An important message.....

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

In the last week we have have had to delete three threads. Not because of any naughty behaviour, but because someone had posted into them from WORD. This causes an error in the forum's underlying HTML code which results in the moderator edit buttons not being visible to us. As a consequence we cannot fix the problem. The only action left available to us is to delete the entire thread.

 

We not clear at this stage exactly what causes the problem, but we are clear that WORD use is involved. Therefore we ask the following:

 

PLEASE DO NOT PREPARE POSTS IN WORD AND THEN INSERT OR PASTE THEM INTO THE FORUM.

 

Apologies for the caps - but I have to sure that those who scan read do at least pick up the essential part of the message!

 

The best plan would be not to use WORD at all in connection with the forum. If you must use an external editor then please use a simple ASCII type such as "NotePad" and not a word processor.

 

Obviously this state of affairs is less than ideal and we are seeking a solution from the Tech Guys. But in the meantime, no WORD please.

 

Imagine how you would feel if your posting resulted in the deletion of a major build blog several hundred posts long - doesn't bear thinking about does it? So, stay safe and stay away from WORD when using the forum.

 

Thanks

 

The Moderator Team.

[leccyflyer]

Oh dear, that really sounds like a major deficiency in the forum software, if the use of the single most popular (in terms of sales and usage) word processing program in the world causes such difficulty.

[Doug Ireland]

What would happen if the Word doc was saved as *htm first, would that be compatible with the forum program? I can understand why some people use Word to compose posts rather than use the text box provided because of the limited time available before it closes.

[Jim Burton 1]

Prepare your post in Word if you must, then ‘Save As’ and choose ‘Plain Text’ (.txt). Save it in My Documents or somewhere you can quickly find it. Close Word. Locate the .txt file, double click (it will open in Notepad), Ctrl A (select all), Ctrl C (copy to clipboard), click in your empty forum post area - Ctrl V (paste). Simples! (But not as Simples as writing the post in Notepad in the first place!!)

[leccyflyer]

It's just one of many deficiencies of this forum software.

 

Every other forum would take such a ting in it's stride, just as it would take posting of links to other sites, images etc without the rigmarole of having to assign any linked content to a tag in a particular format.

 

Or without the frequent slaps on the wrist by the moderators.

[Flanker .]

No surprise here, Word always was a pile of animal produce. Most faults on my machine are caused by some Microsoft product or other. Open office is much better but why use an off-line editor ?

 

I guess that the hidden format instructions which are word specific could cause huge problems.

 

Good luck with the fix, but I have to say that writing on the forum pages is no trouble at all.

 

Good luck forum moderators and good luck techies - but if Microsoft are involved it is probably hopeless!

 

Go well, F

[PatMc]

Flanker, every other forum seems to manage MS Word without problems.

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Yeh thanks Leccy, we know you've got sharp teeth.

Right, just to quantify a few of BEB's comments. You can paste text from word into the forum easily by copying from the word doc and then hitting the 4th icon in from the right ‘paste plain text’. This works well enough - this post was pasted.

We’ve never promoted the forum engine as being the best but it works well enough and it’s not difficult or tricky to use in any respect. I think some newcommers sometimes don't take a few mins to check some of the user guides when they start out .

 

Where we really suffer is where folks just paste great lumps of html from other websites. We've had a few wonky posts (although small compared to the total number of posts we see) recently and I'll be beating our web developer with a view to getting him to spend some more time on this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Sorry, yes just to be clear - using the paste from WORD icon is OK but something can go seriously pearshaped otherwise.

 

TBH I really don't understand why folks want to write posts in something other than the "pad" at the bottom of the thread. I always use that and let's face it I go in for some fairly lengthy posts and have no problem!

 

BEB

[PatMc]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 11/09/2011 14:48:30:

 

TBH I really don't understand why folks want to write posts in something other than the "pad" at the bottom of the thread. I always use that and let's face it I go in for some fairly lengthy posts and have no problem!

 

BEB

One of several reasons could be because the quote facility isn't very good & a if a response to a post is beaten by another reply it might seem a bit difficult to follow it's logic.

 

IMO this forum loses a lot from the clunky methods that have to be used for the available facilities & the limited area useable for posts.

[NigelH]

As the forum editor is not a good one, it makes sense to be able to compose text in Word, spell check it and then paste it in.

 

I've done this myself several times this week and with no obvious issues. The real irony here is that the site notices that you've pasted from Word and asks you if you want to strip out the extra stuff.

 

[NigelH]

Posted by Flanker . on 11/09/2011 14:27:12:

No surprise here, Word always was a pile of animal produce. Most faults on my machine are caused by some Microsoft product or other. Open office is much better but why use an off-line editor ?

 

Good luck forum moderators and good luck techies - but if Microsoft are involved it is probably hopeless!

 

Dear oh dear

 

First of all, the above includes a suggestion of profanity and people have just been reminded about the rules about that behaviour.

 

Secondly, people who talk like that about Microsoft products like that clearly have no proper real-world experience of them. You're unlikely to find any Top 100 companies running Linux on the desktop. Chances are they will all be running Microsoft Windows with Microsoft Office. They will probably shore this up with Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Exchange and a Microsoft communications server variant in the back-office. Despite the fact that FOS is meant to be 'free', in reality, companies pay millions in license and support costs to get the proper stuff needed to get the job done. Says it all really.

 

[Steve W-O]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 11/09/2011 14:48:30:

 

TBH I really don't understand why folks want to write posts in something other than the "pad" at the bottom of the thread. I always use that and let's face it I go in for some fairly lengthy posts and have no problem!

 

BEB

 

 

 

Maybe because frequently you post a long detailed reply, and it just disappears????

 

 

Did that on Friday, and certainly could not spend the time to redo it.

 

I think we must remember that we have to suffer the software for commercial reasons, there are plenty of excellent forum programmes available for free, but they could no incorporate all the ads (which I never see anyway, as I use Adblock at home, and at work they are blocked by the council's filter)

[NigelH]

While we're on about forum issues, here's another one. Many times, including only a few minutes ago, on several occasions, when I click on Quote, it does not take you to the quote in the editor. This doesn't sound like what Steve imentioned above.

 

[andy watson]

This is an issue I would like to be solved if possible.

 

Some of my build blog posts have exceeded the maximum length of a post, and they then disappear which is really annoying. Typing into Word and then copying/pasting is an easy way around this problem.

 

So tech guys- sort it out!

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

If you must paste from word there is a button to do it. I don't see the problem.

 

When I find I'm part way through a long post, I highlight the lot and copy it. Then I know it's sitting ready to paste back in if I have any problems.

 

This forum has more "foibles" than most. But it's worth it.

[NigelH]

The issue for me was not even being aware of the Word button. The eyes are getting old but the rest of me isn't

 

[Mac 7]

Why do you all moan at a reasonable request...
I can't use my computer atall on the forum! The only way to post on this site for me is on my phone. Just think how easy that is for me!!

If you are using word to save the embarresment of not being able too spell then I am dyslexic and I spell phenectically and try to find the correct spelling as i type, yes I know it takes time but does it realy matter..

Yes I would like the tech guys to sort this out for me and possable others, however I know they are busy with all sorts and I have faith that one day I will be able to post using my computer and not spending 1/2 an hour to have typed this short message.

Many thanks Mike

[NigelH]

Embarrassment about not being able to spell? Not at all. It’s about typing errors (which are hard to see because the text is so small), not spelling errors. When you like to do things properly, the spelling can easily be corrected before posting.

If you mention why you cannot post from your PC, there may be advice here for you.

 

[Vecchio Austriaco]

Even using the paste from word butten there are sometimes issues where you get unwanted characters into your text.

Why using word at all? Well as many said we have to use it during our daily life and we are used to it, know a few or more tricks. And there is also the issue of 'disappearing log-in' and your half page text is gone.

And lets face it - Who on earth is writing using the notepad???

 

Cheers VA

[Kozmyk]

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 11/09/2011 14:48:30:TBH I really don't understand why folks want to write posts in something other than the "pad" at the bottom of the thread. I always use that and let's face it I go in for some fairly lengthy posts and have no problem!

 

It can be easy to lose a long reply if you don't use an external editor to write and save them prior to posting.
Loss can be incurred by system error.
It can also be caused by user error especially when swapping from tab to tab within a browser as is often the case when searching for instances to quote or for pictures and links.
It becomes all to easy to "Back Page" and lose your entire text. Gnaaargh!!
It also facilitates creating a draft response that one can save, check and update later before eventually posting.

After a few infuriating losses I switched to compiling answers in WordPad for longer postings..

[PatMc]

Mac, I don't think anyone is actually "moaning" at the BEB's request. All that has been mentioned are some of the forum software's shortcomings & why it is convenient to use MS Word.

If the administrators of the site aren't aware of people's genuine frustrations then they will have no reason to improve anything.

 

Edited By PatMc on 11/09/2011 19:12:37

[John Privett]

Posted by Steve W-O on 11/09/2011 16:54:06:

 

I think we must remember that we have to suffer the software for commercial reasons, there are plenty of excellent forum programmes available for free, but they could no incorporate all the ads (which I never see anyway, as I use Adblock at home, and at work they are blocked by the council's filter)

 

The forum I use mostly uses free forum software (SMF with Tiny Portal) and that has ads in it - so that wouldn't seem to be a valid reason.

 

It also has the benefit that it's much more difficult to break, lets you drop URL's into a post, lets you preview a reply before posting it, takes you to the point in a long thread where you last read up to, lets you click a link to view all the threads that you have previously posted on that have had subsequent posts, lets you click on a link to see all threads that have had new posts since you last viewed that thread, etc. etc. etc....

 

Maybe some of these features already exist on here, but are hidden away somewhere. If so please let me know!

 

 

[NigelH]

The last read option is good at RCG. I always use that feature and it would be good here if it's an option. Same applies for preview. Allows me to look for typos

 

 

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

This business of loosing longer posts mystifies me. Its not that I don't believe people who say it happens - its just that I've hardly ever experienced it.

 

I input some long posts (some would say too long ) - I very rarely lose them, so rarely I can't remember the last time happened. When it did happen I think the problem was actually at my end with the computer dropping the internet connection.

 

I can logon in the morning, part write something, go away for hours, come back carry on and post it! Unless I actually change physical computers I usually only logon once in the morning and that's it for the day - I never have to login again. Right through to midnight and beyond.

 

It is unusual? If so what am I doing differently? And before anyone suggests its because I'm a moderator and so have some special priviledges - I don't think so. The forum has always been like this for me even before I became a mod.

 

I couldn't be doing with having to open WORD, type everything in there and then cut and paste - it would drive me mad!

 

As I say, I'm not doubting that you are telling it like it is for you, but maybe we should be asking;

 

1. how common is this probelm?

 

2. Are there others like me that simply don't experience the problem, and

 

3 If so what are we doing that is different?

 

BEB

 

 

Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 11/09/2011 20:49:52