NEW USERS

[two2go]

Hi New Users
So many of you visit us once...ask us a question...we answer...then we never hear from you again. We don't know if our information helped you. We would love to get feedback. Why do you all disappear? What can we do as VIP Contributors to make you stay?
two2go

[maylinglai1]

I think the organization is a bit tough for newbies to navigate. Maybe a little more categorization?

[imbues]

Hi Two2go, I needed to think about your question a bit.

The board needs a few more features.

1. Staying signed into the board and not signed in to bid. One has to practically sign in every time they post.

2. An active thread link for all the boards. One can click on that link and have all the new threads and threads with new posts on one page.

3. Better emoticons. I know I sound like a whining child.

4. As May said, better navigation and search options.

5. Get rid of the sticky option. There are too many obsolete threads stuck to the top of the page. Only mods should be able to sticky a thread. It's not as if a thread will be lost here that fast.

I think these features may encourage new ones to come back.

[two2go]

Hi Maylinglai & Imbues
May I do understand your point on categorization. LL has tried by opening different sections for us to use, but it hasn't really been working. For example how may times are there posts in the General Discussion section that should really be posted in the Destination Section (I'm not any better, cause I do the same thing). Many of us visit the G/D section frequently, but we feel that if we post somewhere else it sometimes takes a long time to be noticed. Although, on the other hand if we only post in G/D section it doesn't take time and our post is lost amongst all the other ones. There are so many times I know that post has been started on something I want to address, and it takes forever to find the it. We all need to change our habits.

Imbues, I don't undertand the comment on signing in. Once we sign in we can use the community or bid until we sign out. Is this not happening for you? You are right LL needs to attempt a major clean up of obsolete threads. I think that visiting the General Discussion may be a little overwhelming for a new user.

two2go

[imbues]

two2go wrote:

Imbues, I don't undertand the comment on signing in. Once we sign in we can use the community or bid until we sign out. Is this not happening for you? You are right LL needs to attempt a major clean up of obsolete threads. I think that visiting the General Discussion may be a little overwhelming for a new user.

two2go

Hi Two2go, really? because I've never signed out. The site signs me out and I have to sign in every time I return to post. It's annoying too. I don't have this problem with any other site, so I though it was the set up here. hmm.. If you have any suggestions, I'll take them.

[two2go]

Hi Imbues
I believe that you must really be annoyed by being sighed out everytime. Have you contacted LL to ask if anyone has complained about having this problem? I would try sending a private message to a Moderator.
two2go

[imbues]

Thanks Two2go, now that I know it's not the norm, I'll try to fix it.

[maylinglai1]

Imbues, I have the same issue on it signing me out about every 1/2 hour or so. I wonder if it's something in my firewall? It's a little odd.



Regarding what I am talking about with the organization, on other sites that I frequent, the blogs are a bit more navigatable to any newbie who walks on and tries to find things.



I think if you are accustom to this set up, it's easy to navigate, but I would not say that it's easy to figure it out if you are new by any means. I think when I originally went to destinations,I saw so few postings, I didn't quite know what it was or it actually had some other purpose. The only place I really see people post are in G&A.



But on other sites that I am active on, sometimes the moderator will move postings to another area to encourage people to start actively using those areas, or they will right a polite request to repost in the other area so that it catches on and becomes a bit more useful for new people using their blog.



I think the issue is that you have a tree structure for the Community announcements, but no tree structure under the other topics, which would usually indicate on many sites that no one is posting. What I've seen that is more effective is a tab structure, where you have different tabs, each with different tree structures on the tabs. Alternatively, there is a single main page where everything is the same font, and then you click on that to get to the other trees.

[maylinglai1]

But I have to say I love the LL Community and realize all this is a work in progress that has already improved so much. I love how the feedback is really taken to heart. The other blog sites I refer to are far older and dedicated blog sites versus this one! Keep up the good work!!

[two2go]

Hi May
Just read your comment under community announcements, & have noticed that Kysel has commented about the destination section. Glad to hear that you have found it. That's what I meant when I commented about everything being posted under General Discussion, when we should be posting under the Destination section. There would be more organization that way.
two2go