B&N Community Redesign Suggestions Here

[Jefferson_Thom…]

I agree with Nelsmom and Dulcinea3 (I frequently do).  How about automatically archiving after two or three years, not months?

Also, anything you folks could do to give individual users more control over what we see would be good.  For example, if I'm not into, say, Nook, it makes sense to me to be able to pull up my profile and clear a check box labeled "Nook."  If I ever wanted to see it again, I would simply put the check mark back.

Obviously, carried to its logical conclusion, this would involve doing the same thing to each title within each category, but I think that that would be far more work than benefit! 

And thanks for asking for suggestions! 

Jeff  

[dalnewt]

1) Display the Genre Boards On Book Clubs Main Page

2) Display the Various Blog Headings On Book Clubs Main Page

3) No Archiving of Genre Boards Threads Under One Year Old 

4) Make All of the 'My Account' Options Appear When In the Book Clubs (Wishlist is cut off)

5) Get the Numerous Glitches Out--(I can't indent anymore; I have paste in all my links because the insert link function doesn't work for me; and, the All Departments button is finicky.)

6 Suggestions -- Pick a soothing background color for the B&N pages; the white and black is glaring and hurts my eyes. Also, I really liked the old format of the B&N web site. You know, the one where the Book Clubs were listed in a bar. I'd like to see 'Blogs & Forums' have its own permanent bar rather than be numbered among various options in a drop down menu. 

[rebecca_ulanoff]

Thanks for all your suggestions thus far! The Genre & Ideas boards have resurfaced, directly under Book Discussions. 

Rebecca

[Desert_Brat]

I agree with Doug_Pardee that there needs to be more differentiation on the Nook category, besides Doug's suggestions, it could be Nook (e-ink).

I'm all for archiving in the main categories, maybe it would help keep people from bringing up 10-month-old threads on ebooks in the Community Room.

I'd also like to see more active moderators to move posts to the appropriate forums. The Community Room is getting overrun with nook and ebook posts, despite the sticky note at the top of the forum. In the nook forums, posts concerning problems are posted in the open forum instead of the support forum. Perhaps the moderators could even merge the like-topic threads instead of having 6 threads in a row on ebook prices.

Mostly I want to see the forums cleaned up. It's getting depressing to try and visit a favorite site, only to see it mostly filled with posts that belong in another forum. People seem to post wherever their cursor lands.

I'm also not real crazy about that All Departments button instead of the row of buttons across the top. The reason is that the print in the breakout box is too small to see. With the buttons across the top, I could click on one and it would go to the main page with a row of category selections down the side that were big enough to see.

[Sarah3973]

My main concern has been the lack of moderation in the past months. Things have gotten out of control on several boards with several users (mostly newer users from what I've seen) being incredibly rude and nasty.  It's gotten to the point where you sort of feel as if you've been punched in the face when you check some of the boards.  It's my opinion that the lack of moderation has made people feel that they can say anything no matter how rude, politically incorrect or just plain nasty it is.  This has caused me to spend a lot less time on the BN boards.

I know there have been a few efforts to correct this, I just hope that it continues.

As far as formatting...the blogs are now on the "front page", so I'm good.  I can adjust to all the little things, but I do like the idea of making the glaring white background a different color- maybe a light gray?  That white is really hard on my eyes. Also, I agree that more clearly differentiating between Nook and Nook Color would definitely be a good thing.  And maybe having the ability to collapse the headers (Community, Nook, Nook Color) so that people have the option of "hiding" the items that aren't of interest to them?  

Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to make these suggestions.  It's good to feel a part of things on these boards again!

[Fricka]

Well, when I went to get onto the Mystery Forum today, I found that it had disappeared! No genre boards showing, either. I agree with dulcinea 3 and others who have suggested putting the genre boards back. Come to that, why were the book club listings, that used to be near the top of the B&N home page, removed in the first place? I'd like to see those come back as well. As for today, I had to go in through "My Account" and scroll down to where I found some of my previous posts listed, and get into the Mystery Forum that way. Please, please PLEASE bring back the genre listings!!!!!!!

[Melissa_W Moderator]

The "book" part of the B&N Book Clubs seems very de-emphasized in the new design.  A user must click through a header to reach both book discussions and blogs - if a user has no idea that "Genre and Idea Boards" is a euphemism for "Book Clubs and Discussions" then what is the incentive to click on that header?  Or even scroll that far down the page?

I think the book discussions need to come first, then all the tech boards.  Or a two-design - discussion boards on the left, tech boards on the right. etc.

If the participation in the actual book discussions continues to decline (in Romance, SF/Fantasy, Mystery, Lit by Women, Classics, Gen Fiction, etc.) then BNBC ceases to be a "Book Club" and is merely a tech support board.

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rebecca_ulanoff wrote:

Please post your constructive redesign suggestions here. All thoughtful suggestions will be considered during our redesign process. Thank you in advance for your patience and participation. 

Rebecca 

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[dalnewt]

I agree with Melissa_W above.

Based upon the new main page layout, no new reader will ever know that in-depth book reviews and discussions occur on the Genre Boards. Furthermore, they'll never know the various genres reviewed within the Blogs.

The only discussions listed under the 'Book Discussion' header pertain to the wide-ranging e-book discussions. Unless they happen to click on the Genre Boards header, no new reader will know the content of the Genre Boards. Furthermore, any new reader who happens to read real books as opposed to e-books, will be completely put off by the Bookclubs main page. In the hopes of changing this situation, I posted the below in the other Redesign thread. I don't know if the redesign team will follow my suggestions that the specific boards and blogs be listed under the Genre Boards and Blogs headers, but I sincerely hope that they are. 

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dalnewt wrote:

I'm glad that the Genre & Idea Boards header has been restored to the Bookclubs main page, but I can't understand why the Genre & Idea Board header isn't followed by a listing of the various boards under that header on the Bookclubs' main page. Furthermore, I can't understand why the Blogs aren't listed under the Blogs header on the Bookclubs main page. If you don't list the various boards and blogs then there's a good chance that new readers will never know the content of the Blogs and Genre & Idea Boards.

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[rebecca_ulanoff]

Thanks all for your suggestions - keep them coming! 

[dalnewt]

Under the heading 'Book & Genre Discussions', the Book Clubs' main page should list the following boards in no particular order:

(1) General Fiction; (2) Nookbook Discussion; (3) Teen Reads; (4) Mystery; (5) Romance; (6) Fantasy & Science-Fiction; (7) Paranormal and Urban Fantasy; (8) Literature By Women; (9) Classics; (10) Harry Potter; and, (11) Lost Books.

Under a broad heading entitled 'B&N Blogs' , the Book Clubs' main page should list the following blogs in no particular order:

(1) Unabashedly Bookish: The BN Community Blog; (2) Letter Blocks: The BN Parents and Educators Blog; (3) Heart to Heart: The BN Romance Blog; (4) Ransom Note; The BN Mystery Blog; (5) Explorations: The BN SciFi and Fantasy Blog; (6) Unbound; Nook, Nook Color and Nook Books Blog; and, (7) BN Bookseller Picks.

Under a new heading entitled 'Events, Entertainment and Writing Boards' the following should be listed on the Book Clubs' main page in no particular order:

(1) Current Events and History; (2) Arts and Entertainment; (3) Writing Room; and, (4) Kingdom of Wordsmithsonia.