BP, you destroyed the forums (again)!

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BP, you destroyed the forums (again)!

Greg ScottPro Member

Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes

My Forum feed is now filled with a bunch of blog posts. Please get them out of there.

You tried this a couple of years ago and everyone hated this idea. (We still do!)

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Bruce WoodruffPro Member

Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes

I cannot understand why the Tech people keep changing things that work just fine. Literally every change makes the Forums worse. Put it back to the way it was 5 yrs ago and leave it alone....

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Jaron WallingPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
5d
Ohhh no! It's worse than last time and on top of that it's older blogs and click-bait for the podcast. I have notifications from stuff that's 4 years old!
4 Reply
Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
5d
Bear with us as we have to continue to make substantial changes to the forums. Hopefully on a whole they'll be beneficial, but yea I understand this one could've been better. I'm trying to make these changes in as least disruptive way as possible with tight deadlines. Thank you for the feedback, I read all of these posts.
6 Reply
- James Wise
  Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
  5d
  Posting videos in the Classifieds also no longer works. Used to be able to post a YouTube link and you'd get the video link preview...Now the only option is for you to post the literal video URL.
  Additionally, posting a photo and then linking that photo also doesn't work anymore.
  These changes are a no gooder.
  3 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  2d
  @James Wise the fix for YouTube embeds is rolling out now.
  0 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  5d
  @James Wise ah thanks for the report.
  1 Reply
- Henry ClarkPro Member
  Developer · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
  5d
  I believe in Dollarization of BP. Versus a buckshot, I would use a rifle approach. Use AI. Whenever a user posts then have a BP “response and link to a podcast, book, product sponsored by BP.
  If I post help, who has done Self Storage. BP would do a response saying buy this book. Or link to a podcast.
  0 Reply
- James Wise
  Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
  2d
  0 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  1d
  @James Wise I've confirmed that YouTube embedding is now working properly and have updated your latest post to include it: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/517/topics/1306458-im-buying-section-8-rentals-where-rich-people-are-moving-next
  0 Reply
Jamie Parker
Real Estate Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2016 · 417 posts · 140 votes
5d
@Greg Scott
Could you screen shot the what you are seeing. That makes the correction process easier. I had some issues that I presented with Screenshots so the devs can see exactly what the changes are creating.
2 Reply
- Greg ScottPro Member
  OP
  Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes
  5d
  @Jamie Parker
  
  @Jamie Parker @Jamie Parker
  
  Here is what I see in my preferred way to view the forums, NOW. All the red arrows are blog posts, many of them from years ago. None have humans asking questions. For that reason, they should not be in the forums.
  
  BP's institutional knowledge seems to be limited. They did this exact same thing a couple years ago and we all revolted.
  
  They can search for a response that Scott Trench (former CEO) made on one of my forum posts complaining about this exact same thing. He admitted that BP screwed up. Suddenly BP reversed direction.
  
  Now BP has a new CEO that may need to re-learn the old lessons.
  
  1 Reply
- Greg ScottPro Member
  OP
  Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes
  5d
  I tried to copy Aaron Breckenridge on this post.
  The system showed his name, but then decided to change it to @Jamie Parker
  He is a ghost, apparently, but could benefit from feedback
  Aaron: Look at the people on this thread complaining. They are all the people that come to the forums daily. They have thousands of posts.
  2 Reply
- Patrick Krawczykowski
  Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 1 vote
  5d
  @Aaron Breckenridge
  0 Reply
- Patrick Krawczykowski
  Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 1 vote
  5d
  Tagging Aaron works for me. Possibly need to be connected to tag someone? I’ll look into it.
  1 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  1d
  @Greg Scott Yea I read these, every day. The blog posts appearing in your feed was a bug and it's been fixed.
  I've not changed my name. I probably blocked you temporarily when testing blocking, so it may have been an inopportune time while I worked on that. I even did the work to ensure that you, personally, never see the blog posts in the forums again.
  I've heard positive things from our moderator team about our recent changes. I'm sorry that they're not working well for you. We love hearing feedback.
  But if you want this community to not continue to shrink, things need to change. We care a lot about making sure things change for the better.
  1 Reply
Bruce WoodruffPro Member
Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
5d
I cannot understand why the Tech people keep changing things that work just fine. Literally every change makes the Forums worse. Put it back to the way it was 5 yrs ago and leave it alone....
9 Reply
Richard F.
Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
5d
Apparently BP has been taken over by the same vibe coders that infest the forum. They don't understand the first thing about the "problem" they are providing the tool, or "fix" for. Apparently they aren't even "curious" enough to ask what would be useful or not, and they rarely respond to direct questions.
0 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  5d
  Hard disagree
  0 Reply
- Patrick KrawczykowskiPro Member
  Investor · Chicago IL · Member since 2026 · 38 posts · 38 votes
  5d
  I don't have much of a response for the vibe coded comment. It's so nuanced that it seems silly to debate in 200 character replies.
  
  I do wonder, what would be useful for you Richard? If you think it's too involved to write into a reply feel free to DM me and I'm happy to line up some time to connect over google meet.
  
  I encourage my entire team to be as active as possible on the forums which I think we're getting better at but, given most of the team is months into this work, is pretty decent. You might not see all the user feedback we elicit but out product and engineering team hosts user interviews pretty consistently. We used BPCON in general as one giant user research tool.
  4 Reply
- Richard F.
  Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
  5d
  I replied directly to Aaron's post. He can share my comments with you.
  0 Reply
- James Wise
  Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
  4d
  Patrick, you work at BP? Your response sounds like you do, but your profile doesn't mention anything of the sort. I would think explaining your role at BP on your profile would be something you do on day 1.
  0 Reply
- Patrick KrawczykowskiPro Member
  Investor · Chicago IL · Member since 2026 · 38 posts · 38 votes
  2d
  @James Wise I mean I have called out that I’ve worked here since literally day one and my first post with this account.
  I find myself much more of a lurker and voter on the forums these past couple months.
  It’s nice to make your acquaintance though. I’m always open to feedback if you have any.
  For posterity, I joined biggerpockets recently as the head of product. My team is built with people that work very hard to understand where we’re failing users, and then coming up with the best solution to those issues.
  1 Reply
- James Wise
  Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
  1d
  You think every person who stumbles upon a post of yours is going to have also read every other post you've written? Hell, they couldn't even do that if they wanted to because you guys recently removed the ability for people to see a members entire post history on their profile. I can't even find my own post history, let alone yours.
  
  You guys are getting negative feedback on forum changes, with people saying the tech team doesn't understand the products they are working on. You being the Head of Product, with no understanding as to why you'd need to have that on your profile is a blaring example of this.
  
  To clarify - you need this so as to add necessary context to your answers whenever you are helping out members in the forums. Your profile mentions something about owning a 2 flat or something. With your role at BP being Head of Product, that 2 flat is irrelevant. You need to speak from the perspective of Head of Product. That is what people want from you when they are engaging you. It should be front and center on your profile as well as in your signature line.
  
  2 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  1d
  @James Wise the "See all posts" was put back last week after a moderator mentioned it:
  1 Reply
- James Wise
  Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
  1d
  Good move. That was a good feature.
  1 Reply
- Nicholas L.Pro Member
  Flipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
  1d
  @Aaron Breckenridge
  can you add back the feature that automatically follows a post if you comment on it? I keep commenting and forgetting to follow and then i can't get back to them
  0 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  1d
  @Nicholas L. yea it's still there, but you have to click a button at the top. Automatic following was the #1 complaint for the most recent version of the forums.
  1 Reply
- Patrick KrawczykowskiPro Member
  Investor · Chicago IL · Member since 2026 · 38 posts · 38 votes
  1d
  @James Wise You know, I did actually change my profile bio, it was a good callout, appreciate the feedback. I'm not sure I agree that I need to be interacting in the forum as only my role, I have real estate interests outside of my work with BiggerPockets and would like to connect with folks based on that. I'm not trying to hide my role either though.
  1 Reply
Bill B.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
5d
1) There does seem to be an abundance of posts referencing other posts by other people from long ago.

2) Is this the reason I’m also being flooded with notifications of keywords on 5 year old posts?

These top 4 “saved searches” said new posts today until I marked them as read And in fact still have a blue dot next to the bell saying thy are new even though they say they aren’t. So another smaller error making me click there to see new messages it says I don’t have.

0 Reply
Caleb Brown
Real Estate Agent · Kansas City · Member since 2018 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
5d
Yeah, agreed. I like them being separate since it's completely different than forum posts
1 Reply
V.G JasonPro Member
Investor · Member since 2022 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
5d
Is there a way to revert back to the old forum format/layout? At least an option too. This one is trash.
3 Reply
Greg ScottPro Member
OP
Rental Property Investor · SE Michigan · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 6k+ votes
5d
@ Aaron Breckenridge
Please notice than zero of the 50 or so blog posts that were jammed into the forums are on the trending list. In other words, nobody in the forums is reading them. We won't read them there!
2 Reply
Patrick KrawczykowskiPro Member
Investor · Chicago IL · Member since 2026 · 38 posts · 38 votes
5d
In general there is a ton of great feedback in this thread. I appreciate everyone chiming in.
It was pretty clear to us by mid afternoon that there was an unforeseen bug in how we launched these addition posts (queued jobs were backed up and should not have been fired in the way they were). I don’t think you would notice the new content in a normal rollout
It’s also another reason we wanted to implement downvoting on content, which is especially important to the feed, to shape exactly the content you want to see regardless of what’s out there.
1 Reply
Henry ClarkPro Member
Developer · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
5d
BP. In a PE world it is about value creation and market increase. I'll reiterate my suggestion above, plus some.
A. When a post comes on, recommend BP delays 24 hours to respond to give posters a chance to respond. Then do automated AI posts to that post. See these posts. Recommend you buy this book. Here are some Podcast links. Here are some vendors.
The absolute hardest thing about BP is finding something using the BP tools. Don't have the poster look, direct them to your Revenue sources.
B. The forum part of BP is the cheap turkey at the supermarket for Thanksgiving. To get people in and then sale more. You will never make money off of the Forum itself directly. Yes, you can have some Advertisements pop up, but that only goes so far before people get irritated. I was getting pissed with the Chicago vendor ads, I'm small town Iowa. The Forum is about Churn for New Investors say 90%. Then after that it is a source of interaction for experienced REI. Develop New REI investor streams, with books, podcasts, vendors, mentors, etc along that stream. For value creation, you can't rely based on Churn. You also need to increase retention and product exposure.
C. BPCON is great but to limited. To Broad. To Inspirational. Keep the National one the Same.
But regionalize. Also do REI strategy specific 1 day events. Make the Pyramid bigger and more Accessible.
Generate more revenue source and value, by increasing market width and engagement.
D. Let revenue streams and exposure guide your Programming decisions. Although, again, I want to thank you for adding View count. Helps me understand which posts or at least titles are more or less engaging.
As an Ex-Process Improvement leader- keep improving or die.
0 Reply
Bill B.
Investor · Las Vegas, NV · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 10k+ votes
4d
At lest “saved searches” just crashes with an error 500 for the last 24 hours, so that problem’s solved. :-)
0 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  2d
  Thanks for the report @Bill B. we'll look into it.
  0 Reply
Ed O.
Investor · Statewide, MO · Member since 2011 · 819 posts · 427 votes
2d
I remember when people used to come here to help others find solutions.
Now it's 99% shameless or stealth self promotion
2 Reply
Nicholas L.Pro Member
Flipper/Rehabber · Pittsburgh · Member since 2018 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
1d
@Ed O.
don't forget the AI!
honestly - pressure test it, stack wins. change one variable, iterate on another.
1 Reply
Dan H.Pro Member
Investor · Poway, CA · Member since 2015 · 7k+ posts · 8k+ votes
22h
I saw the dated blogs in my keywords and assumed it was a nuisance bug.
However, I have a different complaint that I do not believe is a bug. First I will say I have not used the app in a few years because it was so bad, but it may be better now. So this is a complaint realizing I only access via a browser. The replies being under the replied topic makes it very difficult to read new replies without going through the entire thread, how am I supposed to see the replies since the last time I accessed the thread? Do you expect readers to traverse the entire thread to find the new replies?
As indicated maybe the app has a solution for this. If the browser does, I do not know it.
I like that you expect the developers to use the forums. If they are using the forums, their attention to detail may not be great. The blog issue should have been discovered near instantly but was a few days. The problem seeing new replies seems obvious.
Please exercise changes before rolling them out. The old blogs showing up in the searches should have been discovered prior to rollout.
0 Reply
- JD MartinBusiness Member
  Moderator
  Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
  22h
  From the browser you can jump to "last reply" but I am not sure what you can do from the app, as I don't use it for quite a few years now. Now it's not going to just take you to wherever you left off, but if you've left a reply anything that's replied to you will be obvious.
  Personally, I prefer the "chronological" order of things rather than the tree version ala Reddit, but I know a lot of people (especially younger) prefer the Reddit look. There's no easy answer (other than customizing it so people can pick their poison). If you have the tree version it keeps sub-conversations linked together, which can be harder to follow in chrono order, but chrono order lets you fairly quickly parse out what's happened since you were last there especially if you've left a response.
  Podcast Guest on Show #243
  Skyline Properties
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David RobertsonBusiness Member
Flipper/Rehabber · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2010 · 758 posts · 780 votes
11h
The new members "stats" being so incredibly small has really done a disservice to all of the original BPers that have been here for years, and have posted quality content over the years, and built a good reputation.
With the new format, member stats are an extremely small font size, in a muted color that is extremely easy to miss.
This makes it VERY hard to tell who is a legitimate poster or who is some newly created account that is just here to SPAM the boards.
With all the AI slop and self-promotion happening, I would have thought having the members stats and reputation being emphasized would have been a major focus, but instead you've made it the hardest thing to see on the page.
FlipperForce
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1 Reply
- Aaron BreckenridgePro Member
  Technology · Dallas, TX · Member since 2022 · 486 posts · 311 votes
  10h
  Great feedback, thanks!
  0 Reply

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