Classic (Old) AOL Message Board Format Retires
Posted on Feb 4th 2008 12:13PM by Joseph Manna
Filed under: AOL Help, Status Updates, New Features, Community Info
Users still accessing the legacy interface for AOL Message Boards will be redirected to the Web message board format which offers newer features starting the morning of February 7.What can you expect with these changes?
Hyperlinks that point to the classic boards (like ones you might have saved in your favorites) will automatically redirect you to the appropriate Web message board. At the same time, all "backdoors" to the format will no longer function.
Within the Web format, users are presented with more formatting options, including the ability to add pictures. With pictures, signatures can be customized and take advantage of the other aspects of HTML. Web boards also offer the ability to subscribe to boards and be alerted via AOL Alerts to any new messages.
Some important notes that you should be aware of:
• If for some reason a link does not automatically direct you to the right place, look at your old link and look at the new one. Here's an example that illustrates what you would navigate to within your Web browser:
aol://5863:000/mB:555062:0123456
http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=555062
• Some users may need to re-add their favorite boards by clicking the "Add to My Boards" link located along the top of a message board. http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=555062
• The Notify AOL button is in the form of a link located directly below a message. It requires that you have pop-ups allowed so you can properly report content that violates the AOL Terms of Service to our team.
You may share your thoughts and concerns on the message board for AOL Message Boards or in the comments below. The Community products team will review the feedback provided.
~Joseph
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
1. Well it was fun while it lasted. I see AOL will be more of a graveyard than it's already starting to look like. Most still do not like the new format and will leave.
Posted at 2:20PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Aprilbeginnings
2. Well it was fun while it lasted. AOL has been looking like a graveyard since the new format was brought forward. I see it as just worse when the old format is taken away. Many will not use it. Adios to a good thing that was!
Posted at 2:23PM on Feb 5th 2008 by AprilBeginnings
3. It's about time. If users had made the effort to learn and use the new format MB's way back when they first came out, they wouldn't need to complain now.
I have used the new MB's for so long now that I probably wouldn't be able to find my way around the old ones any longer.
Posted at 3:06PM on Feb 5th 2008 by SBSBJB
4. I am having problems setting my settings. It says product unavailable and has been this way since the New Years? How do I change my settings so they will work. Thank You.
Posted at 3:19PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Sharon
5. I think that AOL is letting $ go to there heads. They dont care about the customer any longer. They only wanna make themselves happy. I dont see a problem with the old MB's. if people like it the old way then why mess with it. If we pay for AOL we should be able to have things to way we wantit. Itsnt always said the customer is ALWAYS RIGHT... Well i think AOL is learning from the wrong customer service programs..
Posted at 3:50PM on Feb 5th 2008 by PatriotsFan
6. It's all about the advertising dollar, LPH. It't not that anything is broken or not broken, they just can't add advertising in the old style format. Since that is aol's singular focus anymore, that's the plunge of their direction.
At only a shadow of their former self it really probably doesn't matter anyway. They have already run the majority of the users off with their dithering decisions. The 9.1 software is shoddy workmanship and representative of the company as a whole.
Heck, the new style message boards still yet don't possess a simple spell check program. This is the 21st Century and 'ol aol can't manage to present a 20th century feature.
They expected us to be impressed when they added smilies, and to be impressed we can now add pictures.
That should present some interesting TOS opportunities.
The time is nigh to start backing up your personal files and information you keep on aol. They don't present to me as being a trustworthy holder of information nor secure in their long range forecast.
No doubt the Associated Press has the aol obituary written filed right in front of Britney's.
Posted at 3:51PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Sharon
7. Bull crap. Why are we even paying then? We get no action on TOS or notify and now they are taking the old boards away? Sorry...not a happy AOL user who has been paying for over 10 years.
Posted at 4:07PM on Feb 5th 2008 by lhollis668
8. Well, they can plan to lose alot more customers too, most folks I talk to plan on leaving as soon as the old boards are dumped. Too bad aol refuses to listen to its customers.
Posted at 4:30PM on Feb 5th 2008 by JETRED
9. You claim that the "new" boards give more formating
options, yet for those of us using a Mac, there are
almost NO formatting options. I hate the HTML format
boards. Despite my high speed connection, they are
very slow to load. They lack most of the features
that I want in boards. I don't give a kitty about adding
pictures to message board posts. I DO want the ability
to choose font, size, color, justification. I have
to use the Firefox broswer to do that, and I don't
like the Firefox browser. I hate that the new boards
do not show post counts. I hate that you can not go
back and review posts that are older than 30 days.
The Classic boards are wonderful. The new boards
are horrible. Why on earth you would give up something
wonderful to replace it with something not even close to
good is beyond my comprehension.
Posted at 4:43PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Sue
10. What is AOL trying to do, loose customer's?
What was not broken, didn't need a change.
Now this.
I guess AOHELL does not care about the user's of the message boards, silly me, they don't give a rat's heiny about anything but the almighty dollar.
Oh, AOL, you have done us wrong......are you willing to admit it, correct your error and make right on these message boards? Or shall you simply cast us to the wolves? No need to answer, this very disgruntled
aol user will have to say so long to my message board friends, thus say go to aol----!!! I am outta here.
ginny
Posted at 5:10PM on Feb 5th 2008 by ginny
11. I was forced to change a while back. I have survived it. I have noticed that most of our board trolls dried up with the change. So that was a good thing. But what I don't like is that the new format keeps yanking me back to the top of the page when I try to respond to a post. I know it is so I can better see the ad placed there, but it's way beyond annoying, and there doesn't seem to be a way to make it stop. So if anyone knows how to fix that, email me and tell me, and I will quit carping about the new format.
Posted at 5:11PM on Feb 5th 2008 by MizzMoneypenny2u
12. AOL promised us, during beta testing, that the new boards would contain everything the old board had BEFORE they were released for general use. Now, they are being forced into general use and do not contain a spell check and do not have a check box to email a response either. Just more broken promises and another nail in the coffin.
Posted at 5:12PM on Feb 5th 2008 by OneBearMan2
13. During beta testing, AOL promised that the new boards would contain everything the old boards had BEFORE they were released to general use. That promise was broken and now we are years down the road and the boards still do not have a spell check function nor a box to check to include an email reply to a response. The new format is very slow in comparison and not nearly as user friendly. Just another broken promise and another nail.
Posted at 5:14PM on Feb 5th 2008 by OneBearMan2
14. The new format sucks ass!!!!!!
AOL made such a huge mistake....stupidasses~
Posted at 5:31PM on Feb 5th 2008 by DebbieWith6
15. AOL once again shows its total contempt for its members by discontinuing the popular old format and replacing it with the awkward and cumbersome new format. AOL members have repeatedly expressed a preference for the old format, but AOL clearly doesn't care. The old format was the BEST thing about AOL's message boards -- AOL's message boards were far more user-friendly than the other message boards on the internet. Many of AOL's boards have already disappeared as people have moved on to other internet sites with friendlier formats. It's a shame that AOL is determined to kill the very thing -- user-friendly message boards -- that made it so successful in the first place.
Posted at 6:01PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Sue
16. The only reason AOL is doing away with the old message boards is because they can put more advertising on the new boards. Thanks for thinking of the customers instead of your wallet, AOL!
Posted at 6:09PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Ed
17. Pass on the new style. Why can't the other people learn our way. Don't fix what ain't broken. I am a short timer here now.
Posted at 7:20PM on Feb 5th 2008 by sizzle937
18. No wonder Time Warner is trying to dump AOL. There is no reason AOL couldn't keep the old format. The sorry excuses about keeping 2 different formats up and running uses too many resources is just that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Posted at 7:29PM on Feb 5th 2008 by LPH
19. AOL does not understand ME! I will NEVER utilize the advertisers on AOL's web sites. I did in the past, but after this NO MORE!!! AOL does not understand their old, faithful customers. Therefore we (the old faithful) will no longer support AOL!
Posted at 7:32PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Tomasue123
20. Sigh, i probably will leave the MB's for good then when this happens. The new formats take to long to load on 56k and are confusing to read. Why take off the old ones if they are working?
Posted at 7:37PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Andrew