Tools menu automatically opening up after login... good or bad?

We were discussing this today about if it should stay or go. Thoughts?

I don't mind that it pops when I first hit the page but then it won't go away!

In my opinion a menu that needs to be forced open is either hiding things that should be more obvious to a visitor, or isn't well publicised enough. Might I suggest a 'what's new' popup like on the calendar etc - so that people can be notified of what they can find in there, and then given a chance to not show it again.

It saves one click if I just sign in and am going somewhere.

But if I selected my destination at first (instead of Sign In), and then was sent to sign in, there is no need for it to pop up again. In this case, it is a nuisance and causes an extra click (somewhere else on the page) to get rid of it.

And if I click on the wrong place on the page to get rid of the drop down menu, I go somewhere else I did not intend to go, and have to click my way back to where I wanted to land in the first place. And usually the back button does not take me where I came from, so then I wind up starting over at the home page and drilling down again.

It is confusing to me why the menu opens when it is not something that I clicked on. It clutters up the page with information that I don't find particularly useful. When you log into the website on a mobile device the menu is a problem to try and navigate around. At best it's a distraction, at worst it is a obstacle for customers to try and navigate around.

lajackson wrote:But if I selected my destination at first (instead of Sign In), and then was sent to sign in, there is no need for it to pop up again. In this case, it is a nuisance and causes an extra click (somewhere else on the page) to get rid of it.

I'd agree with that.

When I first started seeing this behavior, my thought was that it's a bug in the code causing it to pop up. After it stuck around for so long, it made me think that it's the church's marketing campaign to get members to use the Tools. I know what's there and I find it to be a nuisance. However, I could see it being helpful to some people to help them realize there are tools and features that might be useful to them. What I don't know is if it actually serves that purpose for people who aren't familiar with the tools menu. The demographic of people who see and participate in this poll is likely skewed toward people who are more familiar with the church's tools than the average church member.

lajackson wrote:It saves one click if I just sign in and am going somewhere.

But if I selected my destination at first (instead of Sign In), and then was sent to sign in, there is no need for it to pop up again. In this case, it is a nuisance and causes an extra click (somewhere else on the page) to get rid of it.

I also agree with this -- good analysis. If I simply sign in, I find it useful (or at least not bothersome). But when I have selected a destination and am required to sign in on the way to that destination, it is simply an annoyance.

My suggestion: continue current behavior on the lds.org main page. Discontinue it on all others (since we're likely at our destination).

At long last we have removed this. Bask in the glory of your lack of popups.

If you appreciated this move, let us know in the feedback. It was a hard fought battle, so please let us know if it was the right move

BarkerAJ wrote:At long last we have removed this. Bask in the glory of your lack of popups.

If you appreciated this move, let us know in the feedback. It was a hard fought battle, so please let us know if it was the right move

THANK YOU! Yes, it was definitely the right move!

BarkerAJ wrote:At long last we have removed this. Bask in the glory of your lack of popups.

Basking as we speak. Thank you very much. If something terrible happens and it has to come back because this was just the battle and not the war, please make it goes away automatically after a few seconds.

Thanks for getting rid of it. To me, it felt very obtrusive.

BarkerAJ wrote:If you appreciated this move, let us know in the feedback.

Hooray! By feedback, do you mean use the feedback link to send our appreciation so that people officially see our gratitude, or are you just looking for feedback in the forum?