The amount of times that I, like today, have spent a LONG time typing out a comment to then hit enter and then be told that there is an eror because I forgot to fill in my details, to then hit the back key to discover all of my comments have disappeared......
'Oh <snipped> it, I ain't typing all that again' Is my usual response.
I bet that is happening to a lot of people and would hope that there is a way to rectify this.
Pure frustration!!
Good site BTW guys, Thanks.
I've not made that same mistake twice.
I type my comment up in a separate text editor (notepad will do fine) then copy paste into the web form. That way I have a copy if I get an error.
Fine. But newbies won't think to do that and are likly to be put off.
In anycase, isn't this problem better avoided rather than 'Got round'?
This problem is hardly unique to this site. But if newbies insist on avoiding the various wacky hurdles of the internet rather than tackling them head-on they shall forever remain newbies. I agree with Bubby on this one. I use NotesHolder, a GOTD from awhile back, for these occasions. (I wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up here again.) Or you could just right-click your text, copy it, and if it doesn't go through the first time, just paste it back in.
However you choose to do it, make it a habit. As my sainted Grandma used to say after sinking her teeth into my forearm, "Once bitten, twice shy."
(She used to palm her teeth in her cupped hand like a magician, so you never saw it coming.)
Rizla01 said:
But newbies won't think to do that and are likly to be put off.
If a newbie doesn't think to do that after the first time it happens, they have learned nothing, and will remain a newbie.
Also something I feel should be pointed out (to avoid newbies double and triple posting), your posts will not appear immediately (sometimes it can take an hour or two). All posts are manually "processed" to be displayed and will remain hidden until someone at GOTD presses the "big red button" to release the latest "batch" of comments.
(note this doesn't mean that all the posts will be read or moderated. This is why some posts might "disappear" or get "snipped" after appearing in the comments)
rizla,
I can promise you that disappearing messages happen on practically every Internet forum, so ALWAYS save the text before you try to post a message--because technology is waiting to let you down--and the longer and more complicated the message, the more likely it is to disappear, because technology likes to really p*** you off if it can.
(But..shhh..always try backspace, just in case, because sometimes the message is still there.)
Sorry guys, but I agree with rizla01 on this one.
This site attracts people with a wide range of computer experience and I think they all deserve the opportunity to submit comments and have their opinions considered. For many, this may be the first time they have ever attempted to download any software, let alone, tried to communicate with people far more experienced. For some, they may not even have learned how to 'copy' and 'paste' yet.
After they have taken the time to write out what they want to say and made the decision to submit it, to have the whole thing disappear because they didn't fill out a form correctly, or (and I'm sure many of us have found this out the hard way!) hit the 'forward' or 'back' arrow to check on something in the middle of a reply, may discourage them from ever trying again.
Is that the kind of site we want this to be, where newcomers attempts to participate in a discussion or ask for help are deleted due to inexperience with the submission process? Or is it a place where people can ask for help and have their questions answered, where 'newbies' are supported and encouraged to participate, where everyone's contribution is welcomed?
IMO the 'activating' and 'installing' procedures here are enough "wacky hurdles" to subject people to - why not simplify the procedure for posting comments so everyone can participate easily?
It really chokes me up to think of these poor dabs forlornly struggling with this thorny site. Bubby, aren't you ashamed? What are you going to do about it?
Perhaps there's some way we could post their comments for them, if they're that helpless?
Actually I would have thought if you lose a message once because you aren't signed in, you'd make sure you're signed in before you try again--but what do I know?
What am I going to do about this? Not much I can do. I can pass the message on - but this is probably a wordpress/browser problem - and not something unique to this site.
BTW I'm sure there are other sites on learning to use a computer, a web browser, how to unzip files and how to use a search engine. I might make a list of sites so people can make a start and have somewhere to go and learn.
If you are registered in this forum and you are signed in then you don't have that problem.
Just a suggestion but maybe everyone should register here.
Making things easier for someone is all well and good, but not to the point of eliminating the learning process. I think it is much better to explain the copy and paste routine or text editors than to just by-pass them, because these things WILL come in handy somewhere down the line if you spend any time on a computer.
This site frequently offers things like registry cleaners and memory optimizers. (Way too frequently, IMHO.) These things can be tricky for an experienced user, never mind someone who can't get a comment posted. You can coddle someone by making the downloading of these things as simple as a single mouse click. But who'll be there when Joe Newcomer deletes all his .dll files because No-Namo Software's RegBlaster shows them all on one easy-to-delete page?
Live and learn, I always say.
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