New CC Discussion Rooms - what do you think?

[Lizzie]

Hello Everyone,

As you may have noticed, a few things have changed around here in the Community Center. More specifically with the Discussion Rooms. 🙂

This is what the discussion rooms look like now:

Since last year's update, we have been collecting feedback from the Community Center to help us make the different discussion areas (or boards) clearer, more distinctive and easier to navigate. Some of the discussion boards has been renamed and others are completely new. The new layout is as follows:

• Airbnb Updates: be kept up to date with Airbnb announcements, updates and news
• Hosting: previously "New hosts" and "Hosts", now merged, here you can discuss general hosting topics
• Help: in this category you can ask specific questions about how Airbnb works
• Tips and Tutorials: find the best tutorials and tips from the community in one place
• Interests: a place where we can have fun and talk about your hobbies, trips and more.

Do you like the new structure? Let me know what you think of these changes in this thread, we would love to hear your thoughts. Likewise, if you see that some topics which should be in a different discussion room, please let me know. We are still organising the conversions, so this will be a great help. 🙂

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Lizzie

[Bruce43]

@Lizzie   I think it will make the CC easier to follow.

good work, I am taking the day off to unclutter my home office.

best wishes to London.

[Lizzie]

Thanks @Bruce43, it is fantastic to hear. 🙂

Good luck with the decluttering. You will feel great afterwards.

[Rachael26]

Looks Great!

Thanks for streamlining.

Best Wishes.

[Lizzie]

So glad you like it @Rachael26. Thanks so much for sharing. 

I hope you are having a nice day. 🙂

[Allison2]

I like the streamlined format, but I didn't see anything for Travelers? Is there a reason they don't have a discussion room?

[Lizzie]

Hello @Allison2,

Great to hear your thoughts and good question.

As you may have seen most of the conversations going on in the previous 'Travelers' board were actually help related, things like 'How do I add a coupon?' for example. This wasn't really the original intention for that board and as we now have a dedicated board for help, those questions would fit there. However, I love hearing about travel experiences or travel suggestions and I think many others in our community do too, so this would fit very well in the 'Interests' board. If we find that over time lots of these discussions are taking place I think this would warrant having a dedicated board again - which would be wonderful. 🙂 

Do you think this works? 

[Allison2]

I realize the main traffic of the board is probably hosts, but we're not a true Airbnb "community" without Guests.

If I were a guest coming into this "community" board, I wouldn't feel like I had a room to post a question in. To illustrate to a ridiculous degree, it's not much different than "MEN" "MEN'S CIRCLE", "MEN'S NEWSLETTER" and women are supposed to somehow know they should post their (sometimes serious) issues in "HOBBIES", errm, I mean Interests? That seems dismissive of a big component of our community.

We have so many community tips on how to be great hosts - why not have some of the same content for guests? Like basics for newbies, or polls on how they'd prefer xyz thing. At least some space that's clearly intended for guests.

I do like the rest of the streamlining, I just think that one should be added back in.

[Susan10]

I think there should be a section on how to use the community center.  How to ask a question, etc.  

I don't like the search feature.  It is not easy to search for a question that probably has been asked already - then read the responses.  Then decide if you still want to post a question.

[Christine1]

@Susan10, there is a guide, more than one in fact, look at the tabs and take yourself back to the front entrance of the Community Rooms.

Or type "guides" 

Or follow this link, to see heaps of guides. have fun, don't get too lost!

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tutorials/bd-p/tips-tutorials

#: )

[Susan10]

Thanks, but that is not quite the guide I was referring to.  A guide for this forum.  Not how to use ABB itself. 

[Cathy8]

@Lizzie Definitely like the new formats. The only thing which woud make it better is to have more functionality and better UI on the app as I spend most of my time interfacing with the various parts of Airbnb via mobile.

Thanks for the opportunity to input!

Cathy

Washington DC Host Cliub Co-leader

[Annette33]

@Lizzie , I am particularly interested in the new Airbnb Updates, so I studied it a bit. I haven't gotten past page 2 or 3, but I'd like to say this for now:

1.) Please take out the duplications of the very same posts. There are quite a few. Is that a glitch, or what? but it makes it all unecessarily bogged down and unappealing. Disappointing that it is so unorganized.

2.) Please take out announcements for events that have long passed. I saw a post about a webinar on creating better traffic to one's listing, then realized it is over a year old! One member commented on it, thinking it was coming up, and thus I guess it ended up back on page 1 or 2.  

3.) Overall, on an Update section, I suggest to strictly have the newest stuff in top, no repeats of the very same post two or three times, and  certainly not have something move back to the top just because one member commented on it.

Great if you guys could take care if that, I bet interest and visits to this section would rise. Thanks!

[Rachael26]

@Annette33

I agree. I think that this room is the most important and should have a different structure.....

Why can't it be a formal announcement area - with title of change or subject and a date of posting (and any relevant expiration date etc.)? No responses or opinion posts allowed - 'Just the Facts Ma'am, Just the Facts'.

The when hosts dip into that room - we can check the date and see/read/glance at any new updates or policy changes - or even 'tests' that Airbnb have launched. 

Wouldn't that be great?

[Annette33]

@Rachael26 , seems so simple to us - you and I could clean up this board in one hour - why can't Airbnb?