Give us your ideas for the new Forum homepage

JCS1

I suggest remove the pictures. As a childless woman of a certain age, the baby photo was very upsetting as I was not prepared to see it on MSE.

I avoid the forums which I know will be triggering, I can't avoid the homepage.

ripplyuk

It makes me instantly click ‘All Boards’, which is an unnecessary extra step. Everything else on that page should be on the main MSE website, not the forum homepage. 

chrisw

J_B said:

dave2319 said:

How many people often check out the homepage? I guess a lot of people land on it because they've clicked "Forum" on the main site and are looking for particular boards.

I think it's a shame you're hoping to "make it the best homepage we can" because surely people aren't here for the homepage, they're here for the forum. The homepage doesn't need more content and some people would say there's already too much. Using my content blocker to get rid of the biggest photo definitely makes it look better to me.

Anyway, I think it would be best to just concentrate on the forum and make sure people are happy in here. It's alright having a nice door but people need to like what they see when they go inside.

What an excellent post - I too never use the homepage.

I just want the forum to work better and the fact that there are now 76 pages of comments on the 'give us your feedback' section and only two pages here must back that up.

Agree with this. I've never used the homepage either unless by accident.

MSE_Laura_F

Thanks for your thoughts.

As others have said, you can bypass the Forum homepage by bookmarking the 'All Boards' page

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories

(...or any other page you prefer).

For those who do want to see the homepage, perhaps because they're browsing rather than seeking something specific, or because they're new to the Forum and not sure where to start, we want to make it a place that's interesting and representative.

At the moment we're showcasing threads from across a range of boards, picking out images we like and highlighting Forum-related events and blogs. If there are other things we should try, or if you've seen a particular thread or image you think deserves a slot, this is the place to let us know.

Thank you.

MSE Laura F

J_B

rigolith said:

Could you make it so I can pin certain forums to the top of the front page? At the moment I have to dig through to find the ones I want.

I have always had all my favourite forums bookmarked in my browser ... even with the last but one forum incarnation ... so simple

frugalpam2023

Would love to know how to bookmark a forum or thread. Searched around but had no luck

Bridlington1

frugalpam2023 said:

Would love to know how to bookmark a forum or thread. Searched around but had no luck

Click the bookmark icon at the top of the page:

km1500

please can you put the year as well as the month and date each post was made

cymruchris

MSE_Laura_F said:

For those who do want to see the homepage, 

Are there any? I haven't seen anyone yet that says 'Ooooh I like this new homepage'.

Are we doing it because it's fashionable? Or because other forums are doing it? Or because our software provider has told us it's what we need? Or did someone think it would be a good idea, and to give it a go? (Sometimes we do have to try things to see if they work - sometimes they do - sometimes they don't - there's nothing wrong with trying something new, but if it doesn't pan out, what's the plan B?)

I'm an avid supporter of the forum, it's a very useful place, but we seem to be moving away from being able to find things easily, having to use workarounds, bookmarks, sideways steps, extra clicks just to see what we want to see.

It's been a while since the new changes were implemented - and you'd expect a 'posting blip' downwards while people get used to change - but I'd be interested to see some stats around say the month before the change and the month after the change showing post quantity/thread creation quantity etc to see if we're near to pre-change levels.

My gut instinct is that board posting/thread creation is considerably down. My own interaction is certainly down. I don't see some of the 'old' regular posters so often. I'm sure we're stuck with it - but is it one of those nail in the coffin moments? It might not be the final nail yet, but feels like we're heading towards it.... 

J_B

cymruchris said:

MSE_Laura_F said:

For those who do want to see the homepage, 

Are there any? I haven't seen anyone yet that says 'Ooooh I like this new homepage'.

Not sure I'd actually know where the homepage is, sorry!

I just use my browser's bookmarks to go to the forum sections that I wish to view.

I suppose the gist of it all is ... why do MSE need to even provide a forum?

They are in the business of gaining income from referrals so if poster A comes along and gives a better option and MSE don't get the click, then it's counter intuitive for them.

However, a long time ago ML set up MSE to help people to save money  .......

Hmm, not sure what the answer is really!