Apple revamps/rebrands discussion forums as Apple Support Communities

Apple revamps/rebrands discussion forums as Apple Support Communities

Throughout the day we've had a number of readers contact us to say the Apple Discussion Forums were down. Now we know why. Apple has just launched Apple Support Communities, a revamped discussion forum with the focus on allowing Mac and iOS users to find answers to their questions quickly and easily.

Don't worry, if you've started any or replied to any topics in the past, all your old posts are still there. What the Apple Support Communities redesign does is add nifty little features, like an easier-to-browse forum, the ability to "like" any post, and even the ability to upload images so you can show everyone just what it is you are talking about ("See! I get two beach balls, not one!"). Head on over to the support communities and check them out, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Also, you can check out a walk-through of all the new features here.

Apple revamps/rebrands discussion forums as Apple Support Communities originally appeared on TUAW on Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.




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I saw the notice earlier that it was down. Now that it is back up again I have been poking around a bit. FWIW here are a few impressions after spending about a half an hour poking around.

!. I like the ability to customize the page layout. When I have visited the discussion forums in the past most of my searches were related to Automator, iPad and iPhone, and some Applescript. Now I can get to these areas much more quickly once I set up the home page.

2. The Your stuff link at the top of the page is potentially useful. Not only is it a quick way to reach some preferences that were scattered previously but it thoughtfully provides a quick link to communities you have joined.

3. Most importantly for me it seems that the search function is vastly improved. Until relatively recently I didn't visit that forum much and the search function was a lot of the problem. It seemed that no matter how many variants of Boolean searches I tried there were always results that had absolutely nothing to do with what I was looking for. If I asked for "Automator" for example, I also got references to things such as the "automation" functions in Logic Pro. After just a few searches this seems much improved even without the use of Boolean terms

I am still getting used to setting up some of the page customization options. Setting up certain types of widgets seems to be a bit less than intuitive but overall this seems like a big improvement.