"Recent Forum Posts" window on Dashboard Returning?

RHolmes

Ok...this is a request for the return of an old feature. 

I really, really miss the "Recent Forum Posts" section that used to live beneath the "Training Plan" block on the right side of the Dashboard. I've waited to ask about it bc I know yall have had a ton going on, but I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere.

I typically check EN from my phone during downtime during the day...in 5-10m blocks a couple times. Before, with one click, I could see the conversational dashboard posts, my training plan and the most recent posts in the forums. 

What I really miss about seeing the recent forum posts is that I know there are GREAT discussions going on in the forums between people who have a bit more time & a lot more knowledge than me. That "preview" area let me see where the most recent/active conversations were and gave me a "one click" way to get there. 

As it is now, I would really have to click & search to find that information...which is time consuming & hard on a phone. I know the forums have a "not read" link now, but I still have to click on every thread to see any comments.

During my first year with EN, I learned so much by reading along with the discussions that were relevant to me on the "Recent Forum Posts" window. As it is now, I just scan the dashboard...which is conversational & fun but not meant to be as in-depth...and then maybe click on one forum link to see what's being said. I know I'm not learning as much...and it used to be so easy, even on-the-go and with limited time.

So, there's my vote for bringing back the "Recent Forum Posts" window on the dashboard!

Brenda Ross

What about going to the forums and looking at UNREAD posts?

Coach Rich

Rebecca,

I have Unread Posts bookmarked on my iPhone and just go there. 

We've gotten many positive comments about how much cleaner and simpler the new site is. Would adding Recent Posts to the dashboard be a step backwards? What does everyone else think?

RHolmes

I have tried looking at "Unread Posts"...but again, I can't see any of the actual posts without clicking again...

Before: 1 click to dashboard...could see interesting posts (not just titles) from forum on variety of topics ...1 click to get to see the full discussion

Now: 1 click to dashboard...1 click to Forums/Unread...1 click to choose a topic...scan posts...1 click back to Forums/Unread...1 click to scan posts on another thread...just a more difficult & time consuming process...picky, I know, but I can tell I'm just not reading & learning as much...which is one thing I've loved about EN!

And, I realize the new interface is cleaner...and as a new member, it did take me some time to get my bearings with all the info on the old dashboard. But, once I got it, I loved how it functioned. It also seems the "Mojo board" is not returning (no complaints there), so it wouldn't be as busy as it was.

Thanks for considering!

RHolmes

Also, a question regarding the Forums/Unread option. Once I visit a thread once, will it appear again on the Forums/Unread when other people add to it? Or does it disappear from the list once I visit initially?

I'm thinking of the "Recreational Sugar" discussion that happened in the late fall...it had several "surges" of comments that I knew about bc of the "recent forum posts" window.

I'm guessing now I would have to "subscribe" to know that activity is happening...but that's again more management...vs just seeing the activity on the dashboard.

Coach Rich

Posted By Rebecca Holmes on 09 Apr 2013 02:23 PM


Also, a question regarding the Forums/Unread option. Once I visit a thread once, will it appear again on the Forums/Unread when other people add to it? Or does it disappear from the list once I visit initially? Yes, it will appear back on that list if a new post is made



I'm thinking of the "Recreational Sugar" discussion that happened in the late fall...it had several "surges" of comments that I knew about bc of the "recent forum posts" window.



I'm guessing now I would have to "subscribe" to know that activity is happening...but that's again more management...vs just seeing the activity on the dashboard. Yes, you'd need to subscribe to the thread (FYI, if you reply to the thread, the "subscribe to this thread" box is checked by default). But to counter your point, the "Latest Forum Topics" area, or whatever, only contained about 4-5 of the most recent topics so on a busy posting day new stuff should scroll out of that box pretty quickly?

I'm not trying to be difficult, we just want to think very critically about adding more stuff and widgets to the site, as our failure to do that created a very confusing site very quickly.

Any other opinions on this topic from the rest of the team?

RHolmes

I don't take it as being difficult at all...and appreciate the desire to keep the dashboard clean. Also appreciative of the work-around ideas. I am curious to hear if others miss it as I do though!

Joe Matchette

@Rich - I am not in favor of having the Recent Posts return. I would rather the time/effort be put towards improving the search and sort functionality within the Forums. As we know, a lot of the Team have workarounds in place (Evernote, archiving everything to gmail, etc), but that is really the "least functional" aspect of EN 5.0 (and 4.0 for that matter).

[THREAD DRIFT] Along with that, I miss the ability to click on a member's name, and then click to see what threads they have started. I found that to be a useful function.

Coach Rich

Joe, we hear you on search. We recently started looking into this and have found that improving it isn't as easy as we expected and, like everything, costs $$$ to improve. We have some other short term priorities right now, within about a 3wk window, but will look into it more when we check those items off the list.

kimmydct

I find "Active Topics" to be quite helpful on the Forums page. I didn't read Forums as much prior to the new site but this makes it super easy.

Coach Patrick

@Rebecca, those unread threads are YOUR unread one. And if you read it / post, then others answer, it will be "unread" for you again. I will put this question to our tech / design team....and Coach Rich...