Looking for a better forum or support site

RobertsBrown

Hi gang. You guys are all great, but this new forum makeover does not work for me. I am experiencing more frustration here than help, so I am bugging out. I will check this later to see if anyone had redirects to other sites. There is one on Facebook with very little traffic - so far- . I will post any hopeful links. Love and Respect! Rob-

M1

I'll miss you Roberts. Let us know what you find.

Ed1937

Rob, I hate to see you go, but I can understand why. They have pretty much ruined this site compared to what it was before.

Iris L.

Where is this other site? Is it Memory People? Let us know, please!

scipiobeaumar

I am new to this site but am surprised by how difficult it is to navigate - and I am pretty tech comfortable. I appreciate the thoughtful comments I am finding here though and as a newbie in caring for my spouse I'll stick around for a while.

M1

welcome to the forum scipio. It's got to be a hard time to join when there is so much negativity in the air about the website changes. Do stick around, there are a lot of knowledgeable and kind people here. we're all a bit frustrated at the moment.

Another Day

M1 - You're correct, we are all grumbling about the changes we don't like. The only thing constant is change. We'll get the hang of this new format though. I'm not a fakebook or any other social media fan other that Nextdoor and I only subscribed to that to keep up with local happenings. With that said, this is all I've got for help, support, advice, knowledge etc. So, I'm staying unless someone finds something better and comes back to tell us about it.

M1

On another thread Victoria said she put some information on her profile about another format/website--but it's private, which apparently also means that we can't message her. Victoria, consider posting it somewhere else? Or maybe you can message us?

dordora

And I like this forum!

Joe C.

Roberts, Sorry to see you go, all the best!

M1

This is very subjective but it feels to me like traffic on this site has already dropped off. I'm watching and it seems like new posters are not getting responses, that has to be disheartening.

Josie in Podunk

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/64619/looking-for-a-better-forum-or-support-site

Oh….I will miss your posts greatly. It’s selfish, I know, but, I wish you felt you could stay.

M1..I agree that traffic seems down. I can tell you I had a heckuva a challenge signing back in as I wasn’t receiving the new log-in emails. This went on for over a week. I even contacted the site directly. I would get a reply email that they were sending the log-in email, but never got that. I finally had to go to my internet provider only to find that the log-in emails were going into a spam folder that is not on the e-mail set-up on my iPad. I finally got in, but I nearly said screw it before dong that. So, I wonder if others might be having the same issue.

As far as the newbies go, I have my concerns about that, too. Since I have reconnected here I have been looking for posts by new folks with the aim of giving them a brief welcome. I am hoping others will as well. I haven’t forgotten how I felt when I first came on board 2 years ago.

DJnAZ

I agree with RobertsBrown...I am looking for another support site that is more user friendly. And while I may not disappear permanently, my interest and activity has definitely declined since the conversion.

M1

DJ i will miss you too. Hope you are hanging in there. We share some similar issues I think.

Sligo177

I just wrote to ALZ connected to request they restore the old forum. I do not suppose the chances are very good :) I hardly come on here any more because of it. I still care very much about what we all are going through, though. Oh that's right, I can put in an emoji..😐️ Will miss you, Robertsbrown and DJ.

ImMaggieMae

Just Bill found another one the other day and posted it. It’s user friendly and easy to read. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/caregivers-dementia/

Quilting brings calm

I’m here. Maybe it’s because I use my phone to come here, but I feel like I’ve figured out the basics of posting and reading posts. I don’t go anywhere else on the site.

However I have noticed that I’m much more selective about which posts I read. That’s not good. I think it is because this site has lost its feeling of family. In addition- because of my phone - one thread description takes up the entire screen and I have to scroll down to see the next topic ( thread as the moderator calls it). So after a few threads I stop. Whereas the old site showed me several at a time.

Ed1937

Quilting, you said "I think is because this site has lost its feeling of family. " I agree with your thinking. They really messed up when they went to a new format.

Quilting brings calm

Ed- yes they did (FYI I corrected my grammar in the sentence you quoted). I don’t know what they should have done to keep the site feeling like family. It just doesn’t now. Too generic? Too cutesy? Too uncaring about the opinions of the community? Too difficult or time-consuming to navigate?

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

M1

Victoria, I'm finding that it works best for me if I don't try to "view all discussions" and go through the caregiver, spouse/partner, parent, and long-distance discussions individually. but it is still a LOT of back and forth. I'm not visiting the "I have Alzheimer's" or "Early Onset" discussions regularly, or the "People we have lost" and there are probably some things I'm missing that way, but this is what's working for me. It still does not feel as efficient as the old forum and there is too much trash in the thread titles. But my eye has learned where to go, kind of. Still would like everything in dark font, the grey is very tiring on the eyes.

toolbeltexpert

Just want to say to anyone who is leaving. I will miss you. Yes the new site inst intuitive at all. Can't figure out how to reconnect.

I haven't been posting alot because of my move, I haven't been reading much either. But I sure am grateful for each one that has given me solid advice. To anyone who is reading just lurking in the background, this site isn't about technology,it's about people going thru the hardest thing I know of and finding empathy and help. We make up the site, we make it what it is. Just like remembering why we don't bring our lo's home we remember those things that made us decide to move in a different direction. Just remember the old site we al have high hopes for a new search system, I don't know if it is much better yet like I said I have been moving. But if your gone I will miss YOU,not the old site or new site.

Remember those like Ken, Elcy, me who were so lost when the other shoe dropped. Sorry it's so long but it is about my family here I love you all. I am hanging around this site isn't as bad as having no help when you need it. I want to pay back what I got.

Stewart

mommyandme (m&m)

I’m a member in FB with three different dementia sites. That being said, this forum is my favorite, it’s much more personal IMO. I come here daily but not so much on FB. Pretty sure I got the names from Lickety.

they are:

Molly’s Movement

Dementia through Daughters Eyes

Dementia family, friends & care partners

Ed1937

M&M, thanks for the additional possibilities. I'm not a facebook guy, but maybe others will check them out. I did try careblazers on facebook a couple of years ago, but it just didn't have the "family feeling we have here.

Quilting brings calm

I’m a member of one of those FB groups. There are way too many members, and there seems to be a lot of drama on the site. The kind where posters are judging each other - particularly for using AL and MC. I don’t go to the site very often. I put it on pause for 30 days a lot.

I prefer here where people respect and support each other - but also tell it like it is when people need to understand the cold hard facts instead of being in denial

mommyandme (m&m)

QBC, I agree. And, they are really big and impersonal. So here I stay. I’m not on FB very often. If I need more material for my workout I’ll go there because reading helps me forget how long I’ve been on the treadmill.