I'd say there are broadly two main sorts of people who post to these boards (I'm afraid I'm not counting eBay staff, because their posts, though undoubtedly authoritative, informative, courteous and helpful, are relatively rare).
- professional eBay users, mainly responders, probably using an old-fashioned sort of big screen computer.
- occasional users, mainly OPs in need of help, probably using a mobile telephone with a small screen.
For a useful community to function, you really need a forum format that works well for both sorts of users. Otherwise you get lots of questions from people in need of help, and few useful/wise answers from experienced users.
I've tried the new format for a couple of days - and I've reconfigured my settings too. However, for someone like me, with a big old-fashioned computer, who mainly replies to topics rather than starting them, the format is very poor.
When I access the PowerSeller board, for example, the first screen on my link shows me a big picture of a creepy-looking grinning man, the information that I am on the POWERSELLER BOARD, and a link to a pinned post from Luke (yes, Luke, that must be an old one!).
Scrolling down to the next screen gives me 3 threads - with no indication at all of who posted last, whether I've read them or posted to the threads, or whether, if I have, there are any new ones.
I would GUESS that the PowerSeller board in particular would have a high proportion of users who are using computers rather than mobile telephones to access the boards. And this format is unsuitable for computers.
Fair enough, you've already killed off the PowerSeller Cafe Board, now you'll kill off the PowerSeller Business Board. Your train set, your decision.
But you also risk losing a fair proportion of your regular responders - the eBay members who spend their lunch hours doing unpaid work to make up for the deficiencies of your ludicrously out-of-date and unnavigable help pages and your well-meaning but largely hamstrung or incompetent Customer Service staff.
The format is unnavigable, unbrowsable, and while the search function may be friendly for the majority of people looking for answers or advice, it stymies the unpaid people on whom you rely to provide those answers and advice.
Treating your most regular members with contempt because the new format looks pretty for beginners, may not be the best move, if it prevents those members getting that help.
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Cesario, the Count's gentleman
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