Smokey
New Member
Baltimore MD
Joined: March 2009
Posts: 68
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Post by Smokey on Mar 31, 2009 23:10:23 GMT -5
What is a topic? What is a post? What are the numbers counting?
I'm being a silly here but this forum's links and arrangement are all new to me. I got a bit fed up when I tried to post a new message as an introduction and kept ending up with the "poll" link even though I was not clicking on that link. Finally someone clued me in that the poll button was overlapping on new post and I had to guess how far to the left I needed to click on the new message link.
Another thing I cannot figure out is how to log out without guessing the exact spot where the log out link works. And what is up with all the ads? Does the email link not work because I do not use IE and Outlook Express.
If I try to put in a smiley then I get shunted into the "find text" feature of my browser and that really holds up regular typing.
Well, I am an idiot when web sites are set up to make me hunt a bit.
Could I ask you all to put up a little drop down message next to buttons that explains what they do?
Thanks for listening!
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Post by Celeste on Apr 1, 2009 0:12:56 GMT -5
Wow. That's a lot a questions!
To answer the last question first: No, we can't put little drop down messages next to the buttons to explain what they do. It is the format of ProBoards and we can't change that bit. Sorry.
I can, however, write up a description of everything and post it -- eventually. It will be a massive job. I need to write up a "how to" instruction for newbies on another forum, so maybe I can combine it with this one. It will be at least Friday before I can begin it, though. I'll be out of town tomorrow and Thursday.
I did create a "how-to" for the "mark-up tags" (those buttons above the composition text area) for another of my forums. I'll post it for now and try to get back to the rest later.
For now, the best way to tell where the buttons end or overlap (first I've heard of this problem, by the way) is to check the status bar on the bottom left of your webpage. Right now it should say "Done". If you move your mouse over a link, like a button, the link should pop up. To log out, post, etc, check the last word in the link to tell you what it does.
Hope this helps.
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Post by Celeste on Apr 4, 2009 21:00:10 GMT -5
Forum arrangement If you go to the main page, you'll see that the Stepping Out of Squalor Forum is broken down into categories. 'Community Information' has it's own category. 'General' is divided into 'Introductions', a 'General' category, 'Listzilla', 'Photos!', 'By-ways', and 'Technical Help'. What is a topic?It is a subject under a particular category. For example, the topic you started under the 'Technical Help' category is 'Those numbers next to posts'. What is a post? A post is a message. Each topic starts with a beginning message (or post), then people add their own response. Each of those responses is also a post. What are the numbers counting?The numbers on the main page are counting the number of topics under each category, and the number of messages within the category. (Personally, I don't find them all that exciting.) I'm being a silly here but this forum's links and arrangement are all new to me. I got a bit fed up when I tried to post a new message as an introduction and kept ending up with the "poll" link even though I was not clicking on that link. Finally someone clued me in that the poll button was overlapping on new post and I had to guess how far to the left I needed to click on the new message link.
Another thing I cannot figure out is how to log out without guessing the exact spot where the log out link works. This is the first I've heard of any overlapping problem, Smokey. Can you make a screenshot of the links area and post it to your Photobucket account so I can see what you are seeing, please? And what is up with all the ads? Unlike Squalor Survivors, SOS doesn't rely on donations to keep it going. To be free, however, our host ProBoards uses an ad banner at the top of the page to pay for the site. If for any reason you disagree with this policy and would like to go ad-free, a $7 donation per month will get rid of them. Just click the link at the bottom of the page and let one of the admins know. Does the email link not work because I do not use IE and Outlook Express?No, not at all. Can you give us a few specifics to help you? You said you are using Firefox. Who's email link are you trying to use and where are you finding it? What happens when you click the link? Are you getting an error message? If so, what is it? If I try to put in a smiley then I get shunted into the "find text" feature of my browser and that really holds up regular typing. How are you trying to add smileys? Are they the default smileys on the board or some of your own? Well, I am an idiot when web sites are set up to make me hunt a bit. We're all intimidated and confused when we're learning something new. I'm sure that's part of it. But some of your issues I haven't heard before, so we need to find out why they aren't working properly. However, the actual layout is quite similar to most forums on the internet today. ProBoards itself hosts almost 3,000,000 forums. They must be doing something right!
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Post by Celeste on Apr 7, 2009 1:54:00 GMT -5
Someone pointed out that I would be reinventing the wheel in trying to explain forum terminology and the basics of posting. We have a help section. Just click the 'Help' button in the menu above.  |
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