Propeciahelp site news and feedback thread

[axolotl]

Hey guys,

Welcome to the new propeciahelp site and forum. Propeciahelp has been updated to make it suitable for the modern internet, mobile platforms and new data regulations. We hope you think this is a step in the right direction for our cause and community. Of course, we understand some long time users will have trepidation about the site they’re familiar with changing, but I hope it won’t take long to get that familiarity back. If you’re feeling a bit lost, please take a look at our How to Get Started page which includes a tour of the new software.

We’d like to thank every member who contributed feedback to the discussion thread. We took it on board throughout the process and tried to address what is within our control, and are looking at ways to do more in regards to some issues raised. I’d particularly like to thank awor for the work he’s put in on our behalf. He’s done a great job of quite a complex and demanding task. The forum has been brought over in its entirety from it’s previous software. I made a post about the update on the new propeciahelp.com homepage, which has also been remade. You’ll see we have new moderators and would encourage you to look over our updated community rules. As a side-note, opinions on moderation or the guidelines are not subjects for discussion - abiding by these are terms of service. If you believe a decision to be in error, please PM the moderator in question.

The reason I’m making this topic is both to welcome you all back and because it’d be great to hear any site-related feedback you have or technical issues you’re coming up against. We’re hoping it’s smooth sailing, but do let us know if there’s any bumps in the road. If you don’t want to share your thoughts publicly, you can send me a message.

Most of all, thank you for sharing your experiences coping with this disease. It is important to keep this serious problem on the map, and we can all make a difference. Additionally, I hope we can strive to be supportive and kind to one another.

Thank you everyone

PS. Just a tip I personally find useful: If the brighter look is not for you, something you may like is the “dark theme”, which you can choose by clicking your profile icon, the 'preferences" cog and going to “interface”. This is also useful if you browse at night.

[BadLuck]

Missing the old site. I was used to it and thought the layout was logical and well thought out. I’ll be giving this my best shot at being optimistic. I realize it took a lot of work to roll this out. I’ll have to try to get used to it.

[lbv]

New site and forum are great, way better than before. Everything’s so fast now.

One suggestion on the forum, can you remove the Cookies button on the bottom left of the screen, it’s kinda annoying and gets in the way of replies and stuff.

[Ukguy82]

I really like the update. Thanks for all your hard work. It looks so much better and I’ve also been recommended lots of posts that i haven’t seen before.

[lacreland21]

Merci beaucoup pour cet investissement et l’aide que que apportez à tous, beaucoup de réussite à cette nouvelle formule du site et j’espère qu’un jour il ne sera plus que le souvenir d’un combat gagné contre PFS…

[Northern_Star]

At first I was shocked by the new design and hated it. I liked the old design. But I’ve now already gotten used to the new design. Everything can be quickly accessed and it works well on the phone, which unfortunately means I now can keep my obsession going in the train and on the bus

Good job everyone!

Edit: What’s the logo supposed to mean? It looks like a hand combined with something like a blister. I don’t know.

[awor]

@Northern_Star

What’s the logo supposed to mean?

It represents the outline of a Propecia pill and a helping hand. The cross is a medical cross, representing PFS. Kudos to @axolotl for coming up with that great idea and executing it perfectly, imo.

[awor]

@lbv

remove the Cookies button

Done, and thanks for that input. As a result, we had to kick out Google Analytics, because it sets cookies that we do not want. We strive to be fully GDPR compliant, and the other solution (that you mentioned) allowed the users to set their cookie preferences. Now, we don’t have any more non-essential cookies on this site, and none contain any Personally Identifiable Information. So there is no need for preferences any longer.

As you see, we take our users, their privacy and feedback very seriously

[Northern_Star]

Almost two weeks have past and I cannot imagine the side in any other way anymore Well done!

I have one problem, though. I cannot properly copy text fragments from posts. When I highlight a part of a post from someone, the highlighting moves to the left as soon as I release the mouse button. For example, if I highlight the “Their privacy” part from Awor’s post above, the highlighting moves to the “As you see, we take our users,” part of the post.

Does anyone else have that problem? Granted, my explorer is pretty outdated (work laptop).

[axolotl]

Hey NS,

Thanks for the nice feedback!
Re the problem, it’s not happening for me on edge or chrome - can you update your browser? You could try installing chrome if not?

[Northern_Star]

Cannot update the browser nor install a different one. It’s all blocked by our IT

Anyway, it is not a big issue. I wanted to mention it just in case other people face the same issue.

[awor]

@Northern_Star

It’s all blocked by our IT

I wouldn’t use this site at work. IT may not only be blocking your ability to install a new browser, but could also be analyzing your surfing behavior. You probably don’t want them to know that you are hanging around a site dealing with sexual dysfunction and brain fog…

[Northern_Star]

I appreciate your concern. Private use of the internet is explicitly allowed at my company which under data protection raises the bar before an employer can monitor an employee’s use of internet. So I doubt anyone is monitoring this. But even if they are, our IT is very centralised, while my line of work is very decentralised in our company, so there is no direct connection between the IT and my superiors. And fortunately, despite this condition I am largely functional at work, so even if they found out it would be embarassing but would not touch my employability.

You raise a valid point, but I think I am covered. And in any case, it would probably be too late now. I’ve been visiting this site multiple times every day for the last six weeks…

Btw, good to see you around, Awor. I always enjoyed your posts and still often read some of your older posts, as fascinatingly things still seem to move along a path that you mapped out almost 10 years ago. I have a lot of respect and graditute for you and your work. At the appropriate time I hope you will comment on how our understanding of the condition has developed over the last couple of years and what we will have to do to understand more and maybe treat it in the future. Thank you!

[pvdl]

I have some suggestions:

1. Activate red/green/ blue font color options.

2. If you quote a fellow user the background color of the quote is not high contrast enough to the post one is writing. Look at solvepfs.com: It has yellow for the quote box and grey for the post. This higher contrast is much better. White versus a very light grey is confusing for the eye.

3. I have suggested this before but I cant understand why there is no donation link on this forum. Are you guys keen on hiding the foundation??? If so you have successfully done so. Yes I know there is the main site but everyone immediately jumps to forum.propeciahelp.com and has that as their homepage not propeciahelp.com

[axolotl]

Hey pvdl, thanks for the post - coloured fonts are not natively supported and we’ve discussed it now and think, because of the design ethos of discourse, it’s not worth the work or a positive change to be adding. I’m sure people can formulate posts and points with the font options.

[pvdl]

Yes pls change it so the quote box background color contrasts nicely with the post one is writing. I would suggest a color like yellow not a grey. Pls change it because most people will use the default light theme.

[pvdl]

Just to be clear. I cant see why the addition of a donation button on the forum homepage would hurt anyone. Nobody visits the regular homepage, thats why its important.

A fancy propeciahelp.com is nice, but is it effective in getting us where we need to be? One major concern is the continued survival of the foundation and thats why a constant reminder to set up a recurring monthly donation schedule is highly important. I have already done this sadly few people have followed suit.

[axolotl]

I had a look to see if I could change the quote background colour and it doesn’t appear customisable and is standard across Discourse. I talked with a few others and they didn’t see that colour as a problem (in fact some people have very strong views against recolouring), so I’m sorry if that’s a personal dislike - I’d suggest using the dark theme if it’s giving you trouble with the contrast.

Re a donation button, thanks for the feedback. We’ll discuss it further with you guys when we can.

[pvdl]

Another feedback is that one should be able to have standard text align options found in most word programms.

Also one two more suggestions:

1. can we reintroduce signatures (i.e some message at the bottom of ones posts thats always the same).
2. For new studies that need funding we should have a special mention below the regular donations button (that links to a funding thread). My opinion. We need to be more effective in organising funds both when it comes to concrete studies but also generally with recurring monthly donations.

[awor]

@pvdl

Another feedback is that one should be able to have standard text align options found in most word programms

The software we use (Discourse) has a strong focus on quick moving online discussions. Anything that distracts from that purpose is not supported. This includes sophisticated formatting and wild colored fonts. Signatures, like you suggested, are considered very “old school”, distract from the conversation flow, and are not supported either. I don’t know about you, but I by far prefer the clean minimalist look of Discourse to the way the forum used to look and work.

@axolotl and myself are working on integrating the donation aspect you mentioned. It will be a lot cooler than just a link. Stay tuned.