Apple Reveals New 'Apple Support Communities'

Apple has redesigned its Apple Discussions Board. The rebranded Apple Support Communities is more intuitive and brings a user a much more personalized experience when looking for answers about Apple products. It also includes a new social networking aspect to the site, which may or may not appeal to the average visitor. To join the Apple Support Communities, users must first sign in using their Apple ID. From there, two tabs take center stage. The first, appropriately called “All Content,” is the site’s default page. The second is called “Your View” and offers a more customized experience. For most users, the “All Content” page will be the only one needed. Here are links to each “community,” broken down by product or application. It is safe to say, if Apple created it, there is a community page for it. For example, different communities include those for the iPad, as well as iWorks. This page also lists recent content across all communities, as well as links to available tutorials. Those wanting a more customized experience are encouraged to modify their “Your View” page. From here, you can modify the page’s layout as well as select what content to include. This is a great feature for those wanting questions and answers pertaining to specific topics only.  For example, my “Your View” page focuses on those products I own. Thus, I’ve chosen to include topics on the iMac, iPad, iPhone, and iPod nano. Personally, I found the “Your View” page overkill, since the “All Content” page works just fine. However, some may want a more customized experience. I also wasn’t crazy about the overall social networking feel of the new Apple Support Communities. The “Your View” page lets users add information on new members as well as those that post topics most often. While this inclusion certainly encourages more “community,” I am not sure this is essential for most users. Again, this is just my opinion. Overall, however, I found the new Apple Support Communities page much more responsive than the original Discussion Boards. Plus, finding answers seems much quicker too. On this, Apple should be complimented. What do you think? Leave your comments below.