Two changes coming up: the Knowledge Base button and a new type of replies

[#1]

@k89bpa, you were indeed the first one to suggest this idea in this thread about the Knowledge Base Homepage, a discussion that happened in July. 

This might be an overdue change, to be honest, but we postponed it because there is another work in progress on making the entire navigation more intuitive. 

As that's quite a large project, we decided to go for this update anyway. So it should be released next week, with a few other small updates and bug fixes. 

[#2]

Wow, I didn't realize it was that long ago @antonlg, it's some feat I remembered it at all. I see I was full of ideas that particular day.

I really hope that your work on the knowledge base isn't going to be undone by the proposed move to the Vanilla platform from the Lithium one. It remains by far the most intuitive and easy to use part of the site by a country mile.

Did you make a decision regarding a short URL direct to the knowledge base, (and other sections, I see we discussed), or is that all on hold until the platform change has been actioned and everything "bedded in" as it were?

[#3]

@k89bpa, I had the feeling it was in August as well, don't worry

The migration process is going to require massive work from everyone, but at the same time it's an opportunity to take a look at different sections of the website, and make them better. So I wouldn't worry about any good work being undone.

As for the new features or changes, we're trying not to do too much until we have a clearer image of how that migration looks like.

However, just to assure you, the short URL link is a good idea and is under consideration.

[#4]

Click to reveal

@notherefornothing wrote:

This is progress.

A small part of me wonders if the phrase "Knowledge Base" is still too technical for some users.

FAQ may be better but I am aware that some people still don't even know what that means.

notherefornoth… wrote: <snip>

"FAQ may be better but I am aware that some people still don't even know what that means."

@notherefornothing Luckily the UK Government and those applying for visas abroad have a grasp of the meaning of FAQ.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/visa-application-faq

I would be amazed if a significant number of members would not know what FAQ stood for. Perhaps the term 'Menu' could be included somewhere!

[#5]

It definitely makes sense to wait on the URLs and any major changes @antonlg. It's good to hear that all other areas of the site will be looked at as part of the migration too.

I wouldn't mind becoming more involved in that process if it's going to be serious and if the focus is going to be on producing a much more user friendly/intuitive platform for the end user.

As you've probably seen my largest criticism of giffgaff as a company, (personal issues aside), is the unnecessary complexity I see which hampers usability and makes using the site unintuitive.

I know Alex W is probably the person to talk to regarding that, but I'm hanging back because I don't want to repeat past efforts of spending time to identify issues and propose solutions only to be totally ignored, (thinking about the big downgrade event, when many of us put in considerable effort, many much more than me, only to see nothing happen).

I also feel, and have felt for some while, that usability takes a back seat to gimmicks here which is why I was so pleasantly surprised when that previous discussion happened, to find a section which did the opposite of what I'm used to here.

It might sound like I'm being negative, but I'm actually really excited about the change, I think Vanilla is a brilliant piece of software, both as an administrator and a user, and I really think it could be a real opportunity to vastly improve the usability of the community especially, particularly if that's the primary focus, but that downgrade event will stick in the mind for a long, long time, especially when I still experience issues which presented back on day one, lol

As far as the knowledgebase is concerned with the shift, I expect only good things because of what you've managed to do with this dog of a piece of software/platform.

If the move goes as I hope it will, I'll probably become a lot more involved in the different areas of the site, as a big standard user and on the deeper part, (it depends largely on the default Vanilla usability not being broken by the design team, and whether or not I finally get at least a proper plain text input box, or the holy grail, a markdown one).

It just hasn't been worth it on this platform, hence I tend to stick to network and policy stuff.

This change could be so, so, so good, if managed appropriately. :-)

[#6]

I've just noticed the tab change.

Perfect! :-)

[#7]

sounds good ta me

[#8]

Thanks @antonlg

[#9]

@antonlg

 Two worthwhile changes , anything that helps make things easier and clearer  is a good thing .....