Beta Homepage feedback and info

What's new?

• New Navigation: Get easier and faster access to the most popular sites across the BBC through our new navigation bar at the top of the page. If the site you’re looking for isn’t listed, simply choose from the ‘More’ drop down menu, or type what you’re looking for in the Search box
• Media Zone: The BBC has an enormous depth and breadth of online content; indeed far too much for us to try and fit onto the homepage all at once. The new Media Zone will help us showcase this range of content, and help you discover more of the BBC. Use the arrows to scroll through the carousel. You’ve also got the option to reduce the size of the Media Zone to a thinner carousel if you prefer, by clicking on the small arrow at the bottom centre of the Media Zone.
• Follow My Interests: Keep up to date on topics that you’re really into. This module gives you quick and easy access to the breadth of BBC content, but tailored to your personal interests - from your favourite shows to hot topics and stories. Simply type in a subject or topic, select the best match from the list provided and you’re set to get frequent updates on your interests. For example type ‘EastEnders’ in the Follow My Interests module, choose the best link from the options provided and ‘EastEnders’ will go into the ‘You are following’ list. Then next time you visit the homepage you’ll see the latest BBC content about ‘EastEnders’ in the Follow My Interests carousel. You can add as many interests as you like. (Note: at the start of the beta there will only be a limited set of topics that you can select in Follow My Interests, but we will keep adding to this list throughout the beta)

What hasn't changed?

• Great BBC content: The modules you know and love are still front and centre on the BBC homepage. Get the latest headlines from News and Sport, set your local Weather, see iPlayer highlights, get your TV and Radio schedules, and more….
• Customise your homepage: There are several ways for you to customise the page, including selecting topics of interest or rearranging the layout by dragging and dropping modules. If you don't like certain modules you can get rid of them by clicking on the X at the top right hand corner, or you can collapse one by clicking on the grey arrow next to the module title so it'll be available in the future. It's easy to add more options to modules by clicking the Edit buttons and saving your preferred layout. By using the +/- buttons you can choose to add more or less content to suit your needs. After customising the page, save any changes and if cookies are enabled the page will remember all your settings. For more about cookies, see the BBC's privacy & cookies policy.

What's changed?

We had to make a bit of room at the top of the page to introduce the new Media Zone and improved navigation bar, so we’ve changed how a few things work:

• ‘Add more to this page’ and ‘Reset Homepage’ buttons – if you’ve closed a module and you want to get it back; or you want to add new modules to the page you can now use the ‘Customise this page’ panel at the bottom of the homepage. This is also where you can change your page colour preferences
• ‘Set your location’ – you can set your location for news and weather directly in the respective News and Weather modules. For local TV and Radio schedules we’ve provided links direct to those pages

Why has the new homepage cleared all my settings?

You may not have realised it, but we’ve actually rebuilt the homepage on a brand new technical infrastructure, which will allow us to bring you new features, more easily and quickly.

However by changing the underlying technologies of the homepage, we weren’t able to move across any personalised settings to the new page. On the beta you’ll start again with the full default homepage experience. But with new features like Follow My Interests we hope you’ll be eager to customise the new page and make it your own. Any changes you make to the new homepage will be saved (via cookies) and will be visible the next time you use the page, just like before.

I’ve made changes to the new homepage, but when I return it is not the same as I left it. Why?

The homepage uses cookies to store each user's settings. If settings are not stored, it may be because cookies are not enabled on your computer, or that they are automatically deleted at certain intervals for security reasons.

See WebWise for more information about cookies and how to enable them. The BBC's privacy & cookies policy includes details of all cookies used on BBC Online.

Do you reply to all beta feedback?

No. Since the launch of the last homepage, we've received feedback - both negative and positive - from thousands of users. This feedback is extremely useful and we use it when planning changes to the page.

While we read all feedback, replying individually to every email is not possible due to the high cost involved. We hope you understand why we'd rather spend the time and money on making the changes you've asked for rather than replying to each email. If we get many queries on the same topic, we will update these FAQs accordingly.

How can I tell you my views about the beta homepage?

Please use the homepage feedback form below. Every email will be read, and your feedback will be used to further improve the homepage. Unfortunately we can't respond to individual emails but we will post about developments from time to time via the BBC Internet Blog.

If you want to make a comment about something other than the BBC homepage, please visit our general Feedback page instead.

What's a beta?

We’ve been working on the new homepage for a little while and have been testing it internally amongst BBC employees. That was known as the ‘Alpha’ version.

We’re now ready for you (the public) to try out the new features and let us know what you think. This is called the ‘Beta’ version. We’ve built most of the features we planned for this release, so we’re using beta testing to get your feedback and make sure we deliver the best user experience for all BBC homepage users.

When will this new homepage replace the old one?

We’ll be using the beta period to get your feedback, as well as add a few more features. We want to make the new homepage available to everyone as soon as possible but it is important we use the beta period to make sure we deliver the best user experience we can. Keep checking back with the homepage regularly to see new features and updates.

Where did the clock go?

We know the homepage clock was popular, reminding us of a bygone era when people drank tea instead of frappuccino-latte-espressos. Sadly, in this case we had to break this particular egg to make an omelette.

The new navigation bar will soon appear at the top of most BBC web pages - not just the homepage. In order to fit all of the most popular links onto the navigation bar we had to keep its overall size down.

The good news is that there will be consistency and handy links to the most popular BBC services like News and iPlayer; the bad news is we had to sacrifice the clock.

More questions?

Take a look at the full BBC Homepage Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) site. Here you’ll find answers to questions that we are currently being asked about the BBC homepage.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, you’ll be given the option to contact us with your query. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to respond individually to all emails received, however we will read these and will use them to help inform and improve the content of the site.