Feedback on new site

[scalar]

"Try to give it a chance and don't compare apple and oranges."

Dear "regular advisor", try to comprehend; all we *ever* wanted was apples. Now we are being told by HP that we should really learn to want oranges. Or lemons for that matter.

[Stephan.]

Dear "New Member",

probably you do not want apples as any other here,  the apple had more then enough worms. Now due to the migration the apple looks so marvelous ...

HP decided to change it and there is nothing that will bring the old forums back, or do you really belive 100 or 200 threads will make them change their world wide website (Keyword: Corporate Design ...)?

I'm pretty sure that the most here want a simple, fast, reliable solution to share knowledge and solve problems and from my point of view at least the guys here around are doing the best they can to archive this.

So in my opinion it's time for some learning the new features, patience and constructive criticism and not whining and bitchin without a meaningful statement. Enough of the people here have done migrations like that and should definitly know that there is always some fixing needed after it and that in this size you can not go flawless through it.

Keeping this in mind could help anyone.

My 2 Cent,

Stephan

[TomSmith]

Stephan,

Below is a list of my complaints/criticisms about the new site, that were never addressed by the way. You can call it "bitchin and whining" if you want, but it is my RIGHT to complain about a service that has been degraded this badly. If people don't like the new service they have every right to bitch and complain and I don't give a **bleep** if you or HP don't like it. And maybe your right HP may not change the site, but that does not mean I am going to stop complaining.

Here is a quick list of what I don't like about the new community.

1. Old ITRC profiles not migrated properly. Kevin had tried to locate mine but was not successful. For me personally this is not a huge deal, but for others who have considerable history on the ITRC it is distressing. This should have been a no-brainer. If there was some kind of choice to be made, then a user upon login should have been given a chance to respond.

2. I have many saved bookmarks that no longer work, and these are not through Google, they reference HP URL's. How this site could have been launched without this working is beyond me. This may be the single biggest mistake in my opinion.

3. Kudos system is a poor substitute for the point system. The point system allowed the original poster to rate all those who contributed, even if they did not solve the issue, they could receive points for trying. And it is my understanding that if you received 7 points or less, your points were ignored. This is outrageous.

4. Cluttered and unprofessional look and feel, this should not be Facebook!!! The original ITRC forum was a focused and professional environment uncluttered with, in my opinion, useless distractions.  I would really like to know who at HP thought we needed all of these foolish things. I came to the ITRC to exchange information, not fuss with distractions. (For example, when I first logged in to the new community, I was given a ridiculous avatar. I immediately went to my profile to remove it. Long story short, there was no way to just turn it off, I had to link it to a transparent image that I uploaded.  Total time wasted, 30 minutes!!!)

I have also found that criticism here is being ignored, replies are answered, but not really addressed. For example, in one post I stated I did not care for the new glizty features added, and the answer I get is just wait we have more glizty features you will love on the way.

I realize the old ITRC wasn't perfect, but I think it would have been wise to keep the overall look, feel and functionality and focus on fixing the particulars. Instead the baby went out with the bath water. And we are left with something that looks like Facebook.

Just my 2 cents,

-Tom

[Dennis Handly]

>Below is a list of my complaints/criticisms about the new site,

Perhaps we should at least mention what we like about the new site?

1) It doesn't switch back and forth between the two servers.

2) PMs

3) Ability to edit (retcon) and delete your own posts.

4) tagging

5) The N forums are now merged together.  Except for HP Support Forum.

6) A single signon, until your snooze.

7) Moderators that can actually get the software changed.

8) Better builtin search.

[Stephan.]

Hi Tom,

you should not focus on 3 words of my posting, take a breath and read it again. I do not say everything here is perfect but my personal opinion is that it does not help to complain without any arguments. Of course you have the right to complain and there is enough to complain about.

1. My own profile is also screwed up - try finding my complain about ... you will not, keep in mind 712.000 users got migrated ... no absolution for screwing some but at least something to remind. 

2. Absolutely correct, they should have learned their lesson with docs.hp.com ... but does it bring your favorites back? Post them in the old format and I and probably other will be happy to help to update them.

3. Try to see the other side, if I now find a solution for my problem I can honor the solution giver with a kudo even if it is years ago. Impossible with the old system.

4. They made changes since day one and they are listening, at least if asked in a proper way but yes once more you are partly right with your arguments  but look also as example on the list Dennis provided - it's not all bad.

Check the other side of the medal and give it a chance.

Best,

Stephan

[TomSmith]

OK, lets talk about what I like about the new cummunity point by point.

Perhaps we should at least mention what we like about the new site?

1) It doesn't switch back and forth between the two servers. (This is a plus)

2) PMs (Major negative, only encourages the chance that valuable parts of a post will remain hidden from the community.)

3) Ability to edit and delete your own posts.(Does not matter to me)

4) tagging (Does not matter to me)

5) The N forums are now merged together.  Except for HP Support Forum. (I am not sure what you mean)

6) A single signon, until your snooze. (Not a big deal for me)

7) Moderators that can actually get the software changed.(Never saw fit to ask for a change in the old forum.)

8) Better builtin search.(Search is definitely not better, perhaps there is a learning curve here, but what kind of upgrade makes searching more complicated?)

My 2 cents.

[Dennis Handly]

>5) The N forums are now merged together.  Except for HP Support Forum. (I am not sure what you mean)

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/

[Pete Randall]

Perhaps we should at least mention what we like about the new site?

1) It doesn't switch back and forth between the two servers. (minor bonus)

2) PMs (Major negative, only encourages the chance that valuable parts of a post will remain hidden from the community. - DEFINITELY AGREE)

3) Ability to edit and delete your own posts.(I like this)

4) tagging (Does not matter to me - agree)

5) The N forums are now merged together.  Except for HP Support Forum. (I am not sure what you mean - me either)

6) A single signon, until your snooze. (Not a big deal for me - giant PITA for me)

7) Moderators that can actually get the software changed.(Not sure what this means.)

8) Better builtin search.(Search is definitely not better, perhaps there is a learning curve here, but what kind of upgrade makes searching more complicated? AGREE, but more importantly - WHY? - google is the go to for any sysadmin looking for information, be it with HP or anywhere else)

9) The ability to highlight text

[Pete Randall]

Dennis,

I still don't know what the heck "N forums" are!

[Stephan.]

Wild guess "several numbers of forums"?

They consolidated a lot of forums here so ... 

Best,

Stephan

[Pete Randall]

Stephan, maybe you would know - why does the tag next to your name say "HP Alliance"?  For that matter, why does mine say "Founder"?

[Stephan.]

No Idea to be honest, I already asked but got no final answer for it.

Founder got the guys as far as I know which are registered since the beginning of the ITRC forums, but not sure about it.

Stephan

[rrugg00]

Hello,

I guess I missed the entire period when this migration was happening.  I had to register from scratch for this new forum.  Is my old CAxxxxxxx username gone?  Sorry to have you revisit this.  Could I still go through the migration steps?

Roberto

[Pete Randall]

Roberto,

There is a conversion process.  Here is a thread describing the difficulties experienced during migration.  Following the process described here should help you.

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Community-Feedback-Suggestions/Please-help-my-old-ITRC-account-is-not-migrated/m-p/4809163#M728

[Dennis Handly]

>I still don't know what the heck "N forums" are!

Well, the ITRC.  The old BSC forum, migrated last year.

There seems to be a whole bunch of blogs and other stuff I've never seen on either of the above two.

>why does mine say "Founder"?

Only because you were there when the forum was migrated.

[Pete Randall]

Thanks, Dennis.  That explains "Founder".  Now how about "HP Alliance" or some of the others?  And where do you find these things?

[Joseph P. Smith]

A fundamental source of woe for those of us with technical needs, as opposed to "experiencing-a-branding" need (.. and what are we, steers being herded up the Chisholm Trail?), here is our problem.

[ Insert "http://"] lithosphere.lithium.com/t5/Social-Customers-Matter/

Brand-Strategy-It-s-a-changing-world/ba-p/28682

[Cut & paste above to create a valid URL as correct URL truncated when "Lithimized"]

Is any one of buying this?? All the reindexing, rearrangement of pointers and reformatting pages cannot compensate for this cynicism.  I am not following Justin Beiber, Angelina Jolie, or a political movement.  I have real world, truly difficult problems and questions that my bosses require me to answer efficiently and effectively.  Lithium is good for treating psychoses and believe me, I may arrive sooner than later due to this mess of a support web site.

Folks we are being forced to drink "New Coke".  Well, if Coca Cola, Inc. can turn its ship around and return to "Coke Classic", HP can bring up ITRC Classic.  [insert Munch "Screamer" here]

[Warren_Admin]

Pete,

There are many ranks in the Community. Most ranks are based entirely on your contributions to the Community, but there are also some (such as my own) that are based on a person's role in the community. Thus, n a few cases, a person can have more than one rank. However, only one of the "named" ranks (e.g., "Frequent Contributor") can display next to the person's name. This is where we use an image for the "other" rank.

Thanks,

Warren, HP Enterprise Community Administrator

[Pete Randall]

Warren,

I'm being dense, obviously, but what is considered a rank?  Is your "Admin" a rank?  Or a ribbon as Hein suggested?  Is your "Community Manager" a rank?  Are they both ranks?  Maybe I should ask what isn't a rank.

We've been thrown into a room full of people who are speaking Greek and no one appears willing to offer up any hints as to how we're supposed to translate this stuff.  Why wasn't there a link with "Terminolgy" or "Definitions" or something put on, if not all the pages, at least in the "Help" page?  Now that's "rank".

[Warren_Admin]

Joseph,

Thank you for the pointer to the Lithosphere blog article. What we did by the introduction of the new platform was exactly what the article suggested. For years, there were things that our ITRC users were asking for, but the legacy platform did not support. Now, we have a much more robust platform that has many of these features and functions. Admittedly, not everything was perfect. We inhabit a world where one person's perfect is another's "missed the mark by a mile." But that's another story.

Your soft drink metaphor is an interesting choice. You may remember that when the updated version of the original product appeared, the sugar had been replaced with corn syrup. So it wasn't a true "rollback," but rather a similar product. Analogous to that situation, for us there is no direct path forward to the past.

Thanks,

Warren, HP Enterprise Community Administrator

[Dennis Handly]

>And where do you find these things?

Founder was fairly obvious since this appeared on mine after the BSC forum was migrated.  There might have even been a topic on it?  I'm not sure of the rest, unless obvious.

Kevin_Paul said:

Anyone who had previously been awarded with 150 or more "points" in the old forums will now be shown as a "Founder" in our new community.

> but what is considered a rank?

This should be obvious.  :-)  You just bring up the Kudos Leaderboard and look at them in order:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/kudos/kudosleaderboardpage/timerange/all/page/1/tab/authors

Exalted Contributor

Acclaimed Contributor

Outstanding Contributor

Honored Contributor

Esteemed Contributor

Respected Contributor

Trusted Contributor

Valued Contributor

Super Advisor

Regular Advisor

Frequent Advisor

Advisor

Occasional Advisor

Occasional Contributor

HP Pro  (also below)

Super Collector

...

Visitor

Occasional Visitor

New Member

Community Manager

Neighborhood Moderator

本科生  ???

初中学生

高中学生

움막

小学生

Ribbons:

Unfortunately I don't think these are related to kudos but number of posts?  So I don't know the rank order?

>Why wasn't there a link with "Terminology" or "Definitions"

Exactly.

So unless you are some type of ADMIN/MODERATOR, the only important thing is:

   It's the kudos man, it's the stinkin' kudos.  ;-)

The official ranking list:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Tips-and-Tricks/Ranking-Overview/td-p/4828337

[Pete Randall]

Dennis, I must apologize but I can only click on kudos once.  Well, actually, I can click on it lots of times, but . . . . .

I must admit that there are still many areas I haven't explored yet, but from what I've seen, not all of the answers seem to be available without having to ask.

[Warren_Admin]

Hi Pete,

"ADMIN" is indeed a rank. "Community Manager" is also a rank. So this is an example of what I referred to as two concurrent ranks.

Every social platform has its own terminology. Unfortunately, this makes for a less than seamless transition from one to another. Our platform has two concepts that make up a significant portion of the "persona" each user presents in the Community.

There are roles, which describe what a person does (i.e., tasks or actions he or she can or cannot perform). I am an administrator, for example. This defines my scope of actions.

Then there are ranks. A rank can be based on a formula that measures one's contributions to the community. These ranks are named, e.g., "Frequent Advisor," and you can progress "up the ladder" as your contributions increase. Your rank appears next to your name. A few of these have images associated with them, to enable identification. The "Founder" rank, for example, uses an image instead of just text. These people have been around this site or its predecessors for years (some well over ten years), and this is our way of recognizing that fact for the Community as a whole. A person could be an "Honored Contributor," a "Founder," or both, and this is how we show it.

A rank can also be assigned because that person is part of a specific user group associated with a program, for example. When you see /HP ALLIANCES/ next to a person's screen name, for example, it shows that person to be a member of the HP AllianceONE program.

I hope this is helpful,

Warren, HP Enterprise Community Administrator 

[Pete Randall]

Thanks, Warren, that was helpful but still didn't clear everything up (for me).  From what you're telling me, my rank(s) are "Founder" and "Honored Contributor".  That much I can understand, but what is this "image" business?  Are you referring to the banal avatar?

And you have a "rank" of Community Manager.  Can a Community Manager advance up the ranks to "Honored Contributor"? 

Not only are we dealing with a different language, we seem also to be dealing with hidden rules.

[Dennis Handly]

You might want to look at what the migrated BSC forum welcome topic has.  It seems there were some of the same complaints a year ago.  But this time we have more and are more whiney.  :-)

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Your-Questions-Regarding/Welcome-to-the-all-new-Business-Support-Forums/m-p/1152601#M4347

It mentions posts not being in order.  But perhaps that was in a Board vs. a view all in a category?

google and old links.