ALZConnected Q&A Thread
Hello all,
The ALZConnected team wanted to let you know that we very much appreciate the constructive feedback we've read since the new platform's launch. We're listening and doing what we can to make this platform as positive an experience as possible. As such, we have created this Q&A thread to answer questions and address concerns.
The ALZConnected moderation team will monitor this Monday - Friday, 8AM - 4:30PM CST; however, peer volunteers and other members are welcome to answer questions as well. Our ask is that the Q&A thread be used for Q&A only, so please understand that unrelated topics and discussions will be removed.
Thank you all for your patience. We look forward to your engagement on ALZConnected!
Current topics covered (updated 4/7/2023):
- Badges
- How to change notification preferences
- How to sort and filter search results
Comments
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I had volunteered to help on this yet I was never contacted. Was any one ever involved to be a tester or to give opinions from this site. While I see some improvements you have made a disaster with most of the layouts.
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While we appreciate your feedback, we ask that this thread be kept to questions and answers. You are welcome to email us at [email protected] regarding your interest in becoming a peer volunteer.
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Please make it a number one priority to change the color of the texts to darker color. This grey color is not comfortable or very readable for those "of a certain age".
Please also consider taking away the badges and other such cutesy stuff and replacing it with information that is of value...like date joined...the cakes and such are of no value if you don't know what they mean...and most of us don't have the time or patience to try to decipher them.
7 -
I would find it helpful to be able to subscribe, as well as unsubscribe, to email notifications of new posts on specific threads.
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We appreciate your feedback regarding the font color. We have read this request from multiple members and are looking into changing the font to something darker.
Regarding your concerns on badges, highlighting over a badge will tell you what it means. I wanted to clarify that the numbers in the corner of the cake badge represent how many years you have been a member with ALZConnected. Those who have been here longer than 10 years earn a Legacy Member cake badge with a plus (+) sign in the corner. Badges are designed to show the user's involvement on ALZConnected to other members, and the cake was chosen to be whimsical. We understand that badges are not for everyone, but we currently have no plans to remove them from the platform.
2 -
I'm happy to say that you can customize your notification settings so you can toggle email or notifications (notifications being what shows up under your bell icon at the top-right of the page).
Click on your avatar at the top-right of the screen and select Account & Privacy Settings:
From there, click Notification Preferences on the right side of the page:
You'll be taken to a list of options to toggle off and on as you please. When you're done, click Save General Preferences at the bottom.
Also, please note that every thread has a Bookmark option at the top-left of the thread's heading. It's the icon that looks like a bookmark (or a curtain? 🤷♂️).
Clicking on this will add the thread to your bookmarks so you can quickly access it under your Quick Links at the top-right of the discussions pages:
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Regarding the badges, I would like to emphasize that they are especially tasteless in my opinion. I do not see them as whimsical. Although this community has been a life saver to me and I appreciate the warriors who participate, I do NOT celebrate the fact that I had a need to be here in the first place. It is with great sadness, that I found my way to this community. There is no comfort to me for having been here multiple years and being recognized for multiple years of engagement. I look forward to a day when none of us have a need to be here. Please rethink the logic of the badges.
I think the website real estate would be better used for useful information or BIGGER fonts. Thank you,
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Something we noticed that members have asked about is how to sort search results chronologically.
After searching for the topic in question, you will see the Sort option to the top-right of the search results. The search results default to Best Match, but you can also sort them chronologically by Newest or Oldest.
To the right of the search is the Filter Results feature. Here you can filter the results specifically by title, author, or date. Once the criteria are input, click the "Filter" button to filter the results.
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Thank you for your feedback, and we definitely understand the heart of your concerns. The Alzheimer's Association's goal is a world without Alzheimer's and all other dementia. We do not intend for the badges to be a reminder of sadness, but rather for members to take pride in how long they have been a part of this community of support.
Your feedback on the font size has been noted. Thank you for your continued support of ALZConnected.
2 -
I don't know what badge icons are available, but maybe an badge icon to designate the individual's role of the dementia journey, for example
- caregiver,
- person with dementia or
- concerned friend or
- long distance caregiver or
- dementia care advocate.
But as you know, as the journey progresses, we wear multiple hats and have multiple roles. For example, I was a caregiver spouse, and then a person who lost someone and now I am a caregiver daughter. Someday I might be a person with dementia. Please consider eliminating the badges all together or rethink the idea of celebrating length of engagement or that I might have a sense of pride for my longevity of participating.
2 -
Thank you for sharing the story of your journey with Alzheimer's. Though we want to keep this thread open specifically for Q&A, I did want to clarify that we do not have immediate plans to eliminate badges. We appreciate your taking the time to provide feedback.
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Ok, I don’t know what I have done to have to have my posts approved? Is that just for this thread?
this post posted right away - so who knows what I accidentally pressed before.
I edited to delete the rest of this comment because my original comment posted after this one, so no need to ask my questions twice.
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adding my comment - whimsical is not appropriate for this forum. Take the cakes away and just put the member’s joined on date instead. That allows us to immediately recognize someone who just joined rather than someone here a long time who has just never posted before
now to my questions of the moment - 1) how do I delete a comment if I decide that I shouldn’t have posted it- the three dots only show edit on my phone, which is how I use this app). 2). How can I quote just a portion of a person’s comment? Often I only need two sentences. I don’t want to quote three paragraphs
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It would be helpful if replies could be attached to a specific comment rather than just being next in line. The way it is now you have to scroll back to see the original post unless the person doing the replies has done the quotes.
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Thank you for your feedback regarding badges. I have listed the answers to your questions below:
- While members do have the ability to edit their posts using the three dots, members currently do not have the ability to delete their own posts.
- Clicking the "quote" button automatically creates a quote in your reply and cannot be truncated down to specific sentences. If you want to quote only part of a user's sentence, you are welcome to copy that part of the post and paste it into your response and place your own quotation marks around it. Another option would be to use the Quote feature from the sidebar of the forum. See below for examples:
This is what quote text looks like.
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We appreciate your feedback, but keeping the posts in chronological order is the functionality of the platform and cannot be altered.
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Agree that date joined would be much more acceptable than "cakes" or "badges." And more immediately understandable. As the site evolves, perhaps you can put some instructions somewhere obvious for newbies. Right now we're all newbies.
Agree strongly with darkening the print and enlarging as many of the fonts as possible.
Agree strongly that profile settings should default to private and notifcation settiings should default to None rather than the other way around.
2 -
The font color concerns have been address, so please refresh your page in order to see the darker font.
1 -
To address concerns about where discussions can be found, there are three ways to see available discussions on ALZConnected.
The first is to click Discussions at the top of the page to see every discussion board. You can then click on the board you want to see.
The second is to click Browse All Discussions on the main page to access all discussions chronologically across every board.
The third is to check the sidebar on the right of the page when you're in a topic thread. Scrolling down this page, you will see every available discussion board and how many posts are available.
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I have had the need to delete a post after posting. This function has been removed--not a good idea.
Inability to quote only one or two sentences--this is also not a good idea.
We need to know when a new member joins.
My entire profile was made private, which was not what I wanted. I wanted my story to be viewed, but not my email or real name. But if the privacy concerns cannot be made specific, then so be it. I just won't have my story viewable to the newcomers that I respond to. I need my privacy. Anonymity is what makes the boards concerning all things, and I do mean all things dementia-related, work.
I am on a smartphone. A lot of what you talk about is not available on my phone, such as whatever is on a sidebar.
Iris
This is a test.
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I agree, we do not see them as whimsical. They are not only tasteless, but offensive. The date a person joined would be much more useful.
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The time stamp (for posts), appears to be a couple hours off (ahead). Should the time stamp agree to my time zone or another time zone? If another, please advise.
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Font color is better. do it for the other things too---who posted, who started the thread, etc. We care about these things and read them. c'mon people.
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Why are some comments in some threads subject to moderation before posting? I have tried twice to post an explanation to someone about how to send a message. There was nothing that needed reviewed
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+1 font color much better
+1 need other info permanently darkened also, especially thread starter and time of last post on thread. This will let us browse the forum faster, our time is limited.
+1 explanation please of why some posts are reviewed, I thought I permanently lost one and posted a duplicate
We need some way to tell a poster is new without having to click on a post. Even if we cannot answer their question just greeting them might give them a reason to check back until someone else can help.
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Lady texan, I think they are on California time.
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I'm in CA, it's 6:49 pm right now. What does the time stamp say?
Edit: yes, it does appear to be pacific time.
Question: Does the time appear different for each time zone? Meaning, does a NY post appear in Eastern time?
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Iris, my location is Eastern time, but my posts are in Pacific.
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That's odd. The national office is in Chicago. Apparently the server has changed to a new location. Can the moderator clarify this for us?
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The user and all related content has been deleted.0
Commonly Used Abbreviations
DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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- 2 Vivir con Alzheimer u Otra Demencia
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- 9 Prestación de Cuidado
- 2 Soy Cuidador (Temas Generales)
- 6 Cuidar de un Padre
- 22 ALZConnected Resources
- View Discussions For People Living with Dementia
- View Discussions for Caregivers
- Discusiones en Español
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- 6 Account Assistance
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