Post your tech glitches, errors, issues, etc. here.

Beesie

Celand, the suggestion to go back to the previous version of the site has been made many times in this thread and others since this fiasco began almost two weeks ago. It seems that it's either not possible or BCO have opted to not do it. I think that ship has sailed.

I noticed the newly updated message on the discussion board home page; it's now signed by Hope Wohl (that took long enough!). If you click the "Click here" in the newly updated announcement on the discussion board home page, you get a list of changes made to-date. It's a surprisingly and frustratingly short list, which perhaps indicates the extent of the problem/mess-up. But the good news (?!) is that apparently the type has been darkened and increased in size.

"Readability

• We have increased the type size for community posts and made the text darker to be more legible."

I'm on my PC right now but I checked the site on my iPad and phone and while it's possible that the color of the type is slightly darker (but barely noticeably so), the type size does not appear to be any larger than it has been since the start of this mess. In fact I just compared the page on my iPad with the screen shot I posted in this thread a couple of days ago, and they seem to be identical. Does anyone see a difference?

New problem. My cursor and spacing is wacky as I write this up. I thought it might be my PC but as I keep typing, it's clearly the site here. I move my cursor to add a word in the previous paragraph, and when I type the word, it's either right at the start of the post, or right at the bottom, not anywhere near where I put my cursor. A minute ago, literally as I was in the middle of typing the previous sentence, the line between this paragraph and the previous paragraph suddenly disappeared. Then, as I was just typing another sentence and backspaced to correct a typo, and the backspacing deleted a word at the start of a different paragraph. It's like the space here is haunted and someone else is controlling my keyboard.

An old problem, mentioned now for the third time. If I am viewing the site without signing in (I don't have much interest in signing in these days) and then I see a post where I want to respond, when I click to "log in to post a reply", after I sign in, I am back at the home page. That never happened before this change and it's extremely frustrating to have to navigate (slowly and interrupted by application errors and site down messages) back to the last page of the thread where I wanted to respond.

Just got a "site down" screen while trying to post this. I wonder how many will I get before this actually posts... last time it was 3.

Edited to add: Apologies for the weird spacing of my paragraphs. I tried to fix it numerous times, but it's completely outside of my control - the site is doing what it wants to do. The site also seems to remove the space between a period and the start of a new sentence (or the space becomes so small as to be imperceptible), which really challenges readability/comprehension. There is a reason why grammatically spaces are left between words and paragraphs but that seems to be out the window.

santabarbarian

Horribly slow to load, very hard to read, w/ tiny tiny print on white-glare background.

Those of us who are past BC, who want to post or visit to encourage those being treated are going to drop away when you make it so hard to load, read, participate. People who are sick and struggling w chemo are going to drop away.

Why this suicidal re-design? It's AWFUL.

ParakeetsRule

The text size and color are definitely better! Phew. The cursor issues you mentioned Beesie predate the change, at least for me. It's been happening on my phone since last year. I also sometimes have to add double spaces between words to get a single space. But it doesn't always act like this and I have no idea why. Switching to the plain text editor usually helps.

mle42

I received an email notice that I have a PM from the mods. But there is no way for me to access it….. the link to private messages has disappeared again. WTF.

Anonymous

Beesie - The post text seems slightly larger, but it's still much easier to see the total number of posts in the thread. 🙄 The spacing issue was and remains a problem. I just got used to adding a space at the end of my posts or when I insert text . Sometimes I forget. BCO removes extra spaces anyway.

mle - That's a screenshot of your account info. Click the menu icon in the upper right.

Mods - Can you please fix navigation so that you don't direct us to the announcement page wherever we login? A link for announcements is sufficient. The background seems to be a touch warmer in tone. 👍 Still would like a dark mode option.

Beesie

parakeetsrule, I had spacing issues with paragraphs before, but I could always fix it. Today I couldn't fix it. And I've never had my cursor move all over the place, even while I'm in the middle of typing. The elimination of the space after a period is definitely new. I like to leave a couple of spaces so that it's always clear where a new sentence starts, and now I can leave 5 spaces and when my post shows up, all the spaces are gone and my new sentence starts right after the period ending the previous sentence (I just tested it and left 5 spaces at the start of this sentence... all gone when I checked the preview).

As for appearance, I am now on my iPad. Here are my screenshots from Wednesday compared to screenshots today.

Portrait viewing, Wednesday:

Portrait viewing, today:

Landscape viewing, Wednesday:

Landscape viewing, today:

I don't see a difference. Maybe the change was made before Wednesday, but if so, no one noticed. Or maybe it's only visible on a PC - on my PC earlier today the type possibly was slightly darker but it didn't appear to be any larger.

I give up.

Anonymous

Beesie - It’s only the post text that I see is enlarged. Those links are a different class, but they should also be enlarged.

mle42

when I click the menu icon (the three lines) at upper right, I don’t get that same menu. Even though I’m definitely signed in, this is all I see:

Maybe it’s an iOS issue? On my computer I do get the full menu.

wrenn

I am puzzled that anyone hiring themselves out to update a website could be this inept. It is like they had never done it and followed a shitty youtube demo.

I am finding it easier each day to accept that BCO is lost. After trying to get in I move on and only comeback when I have time to waste. I am still heartbroken for the many who are very dependent on the relationships and connections they have made but I think there will be a real slashing of the membership numbers in general and wonder if that was the intention?

Moderators

We're passing all this to the techs!

Anonymous

mle - From that screen click Community and perhaps it will work. It's bonkers.

ETA - I mainly use an iPhone and iPad.

Sadiesservant

mle42, click on “Community" and that should give a list of options for the forum. You may need to navigate twice to get the option of private message though. I just came in, clicked “Community" and had a short list of options (All Topics, Active Topics), clicked “All Topics", then when it got there clicked the menu again and Private Messages appeared in the list. Bit convoluted but it is possible to get there.

The font once you get into a thread (still glacially slow most of the time) is definitely larger but the fix has not been applied to the list of threads on the pages you are comparing Beesie. Some improvement but still not very user friendly with the white background and the information on diagnosis and instructions for posting are still very small. I'll pay attention to spaces when (if) this posts. I have found for quite some time that the last character of my post disappears (before the “upgrade"). Also, typing on my post would often go nutty with delays and then never ending delete taking over when I use my iPad. Spacing between paragraphs would suddenly have a mind of its own. My fix was to toggle to the plain text editor, remove the page break characters, and then toggle back. Interestingly, I haven't had that problem since the change.

Okay. Hitting submit. Holding my breath…..

Edited to add, you’re right Beesie, space between the period and start of the next sentence disappears. I also noticed that font in preparing a post is back to the smaller size. God help any of us older folks!

thecargirl

This new site is just AWUL, it is slow and can be confusing. Why did you change the format??? This is not helpful to make such a terrible change to a very important way to communicate. Whoever came up with this idea should be FIRED!!!

thecargirl

When are you changing it back? You have failed in your responsibility to all of us that enjoy and get a lot of comfort from this site.

wrenn

thecargirl, This is the new BCO. Even if they improve the speed (or what they have been naming "glitches" going into week 2) this is it.

We have to adapt to the new format or find something else.

I still think it would be worth it to create a forum with many threads on a free proboard or PHP-PB which I thought of doing but I am too stupid to carry through with set up. I have belonged to a couple that worked well and seem simple to manage so I am waiting for someone with a bit more cognitive stamina to start it.

This site can't carry on in the way they intend. They are not going to be getting donations for this new site. Very sad situation for the members here dealing with a deadly disease.

Mods will be along soon to tell us they will "inform the techs" which is kind of insulting to still be posting that silliness.

Rant done. Take care.

Dancemom

logging in is very difficult. The page takes 5 min to load, and then disappears, then sometimes I am randomly signed in. Threads also take too long. This was the shortest today at 35 seconds to load.

Cowgirl13

It shoudn't be the techs who decide about this site--who do the techs report to? My understanding is that the techs implement. Those higher up on the food chain need to be aware of this. Right away when this happened I had a bad feeling that this is it for the site. I still feel that way. I think this was probably done by someones 'friend'.

DivineMrsM

I have these issues:

*when I attempt to log in, the page goes blank. So I hit the back button, where I click on All Topics. When I go there, I see that I am logged in. This is an extremely strange set up to log in. Since the new format, I have never been able to log in smoothly.

*Will we get a box that we can check that says “keep me signed in". It is frustrating that every visit to the forum requires this multi-step process.

*Also: the application error page continues to come up if I try to click back to view previous pages of any thread.

* Will the forum get any additional color to it? Instead of a thin grey line in between posts, couldn't there be a less thin, colored line? Or does that cost more money?

* When will the loading of pages get faster? Mine averages about 30 seconds for each page to load. Reminds me of dial-up internet when dinosaurs roamed the earth. My internet speed is 50 mbps, considered very good speed and I'm using a new iPad Air.

*On the Release Notes you've provided, it is recommended: “If you see an error message, wait a minute and refresh the page. This should help to load the site for you."

First of all, this does not work for me. It does not work. Secondly, it is hard to express the frustration of being told to “wait a minute" to refresh the page. We are already dealing with slow loading pages, not knowing if and when a “site down" or “application error" will pop up, getting blank pages when we try to log in, and now we're being told to continuuuuuu to be patient and wait a minute to reload on an application error, only to have this action not work.

DivineMrsM

One more thing. When I submitted the above post, the page took a long time to load, at least a minute, and then up popped “application error”. I had copied the post before I submitted it in case this happened, so I spent another couple minutes trying to get back to this page to resubmit, only to see that my post had gone through. But how could I tell since I’d gotten the error message. So that’s another frustration.

Moderators

Hi all, we are, in fact, noting all of your reports and submitting them to the tech team, who are working on them, including the spacing issues. As for load time and application errors, these should get better in time, as fixes are made to the very antiquated platform. The more errors that are repaired, theoretically, the load time and error messages should decrease. We thank you for continuing to report your issues, and we continue to work on them.

--The Mods

DivineMrsM

Here is another time I get the application error/site down message. The way I used to catch up on threads was to open My Favorites, then open each thread with new content in its own separate tab. So for example I would have My Favorites opened and also have a tab open for Glitches, one for the political thread and one for the Feminism thread. Then I went through and read them.

With the new format, most of these tabs go to the error/site down page. I have to individually open each thread one at a time, read new content, go back to My Favorites and open the next thread, ect.

This is also the case if I open up Active Topics. I like to go through and open separate tabs on any threads I am interested in with new content, then go through them. This helped me read through more quickly. But no longer. Now any new tabs may or may not open. The process to read new content has slowed down considerably to the point that it mostly hasn’t been worth the aggravation.

magiclight

So far all this discussion has lead nowhere, thus a perfect example of keeping the minions busy talking while management does nothing. The only useful outcome is for me to use this example with my grad students on how to appear helpful, while doing nothing. If participation in this farce is enabling then choose...

wrenn

Mods instead of "we're working on it" can you give us an idea of what you expect the outcome to be? If all of the "glitches" were corrected what would the site look like? What was the intention or plan when this was started? What can we expect? What of the changes asked for do you see not happening?

I am starting to feel like an idiot for returning and expect others are too which shows just how significant the relationships with each other these many members had. Limbo is where cancer patients struggle often. Unknowns are hell.

To leave everyone wondering is cruel.

ceanna

Wow!! I didn't even attempt to log in for 5 days, and low and behold, my first attempt to log in was met with the "site down" error!!! How can almost 2 weeks go by, and NOTHING, except the text size being slightly bigger, but not darker, has been corrected.

It was interesting to note the "Announcement" from CEO Hope Wohl that showed up while I stayed away--finally having someone from BCO giving us some vague information. Unfortunately, too little, too late. Explaining that "the old codebase" is a problem, and giving us kudos for our feedback neglects to acknowledge how BCO leadership made some fateful decisions to make changes, not test those changes, and then implement them, obviously many weeks before they were ready for prime time. I almost feel sorry for the Moderators who seem to be stuck between the BCO leadership and a failed launch--you see all our complaints and can only give us a "we realize you're frustrated" or we'll pass it to the tech team" answers. BCO leadership and board failed us! Please respect your membership enough to acknowledge, apologize, and treat us with dignity. We are not stupid, complaining people. We are caring people who keep coming back because we want to help others. This "new format" is a failure, people are not frequenting the BCO site, and it certainly won't improve with this "new" fresh (stark, unreadable) look!!!

--------------

I realize BCO promotes itself to big donors as the site for research, answers, and support for BC and tracks us as much as we allow. I see the "Learning" section seems to work well in the few things I clicked on in the "new format" along with the giant, colorful "Donate" button, but part of what BCO is promoting in the totally misleading new "Fresh New Look" video is the "Community" support newcomers would get. How would any newcomer get help now when many of us stay away because we, and they, cannot even navigate to this visual mess?

It's well past time for accountability. BCO used to be a trusted place. I would like to see the BCO leadership and board (they are all listed here: Our team (breastcancer.org ) work to bring trust back. Communicate with us. I have emailed twice to BCO Board Chair Jane Hollingsworth in the last 10 days and have not even had an acknowledgement. Perhaps Hope Wohl's new "announcement" was an attempt, but it certainly did not apologize for the error of launching a dysfunctional, unwanted format. I ask the BCO Board and leadership to address us directly in this thread or a new thread, and explain and acknowledge their errors in planning and executing this fiasco. I'd like to again come back here to a working website and help others.

exbrnxgrl

ceanna,

Thanks for bringing up the moderators role. I confess to not being very aware of the structural hierarchy of bco but I strongly suspect that the mods are feeling just as frustrated by the situation as we are and just as powerless. I could be wrong, of course, but I think that their hands are pretty much tied.

JRNJ

First before anything is the obvious lag time or not getting on a forum at all. Other: on my iPhone the date and time posted is overlapping the report this post. Text still needs to be darker and still think the white needs to go.

wrenn

I have moderated forums and moderators were all familiar with what was going on behind the scenes and were required to communicate with members in a way that kept them up to date/informed. The goal was to keep members. They knew that required respecting their intelligence. This site would have been finished days ago if not for members who absolutely need the connections they have made.

Sadiesservant

So, another glitch, it took me several tries to get into this thread with the “Our site is down” message. Annoyingly, when this happens, I am sent to the last post as if I actually had successfully navigated to the thread. So, not only extra time to get to the thread and then more time spent figuring out where I stopped previously. Sigh…

Wonderland

I have just gotten off the phone with a friend who had a mastectomy last week. She's scared to say the least. Three weeks ago I would have told her about BCO. NOT today! She stressing enough as it is and doesn't need ANY extra stress that this site would give her. PLEASE DO SOMETHING! Please right the wrong that has been created.

Moderators

Hi All, it's Melissa – Community Director. We are truly here for you. We Mods see every post, and feel your pain and frustration. Yes, indeed, we wish we could fix the issues immediately, but it is out of our hands. We are trusting the tech team who is working diligently on the all reported issues. We expect to share updates tomorrow, with the week's beginning. This community and our relationship with you means EVERYTHING to us. We've watched you make decisions, grow your relationships, and always welcome the newest person into the fold, with compassion and experience- for YEARS! We (all of BCO) want nothing but the best for you, for the whole of us, for the newbies arriving. Everyone deserves a virtual hug, information, compassion and an ear at the scariest, uncertain, uncomfortable, emotional, and unanswerable times of our lives. We would never do anything to intentionally disrupt that. All of Breastcancer.org's intentions have been to create the safest space for everyone to connect. YOU are our priority, and have always been. Please stick with us. We're hearing you, and understand the importance to Connect with Others. We continue to work with the greater BCO team to make things better by the minute. Thank you to you all, we are SO grateful for you.

Yours, Melissa and the Mods