Problem with photo.net site software

[johnclulow]

<p>I've been a rather happy participant on photo.net and thus subscribed; participating mainly on No Words, a forum I have come to love.</p>

<p>Recently, however, I've had a problem that has resulted in a rather moderate level of frustration on my part. I wanted to ask a simple question regarding the appropriateness of post-processing, and realizing that simply posting it on the No Words forum would be totally inappropriate, I clicked "UNIFIED VIEW" and then I and I found a blue button over on the left that said something like;</p>

<p><strong>"Ask Question"</strong></p>

<p>Being the unformed newbie I am here, I clicked on that and tried to follow the instructions. This, unfortunately, resulted in an unexpected post IN the "No Words" forum, asking my question there. Several people went ahead and responded to this question, one of them by internal e-mail, and I sincerely thank them all for that as this helped me considerably.</p>

<p>Nonetheless, I felt badly because I realized this was violating the very basis of the "No Words" premise.</p>

<p>Just now I just received an e-mail from one Walter Tatulinski, notifying me that he has deleted the thread because it is contrary to the intent of the premise, and I thanked him for that.</p>

<p>While I appreciate this, I feel somewhat embarrassed. Yet from my viewpoint I feel I was merely trying to utilize the software devices photo.net made available to me as best I could. This, in turn, resulted in a problem; but I do not feel it was <em><strong>my</strong></em> problem.</p>

<p>So I would like to see Water Tatulinski and photo.net fix this. But first, I think they should acknowledge it and define it. When people like me who are unfamiliar with this site look around and wind up clicking on "Unified View" and then on "Ask Question", why does it so happen that following the instructions results in a new thread with words on the No Words thread that then Water Tatulinski has to delete? I think that is a legitimate question for someone like me who has paid for a subscription.</p>

<p>Walter: Please provide a detailed explanation of why this happened and how you will fix it in the future so that others like me are not subject to embarrassment.</p>

<p>Regards, and Happy New Year!<br>

</p>

 

[lex_jenkins]

<p>As a moderator, Walter doesn't have any control over the format of the No Words forum. The functionality of the forum is designed at the programming level. Same with the forums I moderate - we're fairly limited and must work with the format provided.</p>

<p>That's why each forum has its own published guidelines, which are visible in the right hand sidebar on the forum home page, and reiterated whenever a member chooses to initiate a new thread.</p>

<p>We mods, who are all volunteers, have very little control beyond that. If a thread or post strays too far from those published guidelines, our only option is to delete the post or entire thread, usually with an explanation for the deletion, as you received.</p>

<p>Ideally the No Words forum wouldn't have any capacity for long text posts, but that wouldn't be practical, since the post/reply box cannot differentiate between HTML to embed a photo via a link (my usual method), or text with lengthy descriptions, as your post contained. If the forum could somehow be programmed to accept only photos and only brief text captions it would help mitigate such occurrences. But it happens so seldom that it hasn't been a priority.</p>

<p>Regarding the Unified Forum view and "ask questions" option, you have a valid point. I'd never noticed that before, but I can see how someone inexperienced with forum protocol might find it confusing. But, again, the guidelines for the No Words forum do appear after clicking the "ask question" option for the No Words forum, and the published guidelines includes this phrase:</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em> "This forum does not lend itself to discussions. Post pure discussion threads, such as questions about this forum, suggestions, complaints, administrative announcements, etc in the Site Help forum."</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Your observations have prompted me to consider revising and streamlining the published guidelines for the forums I moderate (b&w forums, beginner forum, a couple others). Most of those guidelines were written years ago and now seem rather too wordy and redundant. However I'll consult with other mods and admin for feedback to be sure any revisions don't create other problems.</p>

[bobatkins]

<p>I wouldn't worry about it. No big deal. I agree it's slightly confusing but I'm guessing the number of time it causes a problem is minimal. The forum instructions are clearly visible, so most people will see and read them and not post text and it's my guess that almost nobody ever posts to the No Words forum from the Unified View page. Walter would know how often this happens I guess.</p>

<p>The simple solution would be to remove the "No words" forum from the Unified view, but I'm guessing that would cause more problems than it would cure.</p>

<p>Maybe in photo.net 2.0 (which is coming) things will be different. We will have to wait and see!</p>

[johnclulow]

<p>OK Friends,</p>

<p>I will accept that as an acknowledgement of the problem I experienced. Obviously, I won't happen upon it again; my main concern is with others who might encounter similar embarrassment.</p>

<p>My point is that I am a paying customer; despite the fact that there may be unpaid volunteers working here, someone is probably responsible. That person, whoever they may be, needs to at least hear from the people who are paying customers. Agreed?</p>

<p>So I'll hang in here a while longer and see how it shakes out. As I said, I have come to love the No Words forum; participating in it has re-awakened my interest in photography. I'm not going to leave that for a little hiccup or bump along the road; unless nobody cares to at least consider customer feedback. That would be another matter entirely.</p>

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