We'd love your thoughts about developing the group

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Hello everyone,

I’m Steph from the Community team, I hope you don’t mind me posting here today. I’m hoping to gather your thoughts and opinions on developing the ‘living with incurable cancer group’. 

We’d like to make it easier for new members to write that first post, whilst retaining a safe space for members to continue expressing their emotions and most difficult thoughts. We know that some of you also want a space to chat more generally and give and get support around everyday life.  

Firstly, I’ll be explaining a little more about the changes we could make in the group and what those changes mean for you. Following this information, there will be a poll where you’ll have a chance to have your say. We’d also welcome any thoughts or comments in reply to this post below.

We have been developing some groups across the Community to have two or three separate sections, or forums, within each group. Many of our groups now look a little more like this:

Underneath the new sections, we still show ‘all discussions’ from the whole group in a combined feed, just like you see now.

When we add forums to a group, you can still start a discussion in the same way. The only real difference is the option of which forum to post in (see below). Everything else works exactly as it does now.

If you would like to take a look at this group structure, why not take a look at the breast cancer or bladder cancer groups, where you'll be able to see this group structure working. 

We expect to see benefits to new members in providing a dedicated space for them to introduce themselves. Existing members should be able to more easily find discussions around diagnosis and treatment, whilst enjoying a space to continue longer chats and discuss everyday life, and give and get support.

We understand that change can be difficult, so we wanted to find out what you, the existing members of the group, thought about developing the group in a similar way.

We're constantly working on the user experience on the site, as making the Community the best place for peer-to-peer cancer support is at the heart of everything we do. We are continually listening to feedback and making changes to the site which will improve the experience for all our members and make sure everyone can access the right support for them, when they need it.

If you have any questions or comments about the new group structure, we would love to hear from you. You can vote in the poll, reply below or contact us by email at community@macmillan.org.uk

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Yes changes sound good

  • I can see the merit in the changes - means people can see the threads they are interested in. It could have downside of "organic" conversations, which develop over time,  not happening, but on the whole I dont have a problem with the suggestion.

  • And I have a query about the "end of life" group. I can still access it as I joined it before the website update. It is not listed under Cancer Experiences groups, so it would appear to be invisible ( if that makes sense!) to anyone who was not already a member. Hence there is little activity there. We had a whole debate last year about splitting this group and EOL one, and it was agreed to split them and review. So where are we now - it appears no longer to serve a purpose if it is not visible to people, so should it become a part of the suggested changes?

  • Would like to see a 'go to first unread' button at the top of each thread, more than anything else. 

    Stuart x

  • I have experienced this format in the kidney cancer group and am not keen.  I can understand that members posting for the first time might like a dedicated space to introduce themselves.  However the other people on here are my friends and I find it hard to distinguish between chatting to them and talking about my diagnosis and treatment.  If I was following the headings fully a lot of my posts would have to be split in two?  It is not uncommon that during a chat someone asks how you are getting on with your treatment.

    Gragon

  • I agree with Gragon.

  • Thank you for your comment,

    Steph
    Online Community Officer
  • Thank you  for your comment and good question. I will have to look into the 'end of life' group for you and get back to you.

    Steph
    Online Community Officer
  • Hi

    Thank you so much for your comment.

    You can see which threads are unread by checking which thread titles are in bold. So in the below screenshot, I have read 'Three Good Things' and 'Daring to plan' but the unread threads show in bold.

    Once you access a thread, you can open it on the front page by clicking on the post title. We are just testing the fix on the 'latest' button so you can be taken to the last page in a thread. 

    It sounds like you'd like to be taken directly to the latest unread comment on a thread. The best way to do that is to  'follow' the thread so you're updated when new replies are added. The notification will tell you who replied and when.In most cases, the latest replies will be found by going to 'latest' (once the fix is implemented), but in the rare times a thread has developed over several pages, you might have to go back a page to find the latest comment. 

    I hope this is helpful, but please do let us know if you have any further questions, comments or need further support.

    Steph
    Online Community Officer
  • Hi Steph

    I do not use Macmillan  that mush now, i do pop in now and then.

    I have belonged to the site for five years , and was never away from it.

    But seven months ago the site was changed you keep changing  things and not always for the better, so many people have ceased to use the community though like me pop in.

    The changes that where made where not for the better in my opinion  but that is me.

    Every group used to be so busy every day and  would rather be here than watching tv,

    Some thing was lost from the site when you changed things, great bunch of people in all groups, though like me just pop in now and then.

    Sorry for the moan just saying how it is,

    Take Care Ellie x