Proposed Groups and Forum Integration: Seeking Feedback

Proposed GROUPS & FORUMS INTEGRATION

Hi all.

Below is an overview of a proposal we are considering to better integrate the Groups and Forum experience.

We hope these changes would bring new Group tools and options to Forum threads and also bring visibility to Group threads within the Forums. We would very much appreciate any feedback or suggestions you might have as we contemplate this project. Note I am also planning to start a Group thread on the same topic. I hope we can improve on the concepts here. I am wondering whether our "Related Content Module" at the bottom of Groups and Forum discussions already does enough to point people to related content in the Forums if they are in a Group Discussion or vise-versa. How do people now think about Forums vs. Groups?

Thanks!!

Warren

PROJECT OVERVIEW

ETP is looking for ways to allow the epilepsy.com Community Forum and Groups to interact more easily in hopes that visitors to each section will be drawn to more discussions on similar topics. Overall the goal is that visitors in specific discussions of the Community Forum will be prompted to join Groups on the same topics, while visitors in the Groups can extend their discussions to the larger Community through the Forums.

The user experience on the website will change in several places:

• When creating a new Forum discussion, users will be presented a promotion for the Groups section (text only) and then an option to add their discussion to an existing Group. A drop-down menu of Groups whose tags match the tags of the newly created discussion will appear for the user to optionally select.

• When creating a Group discussion, users will be presented with a promotion for the Forums section (text only) and then an option to add their discussion to an existing Forum Topic. A drop-down menu of all Forum Topics will appear for the user to optionally select.

• On all Forum discussions pages that have tags which match Groups, present a message that reads: “In addition to this Community Forum discussion, the Groups listed below address similar topics. Groups allow people with similar interests, concerns, and passions to connect and stay in touch. Join a Group today!" (followed by a list of all Groups, with links, that match tags to this discussion)

Private Groups will never have the option to post discussions to Forums and likewise, private Groups should not be listed as possible locations to include Forum discussions.