Forum format complaint

[jimdempseyatthecove]

I would like to complain about how the form displays the responses to threads.

In the old format, all posts to a thread (topic) were numbered .AND. appended in chronological order. This format made it very easy to keep track of changes/addendums/etc. In particular one could specifically reference a post #.

In the new format, it is like a tree structure, which is subject to branching. This makes it difficult to follow updates as it requires the reader (I should say follower of thread) to keep up with changes. IOW it essentially requires one to re-read the entire thread starting from the top.

While the tree structure makes sense to someone who has never read the thread before (and won't visit it again), it is extremely aggravating to those contributing assistance to users with problems.

To resolve this, I suggest

1) restore the post/reply sequence #'s
2) have pull-down sort options to select by sequence # or tree order

Note, the sort by date, oldest to newest/newest to oldest, is within tree branch so both (current) sort methods make it cumbersome to follow (maintain) conversation/dialog.

Jim Dempsey

[ArpitaP_Intel]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for your feedback. We recently, moved our forum to a new platform, as a result of which the changes that you mentioned, appeared. I will surely convey your feedback to our Community Manager.

Regards,

Arpita Panda

[MaryT_Intel]

Hi @jimdempseyatthecove ,

Thanks for bringing this up and sorry for your experience!  Users do have control of their layout in the “My Settings” -> Preferences -> Display" to change back to Linear format.  Linear format does have a small bug currently where replies are duplicated but we're taking a look at this to fix it (no ETA yet). Hope this helps. Thanks,

Mary T.

Support Community Manager

[ClariceStarling]

Whatever ... it's still a lot better than Dell's community format!

[ClariceStarling]

Here's the deal on this ... if one is a computer person, they want it to appear linear like a computer program.  However, if one is a management type people person, they want it threaded.  Given that most of the readers are probably computer people, the default should be linear ... in my opinion!

[jimdempseyatthecove]

Mary,

Why then is this option for for display preference under the pull-down "Option" where the "Sort" order is located?

Jim Dempsey

[MaryT_Intel]

Hi @jimdempseyatthecove ,

I apologize I didn't see this earlier! Please @mention me so I'll be notified of your post.

As for the sort order being available in the Options pull-down menu, it looks like it's offered in a couple places. Please email me directly at intel.community@intel.com to provide improvements requests and we'll work on them. 

Thanks and regards,

Mary T.

Support Community Manager

[jimdempseyatthecove]

Mary,

While the display method (tree or old linear format) and sort order are offered, the linear format (chronological)-sorted is still tree-sorted.

Jim Dempsey

[jimdempseyatthecove]

>> Linear format does have a small bug currently where replies are duplicated but we're taking a look at this to fix it

But the duplicates are not in chronological order (see your duplicates together with my reply).

Jim Dempsey

[jimdempseyatthecove]

Linear format Sort Order is not working.

Following thread is just as bad.

Don't forget to add sequence # (much more convenient to use #n than using: mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm

Jim Dempsey

[ClariceStarling]

Another problem is, people reply and you can't tell who or what they are replying to!

[ArpitaP_Intel]

Hi Jim,

Please let us know if you need any further help on this thread or we can go ahead and close it.

Thanks!

[ClariceStarling]

Apple has a better board, because they ask for questions or comments - as opposed to just questions.

Jim didn't have a question.  He was only making a comment ... so he probably violated some Intel community rule!

[ArpitaP_Intel]

Hi Jim,

As suggested by @MaryT_Intel, you can tag her, so that she gets notified or directly send her a mail(mail id: intel.community@intel.com) for providing suggestions for improvements.

Thanks!

[ArpitaP_Intel]

Hi Jim,

If you need any additional information, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.

Thanks!