Changes to the Forums

We crossed again. I was referring to your next to last post related to subscribers

Thanks for the info on how to watch

As a now paying subscriber, the multiple choice of forums is exactly what made me decide to fork the money over. I am doing my best to "adjust", but I'm starting to think my best is not good enough. Now, when somebody posts to a thread and it shows on my homepage. I click on whatever it is in order to find their post. Instead of being thrown into something specific to what they were posting about, I'm thrown into a mass of threads, of which multiples have new postings but it doesn't say by who – Only by who started the thread. Now maybe I'm missing something. Maybe there's an easier way and I'm not seeing it, but having to open between two and seven threads and then click to go to the bottom of the thread and hope that is who I am looking for that posted, is frustration in motion.

Let me give an example. Dream of Spring posts and I see it on my homepage. That takes me to Back Porch. If I did not know the name of her thread, where do I start? The problem is, I often don't know the name of the thread. Does that make sense?

If anyone knows of a way for me to avoid this, I would be grateful for your input.
Patti

Patti, are you just "Watching" the forums or also Watching the threads?

If someone posts on a thread that you're watching you should see it on your Home Page under you "ThreadWatcher". If you click on that, it should take you directly to the thread they posted in and if you post on a thread, it automatically adds it to your ThreadWatcher".

If you only click on a forum that shows up on your Home Page under you're watched forums, you're correct that it takes you to the whole forum page (and there's no mention of who the last poster was on each thread), but it's always been like that. In that case, start at the top and check only the threads marked "Yes" under the column "New?". Then click on "Skip to New" and it will take you to the bottom of the thread.

Can you post a screen print of your home page? You shouldn't be redirected to a whole page of threads when you click on a watched thread.

There is so much stuck under Organic Gardening that doesn't belong there. If it did the threads would have been started there in the first place. I really miss the Soil and Composting forum I definitely think it belongs as a stand alone.

Prefaced with the fact that I'm on an iPad.

Nuts, you are correct about it's always been this way. But you didn't have 99 (figure of speech) forums dumped into one heading. When I open DG I Am on my homepage. I have to leave the homepage, go to "my Info" and open that. Then I go to " view the threads I am watching" and I open that. From that point, I can click on the thread I want to see and I'm home free.

Now, that's all well and good, but at that point in time, I might as well just go straight to "view the threads you're watching" and make that my home page, because it's fewer steps. If I do that, I never have exposure do anything else DG has to offer, which I think is the reason why they started this change in the first place. Believe me, I won't even try flipping from screen to screen to screen on my iPhone.

Furthermore, that doesn't address the question of "if DOS posts in any thread other than her normal thread that she started, I don't know where to find.

Am I making this harder than it really is? I did take screenshots, but we've already gone over the fact that you're right about the homepage.

Thank you,
Patti

Sorry Patti,
I'm totally lost when it comes to iPads and iPhones. Never used either of them.
On my desktop home page I have both watched threads and watched forums and the task bars/menu headings to get everywhere else run across the top of the screen.

Popularity of mobile devices is one of the main reasons they made these changes, but from many of the comments, people with these devices are having as much trouble as everybody else. Wish I could help you.

Patti,

I think this is another thing you can solve in Preferences. I don't have time to explain right now but will do so later (on my thread) and will include pictures.

DOS-where is your thread? I'm one of those that usually uses an iPad. I cannot tell any difference between it and my desktop.


This message was edited Sep 12, 2015 7:35 PM

Did search and Orchid cactus will not come up nor would Epi
What am I doing wrong? If its merged with something else what?

Thanks
Lavina who does not like changes as I am not TECH Savy and old as ____ so I am slow

This message was edited Sep 12, 2015 7:56 PM

DOS, please post your instructions here so other people can use them too. I did start messing around in preferences and was able to add " threads you are watching" to the homepage. The problem is, I don't remember how I did it now. LOL Thank you.
Patti

Edited to remove duplicate post. Sorry.
Patti

This message was edited Sep 12, 2015 7:58 PM

Hi Lavina ~

See if these links help at all. They're probably not exactly what you're looking for, but maybe there's something useful there.

http://davesgarden.com/tools/tags/tag.php?tag=orchid+cactus

http://davesgarden.com/tools/tags/tag.php?tag=epi

Did search and Orchid cactus will not come up nor would Epi
What am I doing wrong? If its merged with something else what?

Look in tropicals.

Cactus and succulents ? What a place to put them not to mention is very confusing Dang they kept Beauty Product/ or supplies that had not been used much in years.
Page 5 finally had a few Epis.But the yearly blooms I was watching cant find them
Larry they are not tropical to me as I live in NC . Maybe someone has them as being that tho. hope no one has put them there. I am so confused.
I have just redone my subscription or I would not have renewed. I try to keep up with a few here so maybe by next year I can turn loose of this.

This message was edited Sep 13, 2015 10:05 AM

Well Larry you are right that is where most of them are Tropicals. Also elephant ears are there. Wish they had been left alone .
I dont drink so I cant cry in my beer but I may over eat at lunch dues to stress.

Lavina

Brugs and Hoyas have been merged too. I didn't even know what they were until I joined DG. I still wouldn't have known what they were with the current set up. I used to like to just read thru the forums but now the info is scattered everywhere.

Hmmm - as far as paid subscribers, etc - have you looked at what the DG owner, Internet Brands, is into? I'm not so sure that paid subscribers are carrying the brunt of the overhead expense and aren't just a "cherry on top" thing. I'd love to be an idealist but ...

Ok, per request, I will put the instructions here for getting updates on your homepage. Because I have my homepage set up this way, I probably only use the Forum List (under Communities) a couple times a year, just when I want to find something that is not on my homepage.

The item I think will be most helpful with this is the Thread Watcher to which you referred earlier, Pattie. This will let you know as soon as one of your watched threads is updated and will take you directly to that thread when you click on it. Photo 1 shows the Thread Watcher as it appears on my home page. I circled the words "Thread Watcher" in red for emphasis. Notice that the 2nd item showing on the list in Photo 1 is "Rants, Raves, and Even Cats". That's my thread, and when it shows up on my Thread Watcher I know that someone has posted to it.

If the Thread Watcher is not on your home page, you need to put it there. Go to your Preferences. Choose "Custom Homepage" from the menu items on the left. This will take you to a page with a large list/chart with the various items you can add to your home page. Photo 2 shows the top of that page on my screen. On the right under "Module" are the items you can add to your home page. On the left under "Column and Order" is the option box you use to either disable a module or add it to your home page by assigning it to a location.

On my example in Photo 2, note that the 1st item at the top of the list, the Company Representative Watcher" is disabled, because it is assigned to "Column1, Disabled". This means it will not show up on my home page. My Thread Watcher is assigned to "Column1: Position 2" that means it will be the 2nd item on my home page (under Dmail updates).

You can remove or add any of the items on that list by simply changing them to "Disabled" or assigning them to a location. That's all there is to it. When you have finished making changes, be sure to click the button at the bottom of the page to "Update Modules".

The Column: Position thing may seem confusing at 1st glance, but it's really quite simple. The main and largest area or position on your homepage (starting on the left) is Column 1. Anything you assign to Column 1 will show up in this area. The order, by that I mean which one comes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc, will be determined by the Position assignments. So on my homepage (see Photo 2 assignments), Dmail updates come 1st, followed by the Thread Watcher, then the Diary Watcher (which must not be working), then Favorite Forums, and so on. The items on the far right side of the home page are in Column 2, and their order is determined by Position number the same as with Column 1. The only other caveat is that you must make sure not to assign to items to the exact same Column & Position, because 2 things can't be in the same place.

There is also an item on the 1st page or your Preferences that you need to know about, because it effects the threads that will show up on your Thread Watcher. The item Auto-Watch Threads is circled in red on Photo 3 to make it easier for you to find. If you check this box, any time you post to a thread that thread will automatically be added to your watch list and updates to that thread will show up in your Thread Watcher. If you don't check that box, threads will only show up in your Thread Watcher if/when you click their associated "watch thread" link.

There are a couple of other related lists you can add to your home page, 1 in particular which will mostly eliminate your need for the Forum List on the Communities page.

Photo 1 below shows the Favorite Forums list. Having this list on your home page will allow you to see at a glance whether anything has changed in your favorite forums since you last visited them. It is also a very handy way to navigate to one of your favorite forums just by clicking on the forum name. Remember, to add this or any of the other Customizable items to your home page, just assign it to a column and position (one which is not already used). If you need an update on how to do this, see my last post above and note how mine is assigned on the attachment to that post. (Note that in Photo 1, 1 added the words "Favorite Forums" shown in red at the top of the image and the red circles. These things will not be on your screen.)

There are 2 ways, that I know of, to add forums to your favorites list. 1 is to use the Forum Settings option in your Preferences, but I believe that is currently broken. The other is to simply click the link at the top of each desired forum, the link for adding it to your favorites.

My favorites list includes all of the forums I use regularly and even those I refer to occasionally. As a result, I almost never need to use the Forum List under Communities, and I would never even have realized anything had been changed recently had I not heard others talking about it.
--------------------------

There are a couple of other such home page items you might want to consider. Photo 2 below shows the Latest Posts and Photo 3 shows the Latest Threads. You can add either or both of these to your home page as desired. Just find them on the list under "Customize Homepage" in Preferences and assign them to positions. If you are unsure, consider adding them all for a while to see which you like. You can always remove the ones you don't care for later. (All red circles are annotations I added for emphasis.)

1lisac,

My currently active thread is "Rants, Raves, and Even Cats" in the Back Porch Forum. It is usually 1 of the top 2 or 3, so not hard to find. It's kind of a catchall thread where we discuss anything and everything, whatever comes up at the moment. Gardening comes up now and then but is not a main focus. All are welcome.

I'm using a laptop. I don't have a tablet and thus cannot give tablet specific info.

Edited to add that per Patties request, I put that info on this thread (above posts) instead of on mine.

This message was edited Sep 13, 2015 3:12 PM

Patti,
What DOS just explained is what I assumed you had already set up on your home page. Had you posted a screen shot it would have explained that you had not. This is a much easier way to use DG, regardless what type of device you're using.

In an earlier post Patti actually indicated that she had already found the Thread Watcher and added it to her home page, but she asked me to explain it anyhow to help others and also as a reminder to her.

To those who might be afraid to make changes to your Preferences, here is a fail safe. When you 1st go to a page in your Preferences, take a quick screen shot (entire screen/page). Label (file name) this screen shot to indicate it has your initial settings, and save it. Do this for each page in your Preferences before you make changes. If at some point you want to remove changes and restore your homepage to its original condition, you can then use this screen shot as a road map.

I did say that, Nuts. Honest.

Thank you, Dream. Excellent description. I know it was labor-intensive. So again, thank you.

DOS, it was an excellent tutorial (as always). :o

I can't tell any difference between viewing DG on a tablet or desk top. I know they are trying to make the site more mobile friendly but the old DG worked fine on my iPad too.

Thank you so much!

So PREFERENCES >>> FORUM SETTINGS. Still not working. Is that the same for all of you?

You can't use that right now. It's not working.

If you are trying to add forums to your favorites list, you will have to go to each forum and click on the link at the top of the page to add it to your favorites.

If you are trying to add the Thread Watcher and other items to your home page as described above, its Preferences >>> Custom Homepage.

Yes. I read your earlier post and did that. Thank you.

DOS, thank you so much for the detailed instructions. Sometimes we longtime members and admin forget that not everyone knows or uses all the features of the site. That is why I asked early on how people were navigating to favorite forums and watched threads. The DG home page is/was designed to be an easy place to...

1) read your new dmail messages via a message alert and link;
2) see/read updates to threads you're watching
3) discover if there has been any new activity in your favorite forums; and
4) get a sneak peek at activity all around the forum (whether it's on a thread or forum you frequent, or not.)

And then there are the other features you can add to your home page, such as today's featured articles, bloom-of-the-day, random pictures from PlantFiles, BugFiles and BirdFiles, etc.

It always surprises me to hear when people say they don't use that as their main launching point into the site. It's just second nature to me to hit "home" frequently when I'm on the site.

You are welcome, Terry. Just trying to help. Oh, and I hit the "home" link frequently, too.

I'm going back to my thread now, all the instruction writing having worn me out for the time being. Very best wishes to all.

Very appreciated. 😊👍

I didn't know about the Home page until about two years ago. I think I was bored or something and fiddled with the preferences and a light bulb turned on.

Prior to thatI just used a bookmark for my thread watcher and if I wanted to check for new threads, I would click on that forums link from the thread I was reading.

Sorry DOS, but THAT is funny! I just went to the list of forums and can't find "Back Porch Forum" listed. Then again I am not surprised, since you can't find anything, anywhere, now. I suppose it too was merged into only God and Admin knows. LOL

When I was new, I made the page of forum listings as my bookmark. I never opened "home" nor used the watch this, tag that, or preference stuff. Why? It was all right there in the forums. If there were new postings in a forum I was reading (even if not posting) I could see the green star. I agree with everything Rosie said. I WAS learning about plants and gardening here by seeing forums about things I had no clue what was. Now I am lost in the toddlers department, not knowing where the bloomers are, much less than I want cotton. (Thanks for the analogy, Rosie).

DOS, you should be commended for so much work you put into helping others who may have an inkling where to even start. That is more than Admin did, when simply stating a change was coming and tell us to book mark our interested threads and forums would have solved it all. No input needed not required just a head's up. I don't know where to look for stuff now and I am not starting over, but for those who choose to, you should be thanked DOS.

Dream of Spring, That's exactly what is meant by "by gardeners, for gardeners!" Thank you. I've been working from my "home page" for so long I forgot there was any other way, and I couldn't understand what people were complaining about. That's how DG is SUPPOSED to work, we all help each other out. That's how I learned to post a link to another thread or another site, that's how I learned most of what I know about DG. Now I try to pay it forward too, but it does get exhausting at times of mass confusion. :)

lovetopaint,

Attached is a copy of the upper portion of the Forum List. Note that Back Porch is the very 1st item at the top of the out of the garden list.

Edited to get the list name right.

This message was edited Sep 14, 2015 10:56 AM

DOS, lovetopaint is not a paying subscriber, so will not be able to view the thread. I happened to notice the thread a few days ago, but since cats were involved I stayed out. :D

Thank you, Chillybean,

My purpose in posting the above was more to counter the argument that Back Porch cannot be found on the updated list.

As for my thread, all are welcome, but I do realize it is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, so to speak. The mention of cats in the title is an illusion to a joke from years ago, one that no one likely remembers anymore. Cats are no more a primary subject than gardening. Truth is that thread series was created as a catchall years ago when I had several other very specific threads going and needed a place to put all of my OT comments to keep them out of my other threads. I only gave out the name of my thread because some asked, and I didn't want to be rude, but even then I knew it would not likely be of interest to most people.

Now I am really, really going back to my thread to hang out. :-)

One comment: GardenWeb's winter sowing forum pre-dates ours by a number of years. In fact, when ours began, it had its own share of controversy. The woman who is credited with originating and coining the term didn't think we should be allowed to call ours "winter sowing".

We know (because we've been through the ups and downs and the growing pains, that this change is bittersweet. But since the world is going more mobile and screens are getting smaller, we have to look for ways to make the site work well on those platforms too. And having 250+ forums is both a blessing and a curse - yes, you could focus on one very specialized forum for a particular topic...but that doesn't mean it's the only place that topic is found. You may find winter sowing threads in a regional forum, in a beginner forum, in perennials or annuals. The more forums we have, the more forums there are for the same/similar threads to be started. We hope to offer a good variety of forums to choose from, without having too many or too few. Only time will tell if we found the right balance :-)

I must've gotten issues confused. I thought the link was to show someone more screenshots to help them. Sorry about that. :)

Many who know me, know I don't like cats. I knew there were discussions about other things. I think I participated in one (or a similar off-topic thread) when I first became a paid subscriber. :)