Improvements to DOG.community

@glenmar

Might be just that attitude that is the reason many of us don't post other than in chat. Being put down for sharing an opinion makes it not so pleasant to share one. And if you can't FIND threads, how are you supposed to post in them?

Seriously, Glenda?  

@JackieG

@glenmar

Might be just that attitude that is the reason many of us don't post other than in chat. Being put down for sharing an opinion makes it not so pleasant to share one. And if you can't FIND threads, how are you supposed to post in them?

Seriously, Glenda?

Yep, seriously.

@JackieG

Steph, I wasn't referring to your comment about the FB log in problem. That to me is a legitimate "complaint" if you want to call it that. My little rant was more about how some people can't seem to come to grips with any change. I'm as happy as a clam if software never changes or gets updated. That never happens though. lol

I figured you weren't really singling me out, but it did make me think about the fact that the only things I comment on are the "complaint" threads and chat.  And while those have their place, they don't really help with keeping the forum alive.  Which ultimately, I think, is what everyone wants.  

That being said, I won't promise to get any better about it, but I do realize that I certainly have not been helping to get what I want.

Jackie -- I am truly re-assured now ... I knew there had to be somebuddy older'n me (other than my Mom??) .  But like I said -- being 60 didn't bother me LOL  .. what bothered me was having a parent who turned 90.  Now that sounded ... old.  But ... my 90 year old Dad is still on the computer and loving it.  So I don't dare complain.  And as rare as it is to have both parents living to be 90 (or almost 90) I'm certainly not going to complain about that!!  

But it really does motivate me to "get over it".  So, the last year hs been a challenge but I'm feeling better than I was so .... I'm ahead.  

But to everything you said up there, you've got a hearty "amen" from me.  

I miss the days when many threads were extremely active. That was how I learned, reading the knowledge shared here. I don't even have a dog right now. Sometimes I can't adequately answer questions that do pop up. I don't care for the videos, so I don't watch or comment on them. That's my choice. It seems to me that we have a few options: complain, adapt, or leave.

I am an avid dog lover and I really want to build our community so that everyone can come here share pics, stories and become a hub to help dog lovers who are having issues or just need a shoulder when one of our dogs pass onto the bridge. I know change can be annoying sometimes, but we just want to make things better and easier in the long run. So many of you are full of knowledge and information please post to our threads we appreciate your input so much. Together we can make this a great community.

I have to say that my use of the forum has dropped significantly for various reasons:

I started a contract consulting job at the same time as the 'upgrade' was made. I have very little 'free' time so I use it wisely.

Which brings me to this; the interface has been a challenge, especially to access via phone which is how I can access the site during the day.

The constant logging in issue (which still is an issue with some browsers)

The glut of junk threads that are data heavy so the site is ridiculously slow

and the bizarre layout wound up pushing me away.

I would think, Hmm let me do some dog nerding. Then I would try to open the site, I'd have to login (after it took ages to open and then we had the added banner to login adding even more time to the process), once I logged in it would have to load all over again. Then I'd have to try and navigate through all the tiles, etc.

Bottom line all of the above became an aversive.

I am a change agent so it isn't the fact it changed, it is that the change didn't improve the site, it slowed it, and added loads of unwanted content, and therefore was unpleasant.

Have any of you opened the site in Chrome? it's a disaster.

what you may not be able to see is that the only text in the central window is running down the righthand side.

For me, this lack of professionalism (who in this day doesn't check at LEAST the three main browsers for how a site renders before implementing the change???) is not encouraging.

So bottom line for me, I miss the functionality of the site. I connect to see what non-FB people are up to and let them know and Bugsy is doing.

I think these most recent changes are a step in the right direction however I am adamant that the tiles with the videos are not useful or pleasant to most of us nor do they encourage serious discussion or debate.

The knowledgeable people on this site helped me TREMENDOUSLY with baby Bugsy and beyond. So much great information and wonderful friendships were gained here.

Activity was already down and then the sloppy, premature changes occurred and the good folks looked for more serious sites.

hmm in the thread I can't see the screenshot of Chrome however in this reply I can.

This is the sort of loopiness no one likes

I will upload it as a jpeg in the hopes it becomes visible

@kpwlee

hmm in the thread I can't see the screenshot of Chrome however in this reply I can.

This is the sort of loopiness no one likes

I will upload it as a jpeg in the hopes it becomes visible

Thank you for sharing this with us. I am seeing both screenshots as I am viewing it now. Our team does work hard to insure that the site is loading correctly. I myself use Chrome everyday and it does work for me. That isn't to say that you are not experiencing issues with this loading. Our development team will be made aware of this.

   I sincerely  appreciate your list of concerns and issues. We know how much you all care about the community and your concern over functionality.  As Michele had said, we want to make this community better  for all dog lovers and it is because of all of your ( the community's) feedback that we are able to know the issues that are being had.

I would like to second all the comments that Karen made (with the exception of the cell phone log in issues, since I don't use a smartphone and have only accessed the site from a PC or iPad).  

I understand that some of the issue is my own difficulty (or inflexibility) with change.  But hearing Karen express things I have felt, when I know she is a very skilled technical person who is an experienced "change agent" as she described, gives me validation for the displeasure I have about things like the layout of the initial screen, all the "junk threads" that don't ignite response but only clutter the screen (and slow things down).  

For example, it took me several minutes to scroll around that opening screen to find this thread to see what posts I've missed in the past couple days. I am absolutely not an IT/tech person, but I agree with Karen that the roll-out of some of these things has been baffling.  I am willing to spend some time to hunt and find the things I want to read and reply to, but I can see how easy it would be start making forum time a very low priority as other things start taking my attention away.  

I'm grateful we can offer feedback and I hope that some basic improvements can be made so the experience of navigating can be a little less frustrating.

I want to add that while I was away on business I only had the Chrome or Safari browser and it doesn't load properly.

I tried my work laptop (Win7), a tablet (Android Kitkat) and my phone (iOS)

My home PC is Win 8.1 pro

Thank you both. I have forwarded to our team. We are in the process of improving ( yes improving) so of the problems with functionality that you all have addressed. We have heard your cries to make everything easier to find and ,with your help, we are going to going to do it!

For the last two days, I haven't been able to log in. This is happening on my PC at home and at work. I recently changed my browser to Firefox instead of IE.  I'm logged in using IE right now.  My Firefox is version 32.0.2 using Windows 7 OS. When logging in (attempting to ) with Firefox I don't get any type of error message. After entering my log in info, the site takes me back to the welcome window.  Over and over and over.  Seems like this particular problem has been ongoing since 09/13 or some version of the problem. I wasn't able to log in using FB either. Same sequence as above.  

@JackieG

For the last two days, I haven't been able to log in. This is happening on my PC at home and at work. I recently changed my browser to Firefox instead of IE. I'm logged in using IE right now. My Firefox is version 32.0.2 using Windows 7 OS. When logging in (attempting to ) with Firefox I don't get any type of error message. After entering my log in info, the site takes me back to the welcome window. Over and over and over. Seems like this particular problem has been ongoing since 09/13 or some version of the problem. I wasn't able to log in using FB either. Same sequence as above.

Are you still experiencing this problem? I have forwarded this to our development team for review. I apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused. Thank you for alerting me.

-Kaitlin

Yes, I can't log in when using Firefox.  Works when I switch to IE.  Tried several times today using Firefox with no luck.