Forum Restructuring Timeline and Updates! (Community Version)
Hello everyone.
As you may already know, the site and the forums have been undergoing changes for the last few months to make it easier to use. Throughout the next 6 weeks, we will be providing updates to the community to ensure that everyone is well informed about the next phase of changes.
The goal of all this work is to make navigation and usage of the forum easier for everyone. And, in particular, make it easier for newbies to get involved. How many times do we see someone start a post with “I’m not sure if this is the right place but…”!
The good news is that the changes are working and as a community, we’ve nearly doubled the number of posts we make and hearts/upvotes we give in the last 10 months!
Truthfully, change is always uncomfortable. Even when the change is something positive, adjusting to something new takes time and requires adaptation. We hope the changes benefit as many of you as possible. But it’s inevitable that some will not like these changes.
When you haven’t experienced a specific change, like the forum restructuring, there’s no way to predict what will happen. This is something new that we’re taking on as individuals and as a community, so this is a learning process for us all. There will be bugs, delays, and other issues as we progress through this, but we will continue to work on them to improve and not revert back to the old changes.
Main changes
The layout (template) of each (sub) community homepage (e.g. 35+ community) will be upgraded to fit with the structure and style you see today on the dashboard (7cups.com/dashboard) and the main community page (7cups.com/home).
The sub-forum layer to each community will be removed so that you go straight into posts and threads when you go into a community. This happens today when you go to a (sub) community and sort by “New” or “Popular” and see posts rather than sub-forums.
Many popular sub-forums will be elevated into becoming their own communities. This is to balance out the problem created by removing the sub-forum layer - that the top level communities are too broad and general (e.g. “Hobbies”).
When we checked earlier this year we had 30+ communities and over 600+ sub-forums! Finding the right sub-forum to post in is tricky for newer users because the topic you want could be hidden in any of the 30+ communities. One of the many areas where we need your help is to finalise the names of the new communities.
The timeline we’re working towards is to gradually release and test these changes over the coming 6 weeks. If we encounter technical issues, it could take longer.
A similar post was sent out to the community leaders. This one is meant for the community.
@CheeryMango Thanks for all that you do to make 7cups, a better place for everyone.
Your a true gem and your an amazing leader.
@Happy900
I love that diamond picture. That's cute.
@DelicateButterfly78 You are so very welcomed.
still make easy to find disability forums ok that is favorite place to say things when I have to much feelings inside
@theboymoana The disability team will do what we can to help! If you're struggling after the change happens, let us know!
@AffyAvo
ok! I will let you all know I am struggling if I am 😀
I'm for anything that is less confusing and more welcoming to new members.
I hope all those sub-communities get sorted out... wow, 600? (See, I read the whole post 😊 )
I appreciate ALL the work that's being put into this site. Thank you all. 💗💙💜🌺
Okay: Some suggestions for sub-community forums:
- Painting
- Photography
- Sculpture (clays)
- Mid-life Crises
- Quarter-life Crises
- Substance Abuse (Alcohol)
- Substance Abuse (street drugs)
- Substance Abuse (prescription meds)
- Men's Forum
- Women's Forum [these will need to be restricted, obviously]
-
Poetry
@slowdecline48
Nice 👍
@CheeryMango
Aside from forum structure, how about retooling the filter algorithm/mechanism/whatever that screens potential posts?
A few minutes ago I tried to post a bnw photo of an onion to my hobby journal, only for it to be blocked because it was "innappropriate content" [actual spelling. Y'all need to use the spellcheck option]... How is a photo of a vegetable even remotely "inappropriate"? My only guess is the algorithm screens out anything with a very round form because certain body parts also tend to be round. Dunno if that's correct but the filter is still ridiculous. The photo isn't even flesh-colored, facryinoutloud.
I understand that there are people here who shouldn't view adult content because of prior traumas & certain mental conditions. That makes sense. What does not make sense is a picture filter which was apparently programmed by Anthony Comstock.
@slowdecline48 I highly doubt 7 cups has implemented an algorithm to decide which image is appropriate. Those things need a lot of computational power for training. They are using ready to use filters and have no control on what the artificial intelligence decides is appropriate or not. Sad story.
Hi, I'm fine with everything except that you took away the profile pictures for the mobile chat. I really liked those, I used to complement people on their pictures and they were thankful.
@CheeryMango thanks for the updates.
I'm not sure how "The sub-forum layer to each community will be removed so that you go straight into posts and threads when you go into a community. This happens today when you go to a (sub) community and sort by “New” or “Popular” and see posts rather than sub-forums. " will look like but I'm not a fan of Reddit layouts. The forums are partly a knowledge base and removing categories will make it harder to find and organise things.
@CheeryMango LLJ has various subforums for different teams. WIll they all be merged? Or will each team get it's own community?
Also won't lack of subforum layer cause mixing, confusion and difficulty finding threads?
@CheeryMango
You're right that change can sometimes be uncomfortable, but change like this is usually beneficial, so I look forward to it ☺️ I appreciate the work your team has done. You guys are awesome for putting in so many good updates here. Good job 👌