Changes to the Answers Homepage
The next time you log into Yahoo! Answers you may notice things look a little bit different. We’re rolling out a new homepage and navigation over the next few days. Don’t worry: if you don’t see the new changes just yet, you will soon.
We’ve made quite a few changes to the homepage, so to make navigation a bit easier, we’ve broken things down for you by section, so let’s get started.
1- New Navigation
You may have noticed that atop the Answers banner, there are four new, navigation tabs: Home, Browse Categories, My Activity, and About. Each of these tabs (as well as the green Answers banner) will stay with you throughout your experience on the site, making it easier for you to get to the places on Answers you care about most.
Home: This brings you back to the main page of Answers, where you can see the Best of Answers rotating module, the link to the Answers Blog (which is now on the right hand side, as well as the most recent questions posted on the site.
Browse categories: more about this below
My activity: From here, you can go directly to your Answers profile, view your network, your network activity, and even edit your preferences.
About: Learn all about Answers, revisit the Community Guidelines, check out the leaderboard, Suggestion Board, and visit the Answers Blog.
2 – Browsing categories
On the old Answers homepage all of the categories were permanently displayed on the left hand column, hogging up homepage space that could have been used for valuable questions. We’ve decided to tuck the categories away under the top hide-away menu where you can easily access them any time, or, if you want to view them all at once, just click on the browse category tab to be taken to the “All Categories” page. From here, you’ll be able to peruse all of the questions that are: open, resolved or in voting on the site.
3- An updated look and feel
Over the past few years we’ve heard from quite a few of you that you love the Answers green but it’s just a little too green. So we’ve taken your feedback to heart and have toned down the green just a bit and have replaced the white background with a light blue that is a little easier on the eyes. Our smilies (4) have also received a facelift and look a bit more polished throughout the site.
Additionally, you’ll notice that the page feels a bit wider—one thing we heard from you when we introduced the new category pages several months back was that you liked the extra space. This extra space allows us to display even more questions on the homepage, making it easier for you to jump right in.
But wait, there’s more!
This release doesn’t just include cosmetic changes—we also included quite a few backend bug fixes, as well as a few feature requests, like updating the category leaderboards much more regularly. Starting today, category leaderboards will update on a daily basis instead of weekly. Please note they will NOT be real-time, but will update at the end of each day (10pm GMT).
Tell us what you think
Once you’ve given the new homepage a test drive, tell us what you think! We’ve started two threads on the Suggestion Board for the new homepage—one for questions and one for comments – and we’ll be checking them regularly. Additionally, you’re always welcome to use the “Tell us what you think” link found at the bottom of every Yahoo! Answers page. You’re also welcome to leave your comments here, on the blog.
Thanks, and we hope you like it!
– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team
- Permalink
- Comments (46)
(11 votes, average: 4.73 out of 5)
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I like the new changes,i also like how the country of origin is now displayed below questions.I think it would be cool if you guys could make the answerers country of origin show up too.
I don’t like the sound of this to be honest. Yahoo! Answers was fine before you messed with it.
And what have you done to stop trolls from repeatedly reporting people to get their accounts deleted?
While cosmetic changes are all very nice and pretty but what about stopping spammers and trolls from hi-hacking the site with their crusades to take away the pleasure of this site?
I really like it ;]
its easy to use and i like the icons
but one thing i don’t like is that its too green.
Trolls keep on pulling nerves of regular decent users day by day.. and in increasing amounts of harrassing
NO visible / effective action taken on your part
and for God’s sake please do not say “use the report button” because it doesn’t work.
Automated handling system of yours really SUCKS and regular users (at least hlf a dozen that I know personally) complain about Yahoo staff being ambigious on trolls account and refrain taking any “effective” action on that matter.
WHY DON’T YOU give the authority , say, top answerers or best answerers with highest number of BA n a certain section to moderate in that certain section? Delete the trolls’ questions and ‘disturbing’ answers immediately on spot?
welll you have two options either you will go on making “unnecessary and ineffective” updates a you are doing NOW and let people think tha yahoo staff do not really are about regular & decent users’ views;
OR, you might take rea action for once and do something “really effective” for the matter of trolls.
THANKS
I enjoy Yahoo! Answers and appreciate all your good work in improving the site.
I like this update very much .In that we don’t spending time for searching through keyword. we got all the needed information category wise.
if it aint broke why try to fix it
Yup, That’d be amazing if the answerer’s country was shown
I disagree that you have “toned down the green”… That is not a toned down green; it is a brighter, more lurid, more sickly green than ever! It is far too intense and makes me feel nauseous.
Did we have a choice? Post this comment page in a few weeks then I can give my opinion
It’s a small thing, but I don’t like the green you are using. How about using something else instead?
I agree with Megan. Why mess with some thing that is working very well. It now looks and feels very complicated.
I don’t really like the new idea but when you ask a question in UK and Ireland it says it was asked in USA when it clearly wasn’t. I agree with Megan it was fine before
it was messed with.
I agree. Yahoo! Answers was perfect before. It didn’t need to change. This new one is okay but I liked the old look because of its simplicity.
I’ve already seen the changes online.
It makes no difference to the internet surfing experience.
How about putting back the ability to thumb down questions especially whenever in certain categories such as Religion&Spirituality many are simply posted to bait and annoy others deliberately.
Would be good if we could delite questions that have been resolved.
Some questions can be very personal or embarressing and it would be good if you could get rid of it if needed so family don’t come across it.
I like the changes except for the green – the colour is far too strong and may well cause problems for some users.
Hi Y!ATUK
Your new page just changed for me today so haven’t had much time to test the new features, but do like the new look, quite like the strong colours it cuts down on the glare.
And I did ask a question on one your threads on the suggestion board…Hope you can answer my questions there
Regards
STA
I feel it’s a case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”… It wasn’t ‘broke’.!
Unfortunately, there is a relentless trend towards constantly (and annoyingly) fiddling and twiddling with things..
Just like Tesco Supermarkets – every time you go inside, you have to spend all afternoon re-finding all the things you’ve found before..
Then just when you think you’ve got it >>BLAM<< – - – - – Start again.!
I like the fresh new look, I’m finding navigation easier.Would have liked the profile highlighted too since I like to check back on how my previous answers have gone down, but a definite improvement on showing the country of origin for questions as it makes a difference how to approach answering – what is acceptable or true in one country isn’t so in another.
Dear Staff, just a quick feedback appraisal, form the Yahoo Users Team, regarding the new look.
It’s Ok, but it’s really only cosmetic. This isn’t addressing the issues that have been driving people away from Answers, or the level of bad feeling among those who have left the site completely. I’m not sure whether you realise, but the reputation of Yahoo Answers, even in the 18 months or so I’ve been using the site, has dropped to an all time low. This site, when I started using it, had a good reputation, for information, opinions, and a truly friendly atmosphere. Now it has become a standing joke, on every other site that I’ve been on. Don’t kid yourselves that people came here for quick accurate information, or definitive answers, (that’s what Google is for) it was the peer interaction, the social dynamic, of dealing with people who were human. There used to be a real empathy, all across the site, that is all but gone now,.and I can’t see it coming back, which is a real shame. This empathy has been replaced with an air of general suspicion, and insular, provincial cliques of people, that don’t tend to stray from their preferred sections. It’s become a bit like the EU. Lots of small, inter-dependant tribal communities, with very little trust for each other, and not much in common who only ever concern themselves with the rest of the “Community” when they have to..
But the new Homepage is Ok, I suppose, and it does it good to change the look of the place now and again. (That’s what people liked with the old 360′s, the fact they could tweak the look of the place themselves, whenever they liked)
Anyway, if you want to discuss this any further, with me, you know where I am.
Regards, the Yahoo Users Team.
Why make changes? This has occurred in a few other pages I visited on a regular basis, and I immediately stopped accessing these same pages because the content is NOT easier, it just makes the whole thing over complicated and strange to regulars. NO-ONE complains about these pages and have NOT requested changes, so why do compaies still do this? There is NO need for “Freshening up” or whatever else you dream up to justify your action. Most people love things staying the same and find comfort in familiarity. STOP DOING IT !!!!!!!!!!
LOVE IT!
Keep up the good work you guys!
Its looking nice and clean!
I also like the changes, and would very much like to see the answerer’s Country of Origin on their answers.
And I’d also like to see the spell checker work with a dictionary based on my own country of origin. I am heartily sick of being told I have spelled defence, honour, colour etc incorrectly when I haven’t.
I still haven’t any answers on my Easter question. Is fiction all one is allowed to be into ?
I appreciate what you are doing but to be honest, I liked the old Y!A.
Its was more cheerful and stuff. But anywayz, its not like you’re gna change it back…..=(
The country of origin would be cool if the country of origin was RIGHT. All my questions say they were orignally posted in the USA. I live in England!
It would be great…
…but it’s hard to really be all that excited when you still haven’t fixed advanced search (it’s still missing the category section), we still have thumbs down (prone to abuse), and no doubt the abuse team still won’t deal with abusive answers or users…or will claim abuse from those of us who are not guilty of such things.
Maybe you should put less into making it look pretty, and more into making the community run smoother so it is a more useful and nice place to be.
It looks like wiki answers dull
I agree perhaps there is a secret takeover
All looks good, except it look even more green than before.
I like it, but all my network links now fail & i can’t access fans or contacts at all
I got a bit of a preview to the new look the other day although it’s back to normal now. One of the big problems I had was with the navigation, I could not properly browse to the ask / answer buttons without accidentally bringing up various mouseover options that I didn’t require.
As the previous comment mentioned, I don’t know why you have messed with something that works perfectly fine.
Its good
not that good, don’t mess with yahoo answers please
not got the new changes yet but sounds like it will be good just hope they havn’t changed it to much (fingers crossed)
I like the changes because they make it easier to navigate around the website. I’m not crazy about the colour scheme though.
I noticed you completely ignore,once again,the abuse of the report function. Even after you said you would review the issue. I answer about 20 questions a day and more than half of them are deleted.
Don’t much like it but I suppose I wil get used to it
It looks fine, but i didn’t have any problems with the old set up, navigation through the catergories was a bit weird before, i’ll have to see if you’ve changed that.
please fix the broken “self moderation” issues… we don’t really care about the look anywhere near as much as the false reporting issues and cyberstalking by report monkeys
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