Inspiring

Question

Website Request

Forum|Forum|10 years ago
January 3, 2016
3 replies
1759 views

I hope this is the correct way to present this request. Today I had a difficult time finding the Acrobat Forums. After much searching and frustration, I actually thought there were NO Acrobat Forums.

Here were my steps:

As usual, I went to https://forums.adobe.com/welcome which I have done many times to access various CC forums. I saw the difference between Acrobat and Acrobat Reader. (I was interested in Acrobat DC), so I clicked on the "Acrobat" link: Acrobat

As with other links from this "Community" page, I expected to be taken to the Acrobat Forum. But all I saw here were links to articles and videos. This was disconcerting, because wading through articles and videos is not a very efficient way to get a quick answer to a question. I carefully read all the large graphic links displayed there, and none of them apparently linked to any Acrobat Forum.

I eventually did find the Acrobat Forums, but only after doing more searches and finally posting a question in the Photoshop Forum (since I couldn't find the Acrobat forums). Fortunately, this thread was moved to the Acrobat Reader forum, where a kind MVP gave me links to both the Reference Manual, and to the LIST of MANY Acrobat Forums! This is GREAT!! But not easy to find.

In the process of discussing this confusion, I learned that there is a tiny link titled "subspaces" on the Acrobat page where Acrobat Forum(s) "should" be listed the same as all forum other links from https://forums.adobe.com/welcome. This little "subspaces" link goes to the entire list of Acrobat Forums. I think I never would have found it.

In my view, the word, "subspaces" should be replaced with the words, "Acrobat Forums." And even better, an additional large graphic should be added to the Acrobat page, positioned FIRST along with all the others on that page, saying "Acrobat Forums," which anyone coming from the Community Page is naturally expecting to see. "Subspaces" is non-intuitive, given that all the other links from the originating Community page actually DO go directly to Forums. It is also non-intuitive because it assumes that everyone knows there are MANY Acrobat Forums, requiring an additional "list" page. As a new Acrobat DC user, I did not already know this, so "subspaces" didn't help me at all.

That is my request. I hope you see the wisdom in this request, and that this also helps others find the Acrobat Forums.

Thanks for listening.

This topic has been closed for replies.

D

Dave Merchant

Legend

The Document Cloud managers chose to break away from the standard page structure that we use everywhere else on the site, and build something that looks similar to the DC interface (lots of white space and big colored icons). They have strong opinions on what their particular type of customer expects to see, and that wins over consistency. You're not the first to complain.

The navigation is also hindered because there is no "Acrobat" forum. For all the other products, general questions and bug reports attach to the top-level product space, and the subspaces are reserved for stuff like SDKs and plugins. The Acrobat team does not allow general discussions about the product, only specific questions about the features they want to promote. If you're trying to ask about something else, there is literally nowhere to go. That's annoying but intentional - it's been that way for five years.

As to the 'subspaces' link, sorry but it can't be renamed. The actions bar and the black top strip come from a site-wide shared template - it is translated if you change your region but we can't make it say something different for each page. It used to say "sub-forums" but in the current version of the website software, Jive decided to refer to the nodes within the database as 'spaces' because they can contain more than just a list of threads (ideas, document, videos, blogs, etc.).

DrStrik9Author

Inspiring

Bottom line for me personally is: now that I know how to find the Acrobat Forums, it's not an issue. The only reason I bring it up at all is because I had such a difficult time finding the Acrobat Forums for the first time, and thought others might experience the same frustration.

"The reason we're in the communication business is because we have so much to learn ... about communication." :+)

"annoying but intentional" -- that's just kind of sad.

"it's been that way for five years" = "because we've always done it that way" -- also sad.

But having said those things, I've dealt with huge bureaucracies for decades, and understand the built-in resistance to intelligent change. I am simply a "voice in the wilderness" pointing out what seems to me to be a pretty serious problem. Job done.

Finally, to quote Claudio, "I'm off."

Claudio González

Legend

Up to some hours ago, this thread had been moved to the Reader forum and had 8 replies:

Now it has been moved to the Acrobat > Acrobat Feature Requests forum and has only 6 replies, although it has 4 that weren't there earlier:

Now, if a newcomer enters the Acrobat forum, s/he gets this:

and "Acrobat Features Requests" is nowhere in sight. One must go to Subspaces to see this forum. Not at all easy.

And I disagree with the two moves experienced by this thread, as it it not relatd with Reader (first move), and is NOT an Acrobat feature request (second move). In my opinion, it should be in the Forum Comments forum, because it relates with the forums themsvelves.

DrStrik9Author

Inspiring

I see the forums web site as part (an extension) of the product, as it represents the product in a meaningful and potentially useful way to its users. The forums are a point of contact for people struggling to understand and use the product, as well as find solutions to problems they experience. So I still believe that "feature requests" is the perfect place for this subject, since how well (or poorly) the entry into the product's forums is written and designed can have a major impact on the user's experience with the product.

Finding the product's forums is definitely a product issue.

Claudio González

Legend

And having a set of forums that are easy to navigate even for newcomers is a forum's problem, with no relationship with any product in particular. In my opinion, the Forum Comments forum is the right place for discussing such matters, but I'm not willing to get involved in an endless and futile discussion about this, so I'm off.

try67

Community Expert

All of the links in the top-most box on Acrobat take you to a specific "sub-space" (ie, forum) that specializes in that subject. It can't be much simpler than that, I think... The main thing that can be improved there, IMO, is that on those "sub-space" pages the Content link (which takes you to the full list of posts) can be made more obvious and with a better name, but you can still see the last posts to the forum and ask a new question from that page, so it's not a huge deal.

DrStrik9Author

Inspiring

Yes. If "subspaces" was simply changed to "Forums" or better yet, "Acrobat Forums" it would be a HUGE improvement. It's all about "better names," so dummies like me can get where they need to go.

try67

Community Expert

But even if you don't know what "sub-spaces" are it's quite easy to get to the forum you want to get to by clicking one of the links in that box...

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