Is the new community your idea of an improvement? It is anything but an improvement. Several important threads I started have lost content. When I try and type a response, I can't see the entire response I am creating--it only allows me to see a couple of lines at a time.
I am a long-time Sonos user, and I feel that I have been slapped in the face. Sonos no longer has my endorsement.
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This sums it up for me perfectly. And the fact that Ryan and the crew have stated numerous times they are working on fixes, none are forthcoming, so it appears to me they bought this 'community' software without really doing all the necessary research and are hoping the software company is going to provide fixes for them. I, like you, would come in every day and click 'New Posts.' At LEAST once a week I would find a tip or trick that I didn't know existed. I loved the forum. Now I only show up if there is a response to a thread I posted in to see if hopefully something changed and I can start reading here again.
This was exactly the way I used the previous forums too. And my reaction is the same as BlueCrystalMan. A real shame.
Userlevel 7
+26
This sums it up for me perfectly. And the fact that Ryan and the crew have stated numerous times they are working on fixes, none are forthcoming, so it appears to me they bought this 'community' software without really doing all the necessary research and are hoping the software company is going to provide fixes for them. I, like you, would come in every day and click 'New Posts.' At LEAST once a week I would find a tip or trick that I didn't know existed. I loved the forum. Now I only show up if there is a response to a thread I posted in to see if hopefully something changed and I can start reading here again.
This was exactly the way I used the previous forums too. And my reaction is the same as BlueCrystalMan. A real shame.
Hey guys, not sure if you missed this, but the first changes are going to be coming soon. This page has the most recent update from our team on what's being targeted for the first changes: https://en.community.sonos.com/new-community-feedback-229090/community-platform-updates-6731275
We're still listening to your feedback and will be incorporating it in the community as much as possible.
Did you actually test these designs with any real live human beings other than smelling your own farts? Yowsa! This new fora is absolutely awful. So many great community software packages out there and you went with this?!?!?!? Why didn't you give Jive Software a call if you want something corporate?!?!?!
The page gutters on this are so f'ing wide I am going blind trying to read the posts because of all the white space. Email me when you fix or go back to the old system. Later.
Ryan S,
Is there anyway to sort "Activity since last visit" searches by subject area rather than date order?
When I click on "Activity since last visit" I would like to see the search results under the standard headings of; "Welcome, Getting started, Life with Sonos, Advanced and troubleshooting, Other language forums and Community feedback" and then the respective sub headings.
Without such functionality this new community thing is pretty useless to those of us like BlueCrystalMan, SteveM etc. who used to check in every day (or week) to pick up on tips and tricks. It is very unhelpful to have the posts I might be interested in buried by loads of "Getting started" ones!!
Is there anyway to sort "Activity since last visit" searches by subject area rather than date order?
When I click on "Activity since last visit" I would like to see the search results under the standard headings of; "Welcome, Getting started, Life with Sonos, Advanced and troubleshooting, Other language forums and Community feedback" and then the respective sub headings.
Without such functionality this new community thing is pretty useless to those of us like BlueCrystalMan, SteveM etc. who used to check in every day (or week) to pick up on tips and tricks. It is very unhelpful to have the posts I might be interested in buried by loads of "Getting started" ones!!
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.
Userlevel 7
+26
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.
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.
____
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.
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.
Userlevel 7
+26
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.
Userlevel 7
+26
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'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'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.
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 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.
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?
As always BarryM expresses things with articulacy.
At the risk of repeating myself I'll summarise what I'd consider 'fitness for purpose' capabilities in a board:
- quickly identifying new posts of interest since the last visit, including author, time and so forth
- searching and filtering historical threads, to mine the wisdom of 10 years' worth of past visitors
- easily composing and previewing posts, including the usual forum tools for BBcode insertion
In all of the above the InSided platform has fallen short. The confirmation that the necessary features don't exist in their platform and therefore require months of dev/test pretty much reinforces my view that it wasn't up to the job.
At the risk of repeating myself I'll summarise what I'd consider 'fitness for purpose' capabilities in a board:
- quickly identifying new posts of interest since the last visit, including author, time and so forth
- searching and filtering historical threads, to mine the wisdom of 10 years' worth of past visitors
- easily composing and previewing posts, including the usual forum tools for BBcode insertion
In all of the above the InSided platform has fallen short. The confirmation that the necessary features don't exist in their platform and therefore require months of dev/test pretty much reinforces my view that it wasn't up to the job.
Userlevel 7
+26
I absolutely agree, well said Barry. We are committed to improving the community and making it the best it can be. Thanks for sharing your concerns and where you think the best places to head are. We’ll keep you updated with any news as soon as it’s available.
Ryan S,
Thank you for your reply to my post of a day ago and to all the others who took the trouble to also post a reply. I guess I am still wondering why 5 months in we still do not anything remotely like the required functionality of the old forum?
I do not seem myself as a luddite and normally embrace change, but the old Ask Sonos page seemed to work for those with questions and the kept the old forum clean and useable. I used to be a reasonably regular reader and poster on the old forum but my number of visits to the current Community has dropped off considerably! I do not have the metrics, but I suspect if we were to look at all the regular contributors (6 months ago) on the old forum and their actively now I would not be alone in this.
In short, after 5 months the new Community is not as good as the old forum. If that was the intention then fine, job done. But if Sonos were trying to improve things then big fail I am afraid.
Thank you for your reply to my post of a day ago and to all the others who took the trouble to also post a reply. I guess I am still wondering why 5 months in we still do not anything remotely like the required functionality of the old forum?
I do not seem myself as a luddite and normally embrace change, but the old Ask Sonos page seemed to work for those with questions and the kept the old forum clean and useable. I used to be a reasonably regular reader and poster on the old forum but my number of visits to the current Community has dropped off considerably! I do not have the metrics, but I suspect if we were to look at all the regular contributors (6 months ago) on the old forum and their actively now I would not be alone in this.
In short, after 5 months the new Community is not as good as the old forum. If that was the intention then fine, job done. But if Sonos were trying to improve things then big fail I am afraid.
Like OPs such as TJRL, ratty, BarryM and others, I agree totally. The new community is not a patch on the old forum, which I thoroughly enjoyed visiting. My own post count has plummeted.
Is the software company even entertaining the features everyone needs? Basic stuff like staying logged in doesn't even work half the time. Another problem is when I post from my iPad, the screen doesn't refresh, so it looks like the post didn't go. Would be nice if once you selected desktop version on a mobile device it stuck.
Even if they were, the fact that so many features are missing from the InSided platform doesn't fill me with optimism. Possibly the only hope is that someone will eventually have the courage to order a further migration, to a platform built from the ground up to satisfy the basic requirements of a modern board.
Userlevel 7
+22
Even if they were, the fact that so many features are missing from the InSided platform doesn't fill me with optimism. Possibly the only hope is that someone will eventually have the courage to order a further migration, to a platform built from the ground up to satisfy the basic requirements of a modern board.
I wasn't registered before the current board so can't compare. But it is true to say that this forum is not very good in terms of seeing latest posts and the layout within a post is not very good either.
Surely there are plenty of forum templates out there that would do the job?
Despite being long in the tooth and evidently a bit hard for the admins to maintain, the vBulletin platform version used by the original Sonos forums was far more functional than this one (leaving aside the 'social' baubles). Even the GetSatisfaction platform used by Ask.Sonos -- which ran in parallel with the old discussion forums for several years as more of a Q&A place -- was in many respects better.
Rather than combining the best aspects of the vBulletin and GetSatisfaction boards we lost a great deal. BarryM's is a good summary.
A key rationale for ditching both previous boards was to bring everything under one roof, including all the 10 years of historical threads. The dreadful irony is that those old threads might as well have been consigned to oblivion, such is the uselessness of the built-in search facility. I get better results by using Google's site search.
Rather than combining the best aspects of the vBulletin and GetSatisfaction boards we lost a great deal. BarryM's is a good summary.
A key rationale for ditching both previous boards was to bring everything under one roof, including all the 10 years of historical threads. The dreadful irony is that those old threads might as well have been consigned to oblivion, such is the uselessness of the built-in search facility. I get better results by using Google's site search.
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.
You must be joking. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. I was a regular in the old forum, I hardly ever visit anymore. It has become infantile, almost impossible to search and even the most basic things it gets wrong. One example only: I was reading this thread without having logged in. I had to go back to the main screen to log in and find my way back to this page. Months ago I already concluded that this forum is not there to help customers and allow them to share their views but to stifle that as much as possible while pretending otherwise.
Vacuous remarks like "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." are particularly galling since you have had quite a bit of time to set things right and nothing substantial (as far as I am concerned) has happened.
Oh I just spotted Ryan S's response to Barry. He completely agrees and the usual garbage about how they will improve things. Ryan S. did it ever occur to you that this sort of behaviour might actually alienate customers and make them look for alternatives?
I am little more charitable on this point; while what you say is probably the outcome to a large degree, I don't think it is a planned one. I see this a classic example of marketing leadership making decisions based on personal preferences and persuasions, without ever being in active touch with ground realities. And I can assure you from my experiences in other companies that none of the Sonos responses are from these people/this person.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Perhaps that is coming across stronger than appropriate, but the drift is accurate, I suggest.
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