Raven1417

Interesting to see the mods are more than happy to respond to people they think they can browbeat but refuse to answer any real questions. Almost as if they have no or very little confidence in being able to justify their decisions because they know this has been an absolute mess and there's no way to spin it in a positive light Here's the questions again just in case but at this rate I'm getting the feeling there is no one working with this team that has the technical knowledge to genuinely answer or they don't want to answer because they know that any remotely honest answers will be self-incriminating in the sense they'll have to acknowledge they've messed this whole thing up. 1. Why make a major overhaul to a site without keeping a functioning backup of the original? (If this isn't the case then Nexus staff are lying/misleading users about why restoring the old site or at least old look isn't possible.) 2. Why push ahead with a major overhaul if the team working on it were not able to ensure that accessibility and features would at the very least be relatively on par with the previous site when going live? To add, how is the site now WCAG compliant yet seeing previously unreported accessibility issues that didn't occur with the old site? 3. Some staff have mentioned "other looks" that might be available down the track while also saying the old look will never return. Please explain why there would be time and resources put towards making whole new looks for the site but no effort to recreate the one that users actually want? 4. Since the feedback has been overwhelmingly negative indicating that most Nexus users were for one reason or another unaware of the impending changes, including heavy/powers users and those with accessibility requirements, will Nexus commit to far more transparent and better advertised polling on here, Reddit and other social media channels to see if this new site is favoured by users or not or has Nexus made the decision that all user feedback regardless of how objective is ultimately irrelevant and will be ignored if it isn't in favour of these changes?

Well the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the changes indicates that clearly it was somehow missed by the vast majority of site visitors or overlooked. So a bit of a fumble there I'm afraid. Anyways, now that you're responding to me. Do you mind answering these questions so we as users of this site can actually better understand the process behind this change? 1. Why make a major overhaul to a site without keeping a functioning backup of the original? (If this isn't the case then Nexus staff are lying/misleading users about why restoring the old site or at least old look isn't possible.) 2. Why push ahead with a major overhaul if the team working on it were not able to ensure that accessibility and features would at the very least be relatively on par with the previous site when going live? To add, how is the site now WCAG compliant yet seeing previously unreported accessibility issues that didn't occur with the old site? 3. Some staff have mentioned "other looks" that might be available down the track while also saying the old look will never return. Please explain why there would be time and resources put towards making whole new looks for the site but no effort to recreate the one that users actually want? 4. Since the feedback has been overwhelmingly negative indicating that most Nexus users were for one reason or another unaware of the impending changes, including heavy/powers users and those with accessibility requirements, will Nexus commit to far more transparent and better advertised polling on here, Reddit and other social media channels to see if this new site is favoured by users or not or has Nexus made the decision that all user feedback regardless of how objective is ultimately irrelevant and will be ignored if it isn't in favour of these changes? Tagging the others in case one of them is better suited to answer the questions if you're not. @mfPixel @Iluviel @Pickysaurus @CaptainSandyPants @Demorphic @Happybara

The *only* way it wouldn't be an option is if they've entirely scrapped the old site and have no frame of reference or access to the old assets but no proper web dev team would ever do that so the problem is that it is an option and remains to be an option but they *choose* to refuse to act upon it. Add to that, Nexus staff *chose* to make an entirely new layout that is objectively inferior to the previous one. It shows less while at the same time wasting a lot of screen real estate, it adds more to scroll through, it's not as accessible, not all features of the old site have been restored. There's enough posts on here with screenshots and all detailing how from a UI/UX aspect the new site is worse. You don't go live with a new site that's less functional and less accessible than the old one. That's Web Dev 101. So there is not one part of this rollout that anyone can point to and legitimately claim it to have been done with any reasonable degree of competence.

Was it perchance a banner that would likely be hidden by ad and scriptblocker extensions? Also to clarify, did the banner only appear on the homepage or unless dismissed did it load on ALL pages? (And considering the functionality/accessibility issues maybe that beta should still be running instead of live.)

I believe the crux of their question is why was more effort put into making users aware of an April Fools thing but almost nothing was done to make users aware of the planned changes for the site.

It would be interesting to see what the uptick was in forum activity when the changes went live and how much of that activity was people posting that they don't like the changes.

I think the users of this site are entitled to actual transparency and real answers instead of longwinded condescending attempts at PR talk. Just as you're entitled to go about embracing your love for the taste of shoe leather.

@Demorphic @JustThatKing @Happybara Hi guys, tagging again as you seem to keep dodging these questions. If you're not qualified to answer them that's fine but can you please tag or identify which member of the Nexus staff can. Cheers lads! 1. Why make a major overhaul to a site without having a functioning backup of the original? (If this isn't the case then Nexus staff are lying/misleading users about why restoring the old site isn't possible.) 2. Why push ahead with a major overhaul if the team working on it aren't experienced enough to ensure that accessibility and features would at the very least be relatively on par with the previous site? To add, how is the site now WCAG compliant yet seeing a greater number of accessibility issues being reported? 3. Some staff have mentioned "other looks" that might be available down the track while also saying the old look will never return. Please explain why there would be time and resources put towards making whole new looks for the site but no effort to recreate the one that users actually want? 4. No one outside of Nexus staff finds your polling to be even remotely adequate and the lack of transparency on your polling only adds to that doubt because Nexus clearly missed getting feedback from the vast majority of users including heavy/powers users of the site. So will Nexus actually commit to a far more transparent and better advertised poll on here, Reddit and other social media channels to get a better picture of user feedback on the issue that the community can also see?

So that post actually doesn't address the questions I've been asking for a few days now. I'll post them again, I'll tag you and the others again and *hopefully* you can answer them. 1. Why make a major overhaul to a site without having a functioning backup of the original? (If this isn't the case then Nexus staff are lying/misleading users about why restoring the old site isn't possible.) 2. Why push ahead with a major overhaul if the team working on it aren't experienced enough to ensure that accessibility and features would at the very least be relatively on par with the previous site? To add, how is the site now WCAG compliant yet seeing a greater number of accessibility issues being reported? 3. Some staff have mentioned "other looks" that might be available down the track while also saying the old look will never return. Please explain why there would be time and resources put towards making whole new looks for the site but no effort to recreate the one that users actually want? 4. No one outside of Nexus staff finds your polling to be even remotely adequate and the lack of transparency on your polling only adds to that doubt because Nexus clearly missed getting feedback from the vast majority of users including heavy/powers users of the site. So will Nexus actually commit to a far more transparent and better advertised poll on here, Reddit and other social media channels to get a better picture of user feedback on the issue that the community can also see? @Demorphic @Happybara @JustThatKing

@JustThatKing @Demorphic @Happybara or any other Nexus staff...anyone able to answer these simple questions so we can start to make some sense of this whole mess? 1. Why make a major overhaul to a site without having a functioning backup of the original? (If this isn't the case then Nexus staff are lying/misleading users about why restoring the old site isn't possible.) 2. Why push ahead with a major overhaul if the team working on it aren't experienced enough to ensure that accessibility and features would at the very least be relatively on par with the previous site? 3. Some staff have mentioned "other looks" that might be available down the track while also saying the old look will never return. Please explain why there would be time and resources put towards making whole new looks for the site but no effort to recreate the one that users actually want? 4. Now that we've covered that all previous polling and testing by Nexus clearly missed getting feedback from the vast majority of users including heavy/powers users of the site will Nexus actually commit to a far more transparent and better advertised poll on here, Reddit and other social media channels to get a better picture of user feedback on the issue?

It's not really weird at all, things like this are exactly the kind of issues to expect when going live with a site that's clearly not ready which is exactly why most webdevs don't normally go about it the way Nexus have.

Hi Demorphic, if you or one of the other Nexus staff could answer these questions it would be much appreciated. Cheers 1. Why make a major overhaul to a site without having a functioning backup of the original? (If this isn't the case then Nexus staff are lying/misleading users about why restoring the old site isn't possible.) 2. Why push ahead with a major overhaul if the team working on it aren't experienced enough to ensure that accessibility and features would at the very least be relatively on par with the previous site? (Regardless of backend issues, if it functions better and is more accessible than the new site then you keep it online until the new site is actually ready.) 3. Some staff have mentioned "other looks" that might be available down the track while also saying the old look will never return. Explain why there would be time and resources put towards making whole new looks for the site but not recreate the one that users actually want? 4. Now that we've covered that all previous polling and testing by Nexus clearly missed getting feedback from the vast majority of users including heavy/powers users of the site will Nexus actually commit to a far more transparent and better advertised poll on here, Reddit and other social media channels to get a better picture of user feedback on the issue?

That's great and all but can we just address some simple questions? 1. Why make a major overhaul to a site without having a functioning backup of the original? (If this isn't the case then Nexus staff are lying/misleading users about why restoring the old site isn't possible.) 2. Why push ahead with a major overhaul if the team working on it aren't experienced enough to ensure that accessibility and features would at the very least be relatively on par with the previous site? 3. Some staff have mentioned "other looks" that might be available down the track while also saying the old look will never return. Explain why staff are willing to make whole new looks for the site but not recreate the one that users actually want? 4. Will Nexus staff put up a poll, both here and on Reddit as well as any social media channels to actually see what the consensus is on the new site?

If a major redesign of the site is met by mostly criticism and rejection AND the major redesign is requiring constant community consultation to fix and tweak and update it because everything from basic functionality to accessibility is borked to varying degrees then maybe the major redesign has been poorly thought out and implemented? Maybe it should have been tested for longer, maybe greater effort to advertise the upcoming changes to get more feedback during testing should have happened so that the new site didn't become an ugly, basic square space template looking, screen real estate wasting mess? I get wanting to update things to make managing the site easier on the backend but that shouldn't result in a new look website that wouldn't pass a Web Design 101 class. But the responses from Nexus staff on here and Reddit practically sounding like Karoline Leavitt soundbites show that they don't really care for any critical or objective feedback that doesn't explicitly match what they want to hear.