A huge step backward--what are you guys thinking?

Good luck TJRL... I'm still waiting for the contents of the post to appear on the notification emails. That's been 'coming' for months.

Is there anyway to sort "Activity since last visit" searches by subject area rather than date order?

Good question, there isn't currently extra sorting options on that list but I like where your head's at. I'll pass the suggestion on for you. We'd like to make it easier for all the regulars, so believe me it's something on our to-do list. I don't have any specifics right now, but we will let you guys know as soon as we have more.

Good luck TJRL... I'm still waiting for the contents of the post to appear on the notification emails. That's been 'coming' for months.

This is one I'd like to see myself, but it isn't currently planned to be added. I don't remember it being mentioned as "coming" but if you locate somewhere it's been called out as being on the list please let me know, I'd like to correct that. This is a feature that isn't built into the InSided platform currently and may not be added right now.

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Thanks for sharing guys, we know the community still has some growing to do and we're going to help do just that. Let us know where you see room that needs improvement too.

The shortcomings of the InSided platform have been called out in detail and in various locations. Here we are 6 months since inception yet still stuck with basically the same features, give or take a bit of tinkering round the edges and a grafted-on attempt at highlighting unread posts on a per-subforum basis.

Is there actually any development going on at all? Forgive me but I have my doubts. On the face of it we're lumbered with a bespoke wheel reinvention with missing spokes.

Thanks, ratty... exactly what I was going for. In the beginning, it sounded as if the company sold Sonos a bill of goods, and based on mods' comments, changes were being made and coming. Guess not anymore once the check was deposited.

They are still working on changes, hopefully we'll see some more soon, but I don't know right now when the next round of updates are coming. As many of the features we've talked with them about don't exist in their platform it all takes some development time followed by testing before we get to add it here. But we'll let you know as soon as we hear more.

I'm not wanting to play politics here, nor shoot the messenger, but I think what you're basically saying Ryan is that the InSided platform wasn't fit for purpose. In that case I wholeheartedly agree. Someone somewhere made a bad call.

Gotta agree with ratty here. Much of my support on the other site relied on me doing an advanced search on techniques that have worked before, and doing a cut and paste. Unfortunately, since the search function here is absolutely worthless (actually it is less than worthless), I sometimes neglect supporting a poster that I may have otherwise done a quick search for. If there are no advanced search functions possible in the current platform (or at the very least, a search for posts instead of threads), there was indeed a bad call made. Forum searches by date, user, subject, terms, sub-forum, etc., are basic functionality that should be expanded upon, not eliminated, when choosing new software.

The platform does have some room to grow for sure, but it certainly is fit for purpose. We were looking for a partner to work with to combine our two communities together. Something with a new look and feel over the old forums (and some important features on the administration side) but also with many missing features from the ask.sonos page. After a lot of looking we found that InSided had a lot of what we were looking for, and had a lot of potential to grow too. They've been a great partner so far and we're looking to do a lot more with them in the future. There definitely are some things that we'd like to see improved and some features that should be added, but we think they were the right partner at the right time.

We're looking forward to working with them to make the community the best it can be, and the best Sonos community we've ever had.

we think they were the right partner at the right time.

We're looking forward to working with them to make the community the best it can be, and the best Sonos community we've ever had.

Why am I not surprised to read that first sentence quoted?!

Many of the regulars have given up complaining and are doing the best of a bad job. What Sonos will never know is how much better the community could have been with better choices than what seem to have been made. 'Nuff said.

The platform does have some room to grow for sure, but it certainly is fit for purpose.

Ryan, I understand that you would be required to talk it up, but that comment makes you look cynical at worst, or out of touch at best.

Maybe it holds true if you are talking about your internal Sonos "customers", but if you are talking about us external customers, it is just plain annoying to read.

This new site is markedly less fit for purpose than the facility which it replaced. And Sonos delivery against assurances made during the conversion angst is deficient. ie. this from four months ago from the presumed Manager of this area of your business.

This platform is different from the ones it has replaced, and will never function in exactly the same way, but contrary to the previous platforms we will be able to optimise and make improvements over time. We’ve received great feedback, and as promised, we intend to communicate transparently about what we can and can’t do to improve the community in the weeks and months to come.

This topic will be the place where we maintain a list of upcoming changes that have been asked for and where we post updates when something is implemented.

This then ... nothing ... ?

Just how can this facility be seen as fit for use?

It frustrates your Customer Champions, and hampers their efforts on you behalf
* hopeless search facility as illustrated by jgatie above
* list of most recent posts is non-informative; can't see who posted, when they posted expressed in our own time zone, whether they have been responded to, nor any summary of what they said (all this is at least a further two clicks and Internet lags away, ie. you have to open the thread, and then re-sort it to display the recent submission ... and you have do that individually for each thread ... how is that fit for use?)

It disengages casual or social visitors
* non-informative emails when there is activity in a favourited threads or forums
* deprecated Lounge area (hidden down the bottom of the pack)
* less facility to customise forum signature for social connections (LFM profile, hobby web sites etc) ... no facility to put these into public profiles either
* no preview facility for posts
* no way to see a summary of what is new and unread since last visit
* social activity has all but died, precisely because the forum is not fit for use ... you got any other theory why there is less activity ?

It closes down the customer voice:
* we lost the facility to suggest, and vote upon, product improvements
* we lost focus upon any customer suggestions due the loss of voting and the ranking that it provided
* no Unsupported Forum for community projects

Unpleasant to read:
* much glare for those with eyesight challenges

Less useful as a self help resource
* search facility is close to useless

The experience on a mobile device is even less fit for use:
* no ready access to threads we have interacted in or are monitoring
* am I still unable to edit my posts using your mobile platform? I haven't checked lately.

We're looking forward to working with them to make the community the best it can be, and the best Sonos community we've ever had.

Yeah, well it has been five months now.

Maybe I am being unfair, and have forgotten your achievements. Could you list the progress so far?