Hi, as a part of selling the discussion/questions on IDing etc. and the groups in catagories have been important and an asset in the past. I am trying my best to try to figure out how eBay is addressing these discussion groups when it comes to talking about item categories like books, clothing, etc.
As I was searching a response a person said many are hiddent in the Group area. I went to that area and found barely any current responses. It seems like most were from 2013. I want to begin listing and do need help with IDing. I do a lot of research, but honestly, I do find so many dead ends. The eBay community has been the mainstay of helping sellers in this area.
Part 2 of this question is, once I've posted I can't figure out how to go back and find the answers. It used to be that I could put in my ID and it would search out all of my posts. Also, I did click on the box, email me when someone replies. Does that work? How helpful is Message Tags, and how to use it....
Thanks so much.. a little help from my friends 
alan@ebay wrote:
@hidy-hoo wrote:Thanks for the reply Alan...and I agree that at one point there were too many boards, however several of the most popular and well used boards were demoted to groups, thus leaving a vacuum for unanswered questions and just plain ol' having fun...and having fun makes for a vibrant, healthy and responsive community, imo.
My suggestion would be to move the former boards to their own section under groups so they could be easily found and rename them eBay Groups, which will differentiate them from the groups started by individuals. There could be two sections, one for the former "Discussion Boards" where off topic threads are allowed and one for the former "Category" boards ~ this would give those former boards the chance to be easily found and used.
The eBay.com site is the only eBay site that doesn't have a discussion area for off topic threads. Off Topic threads contribute to a vibrant community, imo.
Thanks for the suggestion. I do like where the suggestion is going in terms of differentiating those boards that live in Groups, but I don't think it's intuitive enough unless you're familiar with the move that happened years ago.
As I mentioned earlier, we want to improve the overall ease of navigation and the structure of the Community, we've heard from members that it could be improved upon - especially in Groups, we agree.
In the near future, if our team plan to make significant updates to the Community platform we will contact our most active users to get their feedback - before we make the changes.
Thank you.
Hi again, Alan ~ I hope you don't mind if I continue to lobby for my suggested changes! Tweaks and any other suggestions as long as they result in an easier to navigate "Groups" directory with the old eBay boards grouped together and easily found would be great.
I really don't understand your comment about the title of "eBay Groups" not being intuitive when compared to "Member Founded Groups". This is simply a designation differentiating between eBay sanctioned groups and groups started by an individual and in no way alludes to the changes from years ago. I ran these titles by quite a few non-eBay community friends and all agreed that the designations were quite clear and none of them were aware of past history!
Putting all of that ^^^ aside, and knowing that you and your team had no hand in the current Groups Directory layout, which couldn't be further from "intuitive" if it tried, and since the old boards look like a board, function like a board, but have none of the perks of a member founded group, i.e. group administrator, etc., it would be nice, especially for those that do know the past history, that the Community still respects those old boards, and were given their own "special" place apart from the regular groups. Hopefully, this will attract new community members and contribute to the vibrant and healthy Community we all want.
Hi, Alan ~ just hangin' around wondering if you have given any more thought to my suggestions on rearranging the Groups categories?
It is encouraging that you like the suggestion and I know that you and your team are really busy, but it has been quite a while since I sent you the information on which groups were inactive ~ and, FYI, 90% of the inactive groups are groups started by individuals and are still inactive ~ the eBay sanctioned groups have a much higher user percentage than the individually started groups, so it would seem to make sense to give these groups an easier to find location, imo.
The longer it takes to reorganize the Groups area, the more difficult and time consuming it will be, as individuals are still starting new groups in wrong categories, and starting groups that are just rants or questions, etc., thus adding to the bloat of meaningless groups. Eliminating the ability to start a group in the (hopefully) new sanctioned eBay Groups category would eliminate this category from inappropriate new groups.
Do you have a time table for the reorganization of the Groups area? The sooner the better as some of the eBay groups, although they are still being used more than the other groups, are struggling to stay alive. If I can be of any help, please let me know.
Just giving you a little poke about my previous post...are you tired of me nudging you? Would you prefer that I just give up? alan@ebay
Hi @hidy-hoo
Hey! Sorry for my delayed reply 
. doug@ebay & I are actually looking into this topic at the moment. We are reviewing our boards and groups, as we've a lot of old boards that aren't active that people land on from time to time via search engines and also there are boards in groups which don't feel right, and in addition to that, we do have groups that have one topic and never receive a reply. We'd like to improve the overall structure.
We'll keep you updated as we progress and we will most likely get in touch with you to get your thoughts. If you have any details you'd like to share with me you can PM me via the Community.
Thanks!
Thanks for the apology, but really no need ~ my schedule has been turned upside down lately as well! 
Alan, I have given you most of my suggestions up thread and in several emails, but do agree with your comments that there is room for improvement in the groups area and am delighted that you and Doug are looking for a fix. Whatever and whenever I can help, just let me know. Really hoping that it will be soon, lol...as in the next month or so! Do you have an ETA for the fix?
@hidy-hoo wrote:
Thanks for the apology, but really no need ~ my schedule has been turned upside down
Alan, I have given you most of my suggestions up thread and in several emails, but do agree with your comments that there is room for improvement in the groups area and am delighted that you and Doug are looking for a fix. Whatever and whenever I can help, just let me know. Really hoping that it will be soon, lol...as in the next month or so! Do you have an ETA for the fix?
We're working away on it right now, we've got so much old content to sift through. We hope to make updates that you'll be able to see in the coming months, if not sooner!
Thanks.
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