I'm starting a new discussion

[Doolhof]

I'm starting a new discussion because I am feeling totally lost with this new set up.

I can' locate any of the old threads I used to feel comfort in reading and occasionally contributing to.

I don't feel at all welcome in this new set up, far from it, I feel more disconnected than ever while at the same time people can see everything I have ever written, but I am having trouble contacting others!

To anyone else who feels a little confused and unwelcome, I totally understand!

I am disorientated and hope to feel more orientated somehow!

I receive notifications, but when I click on them, I can't even find the notification.

The Newest to Oldest option doesn't seem to work.

I have commented on a couple pf other posts about my struggles with the new set up...but can't find those posts anywhere!

It seems to me that if I start up this new discussion, then I should be able to find it under my own profile?

Maybe I will just chat with myslef here for a while until I either figure this new system out of give up!

[Moonstruck]

OK Mrs Dools....here's something someone maybe able to help me with.....the reason I have so much trouble "connecting" again with friends and missing out on so much on Forum.....is when I browse around the threads looking for my old familiar ones I still want to post on.....they go back to about 2013 or more!!!   Yes there's a box saying "sort by"   and I have Most Recent...but they aren't!!!   

I go to the end and no matter which numbered box I click at the bottom of that page's post...I cannot, cannot get to Most Recent!!!    H E L P !!!!      Why isn't "Most Recent"    most recent???

[Doolhof]

Hi Moonstruck,

I hope someone can help you. I don't even know where to find this "Most Recent" button you have mentioned! 

I am still finding this set up very confusing. There seem to be too many options for receiving notification of who has commented on a thread, then some posts I have no idea about until I stumble on them.

I go to the bottom of the page and press 1 in the  box thingy with numbers, that generally gets me to the most recent post on a thread. (no idea what that is called!)

I managed to find the old Walking etc thread. Maybe with some of the older threads, they may not have any recent activity? 

Hopefully someone can help you Moon, I am stumbling along here myself. I would ask the Mods for advice, but don't understand the set up enough to explain what I don't understand!

[Autistic_Aria]

Hi I’m new to these forums and have Aspergers and find it so hard to navigate. I’m used to forums in a certain style where you have a list of 20-50 threads all on the same page and I see by heading which interest me. I hate being kicked back to the welcome screen everytime I finish reading a thread and have to go hunting for the group I was in then search for the thread I was up to, be it on whatever page I was up to find the last thread I had been looking at. Perhaps I shall return if/when BB returns to a format that is like many forums. It’s a shame because the colours and layout is soothing, just so difficult to get back to the last point I had been reading. 

[mmMekitty]

Hello Autistic_Aria

I am sorry you are having the trouble using this site. There continue to be several, or many, people who find this new version of BB difficult to navigate.

I am not sure if this wil help orn not, but up above the title of the Discussion you are reading or responding to, there is a 'breadcrum list' which traces how you get from 'Home' to each level you might take to get to here, & you can use that to go back to where you were a moment ago. It's a basic breadcrumg list, which assumes you started at home, or like the list on my PC which shows me where various files & drives, etc are located, girst in main areas,  or folders, then deeper, in, sometimes more than five levels in.

You can 'Follow' Discussions & see a list of them in your Profile (which you find when you click your own picture up at the right-hand side of the screen/

Or you can 'support' particular posts, & see notifications, when people respond to those posts. You can see them by clicking the blue heart next to your profile picture up there.

Try the link, 'All Discussions'. tp tjhe left of the 'search' thingy.

If you create Discussions, you will find them listed in 'Your Discussions'

'Forums' is where the main list of main areas of the forums is.

Please take some time to check out what the various links on the pages does. Don't worry  I don't think you can break it!

If you feel you want more help, may I sugges. sending an email via the 'Email Us' link, which is down at the end of pages. Scroll down, & I'm sure you'll find that.

It' would be very sad to have you so frustrated & so discouraged that you quit trying. This place isn't like other social media sites, so please...?

Hope we will hear from you soon.

mmMekitty

[Autistic_Aria]

thank you mmMekitty for your reply. 
I have tried all your suggestions and still very frustrated. If anything it makes me more stressed to log into these forums as it doesn’t take me back to the forums and I have a hard time finding my way back. My anxiety goes up with each post I want to read and reply to so I just walk off, literally, from my device. 
I am also very careful about where I use my email address and even have a separate one for any and all websites. But used my main one because of the nature of this site and I have a lot of junk mail coming through. I am unsure why this is happening as I’m assuming our emails aren’t shared with other mailing lists. 

I have tried and given this site a good go. It has pushed my anxiety up more and as much as I need it for the depression side of my autism, I’m sorry the junk mail is the last straw. 

Thank you again for replying- yours is the first reply I’ve had since joining and posting. It is too quiet for me here and too long in between for me for replies. 

[Sophie_M]

Hey Autistic_Aria and mmMekitty,

We hope you don’t mind us popping in – we just wanted to reach out and thank you for your comments and for this extremely helpful discussion. It really helps us to know where we need to improve, and we’re so lucky to have a community who reaches out to each other when experiencing challenges like this.

We’re sorry to hear you’ve been receiving junk mail – we don’t share your email address with anyone, however it may be worth checking your email notification settings if you’d prefer to receive less automatic updates from the Forums directly. There’re some tips on doing so here. 😊

We are sorry to hear that it’s not been a great experience for you. We respect and appreciate your choices regarding your own wellbeing and what works for you, though we are very sorry to see you go. We’re really grateful for the feedback you’ve shared with us. We’re sharing it with our teams to see how we can improve things. If you'd like to add anything or hear back from us directly on these issues, please reach out to the team by email (click here, or scroll to the bottom of the page and look for "Contact us"). As mmMekitty said, it's a great way to get help with the technical stuff, and it's also a great way to share feedback. 

Thanks again to everyone on this thread for helping us to make things even better here, and for being such an incredibly kind and connected community in supporting each other and sharing your challenges in the meantime.  

Kind regards,

Sophie M

[quirkywords]

Austitic Aria

Thanks fir your honest comments. I feel there maybe some who feel like but don’t comment.

Sophie has given some helpful suggestions. 

[Doolhof]

I've been away from the forums for a couple of weeks and am finding it frustrating trying to reconnect.

I had tried the Follow Post option but then have trouble locating what I have followed and sometimes have multiple follows for the same post that I need to scroll thorough to find something I am looking for.

Having an ongoing connection seems too difficult at times. This feels really hit and miss at times. The time line confuses me too. Some posts have recent posts others you seem to have to use the numbers at the bottom of the page to find what is relevant.

A sense of belonging is more difficult to achieve if you feel like yo are bouncing around in cyber space not landing where you desire to go. 

[mmMekitty]

Dools, I understand everything you are saying - I just don't know how to make things work for you,& some other people, too, I've noticed.

It sure does seem bumpy, & I spend more time getting to & from Discussions, which I have to find via different routes. If I don't follow every Discussion where I have read something Iwant to follow up on later, or answer later, the chances are I will forget where I found the Discussion & it's title too.

I have to restrict my time here, when my legs hurt, or it gets too late, for me, which makes me feel less connected to this community.

I used to like the long list of thread which showed me all the threads which had most recently had someone posting to. & I would realise nobody had posted to those lower down on the list. I liked to try to answer some of those too.

While I am not around as many Discussions I find I feel less 'visible' here, & frankly, a little neglected myself. I also feel reluctant to write in my own Discussion, because of how I seem to be writing to myself there.

If I want more interaction, I must put in more effort to be out & about BB, talking to more people, which in turn, leaves me feeling there is more I can't keep up with...  I haven't figured out how I can manage this place anymore. I try, because I understand how important even a small word or two can help comfort & support someone in need.

I've also seen how your words mean so much to some people around here. Of-course I hope we can get things working for you. If it becomes too frustrating & upsetting, then, I think, you & me both have a decision to make. Do you feel coming here is of benefit to you? Or do you feel worse after being here?

I will do some fun things in the BB Social Zone, because they make me feel better.

Other places are a mixed bag. Some areas I am very reluctant to visit. Going to them leaves me feeling I can't help & unhappy for so much of what some people are experiencing. For now, I will continue to restrict myself to certain Discussions & to simply not trying to spend so much time as I once did on BB.

Big hugzies

mmMekitty

[Doolhof]

HI mmMekitty,

Thanks for your kind words, explanation and comments. I too find it difficult to keep track of posts and used to try to connect with people who had little or no connection form others. Like you mentioned, I am finding it too difficult to locate threads now.

I also know I am not in a good place mentally at present. Having Covid is not helping. It has taken me many emails to get sick leave approved for this weekend and I still don't know if it is going to be paid or not. 

I was exhausted before Covid now I am even more drained. Need to work on my thoughts later.

Thanks dear mmMekitty, you are certainly a special person and the forum benefits from people like you. Hope you can work out what works for you here too!

Best wishes to you from Dools