UBB.Developers Forums General Discussion Suggestions and Feedback one day in

ok. i'm in my first day of officially moving my community over from ubb.classic to ubb.threads. i must note that my initial response is simply regretful. i really hope that i didn't make the wrong decision.

threads is certainly very similar to classic in many of the most basic and obvious ways, which is a good thing. its significantly faster and (in theory) has much more potential.

but, as tech and computer savvy as i am, the majority of my community just wants to talk and does not like change.

so, i'm left with the task of doing a lot of customization, to make their lives easier (which, in turn, would help my own). but all the while... now that its actually switched and active, im still not sure if i made the right decision, and that uncertainty is not sitting well with me

I switched from classic to threads a long time ago now.. and what you are experiencing is no different than anyone else here who has upgraded. Users are VERY demanding, and will always complain at the slightest change.

I had the same problems when I changed... buttons were in the wrong place, icons were different, etc etc. I got hate mail and threats of people leaving the site because of the change. But no worries....

Give them a few weeks on it. Of course nobody likes change, but when they see the added features and speed enhancements, all of the complaints will dissapear. I can even say myself, when a site changes layout or software, I hate it. It's so frustrating when you get into habits of using the site to find everything change around. I can't deny that.

But UBB.threads is not UBB.classic. They are different products that offer the same service. Give your users time to get accustomed to the change, let them begin to use the excellent PM system, the added speed overall, and various other little tweaks, and they won't complain.

There are numerous hacks available here to even further enhance your experience, and it may be true some hacks are needed to make your users feel "at home" again. But I've seen it many times, it's just the shock value that people experience after a sudden change

My users now say they hate to use vBulletin and phpBB and other forums because they aren't like our site. That says a lot, and I think given the time it takes to adjust, you will see similar results.

I agree with Jeremy, there's a bit of "shell shock" that comes with the switch from Classic to Threads.

What helped ease the transition for my users was a "features" thread.

Once a day or so, I'd post about a cool feature in Threads that wasn't in Classic, gave directions to where to find the feature, or suggestions on how to use it, and then let them ask questions or give feedback.

This really got people looking more deeply at the forums to find the new stuff AND got the familiarized with where things could be found and how they worked.

Since then I've continued to add my own customized add ons and hacks that I couldn't have done on Classic, as well as a number found here and with each one, the end user experience has expanded and the grumps eventually turned into pleased users.

It just takes time, and a little hand holding.

I know I'd never go back!

Yep, I also created a "How To" forum on my site, and every few days like Zackary, I posted a how-to article of a feature. Like how to use the "My Home" area.. and how to bookmark threads, how to add people to your favorite's list, etc.

Once people were able to use these features, no more complaining, and they felt comfortable in navigating the site again

they are right, give it time. I admin a site that switched from classic to threads and we got the same response as you. People were going to leave the site, 100's of complaints, etc.

Two weeks later they were all singing our praises and saying how great it was...

It was like a psychological experiment.

PEOPLE DON'T LIKE CHANGE.

thanks for the support, guys

i think most of my concerns have started to drift since the initial "culture shock" of moving to threads.

i started up a COMPLAINTS thread so everyone can rant about what they want and what they miss, and ill pop in on occasion and either explain the specific situation, or find a way to address their issue (like re-adding my custom graemlins, or increasing the default reply box area).

i still have tons of things to work on (and, thus, tons of questions for you threads experts), but it looks like we're gonna make it

That's the spirit.