Fixing Neo


 

 

 

This page is about fixing the so-called "Neo" version of Yahoo Groups. Yahoo does not seem to have an official name for this, they simply refer to it as the New Yahoo Groups, or the new design, or the refreshed design. This new design was announced on the Yahoo Groups Blog, 2013-08-29, but was first reported by baffled users beginning on or about August 4th.

 

No doubt you've noticed that this new release seems to have been rolled out way before it was ready for prime time. As of this writing, November 18th, it is still missing many features of the "classic" Yahoo! Groups, and is still unreliable in its operation. For more about that see my posts:

 

 

So what can we do about fixing this mess? Well, of course we can't actually fix Yahoo's broken code ourselves, we'll have to leave that to them. So this effort boils down to finding the best ways to let Yahoo know what's wrong, and what we expect them to do about it. Regrettably, that will actually take effort on your part -- it usually isn't a trivial effort to make a concise and accurate description of a problem.

 

Here's what doesn't work:

 

Nothing works! Fix it!

 

Even as badly broken as Neo is for some purposes, the fact is that some things about it do work. So if you lead off with an overly general statement that is false on its face, don't be surprised if you get ignored. For reasons similar to netiquette, the overuse of exclamation!!! points!!!, ALL CAPITALS, or imperative statements will serve to reduce the effectiveness of your efforts. Always keep in mind that the people you want to read your reports are people too. If you want them to help you, you have to help them understand what you're talking about. That is, you not only have to present the facts, but you must present them in a manner that is conducive to understanding. That means a calm presentation that doesn't reflect or generate negative emotions.

 

Here's what does work (the original idea, not necessarily all the comments):

 

Ability to ban non-members preemptively
Restore the ability to set our groups to plain text only.
Restore groups classic home page photos to their place in the Description
Neo Manage My Groups Page Question

 

Those examples are drawn from the Yahoo Groups feedback forum, which is the primary means for communicating bug reports and feature requests to the Yahoo Groups team. Here are the venues for contacting the Yahoo Groups team.

 

Yahoo Groups feedback forum: You can find a link to "Feedback" near the bottom of the left column of any Yahoo Groups page. This is the suggested place for bug reports and feature requests. The site is UserVoice.com, an independent company that provides feedback forums as a product to companies like Yahoo. Because it is not Yahoo you'll need to provide separate credentials there. This can be as simple as entering your email address to make suggestion or post a comment. Or, if you plan on making multiple suggestions you will find it handy to create a UserVoice password. That will let you track your suggestions and comments.

 

Yahoo Answers: You can find a link to Answers if you click the "Help" link, just under the "Feedback" link. Then in the box of Quick Links on the right click "Ask the Community".