UPCOMING SITE IMPROVEMENTS

I echo Diane (badboob)'s thanks and concerns.

I can't wait till Monday to see what the new site looks like.

Sheila

Thank you for bringing color and text formatting back !!!!

Are you going to make the features enabled for Mac users that use the Safari browzer??

Hi everyone, we have launched the new look for the boards to match the redesigned breastcancer.org main site.  Please let us know if you encounter any issues.

Thanks!
-Tech team

Tami and I are so pleased about the features our team was able to include in the discussion boards such as: managing your "Home", including your profile, your account, your favorite discussions, and favorite members. Also, private messages should be much simpler, responding to posts should not only be easier, but more fun with (smiley's, colors, and formatting options). You'll also notice the search function within the boards is vastly improved, as is the overall organization of the forums and the ability to move between forums and topics.

Kudos on the new look.  I was terrified something would be lost in the transition and I would lose touch with all the great gals.  Thanks for making it so smooth.

Carol(AZ)

OMG, we are lookin' quite spiffy! Boo-yaaaaah! THANK YOU, TAMI and MELISSA!!!!

~Marin

Thank you for your feedback!  Please continue to let us know what you think about the new discussion boards.

 Your input is important to us!

Tami and Melissa, moderators 

I don't know where the heck I was-I had no idea the site improvements were on the way.  No less, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

Love and prayers, Deb

Yikes double post ...

Woops...maybe it's just me, but DCIS under the main listing has disappeared.  I can get it if I type it in the search, but it's no longer part of the forum list?  It was when I first logged on. Now gone?

 Phyllis 

Aw, shucks! When I first saw the new changes, our Lymphedema board was RIGHT AT THE TOP(!) of the "Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: Tests, Treatments and Side Effects" section. Since then it's been skittering around all over that section, losing ground with each shift. So while we're discussing the placement of topics, I'd like to plead for leaving "Lymphedema" at the top of that section, because it's a risk EVERY ONE OF US faces, no matter what our bc treatment, and it's so under the radar of the medical community that MANY, MANY, MANY of us have no clue we're at risk, much less that there are steps we can take to reduce that risk. And by far, the best time to learn how to reduce the risk is RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING of our bc journey.

So please, Melissa and Tami, consider putting the Lymphedema thread back at the top of the Treatment section. 

And by the way, I love the new look too. Thanks so much for all you do ,

Binney4 

Hey All, We'll go through your comments tomorrow, and work through them. 

Thanks very much!

Melissa and Tami 

I like the new look.  One thing I do miss, though, is the field some people use in the profile which tells us what state or country they live in.  I know it's optional and not everyone uses, but many people do, and I miss seeing that information. 

Mods, please understand that the following comments are not complaints.  They're just observations, and in some cases, suggestions.  I really do like the new layout and style.  There are just some things about it that will take some time and patience. 

I agree with CHJ about putting the screen name back where it used to be, above the avatar.  It is right next door, above the post; but I automatically look at the avatar and the member info in the left-hand column first, even before I read the post.  I miss the screen name.

I also am wondering about font sizes, which seem to vary now.  For instance, on my screen, the posts by Dragonfly92127 (Sue Ellen) and CHJ127 above this post are in nice, readable fonts.  The post in between them, by althea, is much smaller and is grey instead of black.  It's the same size as the sig lines, and is less legible.  How did that happen?

I noticed yesterday that when I edit a post and "save" the new version, my post no longer says, "edited on ...".  It just displays the old post date and/or time.  Was that change intentional?  One disadvantage of losing the "edited on" notation is that we no longer can tell if the post we are reading has been changed from the last time we saw it.

Finally, when I logged in today, the order of the "Forums" in the lists had changed again.  I don't know what is controlling their order, but the constant rearrangement and the illogical sequences are a bit frustrating (I hate to say "annoying").  I know there would be some disagreement among BCO members about what order to use.  Binney4 argued that the "Lymphedema" forum should be at the top of the list in the category of "Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: Tests, Treatments and Side Effects" because we are all at risk of developing lymphedema.  She's right about the risk, but I think it makes more sense to order the list according to the sequence in which most women deal with the issues on that list.

For example, in the category, "Diagnosed with Breast Cancer: Tests, Treatments and Side Effects," "Just Diagnosed" would logically be the first forum in the list, as it was prior to the site improvements.  The next thing most of us deal with is surgery.  That would be followed by, or accompanied by, questions about reconstruction and/or prostheses.  Lymphedema fits in right after surgery and/or reconstruction, I think--probably right after surgery, since it is a complication of surgery and our surgeons are usually the first people to mention it.  They're also the ones to whom we turn for referrals to therapists. 

After surgery, some women have radiation; but generally if we get the whole package, we have chemotherapy and then radiation.  Hormonal therapy is the last step--it would follow chemo and rads, and it continues for at least 5 years for most of us.  This is just my opinion, but I would put "Alternative, Complementary, & Holistic Treatment" toward the end of the list, because many of the topics in that forum are alternatives or ancillary to conventional treatment.  "Help Me Get Through Treatment" could be near the beginning or the end, since it's sort of a general issue.

The order of the forums in the next category--"Connecting with Others Who Have a Similar Diagnosis"--is even less logical at present.  Right now on my screen, the very first forum in that list is the "Palliative Therapy/Hospice Care" forum.  That's a forum for discussing delicate issues pertaining to death from BC.  Even your own subtitle says that forum is, "A unique forum ONLY for those trying to live well and/or trying to die well."  I am very uncomfortable with the fact that it's the first thing a newly diagnosed BC patient will see in the category of "Connecting with Others...".   The second thing that BC patient will see (2nd in that list) is "Recurrence and Metastatic Disease."  The topics in those two forums are very real, and they are things that keep all of us awake at night--but I don't think they should be the first things a person recently diagnosed with DCIS or Stage I BC should see in this category.

Bottom line--in your effort to "tweak" the new format, will you please reconsider what you've done to the sequence of the "forums" (formerly "topics") in the lists?  I think the order should be fixed--not constantly rearranging--and the forums should be in a logical sequence, as they were before the site improvements went into effect.

Thanks for listening to us!

otter