Improvements to DOG.community

I'm going to add on to Karen's comments about this forum.

1. It's extremely anti-mobile friendly, which is how I access forums and do 99.9% of my internet browsing. The recent changes which added the auto-quote from the previous poster made it even more anti-mobile friendly as i now have to delete all of that quoted text if I want to post something. I slowed down posting due to the previous difficulties with formatting and browsing, but this has stopped me from posting completely.

2. Log in continues to be an issue. The pop up screen asking me to log in makes this issue worse, especially on mobile browsers. Anyone that browses with smartphones should realize the difficulties pop ups (especially log in pop ups) bring to internet browsing on phones.

3. I can't tell anymore which threads are actually "real" people or planted posts started by dog.com people. It feels silly responding to auto-bot posts, so to speak.

4. I don't hate change, but the changes to these forums have not been for the better. They seem untested and the site is sloppy. My personal preference is for a clean uncluttered look. There's so much going on with each page that your eye doesn't know where to focus. It took me 5+ minutes just to find this thread.

I do miss posting here and reading what is going on with those folks that don't do fb. Tracy, It's time to join fb :) I just can't do these forums anymore but I miss keeping up with how you're doing!

@Jewlieee

3. I can't tell anymore which threads are actually "real" people or planted posts started by dog.com people. It feels silly responding to auto-bot posts, so to speak.

I assure you we are not robots! If that is the case, then I think I need a tune up!  We start conversations in an attempt to keep users that are not in the daily chats engaged. We understand that they do not get commented on often and that is something we would like to change. Planned social posts are something we have taken great pride in planning in an attempt to bring new users into the mix.  Thanks for adding specific points of issue to this thread, We are currently working on ways to make your mobile (and over all experience better.)  It is because of all of you that we continue to work to make this a better place for all of you to stay connected.

Julie, I miss staying connected with you, too, as well as several other iDoggers who only use Facebook now.  While there are a few reasons why FB sounds appealing (such as having that wider iDog community again), the reasons why I don't want to be involved in it still outweigh them.  But if I ever change my mind, I'll let you know!

Actually, when I do "use" FB (looking at public FB pages for organizations and businesses that I'm interested in), I feel the same way I do about this forum's new format.  The "timeline" pages on FB have a similar layout as the main page of this forum.  I have trouble finding particular posts on our shelter's FB page, for example, and I get rather frustrated scrolling through everything, looking for a conversation or post that relates to something I want to read about.

No amount of time on this forum (or those FB pages) makes me feel more comfortable with that style of layout.  I'm just not someone who likes a lot of graphic and visual clutter.  My brain and my eyes prefer a basic, linear format.  It's as simple as that.  Different strokes.

At any rate, I agree 100% with Julie's third and fourth points.  I don't use a smartphone, so I can't comment the first two points.  However, knowing how much I hate using DH's iPad when I want to post here, I can imagine a phone would be much worse.  Not being able to easily delete blocks of texts and such would be annoying.

We need that old "beating a dead horse" icon. Jes sayin.

I  think that we were asked what we think, what issues we are having and we should be able to share that.

However, I do think we all need to remember that we are dealing with real live human beings and not say things to them that we wouldn't want said to ourselves.

I understand what you're saying, Glenda, but I have to agree with Tina that it does feel like we've been repeating ourselves for a while, to no avail.  No one has replied, "Okay, we'll clear up the clutter and go back to the linear format."  Thus, Tina's dead horse analogy kind of fits.  The fact that we keep saying the same things without much result may mean that it's kind of a waste of time and this format is just how it'll be.

And speaking of the "old days" of iDog, remember the bru-ha-ha over that horse icon?!  

OK, despite what I just said up there, I have to post a repeat complaint.  

I just went back to the main "sticky page" and there's a thread from 2012 about a lost Yorkie -- and someone just posted a response to it today.  I know users should look at dates of threads to make sure they're current, but can't there be a way to keep super old threads from appearing? I realize they need to be accessible for reading since they might serve as a reference for someone looking for info on a specific topic.  However, maybe a message could pop up saying, "You are about to post to a thread that is over 12 months old.  Do you want to continue?"  

The new activity on that thread clutters up that home "sticky page," when it's not a truly useful thread anymore.

I might have taken Tina's comment the wrong way, and if so, I do apologize.  Yeah, we all have said pretty much the same thing and not gotten very far, so yes, I share the frustration.  But, I stand by  the comment that we do need to remember we are "talking" to and about real people, and perhaps temper our caustic comments.

OMG!!  Do I ever remember that!  WAY back under the original idog founder we had a train wreck icon that tended to get very well overused.  That went away too!  Only the good die young, eh? 

@tacran

However, maybe a message could pop up saying, "You are about to post to a thread that is over 12 months old. Do you want to continue?"

The new activity on that thread clutters up that home "sticky page," when it's not a truly useful thread anymore.

Good idea! That being said, I don't think that there is any way to 100% stop people for posting on old topics. Sometimes there are new users that find us on some part of the internet that will post on old topics because they found them useful.

  The reason that we created this tread was not only for you to complain about what you hate, but also to give us a more detailed account of the problems you are having. In our next update we are striving to keep a better hold on the navigation issues that are widespread so (hopefully) we won't have to have a second thread like this one!

  It is understandable that sometimes words are said that can be a little strong while trying to express your frustrations without speaking face to face. To Glenmar's point, yes we are real people, but we all know that you are voicing your frustrations in order to make this a better place, not to hurt. No hard feelings here! :)  

Kait, I agree that you could never prevent posts on old topics 100%.  But a message like the one I suggested might reduce a number of them.  I suspect some people simply don't notice the date of the last post on a thread, and they just start typing their response.  

I have no idea if it's even possible, since I'm clueless about all things IT-related, but I thought I'd throw it out there!

@tacran

Kait, I agree that you could never prevent posts on old topics 100%. But a message like the one I suggested might reduce a number of them. I suspect some people simply don't notice the date of the last post on a thread, and they just start typing their response.

I have no idea if it's even possible, since I'm clueless about all things IT-related, but I thought I'd throw it out there!

Hey! It doesn't hurt to throw ideas out there! We could look into see if that is an option! :)