The new site

I've been holding off commenting on the new site until I saw how it's shaping up. I know there are issues the team is working on but here goes anyway.

1. I appreciate that the site had to be rebuilt to deal with capacity issues, etc. However, before embarking on this the team really should have surveyed the members to find out what we liked about the arrangement of the site and what irritated us. If they did and I missed it, apologies.

2. I do hope the logging in issue gets fixed really quickly as it's a major pain!

3. So far, I think the site-generated tagging is RUBBISH. If this is to continue we should be able to delete the stupid ones and put in our own. Furthermore, where are we supposed to search for tags??

4. Where is the A-Z search function in the members' directory? ...And the Search in my area?

5. What's this stuff about choosing a category from 'the above' when there's nothing to choose from?

I think that will do for now. Sorry guys, but your work is far from over. Please don't see this as anti you. It's just that I'm on the side of the site and want it to be the best it can be because I value it so much.

Best wishes

Linda

[Hidden]

Hi Linda,

Thank you for posting a common sense blog (now called a post) you can delete the tags that come up (as they don't make sense) but are not able to replace them with anything else (so I agree with you) wlcome back love x G x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I am getting email alerts now but still have to log in every time !

Anne x

[Anne-2 in reply to Hidden]

Hi!

I have had one e-mail alert and have just logged in today. How on earth can anyone respond to anything properly any more?

Perhaps Matt has never heard of the expression if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Missing you all

Anne

[Whippit in reply to Anne-2]

Oh dear I'm not sure we're meant to be naming and shaming. I'm sure the site will be better than before once all the glitches have been fixed and it's just a matter of getting used to the way things work now. There are improvements and yesterday I started to get email notifications but not today. I missed those most of all.

I guess we also have to remember that someone has to pay for this site and as it's not us it's the funders who will have the most say about how the site looks and feels.

Hopefully you'll feel comfortable with the site and will keep in touch. I've just posted a silly handbag blog as I thought we might all be in need of a bit of cheer and banter. xxxx Loads of love xx Annie

[matt]

Hi Linda,

Thanks for your patience and the clarity of your feedback. Some answers below.

Matt

1. I appreciate that the site had to be rebuilt to deal with capacity issues, etc. However, before embarking on this the team really should have surveyed the members to find out what we liked about the arrangement of the site and what irritated us. If they did and I missed it, apologies.

***Believe it or not the site rebuild has had a lot of user input in surveys, feedback and one-on-one interview. Many of the new features requests that we responded are yet to be revealed so I'd hope the benefits to be much clearer over coming weeks and months.

2. I do hope the logging in issue gets fixed really quickly as it's a major pain!

***Apologies - logging in is improving a lot for some but it's our number one issue to eradicate for everyone asap.

3. So far, I think the site-generated tagging is RUBBISH. If this is to continue we should be able to delete the stupid ones and put in our own. Furthermore, where are we supposed to search for tags??

***Auto-tagging was released very much in a prototype form and personalized tagging is needed. We'll get to them as soon as we can.

4. Where is the A-Z search function in the members' directory? ...And the Search in my area?

***The members directory is one of the areas that will be much better than before, including location-specific tools. It's unusual and to have to do a big bang relaunch of a whole network like HU so we held back on some of the new areas so to get the fundamental platform 100% stable first.

5. What's this stuff about choosing a category from 'the above' when there's nothing to choose from?

***Topic Categories will need to be assigned to the Ovacome group. These categories are designed to improve the browsability of the content for (especially new) users.

[Hidden in reply to matt]

Hi Matt,

When you say research was done to find out what people needed, did you take into account My Ovacome? Because I think that My Ovacome is one if not the most popular used support groups you only have to look at the other communities to see that, so rather than ump all the communities needs together, do you think you could give some consideration to our community (my Ovacome) you can see that the regular users on this site have all but disappeared and for a group with such a poor prognosis with their disease this is tragic... Best wishes for future improvements x G x

[matt in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Gwyn, absolutely - Ovacome is one of our oldest and most valued communities - I recognise the particular value this community constitutes. We're in the process of switching back email notifications which should bring more people back in. We really believe the future improvements will make a bigger difference and will be worth it.

[Hidden in reply to matt]

Thank you Matt,

But please bring back my tags i.e. Tributes, poems, birthdays and musings of gwyn.

We are trying to get a book published to raise money for Ovacome the compilation of these on previous blogs (posts) have all but disappeared. Best wishes x G x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Dear Linda and Gwyn

thank you for your imput I think you have both given excellent points which are very important.

I do realise that work is still continuing.

Also I am concerned that since the re-vamp we seem to have lost some very valuable members I wonder where they have gone!

Have they disappeared because of the website because sometimes it has been very frustrating, and not all of us are very savvy with computers or have they given up. I hope not as it has been such a wonderful network

Maybe a survey would be valuable.

Regards Barbara

[Whippit in reply to Hidden]

Dear Barbara

I have no doubt that our friends will be back. The quality of the site is greatly influenced by the inut that we make in terms of posts, questions and comments. As Gwyn says this is one of the outstanding examples of the HU sites. Let's make sure we make it attractive and continue to post and cheer one another along. I don't suppose new members, who are already feeling vulnerable, are going to be attracted by a lot of negative and critical comments. They know no better so they're probably very enthusiastic to have found this community.

I've put up a silly post this morning hoping a bit of lighthearted banter will cheer us up. xxxx love Annie

[Hidden in reply to matt]

Thanks for the reply, Matt. Looking forward to all the future developments and improvements. You can't complain about a disengaged membership anyway!

[Hidden in reply to matt]

Hi Matt

Think you need to do a new update post to let members who have just got back on know what's happening and what they can expect. There's still a lot of frustration out there.

Best wishes

Linda

[Hidden]

Agree 100% with all of the points Linda raises. The tagging is particularly irritating - for illustration, please see the tags associated with the recent announcement of Linda's passing. This really is unacceptable as a model, and severely decreases the usefulness of the site to those both posting, and searching.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Sue,

I couldn't agree more, well said love x G x

[wendydee]

I have had an email alter today! About Brenda's Three Peaks Challenge, so a wonderful one to start with. But I wonder what has happened to all the others that I used to get. Have people just stopped using the site because of all the difficulties, or have they just not appeared yet. I appreciate the techie team are having a rough time, trying to fix Ll the blips and teething problems, but it would be a real shame to lose all the things we love.....notifications, all the past posts and blogs, our own tags (including musings, birthdays, poems, hysterectomy, surgery, HRT etc) They were also really useful to refer new patients to, when they were finding it difficult to envisage what was ahead. Keep working at it, Matt and team

Love Wendy xx

[Hidden]

Hi everyone

Just looked at the new site and managed to see posts up to 13 hours ago, where are the rest????? I don't post often but do nip into the site every now and then to catch up. Couldn't find out how to see anything else.

Love Chris x x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Chris,

I have missed you, glad you are on now, this site has been a nightmare, lesson learned (don't rely on online support) even though the support of people might be genuine, the bottom line is that the net is precarious, Me thinks HU might have shot themselves in the foot, by trying to fix what isn't broken. Love x G x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Gwyn, I don't think that's entirely fair. The tech team have said that the whole platform was getting to a point where it couldn't cope with the volume of activity and therefore had to be rebuilt from scratch. Sure, they hadn't got rid of all the bugs before relaunching and that has caused problems but this isn't the first site where that has happened and it won't be the last. Also , the communication and awareness raising about the work and the plans for future developments could also have been better, although I'm not sure what I may have missed as it was going own while I was on holiday and had intermittent wifi access and little time to read all the posts. Lets hope the frustration this has caused is coming to an end and we'll soon be able to access all the resources we've created over the years to support each other.

Love

Linda xxx

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Linda, I see your point HU was suffering overload especially with Ovacome as it is a popular supports site, which highlights to me the lack of support that OC gets in general, and yes other I.T. sites have had this problem in the past, on the other hand it would have been nice to be forewarned about this, we must not forget that a lots of people rely on this for support and are perhaps not in a good place with their prognosis, it is easier to have a different view if you are in a good place... then it becomes more social than support, this site is a lifeline to some and we must not forget this, to suddenly not get emails gives a sense of abandonment and being alone at a time when some might need it most. Love x G x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Indeed. Lets hope they've got the message that advance notice works better than surprises in a community like this. Xxx

[Whippit in reply to Hidden]

I really value your point Linda. There have been mistakes in the planning but there were reasons for the changes to the site so it wasn't a matter of change for the sake of change. It would be really nice to have more helpful comments to improve the look and feel of the HU site. Having spoken and corresponded to members of the Health Unlocked team I know how committed they are to providing a support service and listening to the users' views. It's a great site and they are genuinely working round-the-clock to sort out the problems. xxx Annie

[jennybutler]

I have not had any posts for at least 4 weeks nothing at all? why change what we all understood? crazy hope I can find my way round today is my first contact from ovacome for ages where are all our tags Gwyn needs us now more than ever come on get it sorted please.

[Hidden in reply to jennybutler]

Hi Jenny

Good to see you back, I've missed you live x G x

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I meant love but live is ok teehee

[jennybutler]

where have you been

[jennybutler]

awful why fix and mess us up when its not broken rediculous and bl---y annoying

[jennybutler]

Cant believe not been able to get on site for at least 4 weeks CRAZY why change whats not broken?

[Madz]

I tend to rely on the e mail alerts as don't have much time now I am back at work full time plus, so was really pleased to get one today but keep missing loads. Hopefully things will settle soon and we can get back the flow / I don't seem to have trouble with access just updates so am pleased this should be fully resolved soon xx