Latest Update on Our Changes
Hello Yahoo! Groups moderators and users,
My name is Jim Stoneham and I’m the Vice President of Yahoo!’s Communities products, which includes Yahoo! Groups. I’d like to update you on where we are with the changes to Yahoo! Groups that some of you have seen in the past few weeks.
First, I wanted to make it clear that we have been reading all your email and comments carefully. Based on your feedback, we have decided to roll back all of our recent changes at this time.
Some of you have made the point that the original intent of Groups (essentially an email listserv) is different from what our new design entails. You are right, of course. The new design is intended to better serve smaller, private groups – which are a significant part of our user community – and we know these changes are not going to be welcomed by everyone.
Based on your feedback, we are going to iterate on the new design separately from the original Groups product. For those who are interested in using the new design, we are creating a whitelist (instructions forthcoming in a blog post next week) where you can sign up for the option to use the new design. There are two things to note about this whitelist: (1) you can revert back to your original groups experience any time and (2) we may ask you for some feedback so we can continue to improve the user experience.
I realize that our recent changes have created uncertainty for you. Yahoo! Groups is a mature product, however, and it is natural and prudent for us to evaluate how to evolve the product so that it meets the needs of our wide range of users and the needs of our business as well. I believe we can do a better job of involving our customers in the conversation, and that is what we aim to do going forward.
If you want to contact me directly, you can do so by sending an email to me at jimstoneatyahoo-incdotcom. Please also continue to provide your feedback on this blog and the Yahoo! Groups Suggestion Board – our team is listening.
Thanks,
Jim
Rob said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:13 pm
This is excellent news, for anyone who prefers the “old” e-mail-oriented design to the “new” chat-oriented design.
Thank you for having the courage to admit that the redesign, although well-intentioned, was not for everyone. Please continue to offer your users new _options_, instead of forced marches–you’ll get much better reactions from the community.
Again, thank you for reconsidering.
Stanley said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:17 pm
I have to agree with Rob. This is good news, especially since all we had been hearing for the last few weeks was a ‘Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead’ attitude with no concern about what the people who actually use groups had been telling you was either going to occur, or had occurred with the redesign. Hopefully this is an honest response to all of the rancour that the not completely useable change had created, and not another gloss over, to keep us placated.
Tae said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:25 pm
This is very good news. I know that my members will appreciate the fact that they are not going to lose the
functionality that has made Groups a favorite product.
For the record, we are not against change but we also wish to ensure the we do not use functionality that we have come to depend upon.
Tae
Chris said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:38 pm
Yes! Thank you Jim!! I didn’t like the redesign. Really appreciate that Yahoo listened. The redesign just didn’t work for the type of support groups I belong to and moderate. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Could Yahoo create some type totally separate “social forum” with another name to use the new design in and continue to evolve…just to make sure Groups stays as is in future so redesigns won’t affect its functions, etc. Just thinking ahead….
Stacey said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
I loved the new design! I cant wait until its available again! Its time for an update!
Thanks to Yahoo for all its hard work in creating and pushing out a new version of something that has worked so well for so long!
Duane said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:48 pm
Finally, Good News. I’m glad that Yahoo! has listened to the owners/moderators/users. It seems to me that if the folks running the show had just looked at the reaction a couple of years ago when a “beta” was launched, it would have saved everyone a lot of trouble.
Thank you,
Duane
msm said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:53 pm
Thank you Jim for this wonderful news. As a huge fan of Yahoo! groups I am thrilled that the concens of the group’s ownes,moderators, and users was taken into consideration.
again thank you,
msm
Sacredheart said,
September 29, 2010 @ 1:58 pm
Thank you and I pray that this is for real and our groups will stay as they are.
The new design will not work for our very special groups.
Thank you again,
Sacredheart
Nightowl said,
September 29, 2010 @ 2:40 pm
Oh thank you Jim, you don’t know how much this means to all of us.
I’m so happy to know you were listening to us all this time.
Brenda
Nightowl >8#
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/modsandmembers/
Jan M said,
September 29, 2010 @ 2:51 pm
Thank you so very much. I don’t think I would be exaggerating by saying the millions of users are going to be very happy tonight! Thank you!
jan b said,
September 29, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
Thank you so much Jim!
I believe that most of Yahoo’s owners, moderators and users are delighted to know
that Yahoo has heard our concerns regarding the new format and is taking the time to evaluate how best to proceed going forward.
I look forward to learning how to participate with one of my groups in your
Whitelist.
Truly appreciate the work done by Yahoo to provide a superior product.
Diane said,
September 29, 2010 @ 3:46 pm
Greetings Jim,
Thank you for listening to the feedback from your Group Owners/Moderators/Members, and adjusting your agenda accordingly.
Yahoo Groups is a powerful entity on the ‘net today, and I sincerely hope to see it retain its status as a premier platform for groups.
Thank you.
Diane
Susie said,
September 29, 2010 @ 3:57 pm
Thank you Jim!
Your team graciously reverted my group back to the original format when I was unexpectedly switched, but Rich Text is no longer functioning correctly; line spacing is way off.
Someone might want to take a look.
Appreciate your efforts to listen to the owners.
yippeeeee! said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:03 pm
This is wonderful news, almost too good to believe after what we’ve been through the past few weeks. As those of know who were looking elsewhere for alternatives, Yahoo’s groups were better than all other types of groups or forums, offering options available nowhere else, to suit any type of group, from announcement-only email lists to heavy website interface. I wish only that this news had arrived before I was midstream in the move to Googlegroups! I regret the many hours I spent setting up the Google group, but my joy at not having to move after all is boundless!
yippeeeee! said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:07 pm
Missing word: As those of US know who were looking elsewhere…
But my typo gives me another chance to say thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you
Yahoo has no worthy competitor for Groups and ought to recognize that fact forever!
yippeeeee! said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:10 pm
Oh, I hate to bring up old issues in the midst of such happiness, but as long as Yahoo is not destroying Groups, how about returning to fixing parts that are broken, such as Search?
Norbert Strade said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:15 pm
Excellent, Jim. Thank you for listening to your customer base!
Our parallel Google group was already up and running, but now I’m happy that we can stay here with the best list/group features on the market.
Amy said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:16 pm
HURRAH!!!! Yahoo Group finally listened!
Craig said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
Hoping that this is in fact real, and that Yahoo can follow through with the duality of a Facebook-like for those that prefer it, and the traditional listserv-style interface for those of us who prefer that.
But Jim, we’re all going to be a bit gunshy now. Us older users remember the last time things were changed – no options there. And here we saw it again…Yahoo was force-feeding this new interface to a large chunk of its userbase that had no taste for it, need for it, nor desire for it. Will we get forcefed again in the future? We’re all concerned about that. Many of us moderators have looked at other alternatives – and yes, they exist. Please, don’t force our hands
Sheri said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:23 pm
Yes! hooray
I’d like to know if there is some reason our Group Files are unable most of the time lately (Document is Not Accessible)
A real problem for those of us who rely on them. If this is going to continue, could we have a Yahoo status page for what hours Group Files are expected be available each day?
err4err said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:51 pm
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! [whew!!!]
P.S. Send a notice of this blog post from modcentral – that is how many of us found out about the change in the first place. I for one rarely come to this blog.
Ron said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:53 pm
Jim, on behalf of my many members who were waiting with uncertainty as to what the future of Groups held for them, Thank You!. About the only new feature that interested many was the possibility of having a Chat feature available. At the present time we hold chats on other venues and it would be nice to do so on the Groups site again. Maybe something that we can “opt in” for in traditional Groups?
Will Davis said,
September 29, 2010 @ 4:57 pm
Jim, my hat’s off to you. You had the sheer guts to reverse course, and that’s commendable. We’re all (well, the majority of us, anyway – and that’s unarguable) very grateful that you’ve saved the day. Thank you.
-Will Davis
vicki said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:02 pm
THANK YOU!!!!
Jeff Shultz said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:13 pm
Is there a demonstration site where we can see what the new system looks like so we can determine whether or not it will meet our needs?
Deborah Terreson said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
Jim, pass my thanks up the line to your CEO.
Not to complain, but I’m having issues with my Photos folders some of the mid-sized thumbs have run off. Pesky things got feet and used them apparently.
Who’s got a staple gun?
Anyhow, I’m glad that Yahoo has listened, and we at least will be able to see if the new design works with the nature of our data and lists.
Will groups behind the adult ‘firewall’ be able to join the whitelist?
Deb.
Will said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:40 pm
VERY GOOD NEWS. This was all most people were asking for anyway.. just the option of remaining with the classic format or changing to the new. I dreaded the change to the new format, because it offered nothing for my group but misery.
Thank you very much Jim. THANKS!! THANKS!!
Patty said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:42 pm
Thank you so much, Jim. We’d felt so frustrated that we were not, for weeks, being heard and what a thrill to know we can stay here. I sure hope this is permanent.
Ray Ebbi said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:50 pm
Thank Goodness! Things are back to normal. I understand and appreciate
the desire to improve the ‘product’. However, ‘new’ is not necessarily better.
Adding features that can be activated as desired, is a better way to go.
You guys have a product that is perfectly functional, as is. There is an old
saying, “Don’t mess with success”.
Kathleen DesMaisons said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:55 pm
Great News!
thank you! What I have learned in the last few weeks is that Yahoo moderators and members are skilled, thoughtful and committed so it can be a wonderful partnership with the vision of what you all have for Yahoo!
Bravo for the courage to listen.
Barbara said,
September 29, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
Bravo Jim! Great news to hear.
One comment if I may…
You said: “First, I wanted to make it clear that we have been reading all your email and comments carefully. Based on your feedback, we have decided to roll back all of our recent changes at this time.”
Somehow in the future if you could let us know you ARE listening to the mod/owners/users concerns it would be a big help…..
BJ
Velnita said,
September 29, 2010 @ 6:12 pm
Thank you. I’m shocked but pleased at your change of heart. I am one of those people who did not think that you were listening or that you cared due to the lack of communication in the Yahoo Suggestion Board. I am happy to say that I was wrong.
I have been a loyal Yahoo customer for many years. My trust has been badly shaken but I’ll keep an open mind. I’m sorry but you’ll have to win back my trust, however, this is definitely a step in that direction!
Thanks again for listening and keeping our needs in mind.
Sara said,
September 29, 2010 @ 6:34 pm
This is such amazing news to hear. I am not against change and improvement but I do think these changes were geared toward a certain type of group like you said. The archive and lack of history grid and message numbers would not have worked for my group but I look forward to see what your team comes up with. With the option to go Classic or New Style is a great idea to appease everyone, but it would be interesting to add different templates/styles of pages for us mods to choose between just like you allow us to customize the sidebar,
Again, thank you Yahoo for listening to us. It was looking pretty bleak there for a while and I had completely lost hope. Now I feel so much better. I’ve used Yahoo! for a decade and now I will continue to use it
That Noisy Guy (RS) said,
September 29, 2010 @ 6:42 pm
THANK YOU! (this should be read in 100 pt font)
I will happily take part in your whitelist/beta/etc. I love to try out new versions and give feedback. I think anyone interested in seeing YG genuinely improved would love that too. Glad to hear a sane voice from Yahoo. Just please don’t go this route in the future of not doing betas and/or not getting larger user feedback. Involve us and we’ll help you get the best results. Or at least how to not alienate us in the process of changing things to suit a bigger audience. All I ask is that you not take this approach with any groups changes from here on, and I’m a happy camper.
That Noisy Guy (RS) said,
September 29, 2010 @ 6:50 pm
Question:
If we choose to use the whitelist version, will we have all our groups rolled over?
Or is it structured so that it’s just our display of the groups content that is different?
I’d like to just roll one in to the new view, and keep the rest the same. I guess if it’s only the display that differs, then never mind.
In my opinion, your My Groups page needs more work that the Home Page does. Maybe that will be part of the new version sooner?
Anyway, I look forward to playing around with it and telling you what works for my style of groups and what does not. Cheers!
That Noisy Guy (RS) said,
September 29, 2010 @ 7:00 pm
One more quick thought for you and your team, Jim. Last time YG did a Beta, they established a separate suggestion board just for it. I gathered that it was a helpful part of the process. Something like that would hopefully help feedback be ongoing and stay relevant, topical and keep things better categorized.
Also a test group for people to join might be helpful, maybe get feedback more directly in a test environment? I believe Gordon was there during that process, I guess his feedback on that would be most valuable.
Just a couple thoughts to think about as you go forward.
Cheers
Major Group said,
September 29, 2010 @ 7:09 pm
Jim,
If you are REALLY SERIOUS about keeping us, and want to show it…
….then FIX THE YAHOO GROUP MESSAGE SEARCH!
Search has been TOTAL FAIL since FEB 2009!
Make it a REAL SEARCH worthy of Yahoo.
Not a TOY.
Boolean, Quotes, phrases, multiple words, etc.
Karen H said,
September 29, 2010 @ 7:28 pm
Thank you! The old format with the numbering is SO much easier to know where I left off. Thanks for listening.
Troglodyte said,
September 29, 2010 @ 7:32 pm
Groups has had to cater for a range of users’ requirements and I welcome Yahoo’s realisation that ‘one size does not fit all’. I applaud Chris’s suggestion that the name of service should indicate which format is being used.
Possibly the ‘new’ groups could be officially known as Yahoo Social Groups as most of those groups would centre on social interaction rather than more serious or technical matters. The ‘old’ groups could be known as Yahoo Interest Groups as the ‘old’ format serves better the handling of more serious and technical subjects, as well as sensitive matters which need the most careful treatment.
The two kinds of groups would then be run as separate services (apart from the crossover mechanism) rather like the original Groups and Clubs were. I must also add a plea for the resumption (especially in the ‘old’ groups) of storing attachments as well as emailing them as previously, rather than doing one but not the other.
Terri said,
September 29, 2010 @ 7:47 pm
Thank you for listening and having to courage to step back and re-evaluate. As a Yahoo Groups member for over a decade I have no problem with the site being updated as long as the service your customers have come to rely on is factored in.
Max said,
September 29, 2010 @ 8:09 pm
Am SO happy the owners get a choice of what kind of group they want to run. Thank you for listening to us and giving us the option.
Polly Lacy said,
September 29, 2010 @ 8:22 pm
I, too, am VERY glad that Yahoo listened and we will be able to continue our groups as they are now. BUT….will there be a Customer Care function for the existing groups as there is now? And will you please work on fixing the problems that now exist, give us promised upgrades, e.g. 100 gb storage for Files, the ability to have sub-folders/albums in Photos, etc.? Thanks!
Michael said,
September 29, 2010 @ 8:27 pm
To me, it seemed there were a lot of cosmetic changes but that I’d still have the same basic functions. That didn’t bother me but I wasn’t too sure how some of the members of the groups that I own/moderate would react. Some of them are not that comfortable with computers so any change might be jarring.
Maybe the idea of having two different types of Yahoo Groups wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Jeannie said,
September 29, 2010 @ 9:26 pm
Many thanks for reconsidering! It’s great to know that you are listening to your customers.
Khristina said,
September 29, 2010 @ 9:37 pm
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU….I know my group will be thrilled to be left as it is….Khristina
Nightowl said,
September 29, 2010 @ 9:38 pm
Hello all,
This is Owl, owner of the
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/modsandmembers/
We are happy we along with all of you, managed to achieve this victory and save our Classic Groups! Everyone who spoke up made a difference!
We’ve decided to leave our group open and use it as a thinktank for anyone who wishes to come and put their heads together with us.
We plan to strategize about the changes for those who want to try the new format, and help identify the bugs.
We plan to assist everyone in getting back on track and help them get their concerns out there and heard.
We’ve discovered that as a group, we are more powerful than a single voice, and those voices joined into a shout that was heard by someone that listened!
So if you would like to be part of the group that works together to get it done, come and check us out.
We’re glad to have you.
Brenda
sadie said,
September 30, 2010 @ 12:04 am
jim; it was so great to read your blog post and realize you’d been listening to us! you seem to be the voice of reason within yahoo. i had lost faith in yahoo and their force feeding of changes it seemed an act of desperation and not well thought out or tested. i have had a lot of trouble with breach of privacy issues, even in my email account in classic mail, and still wish i could roll back all those changes, too!
i was sickened by the possibility of losing my groups and starting over or worse, having to learn the new yahoo social network and spend much of my valuable time learning how to opt out of all the privacy-invader features. i was among many thousands getting ready for a mass exodus. you have restored my faith that at least one person in yahoo – you – is listening. as for the rest of them, i am still cautious and a bit skeptical and i will have to be “won” back into a more relaxed trust.
i am hoping that flickr site is not changed too much in the new remodel, or that options to stay with the “classic” version are ALWAYS (and permanently) given at any big juncture of change yahoo throws our way. that is the best way to keep ALL of your userbase and not exercise ageism or discrimination against any one group, and for yahoo to outpace its competitors. you seem to realize this and for that i am grateful.
please, impart if you will to the development team — no more forced changes without options! thank any higher ups who listened to us, and i’m with the others who put in a plea to restore the search function in groups.
thanks for listening,
sadie
Ian said,
September 30, 2010 @ 12:47 am
I am greatly relieved by the news that the “old” format will continue to be available.
But I sincerely hope that the existing ills of the “old” format will be fixed and that it will continue to be supported, not just left to expire due to neglect.
regards,
Ian
Meredith said,
September 30, 2010 @ 1:08 am
Thank you, Yahoo.
I have several active groups that have been around for over twelve years and as the weeks of this remodel went by I felt like all my work and effort, and the effort of my many members, was in the process of being destroyed. I didn’t necessarily protest the idea of a remodel but the removal of key features, even temporarily, the lack of response and clarification from Yahoo. I joined the many voices here on this blog and on the suggestion board time and time again, only to see my concerns and the concerns of others continuously ignored or placated.
I was truly distraught, because I have loved the service Yahoo provided complaint-free for many years, adored my groups and my members, and worked countless hours bettering them. The groups that had been moved over to the new format were only a pale comparison to their former selves, glitchy, practically non-functional, and I felt like so much of my time and creativity for so many years had been completely wasted and disregarded.
I truly appreciate Yahoo recognizing that this reformat is not for everyone. I am surprised and relieved to find that Yahoo was listening when I thought for so long that they weren’t. I’m humbled by your ability to admit some fault in this, which is never an easy thing to do. The groups that have been returned to their original format are working perfectly and honestly I couldn’t be happier.
I’d love to participate in the whitelist with a select group or two, to help provide further feedback and betterment of this new format to fit a more wide variety of groups and the many needs therein. I do wish the development team luck as the work on the new design continues.
Thanks again,
Meredith
MauriceT said,
September 30, 2010 @ 3:17 am
These are very good news, thank you Jim. As a moderator and member of 31 groups, both in English and French languages, I can say that members of my groups in both languages were mostly puzzled with the new look ! I assume they’ll all vote for the old look – but I don’t think that many moderators will make a poll in their group(s) about this and, as far as I’m concerned, I won’t do it.
Maurice, in France (owner/moderator of 13 groups, member of 31 groups)
GuillaumeB said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:05 am
Well as long as group owners are not forced to downgrade to the classic version just to please a bunch of members that’s OK.
RonM said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:24 am
Finally – an adult steps in.
I don’t know who was in charge of that mess, but they couldn’t have done it any worse if they tried.
Yahoo Groups was completely losing my trust, but this goes a long way toward re-establishing it.
I’m so glad were get to keep the classic Yahoo Groups, as imperfect as it may be, but still better than anything else out there.
Pat said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:28 am
Dear Jim,
Thank you so much for considering the need for maintaining current functionality as well as providing newer methods simultaneously. But most of all, thank you for letting us know that you are listening and reacting to our complaints and suggestions. It is appreciated more than I can say!
Finding ways to make us part of the change process in the future is an excellent idea, thank you!
Find
Pat Long
Berner-L
Berwyn PA
Sent from my iPhonep
Mark said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:30 am
Being the founder of two groups and moderator of about 20 more, this is fantastic news. The new format was not going to work well for us. And the option to remain as is (as my group will be) or choose the new format is also a plus for those for which it will work well. Thank you Jim; thank you Yahoo.
Barry said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:19 am
At last common sense prevails – thank you Yahoo for listening and you’ve done a lot to reverse the impression of an uncaring megalith corporation ! Having both systems running in parallel is a master-stroke even if it is going to give you logistical issues. Again, thank you for listening !!
Ben said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:29 am
Hi Jim:
Your statement has restored my faith in Yahoo. It is heartening to know that people like me has a voice in matters that concern us. I have been with Yahoo for many, many years and hated the thought of taking my groups elsewhere. So I applaud your decision and I and my group members thank you for it.
Mel said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:32 am
Thanks for listening!
This is the best news in ages.
Mel
C said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:42 am
Thank you so very much for listening to us! I have been on Yahoo for many years, and was dreading having to move my groups elsewhere.
I am extremely relieved that the new format will not be forced upon us – many members in my groups are not computer-savvy, and a change like this would have been too much for them. The change would have greatly reduced the usefulness of most of my groups.
I was quite disappointed by the attitude of some at Yahoo during the discussion, that we should just get over ourselves and deal with the fact that the new way was the way it was going to be regardless that it wouldn’t work for us. Thank goodness someone at Yahoo finally heard what we were saying!
AshK said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:49 am
That’s good that we will be able to switch back and forth between the two types!
BevM said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:09 am
I would also like to thank Jim Stoneham and the team at Yahoo for listening to our voices. I had been dreading the move away from Yahoo for my groups, and I know I wasn’t alone in that. I’m really glad that common sense prevailed in the end, and that you had the courage and conviction to respond to our concerns.
What you have in Yahoo Groups is a unique and popular product – I’m so glad you recognised that in the end. There really isn’t anything else quite like it – I know because like so many other Group Owners I have been frantically researching alternatives since the announcement of the changes. By all means go ahead with your alternative social networking scheme – it is important that any company continues to seek new innovations, otherwise it will stagnate. There is no reason why the two products cannot happily co-exist as they serve different purposes and markets. I sincerely wish you good fortune with the alternative scheme, but that style of online interaction will never be a replacement for what the Groups do, which is to provide a sense of community for those with a common interest. Many Yahoo Groups are used as a source of information, knowledge or assistance – they are not social networking tools at all.
I am encouraged to read that you are now actively seeking consultation with the Yahoo Groups community. Consultation is vital to retaining the goodwill of those who use your Groups service every day, and the lack of consultation in the process is the main reason why this problem occurred. Had the Yahoo team consulted with those who use the service before attempting to implement the changes, they would have found out that the alterations they were proposing would not suit many of their users, and would actively drive their users away. This blog certainly aids the information flow, but many group owners would not be aware of its existance.
Why not use the service you provide to consult directly with the community? If the Yahoo team were to set up an invitation-only Yahoo Group and invite a representative from each group to join it (perhaps the group owner or an appointed moderator) and one of your team were to run the group, then your team would receive direct feedback from people who are involved with running the Groups. It would also give your team a valuable hands-on insight into daily Group operation, and therefore a deeper understanding of what is required of this product. I’m sure there are many very astute Group Owners out there who also have ideas for changes which would benefit the product – and you would be getting all those ideas without having to pay someone to think them up for you. It would enable the Groups users to make a positive contribution to the process (rather than just complaining about things that require fixing), and at the same time ensure that the Yahoo team is in touch with the community. Rather than feeling alienated and ignored, the Groups community will feel empowered and involved – and that will translate to greater product loyalty. You could even use the Poll facility on the group to gauge the popularity or otherwise of any proposed future changes to the way the system operates. It would prevent any repetition of the current situation, and would be a win-win scenario all round. Rather than the current environment which tends towards an adversarial atmosphere where the users feel as if they are fighting against Yahoo, it would help to create a spirit of co-operation and partnership between your service and its users.
LeAnn said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:29 am
YEAH! Thank you, YAHOO! for listening! It’s refreshing to see a company respond to it’s customers.
As a business owner, I understand that you want to try new things and answer the needs of all customers. By providing both the current Group program and an optional format, you should be able to accomplish your objectives. Who knows – perhaps an old fuddy-duddy like me will join a group with the new options and decide I like it.
THANKS!
Barbara D. Brill said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:41 am
Just as choosing a name for any Yahoo Group is important, to convey what its purpose is, so, too, will it be important to choose a good ‘name’ for the two formats — classic and new — being proposed.
May I strongly recommend against using the terms “classic” versus “new,” nor using “traditional” vs “fully featured”?
Instead, as others have wisely commented here, stress the principle distinctive differences, which would bring us to (1.) Yahoo Interest (or Topic) Groups for the current ones that have a very high volume of members receiving individual email messages, and (2.) “Yahoo Social Groups” or “Yahoo Web Groups” for the updated GU interface in which the Team seems to anticipate stronger web use by the subscribers.
This brings me back to a concern. Wasn’t the huge effort to update the YG features not a whim at all but instead a conscious plan to reformat or ‘refactor’ in order to strive to overcome the actual software programming that was no longer working right?? and was very difficult to maintain??
If so, explain please, with clarity, so we won’t be left guessing about it. For instance, what remains to be done to the present Yahoo Groups’ format for it to work correctly — without a lot of down time for various features?
Thanks.
Tom said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:43 am
Yahoo rocks! Thank you for listening to your users. With the creation of all the user groups on the internet and different internet browsers, we chose Yahoo because it is “The Best” and easiest to operate. Please continue to enhance your product, but continue to listen to those who use it the most. And a special thanks to you Jim for keeping us in the loop.
Tom Thomas
Brian said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:54 am
Thank you for using the reins instead of the spurs .
I have 2 things for you folks to think about when you consider “improvements”. The Volkswagen business model , and Maxwell House coffee.
First , re-using the beetle body style over so many many years saved VW a barnful of money .
Second , when you’ve got something good , stick with it .
Theresa said,
September 30, 2010 @ 7:03 am
Thank you, Jim.
.
The remodel was unusable for so many people, including the blind. Plus it had quite a few other problems.
I hope yahoo has learned many lessons from this.
I hope that now the groups programmers and others can be released to work on the things users have been asking for – search functions and so forth. That’s where they are needed.
Martie Williams said,
September 30, 2010 @ 8:09 am
Always, but ALWAYS remember the old adage:” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”. I’m sure the “new”format would be great for some groups, but our 875+/- members like our group site the way it is…
Ariane said,
September 30, 2010 @ 8:18 am
Thank You, Jim!
for listening to your users and not destroying yahoo-groups and our (listowners) work of so many years!
it might be nice to have options
“old-order” design (just as it is now)
“improved” design (try out new features)
but please don’t ever take away the option to run the “old-order” design for any given yahoogroup
Paul said,
September 30, 2010 @ 8:28 am
This is indeed good news! I’m glad the Groups will not be changing in the near future.
I am not opposed to changes, especially if those changes are positive and functional, which these changes were not. It was also a case of way too many changes in too short a period. Rapid change is a very painful thing to have to bear.
I really thought I was going to have to relocate my groups (I own 7 total and moderate on 2 more) to another list server if these changes followed through. I have already had to endure this painful relocation process once when I relocated my groups from another list server to Yahoo several years ago, and for the very same reasons Yahoo!Groups was proposing. I’m glad I won’t have to do it again.
Thank you for listening to your group owners. They are the voice of the People (at least on Yahoo).
Best Regards,
Paul
Charles said,
September 30, 2010 @ 8:48 am
Thank you!!! Thank you for giving us the option to keep the current design.
Frustrated Fred said,
September 30, 2010 @ 9:21 am
Wow! I feel like I’m in an action movie. The runaway freight train has been brought under control and the impeding wreck has been averted.
As please as I am with the change in direction, the events that brought us here are still deeply troubling. I suspect that most everyone who has posted for or against the groups changes is in favor of a more financially healthy Yahoo – but you can’t get there at our expense. Yahoo should be fully aware that the Internet community can be very fickle. We are all just a click away from a competitor. Redesigns can be good. Empower us with the ability to redesign our individual groups with more options – customizable skins that allow rearranging the web presentation, email notification by topic, topic filtering, a working search feature, topic boards for topic organization, etc.
Making groups look like the latest Internet fad is short term thinking. Make groups dynamic and flexible so that it can adapt painlessly to the ever evolving Internet community.
Sreenadh OG said,
September 30, 2010 @ 9:35 am
Thank you at last for making a sensible decision!
The Yahoo Groups AS IS is the best product as a “Forum+Mailinglist” combination; the world’s best of the kind; nothing short of it! The new system is simply pathetic and destroying the best product available at one friends (how ever old it be) DO NOT make sense. Good to know that yahoo understood it at last.
Same I have to say about Yahoo Mail; The classic yahoo mail was/is the best product of its kind; the new yahoo mail is simply pathetic; I wonder when yahoo will learn the value of classic yahoo mail as well; any way, there users have always the choice to move back and forth from new to old or vice-versa so it is not a problem.
With the pathetic heart breaking remodeling (better to call ‘destruction’) of groups initiated by Yahoo, I was setting up a “Phorum+Mailinglist” combination so as to move out whole group and members to their. (I was trying to use Mailman or Google groups simply as the mailing list part), and was SAD that we are losing the BEST Forum+Mailing list platform – i.e. Yahoo groups. But with this sensible decision and words coming from Jim, it seems that I can stay with Yahoo groups for some more time. Please know that the only alternative to this great product – i.e.Google groups – is not even 1/10 time good compared to the user friendliness and features of Yahoo Groups. Sensible people don’t destroy a mature and best product, just to replace it with a pathetic mimicry of some other site which is not at all a product of the kind “Forum+Mailinglist”, and belong to some other domain called “social networking” or “micro blogs”. Facebook or Twitter may have a high share on yahoo, but that they should turn yahoo into facebook or twitter mimicry and throw the users, mature yahoo products and the yahoo company itself on the road.
Best regards,
Sreenadh
Nubia said,
September 30, 2010 @ 10:51 am
BRAVO !!!!!!
this is the best decision you ever made
Nubia
kamran 2257 said,
September 30, 2010 @ 12:15 pm
dear responsible of yahoo grup
i would like to know do or can you controling emails from yahoo group ? if your answer is yes please unsubscribe me from your group A.S.S.P
Rgds
Gil. said,
September 30, 2010 @ 12:33 pm
A short while ago, a web-based company, nowhere near as large as Yahoo but also unique in the service it offers, disappeared for a while and left the community which was very loyal to it hanging. Then, abruptly, it reappeared, admitting that it had all been a publicity stunt and treating the whole thing as a joke.
I was sure for quite a while that most of your team and the management of Yahoo were also laughing into their sleeves, in this case at the very idea that people who actually use your groups really thought they could have any say at all in what happened to them. I’m glad to see that, for the moment at least, I’ve been proven wrong.
I feel about Yahoo much as I feel about that other company now, though: I’ll forgive you but I won’t trust you. It will take a long time for me to relax and believe that Yahoo won’t pull a stunt like this again.
I do appreciate your post, however, Jim. As someone else said, at last an adult steps in and talks to us as adults. I think you’ll find that most of us can be quite reasonable and cooperative if our needs are met and we are kept in the know about what you want to accomplish and how and why.
tlb said,
September 30, 2010 @ 1:40 pm
Thank you!!!
I agree with Barbara D. Brill’s comment (“May I strongly recommend against using the terms “classic” versus “new,” nor using “traditional” vs “fully featured”?”) and that Yahoo! would be wise to (as Barbara put it) “… stress the principle distinctive differences…”
tlb
pk said,
September 30, 2010 @ 1:49 pm
Thank you, Jim, for letting us know, finally, what is going on with YG’s, and the changes. As an owner of 2 groups and mod for a few more, I really wasn’t happy with the facebook-esque redesign…I have too many members who are visually impaired, and the one group that was changed for a short time was unuseable for them. I am delighted that you have listened to the owners and members and rolled back all of the recent changes.
I don’t mind change, but I do like to be notified before it happens and not just have something dumped in my lap as this was.
I think the idea of two different types of group formats is excellent, as long as you are able to maintain both of them. Others have already mentioned ongoing problems with the groups that still need to be addressed. Again, thank you for letting us know what is going on and for letting us keep the current groups format….although your line “at this time” does cause me some pause. As others have said, trust will have to be rebuilt.
pk
Ian said,
September 30, 2010 @ 1:59 pm
Excellent news!
Jessica Lea said,
September 30, 2010 @ 2:03 pm
Thank you so much for listening to our concerns/complaints and acting upon them.
Personally I found the re-design not user friendly and am elated to find out that it will now be an option and not something that will be forced upon everyone.
Again, thank you for acting on this.
Respectfully: Jessica
Dave Harries said,
September 30, 2010 @ 2:19 pm
Very glad that the old design will continue to be available. I will continue using it for my own group so thank you, Jim, for not making the change compulsory.
Jan W said,
September 30, 2010 @ 3:29 pm
Thank you for reconsidering the position – all my groups are mightily relieved and two of them didn’t get changed. We have all made many friends through the various groups and exchange a lot of crafted items so we are very happy to continue as we are. Thank you so much for giving us a choice.
Distrustful User said,
September 30, 2010 @ 3:36 pm
Yahoo has a long way to go before they regain my trust.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Ron said,
September 30, 2010 @ 3:39 pm
Lots of happy people out there with the announcement of Groups remaining as Groups. Some of my list members who have had a chance to check out the remodel version were asking if the Chat feature would be available (Winter is coming and a chat can be a nice way to spend a cold evening) Are there any plans in the works to offer Chat as an opt in on the traditional Groups?
The old bugaboo of broken Search also came up. It’s been an off again/on again thing for some time again. The other night nothing newer than 2009 was coming up in message searches or the search servers were not accessible. Accessing Files has also been a problem the past few days.
Thumbs up from members world wide that things will remain as they have been. Something like an old comfortable pair of slippers …
Ron
Dagny said,
September 30, 2010 @ 3:58 pm
Wonderful news. The groups were near perfect as the were. So glad we’ll be able to keep the tried and true format.
Rob Follett said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:01 pm
Thank you for having the courage to admit mistakes and finally listening to your users. I’ll now be keeping my groups with YahooGroups (was certainly going to move if the new format was imposed on us).
TVLBROTHER said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:08 pm
GREAT NEWS!!! It is best if the new improvements are are options rather than mandatory, at least until we have a chance to test the new options out for ourselves!
Stephanie HC said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:17 pm
Wow! That was my first response when I started to read this blog – and all I can say is thank you – and 84 people before me have said evrything there is to say and enough to show that the powers that be have made the right decision!
Mike said,
September 30, 2010 @ 4:19 pm
Thank you, Jim, and all the others involved. I echo the sentiments of previous posters in that I hope you can get a separate system up for those that prefer the other interface and that it proves successful for Yahoo and those that choose to use that system.
Victor Silva said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:04 pm
Jim,
Thank you! Finally someone at Yahoo espousing reason. I only hope that the people trying to shove the “remodel” down our throats are reprimanded for their actions.
Thanks again,
Victor
Sherry said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:25 pm
THANK YOU A GAZILLION TIMES!!
I just love the current groups format and believe it should stay that way for those of us who want mailing lists rather than “social networks”. For the purposes of the groups I’m involved in the new format was just awful.
And I agree with some of the posters, the message search *really* needs to be fixed! I’m involved in some health groups as owner, moderator and lister and being able to search for previous posts by keywords is esssential so we all don’t have to keep repeating ourselves till we’re blue in the face
Bobbie said,
September 30, 2010 @ 5:39 pm
My (main) group is rejoicing and very happy to hear that the week I spent “archiving the archives” of our 12 year old group was simply a trip down memory lane rather than the first step in our preparations for packing-up-to-migrate. Thank you Jim Stoneham and thank you Y!G …for reconsidering the planned changes to what wasn’t nearly as badly broken as the “fix” that was being applied to it.
fahad said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:00 pm
I just love the current groups format and believe it should stay that way for those of us who want mailing lists rather than “social networks”. For the purposes of the groups I’m involved in the new format was just awful.
And I agree with some of the posters, the message search *really* needs to be fixed! I’m involved in some health groups as owner, moderator and lister and being able to search for previous posts by keywords is esssential so we all don’t have to keep repeating ourselves till we’re blue in the face
alan said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:08 pm
Sherry, you need to meet fahad !
you two are definitely on the same wavelength LOL
peace
alan
Bobbie said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:14 pm
That said, I guess it’s time once again for me to submit (another) bug report on the issue of our group’s “automatic messaging” feature being MIA for the past three years. I expect I’ll receive the same response: “We’re aware of the problem and working hard to resolve…” but I still like to remind them every six months or so that I haven’t forgotten that it USED to work.
Sara said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:23 pm
Woowoo! This is great news!
Kevin Carson said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:37 pm
Thanks, Jim–and thanks to Yahoo for finally seeing reason. I guess corporations sometimes actually do respond to user feedback. Score one for the little guy.
Moira said,
September 30, 2010 @ 6:50 pm
Great news, now we can relax
Thanks
Fred Montague said,
September 30, 2010 @ 7:24 pm
Jim,
First a thank you for returning to the old format. I would like to offer this old adage if you guys ever decide on anything like this again, “If it ain’t broken don’t fix it”
Also you mentioned evolution relating to this forum. Don’t forget Makind didn’t arrive in one quick step after the slimy things appeared It took Millions of years with tiny incremental steps to get to where we are today. That’s evolution.
Fred
Deanne said,
September 30, 2010 @ 7:28 pm
Thank God!
Andy Moorley said,
September 30, 2010 @ 9:49 pm
Many thanks for listening to the feedback. As a Freecycle moderator it is a huge relief to know I won’t have x thousand members very confused and frustrated.
Best regards
Andy
EB5AGV - Jose V. Gavila said,
September 30, 2010 @ 10:22 pm
This is GREAT!!!. Thanks Yahoo for listening. Kudos to you all!
73 JOSE EB5AGV
Raj said,
October 1, 2010 @ 12:43 am
Please note that you could also improve the features on the old format too. There are some features that are sorely lacking.
Raj,vu2zap
Kathy said,
October 1, 2010 @ 1:23 am
So glad you decided to offer the option of keeping our groups as they have been. Yahoo is the only forum I’m aware of where members can write out their full thoughts without concern for pruning it down to 140 characters or such. That just doesn’t work for some purposes, and Yahoo is the only one that does work! Thank you.
Simon said,
October 1, 2010 @ 1:36 am
As one of thousands who complained in this blog about the intended “remodelling”, this is the best news that there could have been. Thank you, most sincerely, Jim, and all at Yahoo who had the courage and magnanimity to take this decision. The sheer distress this was causing Group Owners like myself, not least in terms of having to deal with the untold hassle of migrating elsewhere, was abysmal, and this enlightened decision will, deservedly, be meet with huge relief and heartfelt appreciation. (I’ll even not moan any more about message text set in italic always appearing as bold – a minor inconvenience in contrast to what might have been!) Thanks again.
Bryan said,
October 1, 2010 @ 2:01 am
Thank You Mr.Stoneham for listening, not just hearing ! ! Your actions are greatly appreciated.
Might i suggest opening two way lines of communication between the paid staff of Yahoo Groups management and the thousands of unpaid voluntary managers/moderators of individual Groups and groups of Groups, some of whom have dedicated years to promoting the facilities we are now trying to protect, that this situation does not arise again and that we move forward together not inconflict. There are Yahoo Groups for Group owners and moderators run by Owners and Moderators where I’m sure that Your staff would be welcome if joining openly for the purpose of better two way communication and understanding.
The new format may well be suited to the requirements of many present and new users, yet it is appreciated that You, as Vice President of Yahoo!’s Communities products,understands that the older unique format of Yahoo Groups is that which a large percentage of us prefer and can work with, and hence why we have stayed with Yahoo for all this time ( so far).
Hopefully a better relationship between management and users will now be established that we can, together, overcome some of the malfunctions in the present system.
Bryan
Paw Paw said,
October 1, 2010 @ 2:20 am
Great News… !!!!!!
You are beginning to restore my faith and confidence in Yahoo.
“” Thank You For Listening”"
Yahoo has something very special, that no other company has been able to touch. No one has been able to create a community where people come together and share things, such as OUR, Yahoo Groups.
Yes, I have checked out others, a few years back, I even tried others, nothing to compare, with what Yahoo had then or now………
I have been around in groups since about 1999, I have seen things come and go, good and bad.
I do so appreciate your listening to us.
Yes, I am prepared for improvements to the functions that we now have, and the “Offer”, of things new, as long as we are given a choice..
Daily operations of running groups, are our knowledge, our members are our expertise.Your continued allowance of offering groups as we want , is your expertise..( and We Thank You)
And yes, we do understand, that you depend on advertisers, that, we do not forget, nor do we forget to let those advertisers know where we saw their ads..and where we feel they get the best bang for their buck !!!
Again
Thanks For Listening
Sincerely
Paw Paw
A Happy “Groups” Owner FromTennesse
John said,
October 1, 2010 @ 2:30 am
Thank goodness for that
It is nice to know that Yahoo have taken head of what the majority voiced.
Thanks to all those responsible for not messing with what isn’t broken.
Regards
John in the .N.W. UK
Am. said,
October 1, 2010 @ 3:40 am
Good news for us Freecycle and Freegle users and owners alike!!
Thanks Yahoo.
Crabby Old Geezer said,
October 1, 2010 @ 5:42 am
Just remember these few simple words: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” and you’ll be fine!
Elaine N said,
October 1, 2010 @ 6:16 am
Gosh, thank you so very much for listening to our feedback. We truly appreciate it.
I love that you will keep what works well for many of us and that you will also create the networking spaces that so many others also love — sounds like a win-win for everyone!
Nick said,
October 1, 2010 @ 6:52 am
Mr. Stoneham, THANK YOU. I was dreading the reaction I would get from my mostly older club members about the new format, who mostly do not want or like facebook type pages.
I agree that your beta testers need to be the group owners and moderators who are using the sites on a regular basis and know what their groups want and need.
Again, thank you.
Lena said,
October 1, 2010 @ 7:52 am
Jim Stoneham wrote “we have decided to roll back all of our recent changes at this time”. Note: at this time. Apparently, yahoo management still intends to destroy Classic Groups (as they are now) and force the new design on everybody after they beta-test it (on volunteers now) and fix some bugs.
After the beta-test period, we need a Classic/New switch per member, not per group. Like Traditional/FullyFeatured. I don’t want to ever use the new design on groups where moderators like it.
Crabby Old Geezer said,
October 1, 2010 @ 9:28 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one disturbed by the “at this time” comment.
Of course it could be interpreted in a couple of ways but Yahoo’s recent debacle with groups really has to make one wonder if they will force the “improved” version on everyone in the future.
Pete Cooney said,
October 1, 2010 @ 10:02 am
Three cheers, Mr. Stoneham! Thank you for a very measured and reasonable change. The new format might have driven me away from Yahoo forever had you not reacted with the wisdom you did.
I echo the request to maintain the e-mail based groups indefinitely. You could certainly set a publicly-shared user threshold at which you could sunset the service, but given the sheer numbers of people using Groups right now, you are better off leaving things as-is for quite a while.
Norbert Strade said,
October 1, 2010 @ 11:48 am
Re: “At this time”
We are not going to delete our newly established Google group – because you never know when you might need it again.
But we are happy to be able to continue with the current version of Yahoo Groups, “for the time being”.
There is of course always something that can be improved, or just “changed” in order to set a mark. There’s no problem with this as long as it happens in cooperation with the users and respecting their needs.
To mention just two things that could be improved immediately:
- The periodically broken search function;
- The periodical message delays. In this field Yahoo is far behind the stability provided by some of its competitors.
Sharon Thompson said,
October 1, 2010 @ 11:53 am
Oh, this is *such* good news! Thank you SO much, Mr. Stoneham!
Robert Slade said,
October 1, 2010 @ 1:36 pm
> Some of you have made the point that the original intent of Groups
> (essentially an email listserv) is different from what our new design entails.
I find it quite shocking that Y!G design changes got as far as they did, and required as much user backlash, before the VP and developers realised and accepted this simple fact.
I’m sorry Jim, I welcome your U-turn, but you have shot yourself in the foot once again, and I’m not sure how many toes you have left!
Regards,
Robert
Howard Bingham said,
October 1, 2010 @ 1:48 pm
What is causing multiple copies of messages to be delivered.?
This is especially problematic on groupd that share lare binary files, but not limited to those groups.
several occasions in past 2 weeks, I’ve had to edit mailboxes after hittimg maximum limit set by ISP.
Howard Bingham
Kayelle Allen said,
October 1, 2010 @ 2:25 pm
Our group is six years old and has about 1100 members. Being able to group messages by topic or individually is one of the best features. We have an average of about 800-900 messages a month. I’ve been on a few groups that had the new format, and had a lot of difficulty following conversations. There was no way to just scroll through and see the various topics. It reminded me of Google groups. I belong to one (and only one) because my publisher uses it, but I have the messages forwarded to my yahoo account because I really dislike the format they use. I was dismayed when I saw that the new Yahoo design was similar to Google’s.
I was very concerned that the radical change would lead to much less action on my personal group, Romance Lives Forever. After working to build it for six years, to see it flounder because the users could no longer bounce through it and find their way — that was disheartening. I am so thankful for the decision to listen to your users. I’ve used Yahoo groups and email for six years, and really don’t know of anything better. It would have been a shame to lose all that functionality. Thank you sincerely for backing off on this and listening to us users.
Major Group said,
October 1, 2010 @ 2:26 pm
To JIM STONEHAM:
You need to know, that our experiences with Y!Groups BURNING us over the PAST 2 MONTHS has given us all a DEEP DISTRUST for all Yahoo products and services.
If you do not MAKE IT CLEAR that you will KEEP and SUPPORT the CLASSIC Y!Groups… many of us group owners of MULTI-THOUSAND MEMBER groups are likely to continue our EXODUS and backup plans for leaving Yahoo.
.
alwen said,
October 1, 2010 @ 3:36 pm
All I have to say is, Anyone remember New Coke?
Jeni C said,
October 1, 2010 @ 4:29 pm
Jim Stoneham, if you are actually repairing the damage done by mismanagement morons who have infected YaHELL over the years, there are still 4 URGENT tasks to be carried out.
1. Put a proper intelligent human staffed help desk in place of the lack-of-customer-care-helpless-bots.
2. Restart the Yahoo Profiles which were replaced by the utterly defective YaHELL blogfools.
3. Restart the Yahoo 360 blogs for users who actually want a blog on Yahoo.
4. Fully terminate all current plans for ‘remodeling’ Yahoo Groups and put in place immoveable roadblocks to actively prevent any such attempts of ‘remodeling’ in future.
Cynthia said,
October 1, 2010 @ 9:11 pm
5. Repair SEARCH the way it was before, oh, March 2009.
amona said,
October 1, 2010 @ 10:24 pm
thanks
ali said,
October 2, 2010 @ 12:11 am
Thanks
zaynab said,
October 2, 2010 @ 12:50 am
it’s a nice site
Jim L Dowers said,
October 2, 2010 @ 5:26 am
Why is it that everything Yahoo touches or improves they ruin. A perfect example was the purchase of musicmatch jukebox.We all suffered greatly when you improved it and now it’s gone forever.The same thing will happen to our groups if you try to improve them.I suggest you leave everything as it is and sell the rights and name ,musicmatch to someone who knows what they are doing.
Jan Smith said,
October 2, 2010 @ 6:00 am
Thank you Jim. My group members consist mainly of home sewers and embroiderers and the ones that voiced an opinion, did not like the new look. They are more interested in their hobby than in having to learn how to navigate through a “new” look. Change isn’t for everyone.
I’m sure glad you were listening.
CompuSew with Jan’s group owner
Ian Wiseman said,
October 2, 2010 @ 6:04 am
As an owner of 3 yahoogroups I am aware of what these changes could mean and listening to the members on my busiest group they are happy with the “old” system except for one thing, in the past I remember yahoo groups having on-group chat rooms – could a suggestion be made that an option be available in the Applications section for adding a chat facility? This way all group members could chat between themselves without the need to install either Yahoo or MSN messengers which several of them are having problems with and currently as group owner I have BOTH messengers to talk to members directly rather than by email. Please look into this option – I’m not sure WHY it was ever taken off.
Julie said,
October 2, 2010 @ 7:25 am
I’ve been a part of some lists since they were on ‘makelist’. Thank you so much for reconsidering this. I sincerely appreciate your responsiveness.
Martha said,
October 2, 2010 @ 8:11 am
Congratulations Yahoo! This is splendid news. As Owner of several groups and a member of many, there are certain improvements we’d be so happy to have. Since you listened so kindly to us about the New Yahoo, please consider such things as:
PHOTOS – a search for albums by name; A return of the sub-folders within albums like in the past. NOTIFY owners when photos are uploaded
CHAT optional without the other new features. Please return this feature without having to use other chat messenger products like MSN etc.
I can’t wait to share this with members of the groups I own this good news! Thank you Yahoo.
Hmmm – final thought: If we want to have a weekly group chat, may we switch briefly to the new format then change back immediately to the old one? Might work.
Don Vollrath said,
October 2, 2010 @ 1:35 pm
I am elated to see that you are listening to the actual users of your groups. Today when I logged in I saw the desired list of abreviated messages in two of my groups, complete with date, time, message number and author, but no topic name. But I cannot figure out how to click on a message to open it for reading of the whole message and possibly write a reply. I saw (and treid) where I could open all the messges, but that’s not what I want. How can I select only one message (or topic) of interest to read those threads and then easily reply to any particular message? We don’t want a blog… We want a dialog related to a particular message thread.
A good example of making it harder to use is right here in this ‘topic’. I had to scroll though a hundred messages or so to get to the bottom just to add a comment. Where is the “Reply” button?
Please bring back the whole group message system. I did not need any ‘improvements’ that make it harder to use.
DonV
Aryn said,
October 2, 2010 @ 9:28 pm
Thank you for not getting rid of the old version of Yahoo! groups. Due to the needs of my groups, I was seriously considering moving them to other servers that would be more compatible with the desired format. Since you have rolled backed the forced change, I am very glad to be able to stay a long-term and dedicated Yahoo! user.
Salauddin Sarker said,
October 3, 2010 @ 2:48 am
Nice
suresh said,
October 3, 2010 @ 8:31 am
thaks
rockmartin said,
October 3, 2010 @ 10:19 am
no comments
Old Steve said,
October 3, 2010 @ 10:32 am
Seems it’s BACK – the problem with photos not appearing that we all had prior to the group change rollout.
Kahlan Nightwing said,
October 3, 2010 @ 10:43 am
Thank you so much! This right here changes my previous opinion of Yahoo (that you guys just don’t listen or care). I really appreciate this!
John Robert May said,
October 3, 2010 @ 4:40 pm
Congratulations Yahoo!
Jen (purple) said,
October 3, 2010 @ 5:54 pm
This makes all the difference in the world. I was beginning to think the future of my groups here were hopeless. It means a lot to myself as well as a bunch of my friends that use the groups that you have decided to keep things as they were. Thank you for the choice. I will continue to support yahoo as I always have. It is nice to know our voice is heard.
Keallach said,
October 3, 2010 @ 11:37 pm
Thank you for giving us a choice and for caring about our concerns. It means a great deal to us and continues to show us why Yahoo Groups is awesome. As long as you folks continue to respect and take what we say seriously, you’ll always have my support. Peace.
Neville Bougourd said,
October 4, 2010 @ 3:47 am
It is really encouraging to find that a big organisation can admit that they didn’t get things totally right. That encourages the users to believe that this really is a community and that someone is listening. Yahoo top brass has just won the respect of the foot soldiers
Tammara said,
October 4, 2010 @ 7:01 am
I am the owner/moderator of several groups and was EAGERLY checking daily to see if the new design was active for my groups. I feel like the lone voice that wants the new design. I WANT IT and was excited it was coming. In fact, I setup a new dog rescue group last week ONLY because of the new coming design, which chat was one of the main reasons, but not the only reason. I am hoping the new design will have the same features PLUS more. For the rescue group, we need chat and we need the address book and map application. I embrace change. After all, everything was new once.
Bobbie said,
October 4, 2010 @ 7:39 am
Why not allow list owners to choose which new features to include? We would love to have CHAT but are less interested in the social networking type features. And PLEASE email notices to list owners when changes are made, instead of just bouncing groups back and forth with no warning.
jack said,
October 4, 2010 @ 9:40 am
Congratulations Yahoo
Yahoo Quashes Groups Redesign in Wake of User Backlash: Tech News « said,
October 4, 2010 @ 10:00 am
[...] announcing the concession to user demands, Yahoo VP Communities Jim Stoneham acknowledged that the redesign [...]
Win said,
October 4, 2010 @ 11:45 am
I definitely want the new design and am eagerly waiting for it. Yahoo, please keep moving forward and pushing innovation and improving UI design. I appreciate that you paused to address privacy issues but please do not completely stop course.
Connie said,
October 4, 2010 @ 3:12 pm
Thank you Jim!! This is wonderful news! Yahoo is the absolute best! I am one happy camper.
Brenda said,
October 4, 2010 @ 5:54 pm
Regarding what to call the groups when they are separated from old and new formats, I have to respectively disagree with those that say not to call the old version Classic. I think Classic groups like Classic mail is a defining thing for the genre. Almost everyone fighting for that format defined it as Classic.
I think they should be called Classic Groups and Social Groups. That, I think, would be sufficient to set them apart from one another.
Brenda
Somraj said,
October 4, 2010 @ 6:26 pm
I think Classic groups like Classic mail is a defining thing for the genre. Almost everyone fighting for that format defined it as Classic.
Yahoo Quashes Groups Redesign in Wake of User Backlash | AniChaos.com said,
October 4, 2010 @ 7:06 pm
[...] announcing the concession to user demands, Yahoo VP Communities Jim Stoneham acknowledged that the redesign [...]
Terry Maker said,
October 4, 2010 @ 11:39 pm
As an owner of one group, and a moderator on 4 others, and a member of a sixth, and a member of moderator central, with me, as you can imagine, any delays in messages show up big time! The current changes have a profound effect as well!
However this last mail server outage takes the cake!
Since it happened, not only are messages delivered up to five days late, and out of context, uploading photos is a nightmare since half of them appear as a red “X” or an Icon, (not good when your group is WWII research and remembrance, and has the last few survivors as members, and want to know where their photos are!).
To cap that, now all of my group postings are being delivered to my BT Yahoo Spam folder!
When will it all end! Soon I hope!
Terry
Narendtra Kumar said,
October 5, 2010 @ 12:01 am
I think Classic groups like Classic mail is a defining thing for the genre. Almost everyone fighting for that format defined it as Classic.
Darla said,
October 5, 2010 @ 9:24 am
I am so glad that we will be able to remain as we are and not be forced to use the new format! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
Having said that, I would like to see the option to be able to use the CHAT in the format that we are in now, as well. It was there a few years ago and our group used it frequently. We would love to be able to use it once again…