New website Format - Please post comments

I opened the forum on Monday and saw a bright new site! Thanks to the people who put such work into the design. One question: next to some of the posts there is a number in a blue circle. What does that number represent? Thanks.

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Thank you Dorie @wadawabbit for your comments and questions.
Yes, there has been some significant changes made to the TON Forum, and we hope the changes are for the better and that this Forum will be more responsive. There are some issues yet to be resolved.
The figure in blue to which you refer represents the number of responses added in that topic since you read that Topic, and is posted because you read the topic. You can change what shows by using the ā€œTrackingā€ box directly below the last post.

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@ Dennis I donā€™t know if youā€™re the right one to address this to or not. Change is difficult and no less so for websites, both those that make them and those that use them. When I first logged in, I thought Iā€™d gone to the wrong site; then I thought, ā€œWhat have they done?ā€; and then thought, give it a chance and see. I find the new layout strange to navigate, though the more I use it, the more I get used to it. In the end, I think my issue with it is that it seems to provide less information in one look due to different size fonts and the amount of white space present on each page. In addition, the bright blue on white is a pretty stark contrast, though Iā€™m not sure itā€™s greatly different than it was. Iā€™ll give it some more time, but at present, Iā€™m longing for the pastā€¦but it may be I was used to it.

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Thank you Tom @Tlholz for your observations - yes, the site needs more work. Please keep posting here and Iā€™ll make sure the information is pushed forward.

One change you may have noticed move in over recent months are the New Categories and the Topics in each category now belongs there; six teams of Moderators worked for months shifting Topics from the old categories into the newly titled Category. Many of the ā€œoutdatedā€ topics from 2002 onward has been archived to provide more relevant searches.

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Taking ā€œa look at the NEW websiteā€ is considerable harder with the thin fonts and low contrast style palette.
The goal is to communicate information by being readable for persons of all visually acuity; not to have ā€˜artyā€™ styles. Please make it easier to read.

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No response necessary from the developers but since you requested feedback:
Every time I open the forum the ā€œtrendingā€ section is building, while the others are immediately available.
I wanted to direct someone to the Resources tab that used to be at the top of the page but itā€™s no longer there - I think I had to search for ā€œResourcesā€ to locate it.
I like the sharpness of the font, but even on a white background it looks grey rather than black. Not sure if itā€™s the font style or my eyes but something darker might be helpful for some.

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Iā€™m not sure about the changes yet. Right now they are confusing to me. Perhaps with time I will get more accustomed to them. For example: I liked that I could see how many new topics there were and how many unread topics on the old screen. I donā€™t see this on the new format, and Iā€™m not sure that I want to have to search for new/unread topics on my own. To me, this is too time consuming.

Pam K.

Thank you for this feedback! We are gathering specific issues and sharing with the developersā€“so yes, keep them coming, and we will let everyone know when and how it will be addressed.

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Thank you Dorie! We have noticed the same long loading time for Trending topics. The Resources tab you are referring toā€“that was the one leading back to the jdrf.org website, yes? Font colors noted as well. Thanks again!

Iā€™m not sure Iā€™m interpreting things correctly. I used to think the #s (now white/blue) following a topic listed were an indication of how many posts were new in the topic. Iā€™d swear they used to reset if I visited the topic and inside the same ā€œvisit,ā€ but now they donā€™t seem to change until I stop the ā€œvisit.ā€ Perhaps I need to read the site instructionsā€¦.

OK, I can now confirm the number of posts indicator is NOT working correctly. Today it indicated four new posts, two of them have been there for at least 5 days (per the system) with the other two being 1 day old (per the system), yet I read them yesterday. It might just be me, but thatā€™s not like it used to be, it wastes my time and effort. Also, the ā€œTrendingā€ box on the opening screen just sits there with circular indicator going round and round for too long; then just now, it showed me posts from 10 and 21 days ago with only one new post indicatedā€¦how is that trending?

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Iā€™ve tried to get used to the new format, but Iā€™m not willing to continue. From the lack of It doesnā€™t seem intuitive or logical in design or function; more of the proverbial engineer trying to write instructions on how to put together/use a productā€¦probably makes sense to him/her, but not many others. While JDRF figures out a logical method of presentation and gets it functional, Iā€™ll take a hiatus of including the site in my daily rotation of news and review. The people JDRF serves need the forum and are worth the effort, but the current forum is not, in my opinion, that useable forum.

Tom @Tlholz, we know of your frustration with the revised Forum format and I, for one, understands your desire to take a break until some serious issues are resolved.

The JDRF Headquarters staff is aware and working toward rectifying. I for one urge you to return after your break; you have a history for posting good diabetes management ideas.

You are correct about my ā€œresourcesā€ question - that is what I was asking. Sorry I forgot to respond sooner. Thank you.

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Hi,
Iā€™d like to see the text larger with a bolder font.
Hereā€™s hoping!

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Suggest dropping the top two boxes that read ā€œnewly diagnosedā€ and ā€œtrendingā€. Especially as right below that you can select what you want to see.

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Iā€™ve been having the same issue with the little blue indicators. Not a big deal just irritating.

Thanks to the mods/tech people for asking for and listening to the feedback :slight_smile:

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As a simple aesthetic change, would be better to dull down the bright blue buttons and banner. They are so bright that they keep drawing my eyes to them, however they are less important than the text content.

Hi all! Our developers are working on all of the feedback you have shared and feel they have resolutions for all of it. (SO thank you for the feedback to make this happen!) Except they have a a question about the ā€œblue dotsā€. Should they remove them altogether? Or is it just that they donā€™t seem to work in a consistent manner? Are they redundant if the read/unread line is working correctly?