TheNextBigWriter Premium → Bugs & Maintenance Requests
Case in point! I commented on how some posts disappear like a puff of smoke, while others stay highlighted for days on end. My above post only lasted less than two hours, but the one above it, to which I referenced, was on the notifications for over two days. Splain me that, Sol.
EDIT (by Dirk): PRIORITY: High.
Sol, the contact info for support on the site is still incorrect. That's something new users would use more than existing members, so it really needs to be corrected.
PRIORITY: High. Affects new users' ability to get help. They can ask in the forums too, but it will seem to them that formal user support doesn't exist/respond.
Thanks
Dirk
Case in point! I commented on how some posts disappear like a puff of smoke, while others stay highlighted for days on end. My above post only lasted less than two hours, but the one above it, to which I referenced, was on the notifications for over two days. Splain me that, Sol.
It's a bit of a mystery to me, tbh. I'll have to dig into the forum software we are using to understand it.
Sol, my security software and Google are both complaining about the security certificate again. This happens when I click inside a site-generated email (specifically, the one sent out when I receive a new message from another member). I trimmed the url; let me know if you need it.
Suspicious page blocked for your protection
https://email2.booksie.com/ls/click?upn … zbJkoR-...
Your connection to this web page is not safe due to an unmatching security certificate.
This means that the certificate was issued for a different web address than the one it is being used for, and you run the risk of exposing your data by accessing this page.
I could have sworn this was fixed for a while, but MJ saw it too, so it's not specific to my machine only.
PRIORITY: Very High. Gives the impression that the site has serious bugs.
EDIT: This may have been fixed. I haven't seen either Google or my security software complain in about two weeks.
Sol, it looks like the timeout problem in the forums (where it kicks me out too soon) is still present. Fortunately, I remembered to copy what I had written to the clipboard, otherwise I would have lost a new post that I had been working on for almost an hour.
Is the bug fix for this still in progress?
PRIORITY: Medium, but really annoying! It's okay to get kicked out as long as the post goes in. The serious case is when writing a lengthy new topic (or just walking away from your computer for a while halfway through writing a new topic). In the latter cases, getting kicked out means there's no way to recover the new topic (not even with the browser's back button).
Thanks
Dirk
Sol,
Unfortunately, a new member created two books today, where it should have been the first and second chapters of one book. This means that not every new member can be counted on to hover over the Create New Work button to discover/read the tooltip.
Is it possible to now move instructions for creating chapters directly onto the Post Your Writing screen? Preferably right below the Create New Work button in a color/font that stands out well enough to not be ignored when the big red Create New Work button draws much of the attention on that screen.
Or, create a second, huge, red button right next to the first one, label it Add A Chapter, and have it bring up a simple popup screen with the instructions of what to do if you want to add a new chapter to an existing book.
PRIORITY: Medium. Not as urgent as other problems on this page, but it still burns (some) new users. For now, I'd suggest we monitor for this to see how often it keeps coming up.
Thanks
Dirk
Hmmmm, that sounds like me. I'm editing the chapter(s), I'll fix it directly.
What is the best way for me to make this fix? I thought I would delete both chapters and start Over. But that would affect the points in some way. The other idea is to take the second chapter and find that button again, and add it to the first. Please let me know.
Thanks
Chapter
Hi Chapter. It's a longstanding issue with the site (quite a few new members accidentally create multiple books). We thought we had it licked with just the tooltip, but perhaps we need to move the instructions right onto the Post Your Writing screen or use a second button with a popup as I described above.
Feel free to send me a connection request if you need assistance with how to bring them back together. Unfortunately, you will need to repost one of the two chapters into the other book (chapter b into the part a book, or chapter a into the part b book, depending on which of them you decide to keep up), then rename the book you don't want people to read with something appropriate in the book's name (e.g., append OBSOLETE to the name). Once you're done with all of the reviews you receive/received for the obsolete book, you can delete it entirely, but it will delete those reviews too. You can also renumber existing chapters in any book in case you need to make room for the second half of your initial chapter in the book you decide to keep up. Clear as mud? 
Let me know if you need help.
Dirk
Sol, I just created a test account for myself (Dirk B - Test) so I can understand how a basic account works (once my trial expires). The email the site sends out that requires the new member to confirm their email address references the obsolete support@thenextbigwriter.com email address in case the new member needs help with that step.
Also, when I clicked the link to confirm my email address (a different one than from my regular account), Google again intercepted my attempt to get to the site because of the security certificate mismatch - same issue as reported in one of my earlier posts on this page, but this time it's for the signup process, and with the incorrect support email address, anyone who runs into this certificate issue will probably abandon their attempt to sign up since it requires them to override Google's warning to get to a site they don't know.
Sorry to inundate you with these posts.
Dirk
PRIORITY: Very High. This one seems pretty serious when we're trying to sign up new users.
I have no clue how to make a payment and I haven't received a billing. I would like to sign up for a few months. I have called the number provided but it doesn't ring and a message isn't possible. The site references different pricing - so, I don't have a clue. Help. Please.
Chapter
Chapter, I messaged Sol (our admin) on your behalf, although he does check the forums too. Also, check your private messages for my detailed response.
Sol, I managed to find my inline reviews by looking at the bottom of the chapters. I then went back into the Reviews screen and futzed around with the search/filter control at the top of the inline received tab. No change until I hit the black Reset button. That brings them all back, but they disappear again as soon as I leave/reenter the tab.
I tried deleting my tnbw cookies, but that didn't help. Logged out of the site, closed the tnbw tab, closed the browser, and rebooted the machine. No luck.
One thing I noticed, though, is that, after I hit the Reset button (and all my reviews display again), I can hit the browser's refresh button and that doesn't cause a problem. But, if, after hitting Reset, I click on the inline received tab (the one I'm on), the refresh of that tab causes the reviews to disappear again.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
PRIORITY: Medium, since this seems to affect only me, and there's a workaround.
Thanks
Dirk
One thing that may need looking in on is the "which house do you want to publish in?" question when posting the first chapter of anything. Currently, the method uses check boxes. However, since you can only post in ONE house, a check on two or more results in an error. Could these boxes be changed to a radio button, which will only allow ONE choice? Most noticeable on Booksie, but is done here as well.
Bill
Hi Bill. On this site, you can post to some or all of the groups of which you are a member. Only Booksie has the limitation your referring to. Much simpler architecture for the latter I would imagine.
Thanks, Dirk. After I posted, I checked to find I was wrong about TNBW. Oh well. Sometimes you get the bear, sometimes it gets you. Something to look into, though.
Bill
Sol, I retested the points calculation the site does and the ratio is still 5-to-1.
I posted a new book called Points Calc Testing which is 1760 words long according to MS-Word. It cost 5.38 points to post and pays 1.08 for each review. That's still a 5 to 1 ratio, meaning you have to review five 1760-word chapters in order to earn enough points to post 1760 words.
It was supposed to be changed to 3 to 1 to be much easier to encourage trial members to collect points and post. It should also be easier to do than most similar sites to this one, which don't offer an inline review system as good as ours, yet are thriving.
What really matters in the long run is of course the review-trading relationships among authors, not so much the points. If someone is unwilling to do even a few reviews at 3-to-1 to collect points and begin to develop those relationships, then this is not the site for them.
PRIORITY: High. Until this is fixed, we have the same big hurdle in place when trial members are trying to get a feel for the site. This ratio doesn't affect most long-term members since we've accumulated more points than God.
Sol, you never responded to the bugs I reported on this page (seven and counting; eight if you include Jack's issue). Some of them are new, others seem not to have been fixed. I just want to make sure you don't accidentally overlook these.
I suggested a priority for each of them in red: 2 very high, 2 high, 3 medium. I would also suggest high priority for Jack's reported issue about some forum posts disappearing too soon from the home page. One of the other high priority issues - getting the user support contact info right across the site - should be easy to do before digging into Jack's reported issue.
By the way, I'm pretty sure I've seen the same problem as Jack for years, but I never tried to reproduce it.
Please let me know if you need any help either reproducing these problems or testing fixes. I'd suggest we also involve more end users in testing fixes. I'm happy to coordinate that and to post short notes here as warranted to let people know when we think an issue has been fixed.
Thanks
Dirk
Sol:
I just spent two weeks trying to renew my premium membership. Each time I introduced my credit card data and hit "OK" or whatever the button says, the system would take me back to the page where it says my membership has expired, without performing any charge at all or sending any error message.
Two weeks like that!
Enough to scare away newbies. It finally worked yesterday, but I was about to stop trying.
Thanks for looking into it.
Kiss
Gacela
PRIORITY: High. Until this is fixed, we have the same big hurdle in place when trial members are trying to get a feel for the site. This ratio doesn't affect most long-term members since we've accumulated more points than God.
Hmm. I'll have to look into why the ratio is still like that. We did make an adjustment. Okay, more to come.
Sol, you never responded to the bugs I reported on this page (seven and counting; eight if you include Jack's issue). Some of them are new, others seem not to have been fixed. I just want to make sure you don't accidentally overlook these.
I suggested a priority for each of them in red: 2 very high, 2 high, 3 medium. I would also suggest high priority for Jack's reported issue about some forum posts disappearing too soon from the home page. One of the other high priority issues - getting the user support contact info right across the site - should be easy to do before digging into Jack's reported issue.
By the way, I'm pretty sure I've seen the same problem as Jack for years, but I never tried to reproduce it.
Thanks, this is helpful. We'll look into them.
Sol:
I just spent two weeks trying to renew my premium membership. Each time I introduced my credit card data and hit "OK" or whatever the button says, the system would take me back to the page where it says my membership has expired, without performing any charge at all or sending any error message.
Two weeks like that!
Enough to scare away newbies. It finally worked yesterday, but I was about to stop trying.
Thanks for looking into it.
Kiss
Gacela
I'll have to test and see if I can recreate the problem. I did see your attempts on the backend so I have some data to work with. Thanks!
Looks like clicking a link from within an email generated by the site is being intercepted again:
Suspicious page blocked for your protection
https://email2.booksie.com/ls/click?upn … vaew-3D-3D
Your connection to this web page is not safe due to an unmatching security certificate.
This means that the certificate was issued for a different web address than the one it is being used for, and you run the risk of exposing your data by accessing this page.
Sol, any idea why this bug keeps coming back?
Thanks
Dirk
Sol,
Marilyn noted this evening that the points math is still 5-to-1. We may have lost a newer member because of it.
Also, can you please give us an update on where things stand with recent bug reports? Are fixes still in progress, or are those on hold until you divide the site's workflow into reviewers-only and paying members?
Any ETA on any of these?
Thanks
Dirk
Sol, happy new year. We have a returning user (whatta) whose account was created in 2006. He can post chapters and short stories, and the posted works show on my home page, but when I look in his portfolio, the book (Tropical Cancer) doesn't show up. Any idea why this might be?
Thanks
Dirk
TheNextBigWriter Premium → Bugs & Maintenance Requests
