Alpha Homepage feedback and info

Why has the homepage changed?

We've improved our previous homepage design and layout to make it more appealing.

We've also created a new technical infrastructure that will enable us to be more flexible and help us to bring you new features, more easily and quickly. This, along with improved reliability and performance, means your homepage experience will be second to none.

But that's not all, this is just the alpha phase - a very early version of the final project - so there is plenty more to come, just watch this space.

Why can I only use the homepage on Thursdays and Fridays?

As this is only the alpha phase there is still a lot of work going on, therefore the site will only be properly functional on Thursdays and Fridays. During the rest of the week, we may be releasing changes and performance testing etc... That may affect the reliability of the homepage.

What's changed?

Some features are still being modified and tested, and while we work on them they may not have the same functionality they once had.

There is plenty more to come, some modules and enhancements are still being built and will be rolled out in due course. These include:

• A new Weather module that will offer forecasts for cities around the world.
• A more visual promo module that will offer more user interaction.
• The ability to change homepage colours or add individual modules (you can still refresh the page to bring back closed modules).
• The new "Follow my interests" module that will allow you to choose and follow topics across the BBC.
• The Blogs module is still being worked on and will be with you soon.

Why has the new homepage cleared all my settings?

Unfortunately due to the nature of the new technologies deployed we've not been able to save your settings. But don't worry, once you customise the new homepage any changes saved (via cookies) will be visible the next time you use the page, just like before.

Why doesn't the homepage remember my settings?

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.

How do I use the new homepage?

While we've changed the look of the homepage, you still use it in much the same way as before.

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, or you can collapse one by clicking on the grey arrow 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.

Do you reply to all 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 homepage?

Please use the homepage feedback form below. Every email will be read, and your feedback will be used to develop the homepage further. Unfortunately we can't respond to individual emails but 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 an alpha?

An alpha version of a product is its earliest release, which is still being built, so don't expect it to work perfectly just yet. It enables us to continue building the product whilst collecting feedback and ironing out issues. The alpha in this instance is for internal BBC employees.