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FAQ for the "new" TR

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by beth blakely 4 views

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

It's clear we need some documentation for navigating the new TechRepublic design. Jay is working on getting some WIKI space for members to contribute, as he promised here, but we can't let you guys do it all.

While we will continue to work on the site to make things so obvious you won't NEED documentation, we'd like to know what kinds of questions you need answered immediately.

What do you find most confusing? What can you NOT find?

Post your questions here and we'll get an FAQ out as soon as possible.

181 replies

by dawgit

I cought that little piece too. It will be a great tool. But, the but... "things so obvious you won't NEED documentation", One always NEEDS documentation. It's a very important part of IT. And it will save new TRs years of try'n to figure what the rest are talking about. Ok, just a little rant here, but documentation is a good thing, before, durning, AND after.
OK, I'm done.
-d

by beth blakely

You shouldn't have to wade through documentation to figure out how a web site works on its most basic level. That's all I meant. I am pro documentation, more than you'll ever know.

by josborne

With so much new technology comming around finding good training videos is a must.

sundownr

by kiltie

1: How do I find a post I made/contributed to/am interested in?

2: How do I navigate around this site?

3: Where is the TR help section (PNF right now)

4: Why are forums limited to 50 items iin "full view"?

5: How can I enhance my posts?

6: How do I find a post in a subject when there is no tag for it?

7: How do I find a particular post I remember seeing, but have forgotten the tags?

8: How do I delete a post I made in error?

9: What is My Workspace, is it the same as webspace?

10: Why are people "popular tags"?

11: Why are irrelevant tags included in some categories? (see Off-Topic for an example)

12: Why are questions being tagged as discussions?

13: Who can I contact for help, with suggestions?

14: Why are certain boring items in "Recommended" week after week, ie who does that and for what reason?

15: How can I get rid of advertisments that are taking up half the screen?

These are just a few off the top of my head, some may not be "frequently" asked, some certainly are.
.
.
.
Disclaimer:
Let me add, I know the answers to some of these, but not for others, so please don't inundate me with replies, the answers should go in a FAQ, not get buried in a thread someplace.
I was merely trying to think like a newbie, and to express some of my own concerns.

by danlm

If it wasn't for an answer post, I wouldn't have known what all was there.

So, I think you should make some reference to that also.

Roflmao, don't forget how to do the cool emotions in the FAQ. You know, the smiley faces and stuff. As it is, I was provided a link to how to do them. And I have no idea where or if that link still exists.

You might want to have some information about the newsletters. I have seen more then once, I receive all these spam news letters. Tell them, it's the little check box at the bottom of the profile. Duuuu, uncheck it. Personally, that's one of the reasons I use TR. The newsletters, but some people need pretty pictures and don't know how to read.

Dan

by jdclyde

you would see that I posted that link to be submitted for the FAQ. :p

But then, my post seems to have been ignored... :(

by beth blakely

I have created some quick answers to the questions you listed, but I needed more information on a few. Here's the list of answers with my questions included. Could you clarify?

1. How do I find a post I made/contributed to/am interested in?
If you contributed or subscribed to the post, you can find it listed under the "My Discussions" link located above your avatar on the right of all Forums pages. You may also access that information under My History which is part of My Workspace.

2. How do I navigate around this site?
Can you be more specific? The basic navigation begins with the row of links at the top of the page: Home, Articles, Downloads, Forums, etc. You may also use tags (linked keywords) or search to find items of interest.

3. Where is the TR help section (PNF right now)
You can find the answers to many questions by clicking the "Send us your Feedback" link at the bottom of most pages. What help link are you using that's giving you a PNF?

4. Why are forums limited to 50 items in "full view"?
To answer generally, we are still trying to find a balance between too much and too little information. What is "full view" in this context? Can you provide a link that shows me? And also, what do you think would be a more suitable number?

5. How can I enhance my posts?
Again, speaking generally, the more information you provide the better your posts. Are you asking about avatars, emoticons, and basic html use in the forums, or are you asking what makes a good question or discussion on TechRepublic?

6. How do I find a post in a subject when there is no tag for it?
You can use the search feature to find posts on a particular topic. Our search hasn't been great for quite some time, but we're working hard to improve it here at TR HQ. We're as eager as you to provide a much better experience in this arena, trust me!

7. How do I find a particular post I remember seeing, but have forgotten the tags?
If you posted to the discussion or subscribed to it, it will be in your "My Discussions" area. If that doesn't work, search for it. If you remember someone who posted to the discussion, click on their profile and look on the right at their list of recent posts.

8. How do I delete a post I made in error?
You may not delete a post. You may edit a post. If you've accidentally created a duplicate, click on the post and use the "Edit Post" button to change the duplicate to read "duplicate."

9. What is My Workspace, is it the same as webspace?
Workspace has four key components: Updates, Suggestions, Links, and Projects.
--Updates provide you with links to items personal to you. For example, if you've started or subscribed to a thread, Updates will provide a glimpse at the number of posts added within the last 4-hour period.

--Suggestions are a mix of TechRepublic content collected for you based on the keywords (tags) in your TechRepublic Profile.

-- Links are a collection of your favorites. You can save TechRepublic content to your links by using the Save button. You may also save links from anywhere around the Web by using the Add to TR Links browser shortcut located under the Tools heading on the Links page. You may tag your saved links to help you organize and find them again.

--Projects allow you to build a more narrowly focused version of your TechRepublic Workspace by specifying tags that will filter content for you. For example, if you would like suggested content that relates only to VPN and security, rather than your entire list of Profile interests, set it up as a Project and view only those results.

10. Why are people "popular tags"?
Some of our tags are added by members and some are automatically generated. In either case, a piece of content may be tagged with a person's name because it has to do with them; for example, Bill Gates. George Ou's blog post discussions are similarly tagged.

11. Why are irrelevant tags included in some categories? (see Off-Topic for an example)
Are you asking about the "Popular tags" listed below the major categories on the Browse tab on the Forums door? If so, those tags are simply the most popular tags most often paired with the main tag. For example, in the Off Topic category "friday yuk, george ou, humour, jokes, and windows" are the tags most often associated with it.

12. Why are questions being tagged as discussions?
You'll have to be more specific about this question. When you add a thread to TechRepublic, you may choose Discussion or Question. If some questions are being classified as questions, it's the originating member's error or judgment call.
If you're saying that items that you created and classified as a question are being displayed on the site as a discussion, that's a bug that needs to be filed. If that's the case, please point me to a specific instance so I can get that ball rolling.

13. Who can I contact for help, with suggestions?
You can always post your thoughts as a discussion using the Feedback category. You may also send your thoughts via the "Send us your Feedback" link that appears at the bottom of nearly every page. Just click the "Submit a Question" tab and fill in the blanks.

14. Why are certain boring items in "Recommended" week after week, ie who does that and for what reason?
The "recommended" list is not changing quickly enough because the logic that builds the list isn't quite right yet. We're still tweaking.

15. How can I get rid of advertisements that are taking up half the screen?
You can't get rid of our ads. The site is free to you. The ads pay the bills. If there is a particular ad that you feel is malfunctioning, please use the "Send us your Feedback" link at the bottom of most pages to send us a link and description of the problem.

by kiltie

But I wasn't really after answers, I was posing questions.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear enough in my "Disclaimer" at the bottom of the post. I was trying to think like a newbie, and formulating likely questions that might get covered by a FAQ. I know I haven't covered them all, these 15 questions were off the top of my head, no doubt there are many more, I hope others suggest them.

Thanks for your reply though, there may be some I can follow up on, I'll see.

by beth blakely

I appreciate everyone who has posted suggestions so far. Keep'em coming!

For those of you who initially had trouble finding what you need, has the situation improved with time? If not, what's the biggest pain point?

by jdclyde

was the post was obviously not read by DAN, because he asked for what I already gave.

I was not really refering to the lack of feedback from other certain people around here..... :D

B-)

by danlm

hmmm, I'm sorry. I didn't think I was sugesting duplicate stuff. I thought I had read everything, quite obviously I hadn't.

Sorry
[i]Edited because I finaly followed the links[/i] Sorry about that JD, I hadn't followed the links. :8}

dan

by maxwell edison

Have the most active off-topic discussions jump to the top of the off-topic list, just like they used to, and return the number of messages indicator to each discussion. (Okay, that's two, but they're closely related.)

by stress junkie

I even printed that page with the emoticons and html directives to a file. Now if I don't lose it I'll always have that information.

Thanks JD :D

by jdclyde

I actually have it both places.

The quickest thing is a direct bookmark. I have a folder called TR, and all links dealing with the side are there.

I also played around with the workspace when it was first offered. They never did anything with it, so I never moved it to the next stage.

And you are welcome. I aim to please! B-)

by ni70

Probably my biggest complaint or pet peeve is the forums! Clicking next to read a discussion is...OLD! I hate the discussion format TR uses, probably has something to do with TR's parent company using Jive software. I mean look at TR's sister sites ZDNet and CNET. Their Talkback is horrible, unlike TR, there is no Print this thread. Need to click next and wait for the page to refresh with the next comment. TR should give the users the option to choose which format they would like to read the discussion. FuseTalk? Inc. offers the user to select from 4 options: Branch view; Threaded (All Messages); Threaded (Single Messages); and Linear. I'd rather scroll a page then to have to click on a next link and have the page refresh! TR's format is annoying as hell! In this day and age of technology out there TR needs to improve the discussions format, ZDNet & CNet as well. I like reading peoples comments on ZDNet, but I hate having to click next just to freakin read their post! Beth, take that to your management to pass that along to the parent company! Who the hell as the time to continually click next, have the page refresh, read a few lines of comments and to go through the same process over and over again.

And how I would answer the ad question; if you're not using Firefox, I recommend downloading it and then install the AdBlock or AdBlock Plus extension! No more annoying ads! Sorry TR, I know that's how you keep the site free, but I got spoiled with the AdBlock Plus extension.

OK, sorry about my rant. Well, actually I'm not sorry!

Oh and another thing, mature discussion boards/sites have a preview button so you can preview your post before actually submitting it!

Edited because TR does not offer the Preview option to proof read for mistakes before submitting. In which case I corrected this sentence, [i]...option to choose which format they would like...[/i], as I had the word [b]choose[/b] in place of [b]like[/b].

by multiplexed

I agree. Having to click on 1 reply to read it, then click back, then click again to read the next reply, then back, then click, back, click, back, click, back, click.

It's such a hassle. I don't think I've ever read an entire thread because its such a pain to read all the messages. Usually I only read 2 or 3 messages and then move on.

There should definately be an option to view discussions with a normal format.

by dawgit

Just click on that in the gray tool bar, than you get a complete disply of all the posts in that thread (it doesn't go to your printer, just a showing of what could be / would be printed, a preview)

by beth blakely

Thanks for letting us know how you feel. Management is well aware that some hate the discussion format.

As to the ads issue, I've answered that from our perspective. What you do on your end is up to you.

As to the Preview option: Hey, it wasn't so long ago that you couldn't even edit a post once it was out there. And you got it fixed, right? ;-) I kid! A preview would be nice. I'll put it on "the list."

by kiltie

Glad there is note being taken of this, but I guess that's the whole point of this thread ;-)

I spent 2 days away from TR, a mere 48 hours, got 16 newsletters (WOW you working hard... WTG)

But when I returned to this thread, everything was "new" as if I had never read it before.

So I checked, cookies for TR are enabled, no system changes in the meantime (I was merely doing some research - SCO/IBM/M$/Red HAT if you are nosey, a LOT of reading and following links involved - try the Haloween documents, if you have a few days to spare)

So Beth..... what's with all the resetting of posts read (greyed out one day, and not another), the random "NEW" labels and so on?

I repeat cookies are enabled for techrepublic.com.com in my Privacy settings, am I missing something? It works normally if I keep on top of it, daily, but gets lost if I miss a day.

by kiltie

Print this thread is ok, if you want to scan posts quickly, but if you come back later to the thread to view any new posts, the ones you have "viewed" via print are not greyed out.
For long discussions, this gets annoying, which is a pity, 'cos long discussions are usually the most interesting ones.

Additionally, sometimes I go to a thread and some posts that I have already read are not greyed out, sometimes they are (yes cookies are enabled). Then again, what is this "NEW" label?
It also seems random, some I have already read (the slow way) are still marked "NEW"

The alternative, clicking each individual post has the disadvantage of reloading the page each time, hence reloading all the ads. After a few hours of browsing TR, my Internet cache is up to 40MB+ (presumeably with these ads/graphics/flash).

I understand that TR needs to pay the bills, but [i]is it [u]really necessary[/u] to reload new ads for every single post viewed?[/i]

Why not have one set of ads for a thread, then that set of ads can be retrieved from the Cache for each post, without the constant reloading of the page from the 'Net?

It slows down "user experience" (read: decreases satisfaction) considerably.

by nicknielsen

I'm usually only able to get in for serious browsing once a day. What I do is use the "Print this thread" link, then search by the date posted (yesterday & today). Within the first couple of sentences of each post, I usually can remember if I've already read it or not.

If I want to respond to a post, I return to the discussion and search on the title of that post. Once I've submitted, I go back to the Print page and refresh.

Yes, it's inconvenient and does take extra time, but I still save significant time, even with high speed access, by not reloading pages.

by hal 9000

I didn't see this listed in the [b]New Posts[/b] or whatever they are called now but I've been out of contact for a few days doing that disgusting 4 letter word stuff [b]WORK![/b] :(

But earlier today I did notice your avatar and a general description at the top of one of the pages and then couldn't find this discussion again easily. Granted I didn't bother to look at it's actual name and only gave the description a brief read while a page was reloading and thought that it would be interesting to contribute to and then I couldn't find it again. I had to look up my contacts click on you and then on your discussions to pickup this thread. Now granted not a real problem for me but I'm betting that quite a few others would not have found it quite so easy particularly if that don't have you listed as a contact. I could have probably picked this up by doing a search using your name but then again most new members wouldn't know who you where so it would make it harder to find again.

But honestly my biggest gripe is the Q & A section as there now don't appear to be many new questions being asked and the tags allow them to be listed in more than one subject like Windows, Hardware and Networking depending on the tags used. Now don't get me wrong it's great that the same question is no longer being asked in different headings but from the looks of things there don't appear to be as many questions asked now as there where prior to the redesign.

I may be wrong and as I've been doing that dirty 4 letter stuff quite a lot lately I may have missed quite a few but there just don't appear to be as many questions being asked as there where previously.

I know I'm now hooked on answering questions when I can and I miss them quite a lot so maybe some destructions on how to ask a question wouldn't go astray. And the use of Tags would certainly prevent the same question being listed in several different categories.

Maybe I'm due for some form of punishment but honestly you have to blame Chas for me returning to the Q & A Section as I had walked away from it a long time ago and he dragged me back kicking and screaming till I got hooked again so if you are dishing out any punishment Chas really deserves my share. :D Honest. [b]Particularly the Cold Turkey variety of withdrawal[/b] :^0

Otherwise the site has more or less settled down to some form of [b]Disorganised Kaos[/b] and is fairly easy to find your way around in other words [b]Normal for us Geeks.[/b] :p

OH BTW if you are bringing back the Site Ratings who do I speak to for the number 666 of the top 100? I know that it still exists or at least it did at the beginning but I can no longer find it though to be quite honest I haven't tried overly hard to find it either. :)

Col [i]Insert Angelic Icon Here.[/i]

One other thing that occasionally happens when you open a link in a discussion sometimes all the page markups disappear and everything is much bigger and spread out across the page without adds and what would normally fit onto one page scrolls off the bottom so you have to scroll down to finish reading a contribution or answer something. It doesn't happen much but occasionally without any repetitive reason it happens I've seen this about 3 times in the last week and when you return to the same page it's right so it's not possible to recreate the problem. I don't know if anyone forwarded it on to one of the people responsible but as it's an Intermittent it's not going to be an easy one to track down.

Please don't blame me I didn't break it I'm just passing on what I've seen. So please Don't shoot the Messenger.

by newtc

Many TR discussions have a Print feature, but not a "Print this thread" feature. Which means the link goes directly to the printer pop up box, not a page with all the threads listed sequentially.

Clearly, TR needs an option to view all threads sequentially.

Newt

by tig2

Situations using IE6 in which the "Print this Thread" has not been an available option. Moving to FF "fixed" the problem. I consistently had the problem when in IE- even on different computers.

Odd. Since I have spell check in FF, I don't have a need to return to IE.

by pscottc

All of the discussion threads that I have participated in are missing since the conversion.

PSC

by tig2

I tried to do exactly as you suggest. I got a listing with multiple listings- e.g. every post I have made. So I tried the 90 days link. Bad plan, it only showed me five threads.

I knew that the feature was temporarily broken. Do I have to run a search to find discussions I have participated in to get a longer history? I am likely looking in the wrong place but thought I would ask the question.

Really appreciate all the work you are all doing to make the change easier on us all! Thank you so much!

by ni70

As I said in my post, ZDNet & CNet, unlike TR, do not have a Print feature to print the discussion. Now if the discussions were in a format that you could actually scroll down to read comments, it would be much easier to read and follow comments.

Kiltie, if you download Firefox and the AdBlock or AdBlock Plus extension, then there wouldn't be ads to enlarge your cache.

by kiltie

That's what I am testing, but the bugs became too much for me, it slowed down my "customer experience" to use a M$ phrase(apologies for swearing), so I swapped back to IE for a bit. I am spending more time testing Linux out now, so I get a few days without this XP system that I am posting on.

No doubt they will sort them out soon

by vanessaj

I don't know if it's already been suggested, but a page that demonstrates for new users (and even us old ones) how to add emoticons, format text (bold, underline, color, etc. - so JD isn't the only one who can do it :) ) and so forth, would be nice.

Also, a short glossary of the most frequently used terminology would be nice (I'm still trying to figure out SWMHO). I know that a spellchecker is on it's way...eventually, so I won't suggest that - and how can you put that in a FAQ, anyway?

How about who to call and when - if anyone has an issue (i.e., someone to send to for site loading issues, maybe someone else for posting issues, etc.) A basic Who-To-Call list for example.

Just a few thoughts. And Kudos on the new GUI...gorgeous! ;)

by tig2

SWMBO is HAL's wife- She Who Must Be Obeyed.

I am using the spell checker in FF2. There are multiple dictionaries available for it so Brits and people like me can spell as they are comfortable.

by hal 9000

The words [b]Must Be in Bold Highlighted as much as possible and so on to make it stand out.[/b] [b][i]SWMBO[/b][/i] doesn't like playing second fiddle to anyone and is constantly blaming me for everything that goes wrong. :_|

And as far as the emotions and the rest goes there is a link here

http://tinyurl.com/yzrj69

Col ]:)

by vanessaj

Can't imagine the faces I was probably making trying to figure that one out. I was sure I could get it without having to ask and couldn't find it in any past posts. (Hal, very funny. I have to say I have followed you posts and I sympathize.)

BTW, Tig, I don't know what anyone else's experiences have been with the new IE7, but we installed it a few weeks ago on one of our computers here to test it and it TOTALLY blew out FF (and no I don't mean french fries ;) ). Unable to uninstall IE7. Uninstalling FF didn't fix it, either, had to take FF out of the registry for everything to work right. (Sounds like someone's - MS - is getting worried) This might be an extreme case, I don't know about anybody else's experience. I understand that IE7 will automatically download with Win updates in a few more weeks. There is a block for the IE7 update which I will look for a little later today and post here if no one beats me to it, that you may want to try out, just in case. Pesky Microsoft - keeps us all in a job, though, doesn't it? Ill get back when I can. Godspeed, girl!!!

by jaqui

[ b ] and [ / b ] for bold
change the b to i for italic
change the b to pre for a quote
or use html like jd is doing. :p

by vanessaj

Very helpful. I thought mostly of questions I had when I first started actually posting to TR to add to an FAQ page for the site. And I'm sure your post will help anyone who sees it. Thanks for your generosity, though. Very cool. Take care, Jaqui.

by hal 9000

What do those numbers that have suddenly appeared after our Site names mean?

I would have asked Jay but at the moment he doesn't appear to have anything running along these lines.

Col

[b]DUH I see all I had to do was look up my own profile to see. But isn't that cheating by letting others know just how many useful answers you have given? It might give people the wrong idea.[/b] :)

by tig2

Now you have a chance at getting to 666!

You should see TheChas! He has quite the number!

They turned this feature on today- pretty cool, I think!

by hal 9000

Yes Tig I did look at Chas's figure just to confirm my initial thoughts he's been a busy boy hasn't he? :0

Still hasn't taken up my offer for treatment as after he gets home from work he claims to spend about 4 hors answering questions to wind down. Talk about bringing your work home with you with [b]No Chance of Escape.[/b] :D

Actually It's Chas's fault that I still answer questions as he dragged me back there kicking & Screaming and wouldn't let got till I started looking at it as a challenge. Now I know that there is no hope of a cure and me leading a [b]Normal Life![/b] :_|

God Managed to escape so why can't I? :(

I've only seen one post from God in the last 8 months or so and even then he promised to e-mail me with what's going on where he is and that hasn't turned up yet. Do you think that GG has got hold of him and not allowing him access to the Internet anymore? :D

I can just imagine Gods feet nailed to the floor with a heel of a stiletto through each foot begging to be released and GG smacking him around the head telling him to shut-up and stop complaining! :^0

Col ]:)

by dawgit

But why are you at #400+? Hey, I'm #1. Figure that one out. (Don't make sense to me)

by hal 9000

I'm just nicer than you are. :^0

Actually it looks as if I'm getting an undeserved Reputation here I'll promise to work harder at trying to discourage this practise. But if you want to see something interesting look up The Chas Profile here

http://tinyurl.com/yyqvqr

Scary isn't it?

Col

by msanchez

before at TechRepublic ProGuild was a library with many books. Where are the y now?

I can?t find them

Thanks

by Jay Garmon

Due to poor usage numbers and high cost, we did not renew our contract with TechBooks service.

by dawgit

Totally correct, the prices were on the high side. But for me, the reason is, and will be, that if I need a book for reference, I need it now. (which means, I just go down-town a get it.)

by tig2

Beth, TechMail pointed out in the "Helpful Numbers" thread that some people wouldn't recognise the rating system for what it is. It may be helpful to add an explanation to the FAQ.

Thanks to TechMail for pointing out that might be a stumbling block for some folks!

by gadgetgirl

I don't have him. Honest.

Last time I saw GoD must have been the same post.

I'm keeping my stilettos sharpened for [i] other transgressors.......[/i]

they know who they are..... ]:)

GG

by dawgit

IE anything is in the OS, it don't come out. MS has been that way for years, they're not going to change now. Once you have it, you're stuck with it.

by tig2

I think that the update that they wanted folks to block hit the wild yesterday. I could be wrong, so check me.

Do you have a copy of Crap Cleaner? I like it for those times that I have to hand wash the registry and (inevitably) leave something behind. It also eats all cookies and fragments. Good tool, some good documentation for it.

IE7???? You poor thing. I have been using FF2 with the dictionary support. Don't need no steekin' spool clucker no more!

I have teh firewall set to reject anything that tries to come in. I don't use Auto Update anywhere, just a notification. I patch as needed but have found that I can get smaller, leaner, and more effective patches from other resources. Check out www.grc.com to make sure that you are running stealthy and for the odd alternative to a MS patch.

My absolute favourite lately though is Puppy Linux. I can go anywhere and do anything and NOT expose the hardware OR the OS. So far, I can do anything that I want to but have realised how much UNIX I have forgotten over the years.

Good to see you! Take care!

by vanessaj

Will look into CC next week sometime. Trying to get some projects out the door right now. As always it is so good to hear from you and your posts, as usual, are very helpful. I try to keep tabs on you. I may not post much these days, but I am still the ever-watching eye quietly hovering over the pyramid of TR discussion boards. (tee hee) ;\

by jck

"How can I search by message title or message content with a keyword within a specific post category, rather than searching by tag ubiquitously?"

That's the FAQ question I'd submit.

Some people might be fond of the tag-based search, but I'm not. Could you make search default something you can set in your user preferences? So that when you search, it searches on the field you specify?

I looked for it briefly, but didn't see any such beast.

It does not look bad to me. Nice color and all.

Have no use for Projects.

Anyways...looks nice...lost functionality I found better than what you implemented.

by kiltie

From some of the replies, I got the impression that the broken search was now working, so I tried a test.

I searched for "Vista EULA" sans quotes.

Surely that would be a [b]HOT[/b] topic and a contextual search would get hits.

Instead I got

[b][i]"No matching tags were found. Related search results"[/i][/b]

Yes there were some suggestions, but nothing "grabbed me" so if I wanted to really find out about Vista EULA posts I would have to examine each in detail.

Sorry, but my InBox is filled with a dozen TR newsletters demanding attention.

So I tried Google, "Vista EULA" got immediate results, with the search terms displayed in context, the best "hits" were at the top.

However that was not my point, I wanted to find posts in TR about it, not on the 'Net.

I agree with jck, tag based search does absolutely nothing for me, as I mentioned in another post, it is entirely dependant on knowing the tags used, and assumes that the thread/post used tags in the first place that are appropriate, or agree with what you think are appropriate.

by beth blakely

Yes, we know search isn't what it should be. We hear you. We're working on it.

However, when no appropriate tags are found the search fills in with "full text" results. In other words, after "No matching tags were found. Related search results" you'll find content with the words "vista EULA" included. That's appropriate, right? It's what we're doing right now. It will most likely change in some way/shape/form in the future.

I understand what you're saying about the tags and not knowing what they are. However, there are good things that can come from tags. For example, they help us to serve related content so that people may stumble upon other items they're interested in. In addition, tags have replaced (or become the) categories in the forums so that people don't feel the need to post the same question multiple times to cover all categories it relates to.

Tags are also, in large part, in the community's control. They can be whatever you make them. If you want to form new groups within the community by agreeing to tag a specific way (ex: https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5260-1-0.html?query=friday%20yuk), tags can be a way to relate to one another, make new connections, etc. If you want to make each and every post your own little protest (ex: https://www.techrepublic.com.com/5260-1-0.html?query=mandatory%20tagging%20sucks) that's your option as well. (It doesn't help you or anyone else, but if it makes you feel better, by all means...)

I want to be clear, though: Tags are NOT a replacement for a good search. We understand that. And we're dedicating resources to do something about it.

by kiltie

Do you need to retirn to IE for Speeel checking, is that what you mean? What did you use there, God forbid! Not IE7?

I used to use TinySpell (free small program) when I used to write a lot (read documentation) but got fed up after reinstalling and had to teach it yet again how to spell words correctly (it used a US dictionary *** wink ***)

However, back to sub thread, I too, have noticed inconsitencies using TR, one day it would do this, one day another, but I put it down to TR moving servers (whatever) and "tweaking" the new site, fixing bugs etc.

I will take some notes and/or screenshots now, if that will help.

by tig2

Shortly after Hades freezes over. Hopefully that will be NEVER!

I had issues with IE6 in that I could not use the "Print this thread" for easier reading. A subsequent search shows me that without an update requiring WGA, that is simply not available.

GRRRR!

So I use FF2. Only FF2. Except that I have a Puppy distro that has SeaMonkey. It works.

I downloaded the British dictionary for FF2 and no longer have spelling "issues"... unless I am not paying attention.

LOVE Puppy (Gee, and me a cat lover!) and have been teaching the family how to use it. Mom likes that she can get her grandson to boot to Puppy and leave her system alone. I had been using user profiles on her XP Home machine to accomplish that before. Grandson likes that he can run HIS OS on Gran's machine and take his work home with him- great when he is studying at Gran's house.

Haven't been online for awhile- deer season here and I just don't have wireless in the woods. I also didn't get a deer. If we ever build up there, that will change. I can see me in the stand with a 30.06 and a laptop.

I will look for the inconsistencies. I think that what we are seeing is the effort on the part of TR to make the changes that we have requested. I could be wrong but don't think so.

I owe you an email mf. Soon I hope...

by hal 9000

Is available now for Download as a Critical Update on the Windows Update Site.

I've just had a customer call me and tell me how he spent 6 hours downloading IE7 over a Dial Up connection for his 2 computers.

With IE7 I've found that if you install it before installing any other Browser there are no problems and since I've added IE7 to this XP Pro box I've installed FF2, Opera and Advant all without incident.

Though I'll admit that when you start to open Tabs in IE7 it starts to run slow.

Col

by vanessaj

...the slowness in the tabs...and well - all over with the 7. Will try to reinstall FF and Opera later if we can get 7 to perk up. In a hurry, too, because there seems to be a lot of info re: security holes that need patching AGAIN. Haven't been able to give the time to it that I would like this week.

I really appreciate the good words and good advice. Always so helpful to see the experience that others are having and compare issues. We all run similar OS here, if different versions, to support our clients that run the same and it is really helpful to me to hear how you and others are doing on your workstations. Thanks so much! :)

by gadgetgirl

you've made unsubscribing from a thread easier (thanks!) but didn't tell us regular peeps...

went all over workspace to unsubscribe, and there it was on the thread all the time.

You could have told me, I now feel like an eejet! (no change there, then!)

Only thing still getting to me is lack of number of posts to the thread, which I believe you're working on. I still believe you should have a help section with easy access (i.e. from every page) It's not just the newbies that need help - we "untechie" lot do, too! Fortunately, my "alternative" help section consists of emailing the h3ll out of Smorty/Jay/Doug, which I think I'll have to do shortly....

The "glare" factor seems to have calmed (thank goodness) and I seem to have more of a feel for the place. Bit like moving house, I think - you know everything is there, you're just not sure where the removers placed it in the new house.

Haven't checked lately, but last week I was finding the same thread in new/hot/off topic lists, which was a bit disconcerting ???

And still definitely approve of the contacts online section - purpose built for those of us who are chronologically challenged!

Thanks for the hard work, all. Appreciate it.

GG

by beth blakely

Regarding finding the same thread in hot/new/off topic, those are not mutually exclusive states. If a new thread is getting a lot of attention and it's tagged Off Topic, it will show up in all three lists. The only thing new about that is the Off Topic part of it. Even before the revamp, threads could be listed under both New and Hot, so that's the same. Can you put your finger on why it feels different now?

Sorry you couldn't find Unsubscribe. But it's the logical place to put it, don'tcha think? I believe newbies will be able to understand that toggle much better now.

The number of posts issue has been addressed in the new forum door, just deployed moments ago. That's a bit better, eh?

Glad to hear you like Contacts online. I think that's a fun new feature that may generate some onsite fun.

by Jay Garmon

If you have updated or installed a browser recently, it's likely you erased your browser History (not kept in cookies). This will treat all links as if you've never visited them.

"Suddenly unvisited" is almost always a browser issue, not a site issue.

by kiltie

But I only use it occasionally, testing for bugs (found a few) my main browser is still IE6 (sorry folks)

I cannot use IE7 'cos of WGA.

An aside:
I am not a pirate, but some time ago, one of my computers went "belly up" so I trashed it, saving what I could, and reinstalled XP on another system.

Needless to say, this was a "NO-NO" in M$s eyes, so thought I had installed on another computer (which I had, the old one had gone to that great recycle bin in the ground aka municipal rubbish dump), but I am not about to make any phone calls to India/whatever to solve things, so I put up with it.
Reason?
With the coming of Vista, XP will get dumped by M$ in the near future, NO WAY am I getting Vista, so ALL my computerrs will be converted to Linux and maybe the odd Win98 dual boot.
[/end of aside]

However I was careful as I could be, and have noticed this happening to IE alone, now I have a question/clarification.

How is the "previously viewed post" remembered? On TRs server? On my Computer?
If the latter, is it by a cookie? or what?

It would help to know, maybe I am accidentally clearing data with a disk cleaning program.

by danlm

There was a discussion prior to going with the new layout about wireless home network. And a bunch of people made suggestions to the original poster how to secure that network.
I could have sworn I saved that to my links area because I was thinking of going wireless at the time
I can't find it in my links. And I did a search, and didn't find it there either.

Anyone remember this discussion? Chuckle, better yet. Anyone know what the url was for this?

Dan

by danlm

That link was put in after I asked, and I'm sorry for not updating here afterwards. I corrected my search. network tag, and wifi search.

I still think I had that linked before, but. Eh, I also noticed I did not link this properly today the first time(didn't add tags). And had to do it again.

Thanks, sorry about the stupid question.

Dan

by kiltie

Almost 4G?

Must be something wrong with the calc ;-)

joking aside, mine says 2 (at time of posting) yet I know I have received more than that number of emails thanking me for my help. It is difficult when an expert like Col is about (no really, I mean it, you are great mf) so I try and hit the questions he has missed.... or very rarely, if I could add something.

Then (you will probably all agree) there all those answers you gave that were NEVER rated, or worse still, someone pops in (registering just for that purpose), asks a question, gets an answer and is never heard of again.

*** sigh ***

Still, we do our best, and try and help, you seem like me Col, you get satisfaction from helping others, even if they don't say thank you, the mere deed of helping is enough.

agree?

by hal 9000

Though to be fair the new system is much better than the previous system but even still there are quite a few members who don't see the Thumbs Up option.

One of the regulars here had to thank GG for pointing this out to her as she hadn't seen it previously.

Actually if you want someone to look at for answering questions take a look at The Chas it's scary.

http://tinyurl.com/yyqvqr

Then you have someone like this lovely girl who is very helpful who has no ratings. It's wrong I tell you. :)

http://tinyurl.com/yar9o9

Actually I do the same thing I find that because of my location most questions are already answered before I get a chance to have a look so unless I can add something I just don't reply to any and with people like The Chas around there are only the scraps left in the Q&A section. :p

But when you see some of the regulars here who really are helpful with no or low ratings there is something fundamentally wrong with the system don't you think so?

Col

by kiltie

Now, please don't get me wrong Beth, but (apart from a couple of sub threads) my suggestions have been by way of suggesting things I think should be addressed in a FAQ, rather than me complaining of problems and wanting answers. In case you missed the point, I already know the answers to some, I was trying to think..... "What would a newbie or ordinary member of TR want to know?" In some cases, it is inevitable that my own difficulties arise, but then that is also the point, isn't it? Should any of these points be part of a FAQ.

Unfortunately, far too many companies abuse the concept of a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and simply put what they want to say there.
TR is NOT like that.
I am sure of it.
I think
.... er
(I hope?)

I hope that is what you wanted, there is another thread (or threads) for the other type. ;-)

by beth blakely

And we greatly appreciate them.

As for "missing the point," there's no way for me to know which of your suggestions or questions are the ones you "already know the answers to" and which may actually be a legitimate question. Rather than just leave you--and anyone else who may be following the thread--hanging, I've responded. If you don't need the info, feel free to ignore.

by kiltie

You're a gem.

You are right, I didn't specify which I knew, which I didn't, on purpose. I didn't want answers, (any answers could come in the FAQ) sorry not to be clear about that.

You are doing great, and judging by the almost real time responses to my posts, really on the ball.

that brings up another thought, which really ought to be in another thread, but I am too lazy to go elsewhere, so while I am here....

How about a chat room for TR members?
Many sites have them attached to the forums.
(ok that was completely off topic, I apologise)

EDIT: after posting, I realised I could make it "on topic" after all (silly me)

New member asks:
FAQ #37 "Where is the TR Chat room, I can't find it?"

by beth blakely

What a nice compliment! I'm such a sucker for those!

We have *dreamed* of real-time chat for members. (I'm actually swooning a bit at the thought.) Maybe it'll get back on the list someday. For now I think we have a few issues to attend to. *cough*SEARCH*cough*

by kiltie

How do I remove someone from my contacts?

Not the ones I have added, there is a link for that, but ones that have added me?

For example I notice that some have added me as a contact, I have never heard of them.

It is no biggie for me, but might be for some members, because someone adding you as a contact, presumeably means that they are watching your posts etc.

Dunno about you, but to a sensitive member, this could feel like someone is "stalking" you.

IMHO this should be controlled, for this very reason, even if the only way is the ability to remove the person that has "added you".

Like I said, no biggie for me, but some female members might not like this at all. After all there is enough problems in "stalking" around the 'Net, TR shouldn't allow it to be added to.

by danlm

Kiltie, I can honestly say that I have added people to my contacts just because I like watching their post's. They either give me a different view on things then what I would normally have, or else they agree with my warped way of looking at things.

Chuckle, I think I added you Kiltie by the way. But, again. It is because I do like watching the post's of specific individuals.

It might be suggested that if someone is concerned about being stalked, that it be mentioned in the FAQ how to turn off the offline contact option. In other words, make sure the people can't email ya.

dan

by hal 9000

Quite clearly put forward in your Profile if you wish to use it.

I see a lot of people who count me as a contact whom I don't think that I've ever seen post or at the least very few times and they seem to want to follow what I have to say as if I know what I'm talking about. :D

It's part of the benefit of the TR community where you can keep a track on your peers who know so much more than you and learn from their [b]Pearls of Wisdom[/b] when they let something slip.

Or there can be people who you disagree with but it's helpful to know what they are posting so you can keep up with the new developments that are happening. IT is so big that no one could hope to even begin to understand it all or even know a fraction of what is involved in the entire field. So it helps if you can follow those who write quite often about new developments in different fields or even something as simple as new things in OS's or applications.

Personally I wouldn't like to see the ability to prevent others from following what you post as that could very much restrict what I can learn from these people.

Col

by kiltie

Why does my 90 day history (discussions/posted to) only go back 6 days to the 2nd November?

hmmmm lemme guess, you are still tweaking it. ;-) :D

by deepsand

Nor do they say that such are contiguous!

I want [b]all[/b] of my history back, like it used to be.

by Jay Garmon

We know it's broken. We're sorry it's broken. But we're not going to fix it. :)

Seriously, this was a glitch that appeared after the relaunch, but the reason we haven't addressed it is that we're replacing History with an improved My Discussions, which will list all the threads you've started, all the threads you're subscribed to, and the last X number of posts you've made to any thread. We can't tell you what the X number will be yet--we're hoping we can get ALL your posts--but we're fighting the eternal performance issue. We can't have every user's profile making live queries to a million-row message table that goes back several years. We're working out the pagination/caching/limit-return specifics now, but we're very confident the final product will be far better than the current History, even if History could go back 90 days.

As a separate project, we're also looking at an efficient way of returning a list of all the Answers you've submitted that have been marked Helpful. We've got some of the same performance issues here (thanks TheChas), but once we get that worked out, we should deploy that fix after My Discussions.

by gadgetgirl

that won't have any impact on links saved to My Workspace, will it?

Just there are lots of linked things in there that I want to keep hold of for various reasons. You know, blackmail.... payback.. etc. etc.!

Any timeline for this one yet?

(Not pushing, just curious!) ;)

GG

Edit: return of the dyslexic keyboard....

by deepsand

If one has easy access to a list of the Discussions, etal. that they've participated in, there's really no need for much info. re. their recent posts, over and above [i]where[/i] that activity occurred.

by deepsand

There is no way to locate a member by his old alias(es).

This is not a small problem.

by Jay Garmon

User alias is just a field in our DB, and when it is changed by the suer, it is changed globally. All the old posts update to display the new alias. The best way to keep track of people is to mark them as Contacts, and when user names are updated, your COntacts will update as well.

by hal 9000

But I'm still trying to figure out who one of my contacts is after they changed their site name.

Of course if they where actually posting a bit I just might stand a slight chance of knowing who it is that they are and if their past Post History actually worked it might make it easier. :p

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm stalking people without knowing it. :0

Col

by deepsand

While I am well aware of the kludge that you suggest, it has 2 great drawbacks:

1) It requires that the user periodically sample and store a record of the Contacts screen; and,

2) It works well only if there is no more than 1 change between samplings.

Absent access to visual or audio clues, what are we left with as a means of identification? Forensic linguistic analysis? Not likely that we'll have the time for that.

Failure to provide for an Alias History is a design deficiency, one that is deserving of attention.

by stargazerr

This is brilliant .. Still need to walk around our new TR and see if there is something I can find to crib about. :D

My discussions seems to have become a bit harder to find though. I had to look twice before I managed to remember ... heheh

Great work !! :)

]:)

by gadgetgirl

or should we throw a few of the other links at you?

The "New Forums Door" thread by Smorty explains the latest change, if that's any help.

When you've had a puddle around, you can explain all the new layout to ME! I still keep getting sidetracked!

:p :D

GG

by deepsand

have proven to be invaluable to me.

Given that the My Discussions page is still fubar, these e-mails have been my only way back to some of the older discussions that I've been seeking.

by gadgetgirl

Sandy, I've a few discussion saved if you want to pm me if you're looking for something in particular.

I know jd has lots too, and I'm sure he'd want to help.

This is why insiders was a good idea - you could have asked in there without letting the whole board knowing what you were backtracking!

GG

by hal 9000

In Opera or Avant so that you have a constant supply of the Blackmail ones. I've promised Jay that I'll post links to some of his stuff ups when he's feeling secure. :^0

As if I would do such a thing. [i]Dam it where that Angelic Emotion when it's needed![/i]

Col

by gadgetgirl

IE at work, FF at home.....

now you want to put me on ANOTHER learning curve?

Sheesh....you men!

;)

GG

(seriously, thanks Col, you're a gem! :x )

by hal 9000

Because it's small has a very low foot print on the hardware and much more importantly is [b]Easy to Hide![/b] :p

I thought that was what you wanted. :0

OH there isn't much of a learning curve involved either if you can remember IE5 or 6 you can use Advant. :)

Col

by tig2

I know EXACTLY who that is without any question whatsoever.

Don't worry about him.

No it is not a friend.

by deepsand

At the moment, I not looking for anything in particular, but I will keep you and jd in mind should the need arise.

Perhaps we should consider starting an obscure Question thread (they draw little attention as it is) for use as a substitute for the old TRI forum.

Enjoy.