumble upon the  Latest Post Link there either. Bookmarks  are ok as long as you know that the Latest Posts  already exist.

Its just my view, just not sure why the Latest  Posts couldn't have been given the same prominence as all the other categories ,as in all the other previous BCC forum's , but maybe its just me that feels this way  ,and others are happy with them the way they are.

LInda 

[JCJ]

Cornish girl, right next to your post,  under the heading 'Unanswered posts' there was  a link to 'Latest posts'! 🙂

Or you could just bookmark this link as I have done (In your browser not BBC bookmarks):

http://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/forums/recentpostspage/post-type/thread

Then you can visit it whenever you want without having to search for it.

[cornishgirl]

Im not sure the logic of having newest posts first as I can't imagine anyone wanting to scroll from the bottom up all the time,  even for non members reading the forums it must be a pain. 

Also talking of being a pain (Sorry BCC) But please can we have the Latest Posts More Visible, There's even a big purple space in "Talk to others like me"  (maybe not the best place  I know) But would do!!  They are just far to  hidden away for most to notice. 

Linda 

[Jenifer]

Same here Linda. I post in other forms and none of them ever appears in upside down mode!

[cornishgirl]

Hi mrsblue,

I've noticed if I don't log into the forums all the posts revert to reading upside down again  , i.e. newest at the top  , which is a bit annoying as it means lots of scrolling up from the bottom to read posts in order   ,was wondering if the same thing happens for you ?

I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to set the order of the posts to newest at the bottom by default as on the previous forum, to stop having to do all the scrolling  , but for anyone who would rather read posts newest first it could still be changed in preferences , at the moment as it is ,I really have to keep logging in to read them the way I want to..

Linda  

[cornishgirl]

Thanks Anna,

Great news , thanks for fixing  this. 

[mrsblue]

Thanks, Anna! Here's a few biscuits to pass around the team 🙂

I did wonder, when I posted about my old sent messages reappearing, why I hadn't had an email notification of my recent message but I only noticed it when I logged in to post on another thread (I usually read the forums when I'm not logged in).

Here's another issue that maybe the tech team could put on their to-do list?  The font size when I'm typing this message is significantly larger than the font size of (text body of) posts which I read when I'm logged out.  They should be the same, I think?  Some of us users posted previously about the font change, which happened before the new forum went live.

[Anna_BCC]

Hi Cornishgirl
Apologies for not responding sooner, we were investigating the issue thoroughly . When the forum was first launched there was an issue with email notifications and many users were being swamped with 100's of emails. Because of this we turned off all automatic email notifications so that each individual could set them for their own preferences in their personal profile. What we hadn't realised was that the email preference setting for pm's was not adjustable from the personal profile area.

Thank you for highlighting this issue which has enabled us to switch the default settings so that everyone who receives a pm will now also be notified be email.

Best wishes
Anna

[cornishgirl]

Thanks Lucy .

[Lucy_BCC]

Hi Linda
I can only apologise and it's not intentional I assure you, I have out your queries in my report and hopefully one of the team will be able to help you tomorrow, sorry for the delays in replying to you
Best wishes
Lucy BCC

[cornishgirl]

I thought I would reply to my own post  as I've asked 2 questions now, 1 on here,and 1 on "please bring  back latest posts" but I never seem to get any replies back to any of my questions from Bcc , even though everyone else does ,for some reason it feels like mine always seems to get ignored , it something I've said, lol?

[cornishgirl]

Hi Bcc, I was just wondering whether we are supposed to get a email notification whenever we  have a personal message (PM) ? As I don't seem to be receiving any emails regarding PMs,  even though often when I log in I will have  a PM, I also didn't get any email notifications for PMs on the last forum , though I still get all email notifications re any threads that I've subscribed too, Its a bit annoying sometimes ,as if I don't log in regularly, I don't know about any Pms that I may have ,and then I am late replying to them  which I feel awful about.

Thanks  for any help with this ,Linda  x 

[Guest user]

for those that haven't seen this, Anna of BCC posted this on another thread

@Anna_BCC wrote:

Dear All

We have been following all the feedback comments regarding the new forum and are collecting all the various points of view both post and pre launch.  The research into the new forum started back in November 2012 with over 900 different people participating through various ways including, online survey, telephone interviews, face to face testing and the last stage of online testing. 

This is an extract from the online survey results document which had over 900 particpants

Similarities in user frustrations across different types of

breast cancer

Across type of cancer, users find the following aspects of the

forum most frustrating:

- Keeping track of discussions;

- Navigating through the latest posts;

- Finding a particular thread;

- Finding the right topic.

We will be reviewing all the feedback to the forum and looking at any changes that need to be made whilst also taking into consideration cost implications for redesign, technical development and testing.  In the meantime, a trial is suggested of a separate URL link to the latest activity per thread.

http://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/forums/recentpostspage/post-type/thread

We will add this to the featured threads on the front page and monitor feedback and usage.

The development of the new forum has not been undertaken lightly and with input and feedback from hundreds of different users.  We are listening to and hearing all that is being said both on line and from privately shared feedback.  We are committed to providing the best service we are able.

Best wishes

Anna

---

the link below is however the best one to use..

http://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/forums/recentpostspage/

[Jenifer]

Thanks KK - don't have any idea how or why it works but it does!

[Guest user]

I've posted this on another thread, but it's relevant here too..

Until Latest posts gets sorted, I have found a solution that works for me.

Click on the link below, it is a customised search that shows latest posts, ignore the Advanced search options (or hide them by clicking on the little minus - box to the right) and scroll down to the posts.

If it looks like what you need then save the  link to your favourites...

http://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?advanced=true&q=i&rangeTime=0&...

I think as it is a search it should be dynamic (meaning that each time you click on it you will see the latest posts, and not a "snapshot" as they were when I posted the link).  There does seem to be a lapse before the very latest posts show, but I supposed this is because posts don't get indexed straight away.

Spread the word!

[stressy_messy]

I don't think that post was hidden at all it was on  all of the  category's on the forum, which I think was not needed. In my opinion it was just a journalist having a rant and was very bleak and should not of been put on threads such as " have I got breast cancer" and " I am recently diagnosed" and "going through treatment"  where  people are having a bad enough time coming to terms with their BC or worried and don't need some  jounalist maybe pulling the rug from under their feet  . I do agree  that the current issues and hot topics thread should be on here for posts like this  article so if people are interested they can read it there.

Melx

[Jenifer]

I agree with you, cornishgirl - we definitely need an easily identifyable section for discussion of current issues/hot topics. 

Here is a case in point - just by accident I discovered a post by jenanne linking to a very interesting article in the New York Times. But where was it hidden? In the Living With and Beyond BC, subsection Living With BC, thread Please Read - Food for Thought.

Few people are ever going to find it there except by chance, which is a shame.  

[cornishgirl]

Thanks KittieKat, Its a shame that Current Issues/Hot Topics has been removed too , but thanks for the Link to National Campaigns, I really wouldn't have thought to look in there  for any posts . 

x

[Guest user]

cornishgirl, current issues/hot topîcs does seem to have been removed.

I found an archive, here... http://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/Archive-Current-issues-hot/bd-p/4462  but the posts are rather old

There are however posts in the National Campaigns section of "Events, campaigns and meet-ups" , here...

http://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/National-campaigns/bd-p/4457

[Guest user]

As Lulu said (but I can't quote her as the quote facility seems to have disappeared)

"Bcc if you do bring back latest posts i think it shouldnt be a list on the front page but maybe a link as i do think newly diagnosed ladies can be terrified seeing in memory posts on their first visit..... Maybe everything bar in memory could be on the latestet posts?"

Sound like a good idea, but one problem is that the latest posts view was the only way we had of seeing any "in memory" announcements.  Unless we  visit the "Dedications and remembering others" board regularly, how are we to know?

Maybe it could be a choice in our preferences, latest posts by default not shown, but with the ability to activate a "view" of them if we choose to?

[cornishgirl]

The only thing I don't really like about the new forum is that  Latest Posts  has been removed, I agree with mrsbue , in that although Latest Posts now appear separately within each category , Latest posts now read more like Latest Replies , with sometimes all of the comments (and there is only 5 sections in the latest posts)relating to the same thread, this was really annoying when it first happened on the last forum, because it means all the other latest posts are missed if a thread is very active,

I don't know how many people asked for latest posts to be changed, as I wasn't involved in the testing (other than by the 2 online surveys, which was where we were just led through a list of questions with multiple choice answers, the surveys didn't ask for users opinions on what members thoughts were on layout or about latest posts) If they did I am sure the overwhelming response would have been to keep it as it was. It was always an integral part of the forums, and the section that many people used the most. 

I was also wondering (as I can't find it yet) if the Current Issues Hot Topics section has been removed, this section was always useful for highlighting any latest breast cancer news in the media etc , for example there has been lots in the news this week about Tamoxifen and people not completing  the course because of SEs ,its been talked about a fair bit on most other cancer forums and on facebook, but I haven't seen anything about it on here ,perhaps I've just missed it though. Anyway  current issue hot topics was good for highlighting things like that.

Hope BCC will reconsider putting Latest Posts back, maybe if possible they could do a short poll somewhere on the site to get a more general overall feeling from all the members that use the forum.  

Linda

[Lulu34]

Weepixie

If you have posted on a thread when you look in the forum the thread is on it has a wee black arrow or cross or something in the wee grey or red icon indication you have posted on the thread.... Even old ones.... If you click on your name up near the top right of the page it also had a list of your last few recent posts.

Bcc if you do bring back latest posts i think it shouldnt be a list on the front page but maybe a link as i do think newly diagnosed ladies can be terrified seeing in memory posts on their first visit..... Maybe everything bar in memory could be on the latestet posts? And when a new post is posted on a thread then the previous latest posts is removed or they are in bold and when read change to not bold or change colour or something similar.

More biccies left outside the cupboard door xxx

[carolihne]

When the last forum was introduced there was a whole of stream of people saying they wanted the latest post facility reintroduced - and after much teething trouble it was eventually reinstated. So why has it been done away with now ; (

[HelenL_BCC]

Hello again, 

Thanks for continuing to try out the new forum and updating us on what you like, what's not working and what you feel should change.  

We're listening closely, working behind the scenes to iron out any pesky bugs that have snuck in, and making a note of common themes - for example reinstating Latest Posts to the homepage.

I really do appreciate that this was useful for many people on the old forum and we didn't change this particular feature lightly. Some of our users fed back that, at the beginning of their cancer journey, they felt overwhelmed and in some cases upset by the content that was presented to them on the first page of the forum.

We wanted the homepage to feel uncluttered and clear.  And our hope is that, by making Latest Posts category driven, users will be able to focus on the boards most relevant to them.  

We'll continue to seek your thoughts on this though - we want to get things right for as many of you as possible. 

Also, an update on the Bookmarking issue, with new posts numbered into their thousands... ! I've spoken to the tech team and apparently, because the forum conversations go back years in some cases, any migrated posts dated prior to 2012 will be flagged in the system as 'unread'. 

The manual process to sort this out would take me a lifetime, so I'm going to see if our tech friends can help with this. I'll let you know more ASAP!

[mrsblue]

Some more thoughts about this forum and this section.

1.  At the moment this section "Welcome to the forum" is being used for two different purposes, (a) by people who have just signed up to the BCC forums, and (b) by those of us who have been using the forums for some time - I joined in Feb 2007 when we first got broadband! - and this might be causing some confusion.  The sub-section "Forum site feedback" should maybe have its own separate section?

2.  There has been much discussion about the Latest Posts section.  I do understand the reasons why things were changed (though I personally think it should be restored).  If you look in Latest Posts for a section, yes, you will see the latest posts --- but again, if there have been several posts to the same thread, it appears several times.... sigh... and there are only 5 "latest posts" anyway, and no button for "previous latest posts"!

What we need is "active threads", I think.  Anyone else understand what I am getting at?

[Jenifer]

I think the reason why people who were asked said they didn't like Latest Posts was that on the forum at the time this feature   was useless because it wasn't working  properly - there were literally hundreds of pages of it because for some reason all replies to all threads were listed instead of just the most recent post to each thread. It worked perfectly well on the forum before.

[Guest user]

weepixie, all of my PMs were transferred, try clicking the purple "Messages" button in the top right corner (even if it says 0 messages, as it only counts unread messages).

or click here http://forum.breastcancercare.org.uk/t5/notes/privatenotespage  

[Guest user]

here's my tuppence worth  

+ new forum looks more tidy and modern

+ new sections make things easier to find

- features lacking -  'latest posts' Like lots of us I really miss this feature and can't believe nobody in the test group wanted it to be kept.

- font is too small and light- do we have the option to change it?

- Is there anything to indicate when you have posted on a thread? Other forums have this feature as an arrow or different colouring on the icon beside the thread title.

- have no PMs been transferred?

[mrsblue]

Here's my view on the new forum.

Plus points:

It appears to work better than the previous forum - pages seem quicker to load than on the old forum!

It looks more tidy.

Good choice of stock avatars.

Minus points:

The font size is too small (like many of us on chemo, I have watery/sore eyes - recently lost most of my eyelashes which doesn't help) - though as I type this reply, the font size seems larger than when I read the posts without logging in!

My uploaded avatar picture is much smaller than on the old forum.

And yes, I miss the Latest Posts, though I tend at look at the Secondaries section mostly.

But I was not involved in the extensive testing carried out by BCC before the forums were launched.  Some of you must have asked for Latest Posts to be removed - and maybe some of you were asked about the font size and said you liked it.

[Jenifer]

i agree with KK 100%

This forum is in no way an improvement on what went before. Sorry, but it's awful.

[Guest user]

sandytoes, nearly everyone seems to be asking the same question.  

The stock answer seems to be that, no, latest post view  no longer exists because "we" didn't want it!  I'm sure someone will explain that you now have to go to every sub-forum/category to check the latest posts for that category.  The problem is that there are 12 sub-forums, and that we see ALL the latest replies to each post, so it's pretty useless.

It's a great pity that the forum wasn't tested before it went live, I have a feeling that we have ended up with a forum that the designers wanted, rather than one that the end users (us) needed.  This isn't a dig at the moderators, as I'm sure they are pretty disillusioned with the end result as well.

I no longer use the rest of the forum, the new design has successfully weaned me of the habit, I just pop in from time to time on this one as I am subscribed to this topic.

[Guest user]

I've just spent AGES looking for how I can find the latest posts. I came here to ask how to find it and it looks as though it doesn't exist anymore. The old forum (before the last one!) was a godsend to me when i was diagnosed (I never understood why it was actually changed in the first place?) . I now pop on every now and then to see. If there are any posts I can offer help or advice on - as I always appreciated it when old-timers replied to my threads when I was a newbie. However, I don't have time to go through each topic individually. It also makes it feel less of a community as you can't login and just see all of the most recent news in one place... Is it going to be changed?

[GIJaneH]

Sorry, can I give you another problem?

I'm trying to change my avatar.... I can click on "upload avatar" and on my ipad I get a choice of photos on it - only they end up upside down!  On my PC, when I click on that, I get an empty box and nothing happens - can go nowhere...

thanks guys...

Jane

[GIJaneH]

Thanks Helen.  I DO use both a PC and ipad, but I often use either several times in succession (depending where  I am) and I never get taken to the last unread post, but the last post (cue for a trumpet!)

Thanks  Jane

[JCJ]

On my bookmark page ALL threads have the total number of replies EXCEPT this one which shows the number of unread posts. It reverts to 0 every time I open the thread.  Also all my threads remain bold (Topic bookmarks, not message) permanently, except this one which unboldens (???) itself when there are no unread messages.  Is it to do with new threads started on the new forum as opposed to ones moved across from the old? This thread is the only 'new forum' one I've bookmarked so I can't test that theory!

It's useful to see when there are new posts without having to open each thread. However, the total number of posts is quite good for us (sad, nerdy?? 😛 ) types that like an excuse for a virtual party at important milestones eg 1000 posts! 🙂

[HelenL_BCC]

Hello all, a couple of quick responses from me:

GIJaneH, 

Thanks for letting us know about your bookmarking issues. I agree - you shouldn't be seeing 6000+ 'unread' in your bookmarks - that sounds more like the total number. I'll let our forum technical support now  and get back to you with an update ASAP. 

I'm sorry to hear the 'go to latest unread post' function doesn't work well for you either. Can I just double-check if you're always accessing the forum using the same device? (i.e. Your laptop/ipad/PC)? Strange question, but I wonder if the forum 'forgets' what you've viewed if you switch devices. It shouldn't (!) but I'm just trying to think of all possibilities while investigating this one.

Thanks for your patience 🙂

Jenifer,

I'm really sorry for the delay in resolving your issue with PMs.

After much digging(!), it seems you have become registered with two different user names - Jenifer and Jeniffer. Our Moderator team will get in touch to sort out the duplicate account. 

Sincere apologies for this. 

[nicky08]

Sorry, but another gripe from me! Why is the 'body' of a post so small? You can only see a few lines yet there's loads of space on the page that could have been used. Not seeing the rest of the posts associated to a thread is also frustrating, why can't we scroll down like on previous versions of the Forum?
Also please bring back latest posts, it seems that others want that as well. Seeing 4 (often repeated) latest posts in a particular thread, inside a particular topic, is not very useful and not what we need.
Nicky

[Jenifer]

1. How did my username get changed from Jeniffer to Jenifer?

2. Where did all my PMs from the previous forum go?

Please help,  BCC!

[Jo_BCC]

Hi Jane

Sorry you're having problems with the new system.  I have passed this on to our technical team for them to have a look and and sort out for you.  Thanks for letting us know, hopefully it's just teething problems.

Kind regards,

Jo, Moderator