Dear ActiveRain,
On your recent interface update, you took something away from us and I'm going to be first in line to ask for it back.
We are missing the "Following" link on the top menu bar.
Besides taking away the easiest way to get to a feed of posts to those we have subscribed to, you have broken the other avenues to get to the list!
Let me be specific here so you can see this is not something to push down the "wishlist" - this is actually quite critical!
Our first choice now is to go to the top menu bar and click on "Recent Posts" and then a second click in the list gets us to a "Followed Only" list. Aha! you say that isn't "so bad". Ahem! I say... that is not a list of EVERY post for the people that I have subscribed to. You are robbing bloggers from potential eyeballs!
Don't believe me?? Let me illustrate in the diagram below. On the left newsfeed is every post of those I am subscribed to (Elizabeth, Debb, Andy, Barbara-Jo, and Noah - you'll see how I got to that list as you read on...). On the right is the list that you are showing me (Dorie, Lisa, Barbara-Jo, and Dorie again). The list on the left shows all the posts on the right and more (they are just off the edge of the screenshot because the left list is much longer)
Do you see what is happening here! You are giving me posts of those I have subscribed to but only for ONE topic. I want ALL topics!
Let's go to the second method of the "new interface" to go to our subscriptions. From your "My Home" page you can go to the menu category "Find Blogs to Read" and then choose "Following".
Aha! You say, we've got you covered! Ahem! I say - the link is BROKEN! (not to mention that you buried it so far out of people's sight... really, how many people do you think will actually go here. This is now THREE clicks deep. I think it is ok to leave it here, just please give us our primary link back at the top of the page as the primary option.)
The link you send us to is an OLD REFERNCE (it NOW shows all posts, not subscriptions):
http://activerain.com/bloghome?filter=my_subscriptions
and what you meant to say is:
http://activerain.com/bloghome?filter=subscribed
the "my_subscriptions" reference is old and no longer works!
So the bottom line of my request today is simple:
(a) give us back our "Following" link on the top menu bar
(simply insert it back in, alongside the links you already have...
we are JUST ONE click and voila! destination
you have PLENTY of room in the menu bar to put it back)
(b) fix the URL that you are using to the syntax ?filter=subscribed
Going to our subscribed-to newsfeed is like going to our AR inbox. This is a fundamental part of us being on ActiveRain. Please give us one click access back!
Sincerely,
That Tech Guy in NYC
PS - I know you guys will fix this. I just want to emphase there is a little urgency to the request. I hope I illustrated that. :)
PPS - to all you AR's reading this and agree, add your comments below to sound your voice to my argument
PPPS - to AR's: I highly suggest you click on the correct link below and when you get on that page, add the page to your Bookmarks Toolbar on your browser (or your favorites menu) so you have easy access to it until AR fixes this (they will in due time!) :)
http://activerain.com/bloghome?filter=subscribed
Edited:
PPPS - Check out my how-to post Bookmarks Bar on Your Browser
I think NOW more than ever you might find this useful!