So what do YOU want?

Describe to me what would be the ideal OH Message Board envirionment.  

                       What do you want it to look like?  Feel like.

                         Enquiring minds want to know...

                                   

I like this website the way it is.

But if any changes needed to be done I would like this site to be open to serious members only. I've seen and heard of people coming on to this board just to make fun of us or criticize us, and most of us have already dealt with that most of our lives.....we certainly don't need that here.

Friendship and support only please.

 I am happy to have people express opinions, even when I disagree. some of the best stuff I have read and learned here at OH are because people have very different ideas of what support means. 

As a new member here, I feel like I can't say too much, since I'm not sure what its been in the past. But I have been members of a few mommy boards and I'd say this board is like any other board I've been a part of, and would expect no different. I don't believe a board should be censored down to be nothing but fluffy bunnies, that's not real life.

Just like in any conversation I have with people, they aren't always going to say what I want them to. And I don't think I'd like it if some faceless, nameless person was hovering over my head IRL and changing what words I spoke. Of course there will be disagreements, and perhaps even *gasp* arguments, but again, that's REALITY. I didn't not come to this board wanting fantasy. I needed and wanted to speak to people who have been through and are going through the same process as me.

Personally I want this board to feel like a huge overrun support group at a tiny little coffee shop . What I mean by that is there are several "side" conversations going on, and usually a larger louder main one. And so far, I basically see and feel that. I love banter, and that is why I love message boards. If I want sunshine and rainbows, I will go to a clinic run support group where no negativity is allowed, and we all have to come to grips to "work" our tool.

I come here to vent, ask questions, and listen to others do the same.

I see all the same fights here that I saw on my Mommy's board. This is the internet. People will say what they want. They will make fake IDs. They will be mean. They will be nice. They will be supportive. They will say things you don't want to hear. They will say exactly what you are thinking but were too afraid to say. It's just the nature of a message board.

I am so glad I found this board, and appreciate every aspect of it, the huggers, the realists, the trolls and the whiners. Without them this board would be oh so boring and one-dimensional.

*steps off soapbox*

Moderators should be hired from entirely outside the community and have NOTHING to do with this place.

There should be more of them.

They should be clearly listed in places that are clearly visible on every. single. messageboard.

The should be prohibited from interacting socially in any way, shape or form with OH. Doing so should be cause for immediate dismissal.

Board coding is beyond horrendous. I'd like a site that won't crash an older computer. I'd like a site without the security flaws that are allowing the ads to contain malware - and yes, they do. My antivirus sounds warnings every time I'm on OH.

Better search functionality
Better navigation, something more intuitive. Hire a damned e-learning professional to get this site up to speed
More links to real, vetted, peer-reviewed journal articles that are germaine to the interests of this site
Less off-topic nonsense on boards other than the main board. So many boards are slow and are filled with numerous off-topic posts that hide any real information.
I agree with EN that moderators should be from outside the community so that they don't have any particular axe to grind.

I agree with EN and Baileymouse.

If I am going to redesign their site I want to get paid, otherwise I take what I get here for free, block those that I find annoying and hope that something I say about my journey is helpful to others.

I agree with EN and Bailey---but I'm pretty much okay with everything the way it is NOW, except for the moderation practices.

Yes, there do need to BE moderators, and yes, there need to be some TOS. But things need to be more specific---when a post is moderated, a VERY SPECIFIC reason needs to be given. And modertaion needs to be based on the ACTUAL post, not what some moderator infers from the post.

Case in point---a post about dog training was pulled because a moderator (or perhaps an over-sensitive member who  mommy-button it?) INFERRED the post was intended as a slam against a member using a pic of that breed of dog as an avatar.

What I want is honestly, transparency, fairness, free speech.