Re: Site Bugs 2

Sol, when you have a moment, can you please delete that review reply that's stuck in my account. It's from Don Chamber's book Frozen Tide. I left him a review, he responded but then took the chapter down from the site, so I can't access the deleted reply. It's been stuck there since March.

Thanks.
Dirk

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Re: Site Bugs 2

njc wrote:
penang wrote:
njc wrote:

I don't see those links.

Do you see a menu button on the top right? On my ipad, I have a menu button and if I click on that and scroll down  there is a link for contests.

But it doesn't show the master contests page, only my entries.  There's no way I can find to get to the master Contests page, or to any particular contest.

I can only assume you can get to your Home page from a mobile device since I don't use them. If that assumption is correct, then on your Home page you can click on the READ option at the top between the POST YOUR WRITING and your user name (njc) which are highlighted in dark blue and light blue respectively. Click on the Writing Contests at the bottom of the READ menu and you will get a list of the contests from which you can select all the entries, rules, or whatever (even closed contests). Hope that helps. Take care. Vern

228 (edited by njc 2015-06-08 15:33:17)

Re: Site Bugs 2

Mobile doesn't have those links.  "READ" is under the menu button, and brings you to a tabbed page.  None of the tabs is for contests.

The problem with mobile interfaces is that they often seem to use a different code base entirely, so you can't make any assumptions about how one side works based on the other.

On the Home Depot web sit, if you want the aisle and bay for an item, you need the not-for-mobile website.  At Lowes, to get the same info, you need the mobile site.

229

Re: Site Bugs 2

njc wrote:

Mobile doesn't have those links.  "READ" is under the menu button, and brings you to a tabbed page.  None of the tabs is for contests.

The problem with mobile interfaces is that they often seem to use a different code base entirely, so you can't make any assumptions about how one side works based on the other.

On the Home Depot web sit, if you want the aisle and bay for an item, you need the not-for-mobile website.  At Lowes, to get the same info, you need the mobile site.

Houston, we have a problem, lol. Good luck. Take care. Vern

Re: Site Bugs 2

I really hate to keep harping on this, but I'm still not getting emails when someone posts in a forum thread I am subscribed to. Just now, I went back to a thread and found four more posts after mine - no email for them.

~Tom

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Re: Site Bugs 2

Windows and its tools (like browsers) have the horrible habit of doing things other than what you tell them.  In particular, when trying to highlight something, they can capture extra characters, spaces, or words.  When using ordinary editing facilities, you can manage this by using the arrow keys to adjust one end of the capture.  But the way the inline-comment system works, the comment is started as soon as the capture occurs, and there is no chance to correct it.  Add the limit that you cannot overlap comment captures and this becomes a major obstacle to saying what you are trying to say about what you're trying to say it about.

I'm not sure what the answer is, apart from abolishing Microsoft and taking the necessary humane measures to ensure that people who have designed and implemented its software never do so again, but until that becomes possible, any help that tNBW's developers can give us would be most welcome.

Re: Site Bugs 2

I am having a lot of trouble with the site timing out on my kindle. I have to refresh my wifi several times a visit. Is it the site or the Kindle?
big_smile

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Re: Site Bugs 2

njc wrote:

  But the way the inline-comment system works, the comment is started as soon as the capture occurs, and there is no chance to correct it.  Add the limit that you cannot overlap comment captures and this becomes a major obstacle to saying what you are trying to say about what you're trying to say it about.

.

It is a pain in the ass. I have been able at times to cancel the original highlight and go back and try from one end or the other or even inside a particular word and get it to accept what I really want, but that is still a long shot and with a lot of unnecessary work which results in my just throwing up my hands most of time and just try to explain my intent in the comments. It is teaching me patience - very slowly - while expanding my four letter vocabulary exponentially, lol. Take care. Vern

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Re: Site Bugs 2

But the way the inline-comment system works, the comment is started as soon as the capture occurs, and there is no chance to correct it.

You can edit any in-line comment you leave. There is an edit button if you mouse-over the right side of the comment or tap there if on a mobile device.

235 (edited by njc 2015-06-29 16:22:34)

Re: Site Bugs 2

You can edit the comment, but you can't edit the text it captures.  And that is what the interactive environment insists on oh-so-helpfully botching.

It would also be nice to have a leading comment are as well as a final comment area.  Some things are best said up front.

Re: Site Bugs 2

I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE AN ANSWER EVEN IF IT'S JUST THAT YOU DON'T KNOW. IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS WHEN I AM ON MY KINDLE AND HAVE TO WAIT AS IF I AM USING DAIL UP ONLY TO GET A TIMED OUT MESSAGE. I USE MY KINDLE A LOT.

neutral

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I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE AN ANSWER EVEN IF IT'S JUST THAT YOU DON'T KNOW. IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS WHEN I AM ON MY KINDLE AND HAVE TO WAIT AS IF I AM USING DAIL UP ONLY TO GET A TIMED OUT MESSAGE. I USE MY KINDLE A LOT.

I don't know. This is not a site issue as the site has no impact on your wifi connection and I have not heard of this issue from anyone else.

Sol

Re: Site Bugs 2

Thank you!
big_smile

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Re: Site Bugs 2

Some things are best said up front.

So you want to be able to leave a comment before you've even read the piece? I must be missing something here.

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Re: Site Bugs 2

No.  I read the piece in full before I comment.  Otherwise I'm commenting without knowing the work or chapter in full.  I don't want to call anything out until I'm immersed in the author's voice.  I want to be able to recognize foreshadowing.  I want to place comments that fit the whole work.

And sometimes I want to speak first about how I'm having trouble with a character's voice throughout, or about continuity from previous chapters, or about the limits of my expertise.  These and many other comments are best placed up front, not on the first word of the text.

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Re: Site Bugs 2

dagnee wrote:

... IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS WHEN I AM ON MY KINDLE AND HAVE TO WAIT AS IF I AM USING DAIL UP ONLY TO GET A TIMED OUT MESSAGE. I USE MY KINDLE A LOT.

Can you try it with different carriers?  Are you using public WiFi or an access point from a carrier wired/fibered to your home or workplace?  Every clue you can gather is valuable.

Network problems in general are a PitA, especially because few computer systems are designed to help you find where the network problem is--and most networks hide rather than helping.  Good network diagnosticians earn the beaucoup bucks.

242 (edited by njc 2015-06-29 21:15:04)

Re: Site Bugs 2

Sol, here's an example of how the highlight-capture problem works: http://i1065.photobucket.com/albums/u394/njGreybeard/BadTextSelection%20-InlineComments_zpsirozbblg.png

I tried to capture everything from "In this city" to and through "price of his bones."  The capture was extended to the beginning of the paragraph, and to the space after 'bone.'.  Whether the problem lies in Windows, IE, or your web page, it prevents me from writing the comment I want on the text to which the comment appertains.

Maybe the surest solution would be to allow comments to overlap.  That would complicate both the capture and selection mechanism, but (especially with X-line format) I can see solutions.

This is a regular source of frustration to me as a reviewer.  Nor can it help the writer reviewed that I have to explain in the comment that the comment applies to text other than than highlighted.

Postscript:  The problem occurs even if I only extend the capture to the end of the paragraph.  I have to stop it after the penultimate word, whereup on the capture is extended to the last word--but not to the period ending the sentence.

This is a recurring pain in tender places.

Re: Site Bugs 2

dagnee wrote:

I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE AN ANSWER EVEN IF IT'S JUST THAT YOU DON'T KNOW. IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS WHEN I AM ON MY KINDLE AND HAVE TO WAIT AS IF I AM USING DAIL UP ONLY TO GET A TIMED OUT MESSAGE. I USE MY KINDLE A LOT.

neutral

Dagnee, when your Kindle hangs and you're about to restart the wifi, have you tried first accessing the wifi from another device?

Dirk

244 (edited by Tom Oldman 2015-06-29 21:34:17)

Re: Site Bugs 2

~NJC: I get that bad selection notification if I try to highlight ANYTHING containing more than one paragraph. Try the last word of one para and the first word of the next para. You'll get that warning.

I get it even when I am on my Linux machine, so it isn't Windows or the browser. I use Firefox on Linux and Pale Moon on Windows.

~Tom

245 (edited by dagnee 2015-06-29 21:39:36)

Re: Site Bugs 2

njc wrote:
dagnee wrote:

... IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS WHEN I AM ON MY KINDLE AND HAVE TO WAIT AS IF I AM USING DAIL UP ONLY TO GET A TIMED OUT MESSAGE. I USE MY KINDLE A LOT.

Can you try it with different carriers?  Are you using public WiFi or an access point from a carrier wired/fibered to your home or workplace?  Every clue you can gather is valuable.

Network problems in general are a PitA, especially because few computer systems are designed to help you find where the network problem is--and most networks hide rather than helping.  Good network diagnosticians earn the beaucoup bucks.

This is the only site I'm having trouble loading.

Re: Site Bugs 2

Norm d'Plume wrote:
dagnee wrote:

I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE AN ANSWER EVEN IF IT'S JUST THAT YOU DON'T KNOW. IT'S A PAIN IN THE ASS WHEN I AM ON MY KINDLE AND HAVE TO WAIT AS IF I AM USING DAIL UP ONLY TO GET A TIMED OUT MESSAGE. I USE MY KINDLE A LOT.

neutral

Dagnee, when your Kindle hangs and you're about to restart the wifi, have you tried first accessing the wifi from another device?

Dirk

My WiFi is fine. This is the only site I have trouble loading, so that's why I asked. Sometimes even refreshing the connection doesn't work, and the problem seems to be getting worse.

sad

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Re: Site Bugs 2

Also, could we preserve line breaks in comments?  Some things call for extended treatment, best expressed in two or more paragraphs.  If you allow hundreds of words, should you not allow multiple paragraphs for them?

Re: Site Bugs 2

SolN wrote:

Some things are best said up front.

So you want to be able to leave a comment before you've even read the piece? I must be missing something here.

Sol, sometimes you also need to introduce yourself. I'd use this feature a lot too, at the moment I work around it by either selecting the first word or the heading to leave an introduction of sorts.

Janet

249 (edited by njc 2015-06-29 23:23:06)

Re: Site Bugs 2

dagnee wrote:

My WiFi is fine. This is the only site I have trouble loading, so that's why I asked. Sometimes even refreshing the connection doesn't work, and the problem seems to be getting worse.

There can be interactions between the way the message is framed for transfer over the network and the network itself.  A  network that transmits one site without difficulty can gag on another site, a site which runs fine on most networks.

Networks are immensely complicated. For self-flagelatory fun and edification you can look up the RFC's (protocol design documents) on the site of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), assuming that the FCC and the UN have not forcibly wrested technical control away from the engineers who make it all work.

Postscript: Just for giggles, here's the index page.  Thirty seconds of eye-glazing reading of titles is probably enough for any sane sophant.

Postpostscript: Here's one for those who are into (mental) pain.

Re: Site Bugs 2

njc wrote:
dagnee wrote:

My WiFi is fine. This is the only site I have trouble loading, so that's why I asked. Sometimes even refreshing the connection doesn't work, and the problem seems to be getting worse.

There can be interactions between the way the message is framed for transfer over the network and the network itself.  A  network that transmits one site without difficulty can gag on another site, a site which runs fine on most networks.

Networks are immensely complicated. For self-flagelatory fun and edification you can look up the RFC's (protocol design documents) on the site of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), assuming that the FCC and the UN have not forcibly wrested technical control away from the engineers who make it all work.

Postscript: Just for giggles, here's the index page.  Thirty seconds of eye-glazing reading of titles is probably enough for any sane sophant.

Postpostscript: Here's one for those who are into (mental) pain.

Thanks NJC That's what I wanted to know.
big_smile