Hi Eric. Firstly thanks for inviting us members to have an input. Form my own perspective and of a 53 year old who ain’t that pc savvy 🙃 The site is very easy to navigate. Bright clear and welcoming. One thing I would say is instead of picking the info from the drop down bar about yourself and journey and the forum. I would have it in a block as it would feel welcoming to a new user. I hope what I have said makes sense. 🤔

Hi Eric, I think the “Support Me” option might be a little larger or more visible - that is how I get to the Amazon link. Thank you so much for VO. LL

Posted by: @john68

One thing I would say is instead of picking the info from the drop down bar about yourself and journey and the forum. I would have it in a block

If you can explain this further, I'd interested! Are you referring to the desktop or mobile site? And are you referring to that grey "top bar" or something else? 

Posted by: @llholiday

I think the “Support Me” option might be a little larger or more visible - that is how I get to the Amazon link.

I'll have to explore a few options for that. If it were up to me (I mean, in a realistic sense), I'd get rid of the Amazon links and donate buttons altogether, as they remind me of ads.

But since they were requested once upon a time, and they really do allow me to keep the site self-sustaining, I'll need to find a balance between making those buttons/links accessible without being annoying.

Keep the suggestions coming!😀

I use the site on the iPad and mobile so it’s the grey bar.

Posted by: @john68

I use the site on the iPad and mobile so it’s the grey bar.

Ah, yes, the "top bar". I'm testing a version of the site where that bar is gone, and I merged all the "about" pages into a drop-down in the main menu. That top bar bothers me to no end, and the test version looks way cleaner. LOL 

I should point that most people get onto the site through a post link, not the main page. So they are likely already at the information they are looking for.

However, if they decide to visit the home page, I wonder if it can be made to be more useful.

The challenge is that this site is complex due to the sheer number of articles and pages it has. I have to assume that a new visitor does not even know what information is available to them, but there's a fine line between overwhelming someone with options/menus/buttons/links, etc. and giving them just enough to point them in the direction they need to go. 

Totally get what you mean. Some visitors will be pre op, post op or having trouble or just seeking to share and receive advice. What if you’re intro was a short video. A meet the man and a brief guide. 

Eric... As a 64 year old still resistant to electronics cuz I find them overwhelming I want you to know that I too find your site the EASIEST site for me to access. 

I get here via my cell phone, I find it easier then the computer by far.  I learned recently that we can put your site icon on my home screen for easier access & had my son do it for me. On one site a window popped down  & asked if  I wanted their icon on my home screen. When I clicked YES , it arrived as promised, so now I use that to access their site too. Could that be done here for others?

I'm pretty certain  you are not a proud type personality but I truly hope you are proud of what you've  created here. Even *humbly proud* as I imagine you mY be, but silently &  that's perfectly fine too becausecyou should be proud of VO Sir. 

LLNorth if I understood correctly mentioned the "Support" bar &  using it to get to the Amazon site.  Can I come here 1st, click on "support" then be on the  Amazon site that easily &  in turn your site receives the benefits of the Amazon purchase? 

With vision issues & cataracs, everything this incapable brain has tried to do stilI fails at giving your site a black screen when I visit here. This is very hard on my old but appreciated cranky eyeballs, lol.   For now,  I use my hand or a piece of cardboard to cover most of the screen to avoid further burning eyes.  Is there some way a black screen option can be simply applied here?  I tend to  spend a long time replying & esp. editing, lol, so the longer I'm here the more my eyes burn even with forced blinking & drops. So I try & pace my time here. This is the same on sites that won't black out the background.  The white screen on my end  has been turned down to as dark as I can handle.

  I think I managed to remove the blue lights as optioned for. I read that the blue can cause sleep issues, which I want to nip in the stoma.  The down fall is everything thats not blackened looks very jaundice on my cell screen even in my photo gallery... Lol! I am always needing to  change the depth of brightness to see my photos in closely correct colours. If pics were unaffected that would be great but I know thats a google issue... not yours. 

Please don't be shy about the "support" or "Donate " bars as an option.  If this helps & supports all you do here  & free for us, then you most certainly deserve it ten fold!!   I like that its here as every visit reminds me to link VO when I order off Amazon  

Eric, because of your shared story & all the info you provide here,  I've learned  to live a confident  active & healthy life style thru your information & all the other wonderful Ostomates here! Thank-you one & All! 

Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

I want you to know that I too find your site the EASIEST site for me to access. 

I get here via my cell phone, I find it easier then the computer by far. 

I'm glad to hear that - mobile visits represent well over half of all visits, and I've seen that trend slowly growing since I started the site. Best practice is actually to develop a site for mobile first, so that's where it should be easiest and fastest to view the site. 

Be assured, that nothing will change drastically, and I'm hoping to make it even easier to navigate on mobile (i.e. larger menu buttons, clearer text, etc.).

I learned recently that we can put your site icon on my home screen for easier access & had my son do it for me. On one site a window popped down  & asked if  I wanted their icon on my home screen. When I clicked YES , it arrived as promised, so now I use that to access their site too. Could that be done here for others?

That's a feature that every browser (even desktop) should have built-in. Usually it's called "Send to home" or something to that effect. It's like a bookmark for your desktop.

I use that feature quite a bit to run website versions of a service, rather than an app.

LLNorth if I understood correctly mentioned the "Support" bar &  using it to get to the Amazon site.  Can I come here 1st, click on "support" then be on the  Amazon site that easily &  in turn your site receives the benefits of the Amazon purchase? 

For you guys who use the Amazon links. Should I assume that the links on the sidebar are not where you'd normally click, and the support page is your first choice? 

If so, I might remove the Amazon links in the sidebar, and I hate looking at them. LOL 

Is there some way a black screen option can be simply applied here? 

Funny enough, this is a feature that I want to have. Several mobile browsers already have "night mode" or "dark mode" built-in, but I think having it site-wide would be awesome. 

I'm testing a few solutions (have been for weeks now). Some break certain page elements, and one that I really liked didn't play well with the forums... 

I will keep looking at options :) 

@veganostomy  ...Eric,  my kind words are ever so deserving &  sincere!! 

I don't mind the drop down bars as they are every where we go on the internet.  I'm very used to finding what I need from there.   If it makes a page less cluttered then I think it may be the way to go, but what do I know, lol!  That said, the more clear & visible a page the better right ¿?! 

Its nice there's a "guest" option but I wonder if some folks are afraid to be pummeled with email or unwanted adds so choose guest over member. I never hesitated to join as a member when  I  1st arrived even being an internet chicken! Lol!   I have met other ostomates in surgical daycare where my iron infusions are done & always  tell others to check out VO as well. Thank you for making VO accessible to non - vegans as well. 

Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

Its nice there's a "guest" option but I wonder if some folks are afraid to be pummeled with email or unwanted adds so choose guest over member. I never hesitated to join as a member when  I  1st arrived even being an internet chicken!

This has absolutely been a concern and needed considerable reflection before I decided to go that route. For a few reasons...

Allowing guests to posts without registering for an account makes the site more accessible and gives people the opportunity to comment when they don't need/want to post anything more than a "thank you". 

At the same time, it reduces membership to the forum, which is understandable. 

But I can't stress this point enough, because not many sites follow this "rule": I believe that information should be freely available without needing to go through hoops. 

It bothers me to no end when I visit a site or forum that won't let you read any content UNTIL you register. That's just terrible, and I would never want that here. 

Because I do have a comment section and a forum AND I really wanted the two to be able to "talk" to each other, I had to implement a system that does that. 

In the past, leaving a comment with a question meant that if someone on the forum (or anyone else) replied to that question, the person who left the original comment wouldn't know about it. 

I did recently add an option to be notified about replies to comments. This allows even guests in the comment section the ability to be notified - if they want. Or not. It's their choice :) 

@veganostomy 

I use Amazon a lot, and what I did was use the link to go to Amazon and then add that page to my favorites bar at the top, so all I have to do it click that button on my home page and it takes me to your amazon support page. That way I don’t have to go through the extra step of going to VO in order for you to get credit for my order.  😀

@squeakyandliza Thanks, Liza - I just ordered a birthday gift for my granddaughter two days ago, using the link on VO. And I will now add it to my favorites!

Just noticed changes to the site when logging in this morning. And I like 👍 love the choice to change from light to dark screen. 

Posted by: @john68

Just noticed changes to the site when logging in this morning. And I like 👍 love the choice to change from light to dark screen. 

😉 Glad you've noticed. I've implemented some of the layout changes I've been testing these past few weeks, but there's still some work to be done with how the dark theme switcher works (it's not perfect yet).

Even though most of the changes I've made are behind the scenes, you'll probably still notice other subtle changes to pretty much all areas of the site by this point. 

@veganostomy... I was able to switch my screens to dark screen & turn off blue lights & even dim the lights, but If a screen isn't dark & I'm on longer than intended I pay for it thru my eye pain & burning.  Dark screen  is SO MUCH EASIER on my eyes &  I much desire the dark screen mode but not all the places I go will switch to it. 

I am noticing that I seem to have to turn it back on periodically too.   It makes searching for anything an unenjoyable and short experience or I pay for it later.  I don't know if thats something the owner of a site is in control of or if its Google.  I only get dark screens here once in a while .   

Eric I sure appreciate all you do to keep your site up  & running so well and as clean as you do from that sort of thing.  I've never once gotten anything from VO that wasn't related directly to a reapply or forum and to me thats pretty huge!!!  You've done an amazing job!! 👏 Thank you!! 

Posted by: @dlkfiretruck

I am noticing that I seem to have to turn it back on periodically too.   It makes searching for anything an unenjoyable and short experience or I pay for it later.  I don't know if thats something the owner of a site is in control of or if its Google.  I only get dark screens here once in a while .   

For the most part, the option for dark mode should "stick", provided that the browser settings for that option doesn't change or expire. If you use a different browser, then you'll have to re-enable dark mode. 

The mode should be automatically enabled if the site detects that your operating system is set to dark mode, but this will vary between operating systems and is not guaranteed to work for everyone. 

It is pretty normal to have to turn on dark-mode every time you enter a website, although, I do admit that gets annoying after a while. 

Thank you Eric!   I am finding  I need to re-turn on dark mode in most places I visit.  My Son tells me there are special glasses they sell at The Source that help with the blue lights on screens too so I'll be looking into a pair this week. 

Just a tiny visual thing.

I find centered text in headers to be more visually appealing and just look a bit more intentional.

Headers in the blocks such as Quick Links, Latest Posts, Popular Articles, Categories, etc. Maybe even the Read More button links.

Breaks up the left justified majority a bit. Just a style thing.

Maybe top right menu items can drop down on mouse over instead of mouse click?

Sometimes that can be annoying, but that menu is up out of the way of unintentional mouse over.