I am a member of the old boards? What does this mean for me?
How is this different from the old message boards?
How do I reset my account preferences?
How do I make my profile private?
How do I ignore or block another member?
What is Follow and how does it work?
There are some features and tools missing. Why?
Can I still use the old message boards?
Are these boards moderated?
How do I provide feedback on these new boards?
Who do I contact if I have any questions?
If you currently use the old message boards you will experience minimal impact. Use your AOL or AIM screen name or password to log in. If your AOL user name differs from your Black Voices display name, don't worry! Your Black Voices screen name should still display and is the only identifier you and other members will see. If you experience problems with your login and display name please email the Community Director at TiffaniLW@aol.com. Additionally, you can expect new features not seen on the classic boards you once enjoyed such as quoting, sharing, and much more. You will find many of your favorite topics and friends here. Furthermore, you will notice an enhanced profile unlike your old one and we've already transferred your profile photo for you! Finally, we've improved the performance to ensure you're always connected to your favorite conversations. It is important, however, that you take the time to reset your preferences such as signature, ignore list (now known as block) and email notifications. Please also edit your profile and share your hobbies, interests, education and other information about yourself. All this information has been reset. Remember, the more you share, the more friends you could gain online. It will take just a moment and we've provided the instructions on how to do so right here on this page. We did not want to change things that work well on the current Boards. therefore, we focused on introducing new features or improving existing ones. Users can hide signatures within any discussion without visiting their settings, you can quote a comment when replying to another user, and you can invite friends to view your profile and join the community. We also made many enhancements to your profile. Store all your friends by selecting Follow whenever you visit their profile, see an archive of all your posts, and always know when someone has replied to you! We are adding new features to put you in control of your experience. Currently, you can create email notifications and we will contact you when another member replies to your message board post. You can also create a signature which will appear each time you publish a new message. All this can be set by visiting Settings, available in the drop down menu located under your name once you login. All profiles are public by default. When other users view your profile, they will see any information you have shared or field you have filled out, including screen name, metro area, education, interests, and more. This is a great way for members with similar interests to search for friends and connect based on similar interests. However, we understand some members' desire for discretion. To change your profile settings from public to private, log in, select Settings from the drop down menu by your name and use the drop down menu to select Private. Users will only see your display name, posting history and profile image if you have one. When you ignore or block a member their posts are not visible. Additionally, if that member tries to 'follow' you they will be prohibited. You can block any member by logging in, selecting their name within any discussion or visiting their profile. Once you select Block, their posts are removed from your view when reading discussions. You can reverse this action by visiting their profile and selecting Unblock located under their photo. This feature was previously known as Ignore in the old message boards. Follow is a new feature. It allows you to store your friends all within your profile. To see what your friends are up to, click on their thumbnail. You will be taken to their profile where you can see their most recent posts. Your followers will be able to do the same. Follow as many members as you like and in the near future you will be able to view a feed of what they have posted recently and if they made any changes to their profile. Expect a feature soon allowing you to deny or block members from following you. Before we began building these new boards, it was important for us to hear from our members. We polled our most engaged users and invited them to share their satisfaction and disatisfaction with the existing features. We used the results of this feedback to help us address which areas of the site needed the most attention. In some cases, we improved the experience or introduced new features in response to your suggestions. Looking ahead, we will continue to build upon what you see today. Preview post, private messaging and other features are coming soon. Please visit the member feedback blog for updates. Yes, for a short period of time. We will continue to support the old message boards. However, while users can still read discussions, new posts will be prohibited. We invite you to copy and save any of your favorite discussions or paste them in our new boards and continue the conversation. During our community member survey, users were adamant about having more ownership over their community. We encourage you to use the Report Violation tool. The violation is reviewed by our professional moderation team and action is taken within 36 hours, if applicable. You may not be contacted unless additional information is needed. Anything you'd like to tell us is welcome. But we'd particularly appreciate feedback on your experience posting and replying to topic posts along with any general feedback on what you like/dislike. Here's your chance to help make the new community great. If you have any questions, please feel to post them in our Feedback Forum for now or email TiffaniLW@aol.com. For regularly updated information on the message boards and new features stop by the member feedback blog.