Questions for a new sticky FAQ thread
January 4, 2009 - 8:56am
As promised! It's my first day back from vacation, and it's a new year, and I'm about to fulfill my resolution of creating a FAQ thread that people can refer to in order to figure out how to do stuff.
Since I don't want a FAQ thread to be bogged down by discussion, I'm going to create this thread for people to post questions they have about how to use the new babble software, or to post suggestions for things they think we should include in the FAQ thread.
Then I'm going to create the actual FAQ thread itself, make it "sticky", keep it limited to moderators only, and post instructions there, based on the questions and suggestions we get in this thread.
So, ask/suggest away!
Hyperlinks should be made visible as a courtesy to readers. For example, here are various ways of posting a hyperlink:
1. http://rabble.ca
Comment: Works, but not pretty.
2. Rabble.ca
Comment: Works, but not visibly a hyperlink.
3. Rabble.ca
Comment: Looks more like a hyperlink.
4. Rabble.ca
Comment: If you want to highlight it even more.
5. Rabble.ca
Comment: This is supposed to appear in red, but it doesn't, because the coloured font feature is broken.
6. Rabble.ca
Comment: You can do it using UBB codes.
None of the above was created using the little icons in the Comment box. Here is how it was done. NB: I've inserted spaces after the [ brackets which you will have to remove in order for things to work:
1. http://rabble.ca
2. [ url=http://rabble.ca]Rabble.ca[ /url]3. [ u][ url=http://rabble.ca]Rabble.ca[ /url][ /u]
4. [ u][ b][ url=http://rabble.ca]Rabble.ca[ /url][ /b][ /u]5. Irrelevant.
6. [ url=http://rabble.ca][ color=red]Rabble.ca[ /color][ /url]Here's a mod one Michelle. re: the mysterious prune/graft feature we have. How do you use it without screwing up?
This is a tagline. It has nothing to do with the comments posted above. Just a tagline...really. Please disregard.
P.S. There are numerous links on the internet explaining UBB codes.
Here's just one.
Let me know if you need any more hot tips.
I didn't realize we could change the typeface.
It could get annoying, I suppose.
But what the heck...
Happy New Year, everyone!
Thanks!
When you have your link text highlighted, instead of just inserting the link, perhaps also click the underline icon, and then your link text will be underlined as well. (Or you can change the colour to red, or bold it, or whatever you like.)
Unfortunately Michelle, that is not accurate. That's why I posted instructions above as to how to code underlining and colour. Those icons in the Comment box don't work.
Summary:
The following icons do not work and never have, at least for me:
The following icons do work:
As for
, I don't know - haven't tested it, because I haven't needed to. Perhaps someone else can comment.
In short, your lengthy post in the FAQ thread needs to be revised to clarify underlining and colour (at least), in order to avoid user frustration.
That's weird. They work for me.
Hey, actually, you're right, the colour and the strikethrough doesn't work. But for me, the underlining works.
Underlining.
The above word shows as underlined in my Comment box, but neither in the Preview nor the final post.
I've viewed it using both my usual browser (Firefox 3.0.5) and Internet Explorer - and I can't see underlining in either.
When you look at the HTML coding before hitting "Post Comment", it looks correct. But it seems as if the underline code gets stripped off as soon as you hit "Post". I will experiment some more.
Michelle (or anyone), does the first word in this post appear as underlined to you?
Maybe it's because I have moderator permissions that underlining works in my posts? I'll find out.
If that's the case, then I want moderator's privilegesTOO!!!Scratch that.
I am wondering how do you know who is the mods here? I have been lurking, but only just signed up, and I know the old babble had a spot that said "moderated by" and I think that it was also maybe under their name? I know Michelle and Oldgoat are moderators, and JRose - but I am unsure of anyone else. Fill me in?
Me! I'm a mod!
And I can't do any formatting.
Is there anyway of doing a search for someone?
Yeah. In "Your Menu" (upper right of page), click on "My Inbox", then click on the "Compose" tab, then start typing the person's name in the "To" box - wait a second, and all names starting with those letters will appear.
This is a test. Just want to see how good my penmanship is.
Underlining.
The above word shows as underlined in my Comment box, but neither in the Preview nor the final post.
Michelle (or anyone), does the first word in this post appear as underlined to you?
Not to me.
Thanks, Wilf. Just as I suspected.
Hyperlinks should be made visible as a courtesy to readers.
Yes, yet more than a courtesy. It is an extremely basic webpage functionality issue.
The onus should NOT be on the poster to find a way to draw attention to the existence and whereabouts of an otherwise invisible link--and NOT on the reader to waste time dragging their mouse around the page in the quest for the possible existence of a referring link.
I know the mindset of too many webpage design artists who would rather opt for "elegance" or "the clean look" over information sharing--which they sometimes see as an irritating imposition on their creation.
Well, the most "clean" look, of course, is a blank page.
http://www.meted.ucar.edu/resource/soo/graphics/#LINKS
Hey this is a silly question but, um, I'm get kinda tired of being classified as a "recent"-rabble-rouser... How long is this supposed to take to wear off? I know it reset with the new Babble and I can no longer view my post count (I don't think?) to check how many posts I've made since the relaunch but its certainly been more than a few... I notice some other posters have "graduated" but many regular posters still seem to be stuck in the "recent" category? So could someone tell me a) if it is possible to track the number of posts you make anymore? b) what the target number of posts for graduating from "recent" is? or better yet, c) if Michelle or another mod can adjust this setting for those of us who are hardly recent anymore? I know some posters who've been here far longer than me are also stuck as "recent" members...
Well I better just accept it, no matter how much I participate, I'll always just be a "recent-rabble-rouser" in the eyes of babble I suppose
I'm curious what this means as well. If it's going to be on the header, an explanation of what it means would be nice.
I hate the recent rabble rouser tag too. It's kind of ridiculous. But here's why - this new software apparently doesn't count your POSTS. It counts the number of FIRST posts, so new threads that you post. And I think you become just a plain old rabble-rouser after you've posted 30 or something like that.
It's annoying, but not at the top of our list of priorities to fix right now, considering that we still don't even have visible links.
contrarianna, I totally agree with you re: links. It's ridiculous to have to manually underline them ourselves - especially when everyone except moderators have to actually type in the underline tags in order to do it!
Apparently the new version of the editor is coming soon. I know, I know. I keep saying that. But that's what I'm hearing.
People shouldn't underline links (IMHO). They should colour them red, which is the old and new standard for babble.
Here is an example of a link pointing to "Unionbook", a social networking site for trade unionists.
And here is how it was coded (inserting spaces to make the coding visible):
[ url=http: //www.unionbook.org/][ color=red]Here is an example of a link pointing to "Unionbook", a social networking site for trade unionists.[/ color][/ url]
Test to see if you can use a Link to an Aricle using just the colour html with the babble link feature
Sigh, that is a no, you need the full coding.
So you become a bona fide rabble rouser by proliferating threads; it's a bonus for being annoying.
Cool.
It sort of gives the whole 'rabble-rouser' thing some street cred.
TELL ME ABOUT IT. Sigh. :)
I've asked the tech folks to add a new thing to the list - just making everyone except the moderators "rabble-rousers" and the moderators "Moderator".
What about the mysterious variable line spacing in posts? Sometimes it looks like a half-space between lines, for no discernible reason. You've all noticed this I'm sure - I tested it in both Firefox and IE, same problem.
Here is an example chosen at random.
This really makes the page look amateurish.
Any explanation - or better yet, any cure?
Yes, it's very annoying. Usually it happens when people cut and paste text without using that clipboard icon in the formatting thing.
I have no idea why it does that, but apparently the new editor (which is coming any day now, apparently) will take care of this and other issues.
The cure right now is that if you're cutting and pasting, then use this icon:
BTW how the hell long do I have to be a recent-rabble-rouser???!
ETA: Sorry, never mind... (I read the thread.)
Just out of curiousity, how is it that posts are sometimes anticipated on the hotlink on rabble before they show up on TAT or in the actual thread? Last night I noticed this with Boom Boom's post in the Chrysler mugging thread in Labour and Consumption. And now I have been waiting for over ten minutes to see martin dufresne's response in the apostasy thread in Body and Soul.
Ghost in the machine...
Actually, the name beside threads in the hotlinks to babble on rabble's front page are the second posters to the thread (or the first "commenter"). Apparently it's really hard to change that to the last person who posted in the thread with this software.
I've asked them to just take the name out altogether since we can't get the last poster to the thread as the name next to the thread, but it's further down the priority list to change that.
Ah.
Boom Boom, you deked me out there!
I've asked them to just take the name out altogether since we can't get the last poster to the thread as the name next to the thread, but it's further down the priority list to change that.
Putting the opening poster's name would make much more sense to my feeble brain - can't they do that as easily as the second poster's? Neither one changes, after all...
Can we request or change our username? I'd like to change to EvolutionPlease. Thanks for the self-help Unionist.
It's a better attitude but can I switch back and forth? 
Can we request or change our username? I'd like to change to EvolutionPlease. Thanks for the self-help Unionist.
It's a better attitude but can I switch back and forth? 
Always happy to be of surface!
I'm trying to get my head around the editor and am wondering about a couple of things. How does the permalink feature work? Can it be used to fix the sequence of an entry if I discover a typo aned want to edit the entry without changing its sequence in the thread? Can anybody suggest a useful resource for this kind of stuff?
Peter3, I just did an experiment. I edited my post #36 directly, and I edited my post #28 via permalink. Both ended up with a new date (today's), but the sequence within the thread remained the same.
The only use I know for the "permalink" is the ability to link back to a specific post within a thread. That was possible in the old Babble as well, but you had to splice in the post number into the url. If there's another use to the permalink, I can't imagine what it might be.
There is no "useful resource for this kind of stuff", other than posting questions and tips here, as you have done.
Peter3, I just did an experiment. I edited my post #36 directly, and I edited my post #28 via permalink. Both ended up with a new date (today's), but the sequence within the thread remained the same.
The only use I know for the "permalink" is the ability to link back to a specific post within a thread. That was possible in the old Babble as well, but you had to splice in the post number into the url. If there's another use to the permalink, I can't imagine what it might be.
There is no "useful resource for this kind of stuff", other than posting questions and tips here, as you have done.
Thanks. I'll try it and see what happens. Last time out (a while ago, I confess) I ended up with the revised copy below comments responding to it.
I have a question - I have a old tag line I want to get rid of but do not know how.It comes up at the end of all my posts.
HOW DO I REMOVE IT OR CHANGE IT?
thanks, Jan
P.s. I read the long threads on being kind to one another and why people go away or lurk for a while and so on. also the thread on NDPers feeling welcomed and so on.
We should start an NDP confessional - I am a NDP member, and on the executive of my riding association. I donate monthly to the party. I belong to babble because I like talking with other folks who are progressive and interested in their ideas and thoughts. No party is perfect.
I get turned off when some babblers will highjack a thread, do personal attacks, and are just mean. I might read the thread but definitely not participate.
And yes, I get down when there are constant put downs of the NDP and/or any other party for that matter. I would prefer issues would be debated and less focus on personalities. That's it folks - confession over.
I have a question - I have a old tag line I want to get rid of but do not know how. It comes up at the end of all my posts.
HOW DO I REMOVE IT OR CHANGE IT?
It seems that when the pimply-faced IT geniuses at rabble killed the tag line function they managed to grandfather the existing ones, so that they remain forever and can never be changed or deleted. I have to delete mine every time I post a reply.
The only use I know for the "permalink" is the ability to link back to a specific post within a thread.
I hardly ever use the permalink to link to a specific post. I prefer to use the link embedded in the post number beside it, which takes you to the specific post, but keeps the context of the whole thread as well. Try it.
Brilliant! Thanks for that.
If any of you is under the impression that he has explained the "Permalink" feature in any comprehensible manner, let he be forever disabused. This thread ought to be renamed "Questions and haphazard, elliptical answers..."
I have a question - I have a old tag line I want to get rid of but do not know how. It comes up at the end of all my posts.
HOW DO I REMOVE IT OR CHANGE IT?
It seems that when the pimply-faced IT geniuses at rabble killed the tag line function they managed to grandfather the existing ones, so that they remain forever and can never be changed or deleted. I have to delete mine every time I post a reply.
Grrrr - thanks M. Spector. Did you make any requests to the mods to eliminate these? I really, really would like to eliminate mine without having to erase each post?
I believe my tagline magically "disappeared". Ask and one receives from the lap of human kindness.
Thank you tooth faerie - sprinkles all around
I want to present some information in the form of a table and I want the columns to line up. Can this be done? Thx.
ahem. Anyone?
Edited to add: OK, I've figured that if I create a table in MS Excel (or Open Office), highlight the cells I want, press the shift key down and click on the edit button, I can save a bitmap that can be pasted into something like Windows Paint and then saved as a .jpg file.
Then I can paste a table onto babble as an image.
But first you'd have to upload it somewhere (like photobucket or wherever) and link to it, right?
Easier than the Paint thing is simply to select it in Excel (or Open Office Spreadsheet, which is what I use) and print to PDF (using any number of free drivers...). But you'd still need to upload it somewhere. I have no idea if you can create a table, line it up, and simply paste it here. Doubt that that would be easy.
You're right ... I have to upload it. But the rest is done.
Why do some HTML tags work and not others, like tags to create HTML tables? Strange
I have no idea. But I don't think it's going to change. I think they disabled some of them to avoid formatting errors when it comes to the look of the site.
This is weird. I can edit thread titles and opening posts now. And not just my own! Someone should fix that.
Really? Seriously? Everyone's??
Yay, I just checked and I can still edit opening posts and thread titles in babble book lounge. I think I have been able to do it during the change over (I know since the winter), I mentioned it before and the techs were suppose to look at it but I guess they didn't. But only editing thread titles and opening posts and only in the book lounge.
Catchfire asked some time ago about a spell checker for babble. The current FireFox browser has built-in spell checker in case anyone wants to know. Type your post as usual, and then right-click on the edit window. You should see options for spell check as well as adding dictionaries(Mozilla has a Canadian dictionary that you can add yourself btw)
And if anyone does happen to be trying out IEPro add-on for IE browsers, there is a spell checker option in that one. I think it's to make up for IE not having a spell checker. I think I like FireFox's spell checker over IEPro's spellchecker that works with tinyMCE editor(the miniature text editor we're using here). Speller for IEPro is also a right-click and use type of thing and must be enabled through the IEPro menu under " preferences"
Really? Seriously? Everyone's??
Refuge is correct. It's only in the book lounge. But you can do other neat stuff there too.
Unionist, or whom ever can assist y non-geek aspects,
I was following a thread about Haiti and it terminated but I don't know how to pick it up in it's new opening. Can you email directions so I can follow. I know the scene 'really has legs", but that termination of 'thread' was like the phone went dead.
E
Well E.P., which thread was it? Most Haiti threads (not all) will be in the International News and Politics forum, so you can just click here and start looking down the list of topics, which will be in reverse chronological order of when someone last posted to one of them. Some threads, like NDP and Haiti, will be elsewhere (in this case, the Canadian politics forum) - so try there as well. Often, a continuation thread will have as its first post "Continued from here", with a link to the previous one.
If you can't find a continuation thread, and you still want to comment on the topic, just open one yourself, preferably in the same forum as the old one and with a "continued from here" OP.
Actually, I asked why Firefox's automatic spellchecker does not work in the babble edit window--any other text window and spelling flags are automatic (with the familiar squiggly red line). Not so with babble's unique technology. But I didn't know about the right-clicking work-around. Thanks Fidel!
Anyway, linking to that old "tech" thread provoked all kinds of utopian nostalgia, back when babble tech glitches seemed like one day, they might be fixed. Now, like the US Marine Corps, babblers make do.
Is it possible to somehow go directly to the last unread thread in a post?
Scrolling down through post after post one has already read gets old real quick.
Right under the black title on the page is a red "button" that says go to new. Just click on that. And if you like to do things old school go to the thread then go to the address bar and type in #new after the address and this will also take you to the new posts!
Not on what I'm looking at-Firefox browser if that makes a difference.
http://rabble.ca/babble/active-topics
OK-Found it!