Threads -- And We Don't Mean Clothes!

Okay, here is what our current threaded view looks like on WebMD boards:



And HERE is what the new threads will look like when you open them:



Check out those new features!

Let's take them one-by-one:

Your Image

The image you choose for your Persona page will now show up on your posts! And, if you don't want to upload your own image, we'll have a selection of avatars you can choose:



Rate Post

You will now also be able to rate the posts of your choice if you feel the content has been helpful to you.

If you hover over each of the five stars, you'll see that you can choose from 1) helpful, 2) very helpful, 3) extremely helpful, 4) bookmark worthy, and 5) best ever.

You simply click the star of your choice to rate the post. Each member will only be able to rate each post once. This is to prevent misuse of the tool.

Please keep in mind that rating is not a way of determining the most popular members on the board. Or, even the most popular posts. It's to show that you found the post helpful so that others might be able to find it and use the information as well.

You probably won't have reason to rate every single post on a board. (And who would have time to do that, anyway?)

Here are examples of some posts that might be rate-worthy:

* Motivational Posts
* Great Recipes
* Excellent Polls
* Good, Sage Advice
* A Story That May Help Others
* A Great Question & Good Member Responses

And, here are examples of post you probably would NOT want to rate:

* Just Saying "Hi"
* Roll Calls
* Here Are My Stats (weight loss, pregnancy calendar, child's birthdays)
* General Chit-Chat
* Off-Topic Posts

Remember, you don't have to be logged in to read posts on our boards, but you will need to be logged in to post, reply, or rate a post.

Some members on the boards have expressed worry that they will feel "judged" by the ratings. Everyone has a lovely and unique voice on our boards and ALL of your posts are appreciated. Some of your posts may not be rated and some of them may. If our moderators see any evidence that this rating system is being used by anyone to cause pain to another person, they will step in and take care of the problem.

You will not have to compose like a professional writer. You simply need to continue posting the way you always have, sharing that unique voice. If everyone starts trying to compose an award-winning dissertation, things are going to get pretty darned boring around our boards.

Be yourself. Love yourself. Don't be discouraged. Before long, this rating thing will be old hat and everyone will used to it. Change takes time to adjust to.

Share This

You'll also notice a Share This button at the bottom of each post. When you click the words, an "Email a Friend" window will pop up, and you can send the link to that post to someone you feel might like it.

Add to Favorites

When you click into the Add to Favorites button at the bottom of a post, you'll get a little box popup that will allow you to choose which of your personal folders you'd like to save it in. This is what it will look like:



You will have already created your folders inside your Persona page. When you add your Favorites, they will be viewable to you on the private view of your Persona.

Report Post

Another great new tool we're offering to our members is a way to report posts that you feel are inappropriate. You'll only be able to report a post once. The report tool will alert our moderator staff quickly that a post may be a problem.

Once a certain number of members have reported the post, it will be hidden from the board.

A moderator will take a look and decide if the post violates WebMD's Terms of Use. If it does, it will be permanently removed. If it doesn't, the mod will add it back to the board.

Once the moderator has approved the post, it cannot be hidden again. This keeps posts or members from being targeted by trolls.

So, how does it look and sound so far? Tell us what you think!

And, keep up with the blog. Over the weekend, we'll be showing you how to edit your Persona page as well as some of the nifty new tools you'll get when posting and replying to messages.