What the heck does it mean that a thread is "sticky"?
March 12, 2009 - 1:53am
I've been seeing the "sticky" symbol but I'm not sure what the actual significance of this is. Because of that, and because I'd like to spare other Babblers the embarassment of having to ask themselves, I've started this thread.
So...responses...if you please...
A sticky thread remains at the top of the thread list, ahead of non-sticky threads that may be of more recent vintage.
We can now close this thread.
How does a thread achieve stickiness, though?
And can only the mods confer stickiness upon it?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Our Demands Most Moderate are/ We Only Want The World! -James Connolly
toss some internet glue on it!
The sticky bit, as far as unix os goes, is an access right for files and directories. Unix predates DOS, which used to be a kind of low level interface between Windows and hardware.
Setting the sticky bit on a file or directory determines access rights for everyone from user type "other" on up to superuser and even the operating system itself. But that's unix. I suspect it's a similar principle with this forum s/w running on Windows or whatever the server is running, which could even be some flavour of unix
The moderators make threads sticky when we want them to stay at the top of the list. Oh, which reminds me, I have to get rid of the stickiness on the ONDP leadership threads in the Central Canada forum - thanks for the reminder!
What I'd like to know, Ken, is how you make your post (#2 above) appear below your name (in Internet Explorer) but beside it in Firefox.
I'd also like to know why the little "Contact user" envelope-button appears on the left side of your post in Internet Explorer, but does not appear at all in Firefox.
Are you logged in with both browsers? 'Cos I had exactly the opposite situation until I logged in with IE.
Are you logged in with both browsers? 'Cos I had exactly the opposite situation until I logged in with IE.
Now that is weird!!
I see neither and both at the same time when I'm viewing the New Elbbab™!!!
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Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!
Are you logged in with both browsers? 'Cos I had exactly the opposite situation until I logged in with IE.
Good point. My bad.
I was not logged in on Firefox (because I use IE as my primary browser) and naturally the software would not allow me, as an unlogged-in stranger, to send Ken an email message. So it doesn't show the envelope button.
But that doesn't explain the different formatting of Ken's post in the two browsers.
And this is not something new. I have on occasion seen the same formatting glitch occur in other posts.
I don't see a difference in formatting (Firefox 3.07 and IE 7.0.blahblahblah - I'm up to date). Can't help you there.
I think we've explained this before...but web pages often look slightly different in different browsers. This is not unique to babble or rabble. From what I understand, most sites are built around compatibility with a certain browser, and then checked with other browsers to fix up any inconsistencies. But you never get them all. That's why you often see "best viewed in IE 7" or "best viewed in Firefox" on various sites.
For instance, I found that the old babble wasn't as good in Firefox as it was in IE. This new one is probably a bit better in Firefox.
Anyhow, that's the explanation.
I found that the old babble wasn't as good in Firefox as it was in IE. This new one is probably a bit better in Firefox.
When using my Mac, I have largely stopped using Safari (Mac's browser) and I pretty much stick with Firefox (in Babble, it's much better than Safari).
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Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!
Anyhow, that's the explanation.
Well, it doesn't explain why one post in this thread should display differently from all the other posts in the thread - in the same browser.
Here's a cropped screenshot:
.
And declaring Firefox to be the standard of what is correct is not very helpful to the majority of people who use other browsers. As a matter of fact, it contrasts strongly with babble's concern for accommodating the minority of users who don't have high-speed internet connections. If we want to be all-inclusive, let's include everybody.
And declaring Firefox to be the standard of what is correct is not very helpful to the majority of people ...
I believe Michelle's post was descriptive, not prescriptive. And if you really want to complain about the way different browsers render pages differently I'd suggest you start by taking your complaint to Microsoft because IE is the worst offender for ignoring web standards and requiring silly hacks to make things work like they do everywhere else. Let us know how you make out.
I don't care if different browsers render pages differently, so long as the pages are readable. I read hundreds of web pages every day on scores of different websites, using IE, and I encounter maybe one page every two weeks that doesn't display the way I'd like it to. That's a pretty good average, IMHO.
As I indicated, however, my concern is that some posts display differently from other posts, on the same page, and in the same browser. I don't think complaining to Microsoft is going to fix that. It's obviously a problem with the code that's coming from the website.
Well, thanks for the info, everybody. And that is weird about my name appearing in different places in different browsers.
You should just be able to pm me, Spector. Let me know in another "Rabble Reactions" thread if you can't. While we disagree on some things(perhaps we even disagree as to how much we disagree), I always find it interesting to read what you have to say and have learned a lot from your posts here.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Our Demands Most Moderate are/ We Only Want The World! -James Connolly