NEW FORUM LAYOUT: yes, it's ghastly, but there are some ways of getting around the worst issues

[countessalmirena]

The problems with this board layout (from my perspective - and I'd be glad to see other posters include the issues that irk them) are:

• The whiteness and lack of use of "real estate" on the page (which makes it very stark and possibly difficult to view without discomfort or eyestrain or pain, particularly for people who are prone to epileptic fits, migraines, and certain vision problems);
• The fact that newly posted threads/topics go to the top, rather than threads/topics to which new replies have been posted (as the default view; it's not possible to choose to select a view option which brings threads with NEW REPLIES to the forefront);
  SOLUTION: hannahmallory has found a solution to this:
  Within a thread, you will find an option to "Float this Topic for Current User". Once a topic ceases to be of interest to you, you can de-float it. It's not a perfect solution but it's manageable.
  
• The lack of any "insert picture" button (particularly odd in view of there being an "Insert video" button, so that it doesn't seem possible to insert an image;
  SOLUTION: I have found that we can still insert images by copy-paste. Just copy the image to your clipboard, and paste it (Ctrl-v) into your post.
  If - like me - you have your own emoticons or frequently used images, there still doesn't seem to be an easy way to access those images from within a post. Currently the only way appears to be
    ◦ Have your profile open (click your profile image, top right) in a separate browser tab or window
    ◦ Click onto "My photos" (View all)
    ◦ Select and copy the image you'd like to insert
    ◦ Paste it into your post
  
• The main Community page (home page) is taken up with large eBay images linking to eBay announcements. The images are far too large at the expense of posts by eBay members who have legitimate concerns and are trying to find help from the community since it's certainly not forthcoming from eBay CS to anywhere near the extent of the help provided by longstanding knowledgeable eBay buyers and sellers who know in practice how to handle many issues that other members may encounter.
  PROBABLY NO SOLUTION

Something that I find personally repulsive is the little blurb on the Community homepage: ❝We want your journey here to be as great as can be, so we have put together some links to help you get quickly familiarized with the eBay Community.❞ Ugh. Journey? What are we - Masterchef or American Idol contestants?

But... I can ignore that.

Things that I like about the new layout

• The ability to clear formatting
• The ability to insert or edit code (although that is not really a useful button on a forum like this which is unlikely to require much in the way of code snippets being posted)
• The emoji options are certainly better, although I will still want to use my own kolobok-style emoticons
• The ability to insert tables

[imastawka]

Countess, did you miss my thread on the page being too bright and the workaround for that

Page too bright for ya? - The eBay Community

[countessalmirena]

So far that hasn't worked for me, imastawka, but I think it will help a lot of other people.

(I will be dragged kicking and screaming into Windows 10, I suppose.)

I've been trying a few ideas with changing the stylesheet just for these boards, but so far it hasn't been satisfactory. Darn it! I have a Zoom meeting with clients and I need to get ready for that... At least dinner won't take me long as I had the garlic and tomatoes and rosemary and olives and mushrooms and roasted capsicum and the shiraz simmering gently for the last hour, and the  tortellini will only take me a few minutes to cook - but I have to wait until the meeting's done as it's SO embarrassing to face clients with suspicious pasta sauce smeared on one side of one's mouth...

[katistrophik]

My biggest peeve is that it is so freking HUGE - I have to reduce my screen percentage in here, down to 80% then when I go anywhere else I can't see a thing so then I have to increse to 20%  LOL

Oh well, first world problems

 Just stuck ^^^^in here to see if I could

[bidicus*maximus]

I use a Mac, so don't know if that has anything to do with it, but the copy and paste method for images didn't work for me... and, the copy and paste from "my images" didn't work either, but I was trying it with photos and not emoticons... however, I CAN drag an image to the text box and it will appear (once inside the text box, highlight the image and options appear above for the image size, alignment and editing).

Like the tip about floating your favorite threads to the top... everyone be sure to do so with "Photo Make-Overs"... 😉

 

[katistrophik]

@ Biddicus

Yeah, I have mine in a folder on my desktop now and dragging gif's and jpg's works well.

As I type this I notice above ^^^ they now have a PHOTO icon - that was not there yesterday I swear.

Yup back to where it was when they first switched, must have been a glitch

[bidicus*maximus]

Here's another workaround to help people find their favorite threads (remember to "float them to the top" so that they are easier to find next time)... anyway... to the workaround... Let's say that you are looking for the photo makeover thread (or whatever)... you know that I post there pretty often, so...

• Go to the right side of your screen and click on "View All" below "Top Helpful Authors"
• Find me on the list and click on my name
• Near the top of the page is says, "Posts" and "Replies"
• Click on "Replies" (because you know I reply there often)
• On the list you'll see, "Re: Photo Make-Overs, Join The Fun!" - Click on that & you'll go to the thread 
• If you just want to find ME, to see what devilment I've been up to, the above will work for that, as well

[imastawka]

Now look what you did.

Top helpful authors indeed

[bidicus*maximus]

I take it from your post, Ima, that you aren't much impressed with being the top, "most helpful"... and, in my opinion, that's a great attitude to have.

Here's a little story...

When I was posting in the US, I got to the number 5 spot of "The Most Helpful", so that I was showing on the first page.  I made a big deal of it in my photos and started a photo "campaign" to reach #1... I was really just being silly... anyway, I got to #1 and continued the silliness in my photos, portraying myself as a Castro-like figure with cap and big cigar.  I had pictures of myself in front of crowds of people and even claimed, more than once, that I was the "ruler" of the board... all just a big joke... anyway, it turned out that I stayed at #1 for months and months.   I stayed on top, in part,  by gathering as many "helpfuls" as I could get, playing every game where "helpfuls" decide the winner and, in general, just posting a lot.  If I remember correctly, I was still at #1 at the time of my banishment, and #'s 2-5 were all people that belonged to my political party.

At my ousting, the opposition party saw an opportunity to "take over the board" by controlling the top 5 most helpful positions with their own candidates.  New people, (or maybe just sock id's), who had never made a single post began showing up and handing out "helpfuls" by the basketful to the opposition candidates.  The "sock puppet votes" were noticed and much bickering ensued between the factions over the "fairness" of people essentially voting more than once.  The opposition soon, "controlled the board" and as far as I know, still hold the top 5 to this day.

I would warn about the possibility of this happening here, and in my opinion, it's very healthy for everyone to continue the attitude that "The Most Helpful" is for the most part just a popularity contest and otherwise meaningless.

[bidicus*maximus]

Oh, but the Most Helpful list IS useful if you want a quick way to locate another poster... anyone who has ever received a "helpful" is on there somewhere and a click on their name will bring up their profile so that you can send them a private message, see where they last posted, or find a particular thread that they authored.