The Dropbox Community is getting a major update soon

[Amy]

Hi everyone,

The Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changing, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall. 

We are excited to share our side of things, but we want to hear from you, so tell us what you think in the comments below. 

What’s Changing on the Dropbox Community: 

These are most of the changes that you may notice in the next few weeks, and there’s more to come, so keep an eye out! 

What’s under the hood:

Essentially, the biggest change here is the platform that the Dropbox Community is built on is getting an upgrade, so a lot of the functionality that you know and love is now part of the site overall. In the past, a lot of those features were customizations, things like the placement of threads, leaderboards, the ideas section and more were essentially hand built by the team. With this upgrade, these features will now be seamlessly integrated, making the platform's code a LOT cleaner and more efficient. 

The look and feel: 

As the title implies, we are getting a visual upgrade as well. You can see some samples of that below but overall, the new Community will be cleaner, smoother and easier to navigate. That’s the goal, but of course, let us know if what you’re seeing matches up once we make the changes. 

Cool New Features to Make the Dropbox Community Even Better: 

There are some fun new features as part of this update, and while a lot are technical, here are a few you will see pretty easily! 

Searching by tags:

You will be able to search by tags. Pretty self explanatory but a really handy one, you can search by tags so posts that might not have your keyword in the title will still show up when you search. Previously, we’ve had tags and labels but now we are just working with tags so no more doubling up on categories. 

It’s easier than ever to post:

Previously, there were a lot of steps to posting a thread but now it a lot sleeker and simpler. 

Nested replies are finally here:

You can now reply directly to a specific comment - before, comments automatically popped down to the end of the thread, which is not how real conversations happen, but now you can reply directly to a specific comment and the replies are nested under that comment instead of the overall thread. I’ll add an image because it’s so much clearer when you see it, but overall this is a more natural way to chat. 

Voting from the ideas page:

You can now vote for ideas from the menu, without having to click in, so if the title hits hard enough you can vote, and be on your way in no time. Simple! 

Single page threads:

You might have seen that currently our comments on a thread push on to a new page after 10 comments, but now we will have all the comments on one page - so the conversation just keeps going and you don’t get lost. 

What Hasn’t Changed on the Dropbox Community: 

The Team Are Still Here to Help: 

The Dropbox Community team are all still here to help, and while we might be working on a snazzier look and feel, the team are still here and committed to helping you get the answers you need.

All of your threads are still here! 

None of your threads will be lost in the changes here, so there are still a mountain of helpful posts to review, answers to check and conversations to join too. 

Your Voice Matters:

As always, your feedback is invaluable to us. This is your community, and we want it to work for you! So keep sharing your ideas and suggestions—we’re all ears.

Why is the Dropbox Community Changing?

It was time for a refresh, and the new update means that the upkeep of the website is a LOT less intense - so the load time is quicker, and there should be no code bloat, just a smoother experience for you, and for us.  

And, to be frank, the old version of the Community website was close to end of life. This new version of the Community also means we can implement new and fun features as they become available. 

Basically, if the tools work well, we can connect Dropbox Staff and you, our Community members more smoothly, and that means we can be more useful to you. 

When is This Change Coming? 

You’ll start seeing the updates within a few weeks. We’re still ironing out a few things, so if you come across any bugs or issues, please let us know right away. Your feedback is key as we fine-tune the new platform.

That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more updates, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or thoughts. We’re excited about this new chapter and look forward to hearing what you think!