We've Redesigned the Forums!!!

[Mindy Jensen]

Hey there, BiggerPockets!

Your forums look a little different today, don't they? 

We've made a few changes - and we're REALLY excited about them!

First off, we've cleaned up the interface and put the content of the posts front and center. We simplified the “chrome” of our posts and put a focus on what we all want — the posts themselves.

So where did all that stuff go? If you hover over an avatar, you'll see how to connect with that member, along with post/vote/award counts. To the right, you'll see three little green dots, which is where you can Quote someone or Report Abuse if you find a spammy post.

You can share forum threads on Facebook and Twitter. Oh, want to email them? You can do that, too! 

My favorite FAVORITE parts of the new design are the "stickies" at the top and bottom of a forum thread. As you scroll around a post, the top of your screen has a bar that includes the title of the post as well as the follow and reply buttons. No matter where you are as you scroll, you can always access these.

Our quick reply at the bottom of a thread is now sticky. Now you can scroll around the thread and reply as you’re reading individual posts. It just makes it easier to respond to multiple people without having to scroll up and down a bunch of times.

Other cool features include an easier way to jump to the last post in a thread while viewing our main forum feed, and a new sticky nav below our main nav bar while you are on the forums. You can now jump to Trending Topics, Your Discussions, Unanswered Posts and those threads you’re following from any page on the forums.

Our very own Brandon Turner created a video tour to show you these great new features.

There's also a quick tour in the upper right corner to give you highlights the first time you visit the new forums. 

I want to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to our Super-Awesome Development Team - especially @Edd Morgan for all the work that went into our new design. 

So tell me - how do you like our new design? Take some time to play around on the new forums and tell me what you think!

(We've put a lot of work into this new design - and I think I've tested everything. But if you find a bug or think something's not working right, I'd love to hear from you. Send an email to [email protected] or leave me a note here.)

[Joel Owens]

We looked at this weeks ago. The feedback from the moderators is we did not like the new look overall.

I can't speak for everyone but there was very in depth discussions.

Negatives:

1. The picture icons are smaller now so you can't see well who you are looking at and responding too.

2. Moving votes to the left is a mistake. People are lazy and most are right handed. Click an scroll it's easy to vote. Now people have to cross-move over to the left to complete an action.

3. There are no lines between posts to show easy separation like before. It made it more user friendly and readable. Everything blends in now and the text is harder to read. I have perfect eyesight and I still find it difficult. Lighter text and harder to read posts makes users use the site less and not more. The "interaction" factor will diminish.

4. The votes you could use to hover over before voting and see who all voted. Now you can only hit it to vote.

5. The video feature,moderator, etc. is gone. Personally I liked seeing if people had videos to click on.

6. The look is too corporate and the personality is sucked out of it. Instead of your favorite watering hole with warm colors and easy usability it looks like a hospital feel now. Modern and cold.

It's Josh's ship. This isn't the first change I have seen over the years and I am sure not the last. I just say what I feel whether it's taken well or not. In my whole life I have never been a "yes man" and have forged my own path in this world.

That's one of the qualities I admire about Josh the most is we both own and run businesses. It's tough making the hard choices as you grow a company.

I just do not see the benefit to the design for users.

For instance if someone could give me a concrete reason WHY a smaller member picture  will make people connect more on the forums I am all ears. Maybe it's easier for a developer but I do not see it as an add for users on the forum. Maybe it's easier to read on cell phones? I know for desktop it certainly is not.

Anyways the forums will go on.  My .02 

"que sera sera whatever will be will be" ................. : )