Hello everyone,
There will be some great changes coming to the community! With these changes, it will be much easier for you to find answers to questions that may already exist in the community, and to offer help on specific topics that you may be knowledgeable about. I wanted to let you in on them so you know what to look forward to.
What’s changing?
We’re moving away from country-specific communities, and changing instead to language-based communities. This consolidates a few existing communities into one powerhouse of information! With the community now having a much larger audience, any post made will have significantly higher visibility and reach. There will be boards for all types of questions about your account, and there will also be dedicated categories for Merchant-specific topics and Merchant Integration Technical Support subjects.
We’re removing boards that don’t get much traffic, and adding boards for topics that see a lot of posts. We will have the ability to re-evaluate and modify as needed. Keeping the structure as neat as possible makes it easier to find what you’re looking for!
We’re also adding the Labels feature. This is similar to tags, but much more useful. There will be pre-defined labels for each area of the community to help filter specific boards and topics, and the option to subscribe to a specific label. For instance, if you’re interested in helping with fraud/scam-related questions, you can subscribe to the Security & Protections label. If your expertise lies in modifying button code, you can subscribe to PayPal Buttons.
There will be two live Community Chats every week! Moderators will be available to answer questions in real time twice a week. Watch for banners at the top of the community for information about the new schedule for Community Chat!
What about all the posts I’ve made in the past?
We’ll be moving the majority of the posts that are currently in the community to an archive. They’ll be locked once they’re in the archive so new replies can’t be added, but new posts can always be created in the community about the same subjects if the need arises. Some of the highest traffic posts will be retained in the new structure and will remain open to replies.
Additionally, all your kudos and accepted solutions will remain intact. Your hard work will continue to be recognized!
Will there be an interruption to service?
Once we begin the migration, posts you’ve made will likely move to a different board or category. You’ll still be able to access your posts from your profile. At some point, you’ll find that new posts will have the option for Labels.
What can I do to prepare?
If you haven’t opted in to it already, you can turn on the setting that allows others to see what country your account is registered in. This will help people tailor their responses to include information for your specific region. Since the community will be international, this feature will be very helpful! You can toggle this setting by going to Preferences > Privacy.
I’m really excited about these changes. I hope you are too. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments related to this change.
David.
