Orange colors create confusion & animosity

[Nancy OShea]

I'm revisiting this topic because I feel very strongly that Adobe Employees and Community Professionals must have separate identifying colors.  As it stands now, you're confusing forum users and this confusion is leading to bad feelings.

Poor Murray CP just got slammed for not doing enough to help a frustrated product user.  I don't think this would have happened if his identifying colors weren't the same as the AE who replied earlier in the discussion.

http://forums.adobe.com/message/4451281#4451281

Please fix this ASAP!

Nancy O.

[Guest]

Get rid of all those stupid colors. Who on earth thinks that the current layout is anything remotely as 'good' as the old setup? My eyes are just plain tired of trying to make out this god-awful electric bold blue subject style, much less what Nancy's talking about. What was wrong with the old way? Oh yeah, everything is new! It just puzzles the cr-p outta me why Adobe eliminates practically all traces of color in it's application UI and the resorts to this kindergarten-color forum design!?!

Fix it please, and lets get back to being helpful rather than angry and confused...

[MichaelKazlow]

Nancy,

I disagree. I do not think different colors will help. We could change the title to something less official sounding like volunteer host or unpaid whipping person but I don't think even that would change some people's reactions. Some people feel that people answering questions must work for Adobe or why else would they bother. Some people just haven't learned how to behave and treat people badly. Sometimes it is caused by understandable frustation, sometimes people are just poorly behaved. Perhaps a change in title would help a smidgeon, but color alone just won't do it.

Mike (just my 2 cents)

[Claudio González]

As I have said in several other threads, in my opinion differently colored member categories, and differently colored posts, are absolutely unnecessary and only contribute to make these forums look more confusing. Apart of segregaring participants in casts.

[Nancy OShea]

Hi Mike,

Some people just haven't learned how to behave and treat people badly. Sometimes it is caused by understandable frustration, sometimes people are just poorly behaved.

Most of the time, this is true. But the situation I cited above is a little different. P0gue assumed Carey (AE) and Murray (CP) were both Community Professionals and said as much in his post.

"You are an Adobe 'Community Professional' on the Adobe.com support forum.  How much more direct can we get?...

...I find your response inadequate.   Since you are an Adobe representative, and your job is to monitor this forum, can you please advise the Dreamweaver developers about the situation, and report back here as soon as possible with news about when the problems will be fixed?"

"I have already sent Carey, also an Adobe 'Community Professional' a screencast, but he disappeared."

The title differences went un-noticed because orange on white has symbolically unified them.  The subliminal message that got through was  "Hey, you guys wear the same colors so you must have equal status at Adobe." 

Nancy O.

[Claudio González]

Nancy, you are giving one more exaple of the artificial division of participants in casts by coloring them differently...

[mytaxsite]

Claudio González wrote:

you are giving one more exaple of the artificial division of participants in casts by coloring them differently...

I think there should be only three types on these forums:

1) Community Member

2) Adobe Employee

3) Forums' Moderator.

All other categories should be removed and confusion will disappear in one stroke.  There is no need for ACP category anymore and those who already have this title, should be converted to Moderators.

[Dave Merchant]

As I've said before, the three groups don't work like that. Only a few ACPs are moderators, some moderators are normal members, and some employees are moderators. However you cannot be an employee and an ACP, so those categories can be assigned to people without clashes.

mytaxsite.co.uk wrote:

I think there should be only three types on these forums:

1) Community Member

2) Adobe Employee

3) Forums' Moderator.

All other categories should be removed and confusion will disappear in one stroke.  There is no need for ACP category anymore and those who already have this title, should be converted to Moderators.

[Dave Merchant]

Community Professionals are Adobe's official representatives in the community - including these forums - hence the name. Clearly some don't like the role we perform, but I take Mike's  "unpaid whipping person" phrase as a real insult.

Most of the employees who post here are doing so  voluntarily - only a handful are actually paid to be here. It is made clear on the forums overview that there is absolutely no guarantee of definitive support from anyone in the product forums: Adobe has a customer support portal on the corporate website for those types of request, for which a fee structure is applied. These forums are "user to user" conversations, and even when an employee is part of that conversation they might be doing so as an individual user, not as the Voice Of Adobe. Those of us with escalated status are responsible for what we say to the public, but we're not here just to recite product datasheets at people, nor is there some contract forcing us to reply to every thread.

[Jacob Bugge]

I am with Nancy on this, and also all the way with Claudio.

Those of us with escalated status are responsible for what we say to the public, but we're not here just to recite product datasheets at people, nor is there some contract forcing us to reply to every thread.

So why create/strengthen the misconceptions by the very visible enhancement of the escalated status?

[Guest]

I think having the white background and black text is more than adequate to distinguish Adobe Employees and Community Professional responses.

The Orange title is just overkill.

[Chris Cox]

I think there needs to be some differentiation, but it doesn't need to be eye-gouging when subtle color differences should do just fine.

[Claudio González]

If these are strictly user to user forums (this no longer stated in headings), I see no reason to asign them different labels according to any criterium, even less for making their messages stand out by giving them a prominently different background color. For me, this is only acceptable for messages posted by someone who is speaking officially, as JC often does.

From my point of view, no person's personal opinion should be made to stand out because of this person's background or status in the company, giving the impression that his/her opinion is more authoritative than others. Being an expert in something does not make one an expert in everything. And being an Adobe employee does not necessarily make a person more knowledgeable in a given Adobe program than someone who isn't. There are numerous posted examples that show that sometimes it's just the opposite.

If those who rule these forums (not always listening to their users) want for whatever reason to distinguish between different groups of participants, it should suffice with the words Participant/Community professional/Adobe employee/whatever next to their names. Different colors for such descriptions are absolutely unnecessary. (And a personal doubt: do the present -and to me unfortunate- names of Community member and Community professional imply that those who are labelled members are non-professional?).

And this thread

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/963665?tstart=150

shows that nobody really knows if these are still User to User forums, and that it is not unfrequent for people who have distinctive labels to receive unjust beatings that should be really directed to Adobe...

[Nancy OShea]

Different colors for such descriptions are absolutely unnecessary.

Claudio, I completely agree.   I never liked the orange titles when they first appeared and I like them even less today.  Black titles should suffice for all.

Nancy O.

[Dave Merchant]

Personally I don't care if my posts are white or my status is colored, but Adobe does. They clearly had a reason to make that decision, but the skin design doesn't give people carte blanche to attack the ACP program in general, which is why I'm here defending it.

Curt Y wrote:

I think having the white background and black text is more than adequate to distinguish Adobe Employees and Community Professional responses.

The Orange title is just overkill.

[Phillip M Jones]

You may  be an employee and that have the duty to hold up the Company Montra. But I am with  the others. All this  coloring is silly and Childish. The light gray and Black is sufficient. Folks we all put our Pants/Trousers on the same way , one leg at a time. I'm no better than you, and you are no better than me.

[Nancy OShea]

Dave,

I have never attacked the ACP program.  I think ACPs do great work and should be recognized for their contributions with an appropriate title. 

you cannot be an employee and an ACP.

Right.  My point exactly. If title colors must be introduced into the forum (which I don't think is necessary BTW) then ACPs and Employees deserve different colors.

Nancy O.

[George_Johnson]

I think we should be able to choose our own colors. 

(In case there's any doubt, that was meant to be a joke.)

[John Waller]

George Johnson wrote:

I think we should be able to choose our own colors. 

Create a user defined stylesheet for your browser and you can 

[George_Johnson]

John Waller wrote:

George Johnson wrote:

I think we should be able to choose our own colors. 

Create a user defined stylesheet for your browser and you can 

Where's the fun in that? I don't want to annoy just myself!

[mytaxsite]

George Johnson wrote:

I think we should be able to choose our own colors. 

(In case there's any doubt, that was meant to be a joke.)

Color of the skin is always decided by parents unless there is a biological mistake somewhere in the bed.  It is too late for us to decide that. Perhaps you meant to say we should choose our own religion or political views!

[Phillip M Jones]

I agree with Michael. It far better to identify in Bold Black , whether an employes, Community Professional. under the persons name and avatar in the Margin. No fancy colors.

[the_wine_snob]

To me, the colors used, are not really an issue, but I do see the OP's assertion, based on at least one thread.

I read (and know many) of the Adobe Employees' posts, and can easily differentiate between one, and a Community Professional, or whatever, but understand that the average user might not. OTOH, most feel that anyone, who replies to their post IS an Adobe employee, and they rant, and take out their venom on them, though they are but "users."

As Claudio has noted in many posts, Adobe no longer calls these "User Forums," and a large group of posters just assume that we are all Adobe "employees," regardless of the color, or the "badge" in the header.

Hunt

[Jacob Bugge]

Thank you to John for the return of nice and pale posts, with a slightly darker grey for own posts and pale blue for OP posts.

As I mentioned in the skin thread, there are a few messy things, but the colouring is nice, with a pale blue for OP posts and slightly darker grey frame for own posts.

[Jacob Bugge]

Now post # 21 seems just like a dream of getting out of a nightmare. It is less nice to wake up and being back in it.