I am another user who is also a programmer. I understand the need for updates to software; old stuff tends to run very slowly and eventually crashes. (Anybody still trying to keep their Window/XP systems going???) It is also very difficult to make an online system that works equally well for all the various combinations of operating systems and different browsers.

That being said, ...

I think there was an attempt made to modernize the look and feel of DS, perhaps make it compatible with other ShareCare web offerings. But the look and feel of "this is a support group for people with mental and physical medical issues" seems to have gotten forgotten.

We are NOT a facebook like group of people. We may share similar attributes of facebook users, but we are not facebook.

Just wanted to tell you Fish and you Pepperman.. I agree and I don't know how to feel right now.. other than lost like I've felt since I signed on to our ' new home'.... :((

Hello, it may seem as though we are not reading your posts, digesting your posts or prioritizing your posts, but I can assure you we are. We are working very hard with a small team behind the scenes to continue to fix bugs, bring you more features and changes you are asking for. Additionally, we have been answering all of our customer service tickets. We appreciate your patience in bringing you a better site. We will continue to post the upcoming changes to the site as they are happening.

TeamDS

I will never forget the day, the hour and the minute that DS made the jump. They did it later then they said they would, or else they were going by pacific time instead of eastern standard time.

I was in the AA group and one of the members was hurting really bad. It touched a chord in me and the words flowed from a place deep down inside of me which is quite rare. I had a feeling, those words would help him. It was a big...long....reply. I proof read it slowly and I made some corrections and added some more. I was quite proud of myself because I thought I had the answer to the guy's problem! Then the time came for me to hit the submit button and then Boom!.....I landed over here and my reply was lost in cyberspace forever! Too bad, because I really thought my reply could have helped the guy.

I keep thinking there has to be a better way.

God Bless

I really love DS and it has helped me so much over the years... I know many of us feel a great allegiance to it..... Even though a member has said she/he'd moved on he's here posting ya know... DS is saying that they want to make some fixes that will hopefully make a difference... I feel enough gratitude that I'm in with hope

Since DS is reading this, I have another suggestion. How about getting the word out like Linus Torvalds did when he started a revolution with the free software movement, called android, I am sure there are thousands of software engineers from all over the world who would be honored to take a look at your code and contribute to make it better and do so for free. Might save you some time also. There is no sense in spending sleepless nights when there are others willing to help...imho

God Bless!

My SO has been in IT for many, many years and he has deemed this new site an absolute disaster!

The migration has caused me to lose a support forum that I'd spent 6 years building, which has caused me huge emotional distress. My members have disappeared and I had to ask for the goup to be deleted because I was locked out due to my account having a very old and outdated emal address, and the group was just sitting there - exposed and unmoderated.

Very disappointed in DS.

ACuriousFish, can you re-send? It's not there :-(

Artemis,
I would feel so distraught and upset too, if I had spent so much time building up a group that was a running for six years. It was obviously helping people. Surely that whole problem could have been fixed!
You did it once, maybe you can start it again....you seem to have the tenacity to overcome this. I feel your disappointed, and I know you can survive this by starting again......sorry this happened to you.

"What else can WE do to deal with this? I'll be willing to change what I can do to keep going here. "

Ultimately, what we can (and should!) do to "deal with this" is to find ways that are best for each of us. Yes, we ARE people with mental and physical health issues, and that is our #1 priority. It would be nice to remain on DS, since it has given us so much support in the past, but evidently providing that support has fallen way down on the DS priority list. . . evidently having a Facebook-like appearance that is mobile-friendly and pleases Dr. Oz is more important that the services they once provided. That is their choice. It does not have to be ours.

If the group that gave you so much support on the old DS is slowing dying, think about ways to revive it. Maybe you can do that here on DS, or maybe not. I can say from experience that there are many forum-hosting sites out there on the net. . . which are not difficult to use and are free besides. If you have stayed in touch with your DS friends via private emails, ask if they willing are they to help you revive your group. Have them contact THEIR DS friends and have those friends contact THEIR DS friends. This is one way to rebuild your membership, be it here on DS or elsewhere.

Another alternative is to find another, established group elsewhere.

And, yes, it is your choice to remain here on DS and see what happens. Maybe it will recover. Maybe not. But remaining here is indeed one of your choices.

I do understand the spam problem. Our DS site was beset by trolls (estranged children like to carry grudges, unfortunately, and several did find their way to our forum). Banning them did no good, because they would just reappear with a new identity. The only way to ban them permanently was to petition Team DS to do it. . . but in only one blatant case (where the troll went on to establish a raging, anti-PEACE Wordpress blog) did we get any cooperation. All other petitions resulted in the (in)famous robo-letter asking us to ignore them.

If DS is truly worried about trolls and spam, I would suggest they consider giving founders and admins more control over who they allow in their groups. Rather than ban by email addresses, I would suggest banning by IPs. . . but before then, I would suggest that admins (not just CLs -- community groups do not have CLs) be given the authority to lock accounts (not just threads) and issue warnings to suspected trolls and spammers. Banning should be a last resort, but the ban should indeed be by IP!!!

Another suggestion would be to allow admins access to private emails. If privacy is a concern, then allow them to see only the domain name. Trolls and spammers like to use disposable accounts (sharksrazor, throwaway mail, guerilla mail, and the like). Just knowing that a member is taking that extra step to hide their IP is a sure troll alert!

A message from the Department of State-the-Obvious: Beware setting up a group on Facebook. It is FULL of security holes, even in "closed" groups. Anonymity there is virtually impossible.

I think everyone should use a vpn, if using windows. Best security I have found. Apple and Linux don't have those problems......

grrrrrrrrrr!!! Once again DS signed me out but didn't notify or show on the site that I was signed out. So once again I lost what I had typed!! Logic would dictate that you don't launch a site that is full of glitches, holes, missing features, etc. We provided DS, over and over and over again with info critical to preventing the mess the site is in now. But did DS listen and ACT? Nope. I'm sure some powers that be who don't give rat's @$$ pushed and pushed to launch. Thankfully this wasn't a manned space shuttle, cuz they'd all be dead!

Leaving DS is NOT a always a choice we WANT to make. Because of the horrible navigation design, some of us will have to decide whether or not we want to continue to physically HURT while being on DS and/or continue to aggravate our existing physical issues (like neck and shoulder pain and/or REPETITIVE MOTION INJURY (RMI) like carpel tunnel and/or arthritis in the hands/fingers.

This isn't just about not wanting to change how the site looks (altho this site looks like crap), or that we can't find stuff, or that most of the helpful features are now gone. But, those are big concerns and definitely of the problem.

It's about the way that the site is set up now is causing some of us physical pain. AND, for those who do not have RMI yet, please be careful. It's coming. They have already named the newest physical problem "Text Neck." And sad to say, while DS is now terribly guilty of contributing to RMI, they aren't the only ones who, when "redesigning" their websites, are making them harder, not easier, to use, and then expecting everyone to accept less than average performance.

IMHO, every company should make every one of their ITs, programmers, designers, developers, etc., attend periodic classes in ergonomics and physical injuries caused by cell phones, tablet and computer usage. They should also be held accountable and responsible for creating ergonomically safe websites.

As Ben Franklin said a couple of hundred years ago, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And, nowadays, they call it being proactive (i.e. anticipating problems before they arise and making sure they do not.)

@igaveupnowwhat not sure what happened - when I looked this morning it was shown as pending - now it's gone. Any way hope this one works.