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    It's like you read our mind!
    – Piper Staff
    Commented Mar 12 at 14:15
  • 4
    Keep in mind that most people have probably opted out of the left sidebar since historically it has just contained useless clutter (companies, discussions, collectives teams etc etc). Maybe is we move all clutter from the left panel to a top bar icon, we can use the left sidebar for actual useful stuff like meta + announcements and chat.
    – Lundin
    Commented Mar 13 at 15:01
  • I mean, I'm not on SO, so for me, its mostly that vestigal teams link, from where I'm sitting its just underutilised.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Mar 13 at 15:08
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    @JourneymanGeek curious to know: Imagine, chat is added to the left nav today and gets a lot of visibility. What would you be excited about? What would you be concerned about?
    – EmmaBee Staff
    Commented Mar 13 at 21:39
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    On the short term - moderation, onboarding, and 'stickiness' - We both want to encourage new users to use chat, and where possible retain the culture and character of chat. Lots of chats are quiet or lack active moderation, so a little heads up and trying to activate folks to come in and moderate/mentor would be helpful. That said, my vision here isn't immediate revitalisation, its people trickling in, and hopefully staying to build that critical mass.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Mar 13 at 23:17
  • People who opted out of left side bar probably know about chat and meta. @Lundin
    – M--
    Commented Mar 14 at 6:43
  • @M-- It's not about if they know about it but about making a convenient GUI where useful features are easier to access than useless ones.
    – Lundin
    Commented Mar 14 at 12:40
  • @Lundin Right now the top bar is mostly icons - switching it to text would be nice but in the current design, it makes sense. And more people would be using the sidebar if it was useful - and most people keep the default. On its own, the FR is more for less experienced users or ones less familiar with meta and chat IMO. Bringing back 'old' users to chat needs a bit more work ;)
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Mar 14 at 12:47
  • @JourneymanGeek I rather envisioned things like Collectives and Discussions to be intuitively found underneath a 💩 icon. But a monochrome one of course.
    – Lundin
    Commented Mar 14 at 12:56
  • Discussions seem easy enough to find- even by spammers
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Mar 14 at 13:20
  • @Piper - I agree with J.G. that Chat and Meta are the key 'missing' links on the left nav, but a while ago I also raised that the left nav could have so much more functionality - so if this is something you're considering, I hope it's not the only two links that will be added :)
    – Robotnik
    Commented Mar 17 at 5:51
  • @JourneymanGeek Exactly, so it is taking up space at the tight panel where we could place something useful like chat instead. And relocate Discussions to some obscure sub-menu in the middle of nowhere.
    – Lundin
    Commented Mar 20 at 8:30