As the outcry over the new design for BW’s discussion boards continued unabated yesterday, BW Online’s Francesca Di Meglio responded to the onslaught of highly critical (yet constructive) postings from members of the forums. While users called for the frames version of the forums to be re-introduced, Di Meglio initially offered the following advice:
MSG 66566.86
Hi everyone,
I know many of you are still disappointed by the new forums. I can understand. It took me a while to get used to the new look and the fact that the threads were no longer at the left-hand side, too. And I assure you that we didn’t just jump into this decision.
Really, very little has changed for the user. Most of the changes are behind the scenes and don’t affect you.
Here’s what I’ve been doing to adjust. I’ve been clicking on “messages” under the BW B-Schools header. From there you can see all of the threads and scroll down to see the folders beyond Getting Into B-school. If you really want to have the message board threads listed while you read messages, you can open two browsers and keep them side by side.
Some of you have been asking about how to keep track of favorites. If you click on my stuff, which is next to messages, you should scroll down and click on the option that automatically puts threads to which you respond in your favorites.
Of course, you just have to ask me if you have any other questions as you adjust to the new system. I promise that these are the same boards you’ve came to know, trust and love. And I would like to help you all adjust to the new system.
Talk to you soon,
Francesca
When readers continued to complain – suggesting that the idea of opening up two browsers wasn’t a logical long-term solution – Di Meglio responded again:
MSG 66566.105
Hi everyone,
I know it’s been a tough day. But I think I have some good news for you. As I mentioned, I had brought your concerns to the powers that be, and they were considering what they might be able to do to help us out. For a little while, you’ll be able to access the old interface. Here’s what I know:
On the bottom of the forum’s start page at http://forums.businessweek.com/bw-bschools is a paragraph in a box that says: “Business Week is committed to improving the look and usability of its forums, but is offering a temporary alternative for those used to the old look. Please click here to go to the old interface. This alternative gives all the features of the old look, but will not be maintained beyond a certain point. We will continue to explore the best solution. Thank you.”
The link goes to: http://forums.businessweek.com/n/main.asp?webtag=bw-bschools&nav=messages
Our vendor is offering this as an alternative while the staff looks into ways to address some of your concerns within this new interface. I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please feel free to get in touch through this thread.
Have a great night!
All the best,
Francesca
The “solution” is essentially a temporary roll-back – allowing readers to revert to the old look and feel of the forums. In any event, for those of you who are dying for original, more user-friendly format, here is a link that will take you there:
http://forums.businessweek.com/n/main.asp?webtag=bw-bschools&nav=messages
As a convenience to our readers, we’ve also offered a direct link to the original format at the top of the right column of this blog, under “active discussions/blogs”. Unfortunately, it sounds like this may not be a permanent offering, but we’ll have to see how the debate continues to unfold…
