Where can we submit feedback on the Omnibar?

@Art Bryman I like the new Omni bar and my bar reflects the school branding (blue/white education suite) and may browser settings (grey/white text). I like that as an administrator/support of everything Blackbaud, I can get to the other software (FE NXT; RE NXT: Merchant Services; Online Forms; Analysis; Admin; Support) without having to go to blackbaud.com also- it's all within my workspace. My other users are liking the new Omni for the same reasons.

My only issue is that I click on the wrong tabs now - I was so conditioned after working, almost 10 years, in the product, now the tabs have shifted a tab to the left - lol

@Scott Chrysler I agree - my first task after seeing it (and fielding a few emails) was to disable it for all roles. If Art's concerns were addressed, particularly placing it as a hamburger menu on the left, then I'd be happy to bring it back. That said, I'm immensely grateful that it was indeed implemented as a task in roles, and not just a forced update! I appreciate the consideration from Blackbaud that not everyone might be on board, at least at first.

@Art Bryman hi there! I'm Jessi, the Product Manager for Core.

Signing up for Early Adopter Programs is the best way to help shape the path of development, but we're always watching the Community and the Idea bank, too. Phase 1 was released this week with more coming this summer and more again next year. I can share additional context and long-range plans in response to your initial 4 points.

1. The claim on extra real estate at the top of the screen is temporary. Next year, menus will move into the Omnibar, returning some of that vertical screen space, but the Omnibar has to exist in BEM before we can move our menus into it.
2. All Home pages have moved to full width to reduce wasted space in the left and right margins. We are in the process of updating all pages among all BEM products (in the back-office) to be full width as well, so this is the way of the future in BEM. This will take time, of course.
3. You're right - the omnibar should look the same everywhere. The gray w/white Omnibar is V1 of the omnibar and currently appears this way in BEM and FE NXT. Both solutions are working toward the modern Omnibar theme (white w/black), and we will reach that milestone in BEM over the summer. Plus, the Omnibar supports the same branding configured for Blackbaud ID, and that will be enabled when the currently-branded BEM bar is decommissioned.
4. I'm curious if others perceive this delay in page loading. You're the first to mention it, but I'll listen for other complaints and explore performance metrics with the team.

As a former customer, I'm forever surprised by the technical complexities that make everything more challenging than it seems. Thanks for your candid feedback and for making this SKY transformation journey with us. If you're curious to learn more about our long-range plan, including more Omnibar details, join us at the virtual Product Update Briefings in May and in person at BBCON in October!

@Annemarie Merow tell me more! What are you doing that makes it helpful to have both pages open at once? (I have an assumption, but you know what they say about those…)

@Jessi Walters Two reasons:

Since the bar is now integrated directly above the main tabs - I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally clicked on Academics and lost my work.

Secondly, I've always wished those options would open in a new tab - I just never said it! I might be in Academics/Scheduling and tootling around in all those choices without any problem. If I go to Control Panel, it takes tons of clicks to get back to where I was working. Imagine if you were on one of the Scheduling tasks, say Schedule Outline, and when you choose anther option like Students List, you were taken back to the Academics homepage and had to re-navigate back to Scheduling/Students List. That's what happens when you use any of the new OmniBar menu options unless I am completely missing something!

Hope that helps! Thanks!