Check out the new top bar (it's this new top bar). I mean, check out the new top bar. I mean, check out 35 + 8 pages of vaguely tagged questions regarding the "top bar", or the "new top bar", or some feature specific to some iteration of some new top bar at some point or another that may or may not pollute your search results and confuse you when posting about new top bar features.
And don't forget the new nav (at least MSO is clear that it's from 2015) (which refers to the new nav), or the "new top nav" (I quote), unless you meant the new nav, the new nav, the new new nav, or you just mistagged (or did you) a question about the new top bar/nav as new-nav.
As time goes on and new "new" features continue to be released, it becomes increasingly difficult:
- To find information.
- To know which tags to use.
- To know which language to use in discussions.
- To find appropriate duplicates.
- For the "related questions" to truly be related (it is not unusual to see similar questions about the older new thing or the old new thing in the sidebar for questions about the new new thing or the newer new thing).
- For auto search to be effective.
This is because "new" is relative, and as new becomes old the word "new" in posts doesn't magically change with it.
Can we please start referring to major new features with non-relative terms? It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it keeps tags, discussions, and searches clear and relevant in the long run. One of the major philosophies here is creating content that stays relevant in the face of time, and I don't think announcements about site features should be an exception.
Here are some ideas to get a conversation started:
- Always refer to the primary year of release in e.g. (the 2015 Nav Update), or
- Give them version numbers (e.g. the V3 Top Bar and the V4 Navigation Update), or
- Give them inexplicable names involving animals (e.g. Top Bar Update, "Queasy Quetzal")
Anything, really, but you can't keep just calling things "new" with no qualifiers, or it's going to get messier. The next "new nav" or "new top bar" or "new whatever" is only going to make it more confusing, now's a good time to start adding some clarity.
I'll close with the similar questions to the right of this post as I type it, for reflection (see also):
Nothing is new forever.