Hitting the Sweet Spot


When we started CLL Topics Updates last January it was very much an experiment. We needed a new format and a new vehicle for the service we have provided for the last seven years, one that was more automated and easily maintained. We also thought the time was right for an interactive forum, where questions could be asked and answered. Thus, Updates was born.

On July 1, we asked you for your opinions on a variety of questions related to this site. We received 488 responses to our survey, a little less than one quarter of our registered subscribers. When no vote was cast for a specific question, I scored it as “not applicable” or “N/A”.

Generally, the responses were quite positive.  Without further ado, here are our results.

I would like to address a few of your responses specifically.

6. The follow-up discussion

We have been pleased by the questions asked, and the helpful responses from our members.  Remember that the quality of the follow-up discussion is largely in your hands.

I would like to point out a new feature, which some may not have seen. If you enjoy following the discussions, you can see which posts have new comments since you have last visited Updates.  You can do this by clicking on the “Latest Comments” link in the Navigation section of the left-hand sidebar.

7. The look and feel of the site

We encourage you to help improve the site — please use our feedback form to let us know what you would like to see, or what you are having difficulty with. If your question or comment relates to the usability of the site itself, it’s best to address your feedback to me (Radha) directly.

I would like to take this opportunity to address a few issues common to many of our readers.

Some folks are not aware of the “Your Profile” link, also in the Navigation section of the left-hand sidebar. Try it out! You can control your account settings, including your password, your email address and your contact information. Don’t forget to hit the “Update Profile” button at the bottom of the page to save your settings if you make changes.

If you need to use the “forgot my password” feature of Updates, I know that many of you are irritated by the long, gobbledygook password the system auto-generates. This is a WordPress function that we do not have control over. You are certainly not expected to remember it! You should log in with that emergency password, then change your password to something better right away using the “Your Profile” link. There are no restrictions on the length or complexity of the password you choose, so by all means pick one that you can easily remember.

When you do log in, it is quite useful to click the “Remember Me” check box on the login page. It stores your password for 10 days, not quite long enough to free you from ever having to remember your password, but still helpful.

I think most people have been pleased with the email alerts our system sends out when we publish new articles. But if you want to turn off these notification emails, you can un-check the “Receive notification emails for new articles” option on the Your Profile page.

Again, I would like to emphasize that if you have trouble with any of this, please let me know! As Webmaster, my job is to keep all of you in touch with the information you need. I do have a day-job so I may not be able to respond to your emails immediately, but I try to get back to everyone within 24 hours.

We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. It was also a test of our home-made survey software, which seems to have worked perfectly!

Thanks,
Radha