UK Community Update

[katie@ebay]

Hi Everyone!

Today we launch the updated eBay community in the UK. 

As you will have noticed, the eBay community looks different. We have launched the updated design of the community with a few new features:

• Mobile experience enhanced
• Reduced load time
• Quicker navigation through the site

Of course, all your previous posts, messages and comments are still where they were before. The changes to the community are focused on the look and feel, to enhance your experience and allow mobile users to fully utilise the community, too.

If you have any questions about the new eBay community, feel free to ask below in this discussion board.

[wyntersemporium]

It's better than it was. Just couldn't read the newer version as hurt my eyes. 

Normally I am perusing the boards for an hour or two and then come back to have a look again!!

But when it changed, had a look and backed out after half n hour.

[1956glyn]

Same here.   I pop in now and then to have a read of my PMs but thats all.  

[guru-banana]

Absolutely, no longer a pleasure nor probably safe for the eyes  to view for anymore than short periods, so it's in, post and go, not good for browsing very much at all.

So once this thread has gone, quite likely will have very few reasons to return.

A bit like my 8 posts in 4 years on the U.S. forum, just too much effort and discomfort involved to look at or through.

[cee-dee]

I sincerely hope that some notice is being taken of the points raised by contributors to this thread and those points will acted upon.

Surely it must be obvious by the lack of posting since this change was effected that there is something drastically wrong that is putting people off from posting? Isn't it clear enough that most of the changes were "not correct"????

Three of the most glaring wrongdoings are 1/ not having the latest posting rise to the top of the board, 2/not having the post last read at the top of a thread and 3/ not having a link to take you back to the front page of the forum. It's madness having to go to the top of the thread and then click the title of the board when it was so simple to click "message listings" before.

[pixiesen2012]

I've found a way to show the time a post was made,

go here:- https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/user/myprofilepage/tab/user-preferences:display and set it to show relative time

[cee-dee]

I don't understand what you mean there? The date & time a post was made is displayed already?

Your #165 was timed and dated 23-02-2021 7:00 PM.

[Anonymous]

I note that there's now a page counter at the bottom so you don't have to wade through all the posts and keep waiting for the "load more replies" button to drop you into the disjointed mess at a random point...

[pixiesen2012]

I mean on the list of posts before you open them, so you can see when a thread was started without having to open it

[m25jet]

Just a quick suggestion for you Katie, and something that you may wish to consider passing on to the team in charge of developing the layout of the forums - or any other aspects of the site, for that matter.

Given that this new layout is proving to be very unpopular why not add an option for people to use in order to choose whether they wish to view the eBay Community Forums using the old version or the new version?  Keep both versions actively running, but have them both set up in such a way that if a person posts something using the old format and another person chooses to use the new format to read that response and maybe post something on the boards, or vice versa, then the message submitted using the other format will still be clearly displayed, regardless of which version is being used to view threads and post on the forums.  That way anybody wishing to continue using the old format can still continue to do so, whilst those users who prefer to use the new format can use that one instead.  Tweak both versions so that they're user-friendly with all devices, whether the user has logged on using a computer, a laptop or a mobile device.

Should eBay decide to implement this suggestion then it would be possible for eBay to monitor the use of both formats and review the popularity of each version so that an accurate idea can be obtained as to users' preferences with regards to the layout of the site.  This ought to prove useful when the site developers are considering making further "improvements" to the site.

At the end of the day it's far better to give people a choice, as opposed to forcing something upon them which they do not want and positively loathe when compared to the version which has been taken away from them and made permanently unavailable.  If you offer people a choice as to which version they wish to use then there is less likely to be a massive uproar from thousands of users who are being forced to use a version of the forums which they feel is nowhere near as good as the old format that it was brought in to replace.  I know that it's not in keeping with eBay's way of thinking, but sometimes working towards a compromise and coming up with a solution that keeps everybody happy is actually the best option for all concerned.

[theelench]

I'm still trying to navigate threads using "Notifications Feed" .    What I'm finding is that clicking a notification that "xxx" has replied to a thread, drops me into a random page where they replied to someone.

  Most disconcerting as I then find other replies (sometimes days old) also replying, that I haven't seen before.

  Is this because a notification might say "xxx & six others replied to a (this) thread",  on clicking, I'm being taken to "xxx's" reply but unless the other six replied to the same post, I'm left guessing where they might be.

  If they replied to a different reply, I never get taken to them.  The only way to find them is to go back to the start and wade through the whole thread again.

[cee-dee]

This is a discussion board and it's not like that here?

[*guinevere*]

@m25jet  they won't do that because they know very well that everyone will choose the original option!

[the_book_seekers]

It does seem that we are slowly moving back towards how the old boards operated. Keep going ebay, there's more to do. 

[robmar0se]

One of the common threads in the complaints raised is the massive white background which is not good on the eyes, and is uneconomical on the constructive use of the screen area. As an aside I normally in Chrome run at 110%, but on Ebays new discussion boards I run at 90%, doesn't reduce the white area, in fact accentuates the screen waste.

Secondly the search function is chaotic - type "Hermes" and it gets loads of answers in no particular chronology, no idea how many views or responses, which makes the search function pretty useless.

& thirdly a eureka moment, probably a little slow on the uptake, but if one positions the cursor on the bottom right of the reply box, one can enlarge the type ares, much easier than on Friday to check ones grammar!

Lastly, still unable to add/insert photo from the camera icon - work in progress?

[cee-dee]

Surely they kept copies of the source code so it wouldn't be too difficult to reinstate that and sort out what they really needed to change one thing at a time instead of coming up with so many unwanted changes and things that are unworkable in one go?

[the_book_seekers]

I have a feeling the wide open spaces are going to continue due to making the boards more mobile friendly. ebay sees the future as smart phones. Makes me wonder what they have in store for other areas of the site.

[guru-banana]

---

@robmar0se wrote:

Well thought out and well argued.

The only thing I would add going back to Ebay's  supposed objectives, the one with any credibility is to make the forum smartphone friendly.

By all means do so, but for a minute just think who are youir major customers, regular buyers sellers, who through the volume of activity will probably use a PC, or the random occasional user who may use a smartphone.  Ask yourself who contributes most to ebay profits?

I woud put it to you that its profits that should drive all you do,  by all means change things but please revisit your key objectives, and who yr key users are.  Important to LISTEN!

Lastly functionality is 100 times more important tahn how pretty it is.

---

Either I'm getting random update emails or duplicates but a thought on your post.

Over tha last year mobile buyers have increased dramatically for me to over 50% at the last count.

By far the most profit eBay make will be from the big boys, those who post on here give virtually none in comparison.

As for the forum needing to be smartphone friendly, it's all part of the corporate look and nothing but nothing will reverse it.

So no matter how much we despise it and how hard it is to read or post,, ebay do not give a monkey's as corporate look is the objective and the most important thing as it is for most companies of any size.

Making it easily functional is a secondary objective especially when it comes to a forum few use and many are either unaware of or not interested in.

[cee-dee]

That's all well and good, up to a point but a lot of users of the discussion forums do so with a posting ID or an old ID they use for posting. At one time it was almost mandatory to use a posting ID to prevent problems buying or selling.

Yes, lots of people are glued to a smartphone but wouldn't it have been easier to create a smartphone app which worked on the main site (for buying an selling?) and leave the majority of the forums alone?

[theelench]

I'm not going to argue your point about "Corporate Look", you're quite likely right given that ebay seems to be methodically altering page after page into this sort of format.

  However, I would question the wisdom of adopting a corporate look that is so horrible to look at.  Inducing eye-strain and head-ache with prolonged exposure and with my own short-term use to my Watch List and even shorter experiment with the Seller Hub, is literally a waste of space and time navigating un-necessary large areas of emptiness.

  Does ebay think that this "look" enhances the ebay experience for anyone?  Or does it leave them with an impression that getting anything out of the site requires a disproportionate amount of to-ing, fro-ing and and faffing about?  How many will just give up and go somewhere quicker and easier as soon as the eyes start to itch and the dull pain behind the eyes starts-up?

  Also, aren't the advisers on the boards now an integrated and necessary part of problem solving on the site?  My own limited experience of trying to get an answer from ebay FAQ's or Information has been to find them over-lapping, muddled and not always helpful.  Sometimes even raising more questions than supplying answers.  God help those in need of advice if the boards are as bad and the experienced responders drop-out with eye problems or liver damage due to high intake of Asprin. 

[all-about-pictures]

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