I really like(d) the interface here :) did you write it or was what is it's name? Will have to get used to the new one.
Long live TT
posted by jshriver at 06:12 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
Some aspects of the new version may be confusing for some because of the wiki capabilities, but in other ways, it may be simpler to use
YES JR! Confusing is an understatement. It may be that I just need to learn how to navigate but all I see are articles by JR. Please I beg of you...provide us with a tutorial so OLD FARTS like me can work our way around. Or...leave your "Old ToledoTalk" site up instead of removing it in another week
posted by KraZyKat at 06:33 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
I tried posting an article by clicking on the POST link across the top but receive this message...
An Error Has Occurred:
User access problem.
Invalid user.
Return
posted by KraZyKat at 06:49 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
KraZyKat,
I'm not the admin here but have you tried closing all your browser windows and then go to the website?
posted by tekrat at 08:55 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
Awwwwwwww shucks. Dont like it. Nope, not a bit, not at all. But then I'm not supposed to like it am I?
posted by holland at 09:55 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
KraZyKat, do you still get that error message?
I can have two browser tabs open and be logged into both versions of Toledo Talk and post to each without getting an error.
I was confused about wikis at first too, until I finally played around with one in early 2005, and then I decided I needed to have that functionality in my program. So I created a new app in the fall of 2005, and it went live on this server in December 2005, but it wasn't used, not even by me much. At least not until last fall.
My new app had a personal diary or "blogging" area, but I had it turned off until I decided a I needed a space to post other things that were mainly of interest to me, and I didn't want to create a Blogger or Wordpress account. Besides, I wanted the wiki features, and I didn't want to use someone else's software.
So I enabled the personal workspace area and started "personal blogging" on the new Toledo Talk in the fall of 2006.
Then early this year, I decided to make other changes with the idea of making the main site be powered by the new software. Basically, for a long time now, I've preferred using the new version over this stale, old version.
I need the edit feature, wiki functionality, basic formatting commands without typing HTML markup, table of contents, tagging, and so on. Notice it's what "I" need.
But you don't have to use any of these new features. Don't use the wiki stuff. Just post content like before, but make your titles meaningful since that's all that appears on the front page. No more intro text appearing on the front page.
I wanted a simple, clean look for the new site. I frigging hate bloated sites that take forever to load even with broadband access. Think most media sites. And I wish more bloggers made use of the extended entry field within their software instead of having long-ass articles appearing on the front page. If your blogging software does not support the extended text field where the user would get something like the "Read more" link on the front page, then you may want to change software.
I liked the simple look of http://reddit.com
And some day, Web sites are going to have to give serious consideration to mobile or handheld devices and their little browsers.
So far, in the limited testing I've done with accessing the new Toledo Talk on a cell phone, the site works pretty good as is. I may not need to create a stripped down version for mobile devices.
I still have some CSS goofiness on the cell phone browser I'm using and with the PC version of Internet Explorer I have access to.
I use the Firefox browser exclusively on Windows and Linux. I have to force myself to remember to access the site with IE to see what it looks like, and I see something goofy in the navigation bar on the new site with our IE browser.
If you have problems accessing the new site, post them here. I've created a couple test accounts through the new Toledo Talk, and they have worked fine.
Log into the new Toledo Talk and add a new post by doing the following:
click post link -> enter title -> enter article text -> click post button
That's it. If you need to make changes, you can edit the article. You cannot edit the title though. Creating a new post with the above steps should be as simple as sending an e-mail, which is:
click compose button -> enter To: address -> enter optional subject line -> enter message -> click send.
That's all there is to e-mail, yet most e-mail clients including the Web versions contain many more features that you can use or not use.
I probably don't need to mention this next item here, but I will anyway just in case.
For brand new users who create their account on the new Toledo Talk, the new user can post comments immediately, but the new user has to wait one day to create a new article and three days to edit an article created by someone else, assuming the privileges for the article allow anyone to edit it. This little barrier is to slow up drive by spam posters.
posted by jr at 10:06 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
Do I need to re-register on the new site? Because I'm trying to login with my usual name/pass, but it's rejecting it.
posted by TheTalentedMrC at 10:15 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
"But then I'm not supposed to like it am I?"
Why not? Where do you live, holland? It's the town of Holland, right? If so, go to the Lucas County page, and get into the Holland page and start adding content about Holland, anything you can think of. Document the town. If you want to, that is. If you don't care, that's fine. I or someone else will get around to documenting Holland some day.
About all I know about the town of Holland is Groundhog's Day with Holland Huck.
Not every post at the new Toledo Talk is a short-lived discussion like at the old version. You can still have short-lived rants at the new TT, but some postings or articles at the new Toledo Talk will be updated over a long period of time.
holland, here's text from a recent thread of yours:
"All of our vacations in recent years have either been NASCAR or treks (Europe, Middle East, South America, China). The treks were great but tiring."
holland, I'm assuming you could share some Do's and Don'ts and other experiences about traveling to the Middle East, South America, and China. And you may have tips for newbies attending their first NASCAR race.
Now maybe you don't feel like sharing your experiences. That's fine. But if you do, create some articles or point us to your blog if you have one. It's not like you have to complete your "holland's Travel Tips to China" article in one sitting. Take a week or a month or longer to complete it. At the top of your article add this command:
{{underconstruction:workspace}}
That will automatically include text from a template page that will let people know you're still working on your article. You can even turn off commenting for your article while you work on it.
With a wiki, users will need to get used to clicking on the "changes" link to see what's been added and updated. The default look for the front page of the new Toledo Talk is to display postings in the order they were created.
holland, create your first article with a title like this:
holland:homepage
I created jr:homepage. It's my starting point or jumping off point to other articles for things that interest me.
Anyway, create your new article with the title
holland:homepage
and add the word "hello" to your article content. Just add something, anything in the article content area so you can save it.
Now edit holland:homepage and add something like this:
* [[holland:travel]]
* [[holland:China]]
* [[holland:Middle East]]
* [[holland:Nascar]]
The asterisk at the beginning of the line will create bullet points for you. If you don't want bullet points, remove the asterisks.
The text within the double brackets are the titles for new articles that don't exist yet.
The double brackets around your title text will create the links to these articles that do not exist yet. Sort of. Links will get created with the double brackets.
So add the above and save holland:homepage. You should see holland:travel and the rest appear on holland:homepage as red web links.
Click on holland:travel and you will get a new form for adding article content. Add anything here, like "hello" again and save holland:travel.
Now, click on the holland:homepage link that's listed at the top of the Web site in the "breadcrumbs" area, which lists some pages you have recently visited.
Or while still on your new holland:travel page, click on the "backlinks" link at the bottom of your new article. After clicking "backlinks," you should see holland:homepage as the only article that is linking to holland:travel. If 30 other articles were linking to holland:travel, the titles for those 30 articles would appear on the holland:travel backlinks page.
Now click on holland:homepage. All your links on holland:homepage should still be in red except for the one that points to holland:travel.
After you created your new holland:travel article, the software automatically updated your holland:homepage article, so that it contained the Web URL for your new holland:travel article.
Edit holland:homepage or click on the "source" link for holland:homepage, and you will see that the markup text will still look the same. The double brackets for holland:travel still exist. The double brackets were not replaced with a Web URL.
The database stores two versions of each article: the markup text you see when editing and the HTML version that gets sent to the browser.
So holland, you're still on your holland:hompage article. Now click on holland:travel and it will take you to your new article, which at the moment only contains the word "hello."
Now you can edit holland:travel and add more wiki links with the title text sandwiched between the double brackets or add normal text or links to other Web sites or embed photos and videos that you have uploaded to flickr or YouTube.
posted by jr at 11:06 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
"Do I need to re-register on the new site? Because I'm trying to login with my usual name/pass, but it's rejecting it."
TheTalentedMrC account already exists at the new Toledo Talk.
Click on the forgot password? link. Let me know if that still doesn't work out for you.
posted by jr at 11:13 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
The new site is not letting me post new or even respond. It says I'm in invalid user even though I am logged in.
Its the only tab that I have open.
*sigh*
posted by OhioKat at 11:49 P.M. EST on Fri Aug 03, 2007 #
Mmmm, I'll have to find an old test account from the old version of Toledo Talk to see if I can duplicate the invalid user error.
posted by jr at 12:05 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
jr, please help me. I run into the same error message as KrazyKat and followed the same advice you gave her. I have changed my password 3 times so far, and when I input the new to replace the old, I receive this error message:
An Error Has Occurred:
Old password is incorrect
Try again
Return
posted by MrsPhoenix at 03:09 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
I tried the forgot password link, but all I get is Invalid Input. Username and/or e-mail does not exist.
I did have to double-check which e-mail I had signed up under originally using the v1.0 forgot password link, which worked fine.
posted by TheTalentedMrC at 07:17 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
hey jr...error message when trying to post on the new version, even though the top bar says I'm logged in:
An Error Has Occurred:
User access problem.
Invalid user.
Return
posted by MaggieThurber at 07:32 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
Interestingly, I my old account won't work for the new version. Apparently my name is too long for the form. It will only hold
man_with_the_muck_ra
Oh well, such is life.
posted by Man_with_the_muck_rake at 07:35 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
I think I need a class to teach me how to use all the new stuff on the new site...and to learn the proper way to post - whether it should be an 'article' on the main page or on my own...
too much to learn on a beautiful Saturday morning....
posted by MaggieThurber at 07:45 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
Man_with_the_muck_rake, try logging in again. The maxlength for the text input fields was set to 20 when it should have been 30.
As to the other problem of getting logged in and then getting the error when trying to post something, I'll have to look at that later. I also have other plans for today that take me away from a computer.
posted by jr at 10:14 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
"... learn the proper way to post - whether it should be an 'article' on the main page or on my own..."
Don't worry about the differences for now. The easiest thing to do is to click the 'post' link in the navigation bar and create your posting that way. The other details can be ironed out on another day.
So again, it's just:
click post link -> enter title -> enter posting text -> click post button
Of course, if you're getting that error message, none of this applies at the moment.
Again, meaningful titles are good. What's wrong with creating a meaningful title?
A title like: "Hey, check this out" does not tell me much about the posting.
But titles like: "UT Art on the Mall 2007 photos" or "Tracking news about the Dorr St Brownstones development" sort of give me an idea what the posting is about. If I don't care about art shows or news about the Dorr St Brownstones development, I won't bother clicking on those titles.
posted by jr at 10:27 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
On the new site, when you create your new posting with these steps:
click post link -> enter title -> enter posting text -> click post button
no one else can edit your posting except you.
I created a sort of opinion piece last week called Maybe the best location in Toledo for a walkable area. I have edited that posting over 20 times, trying to get it the way I want, mainly because of the photos that are included. I don't want anyone else editing that posting because it's an opinion of mine. Users can add comments, and that's it.
posted by jr at 10:49 A.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
KraZyKat, do you still get that error message?
Yes I still get the error message JR. Same as Maggie and OhioKat...sigh
posted by KraZyKat at 08:48 P.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
I'm still getting that same error also JR.
Invalid User
posted by OhioKat at 11:57 P.M. EST on Sat Aug 04, 2007 #
I'll look into the error today.
posted by jr at 07:03 A.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
jr - if you're working on the log in problem, great...but wanted to let you know that I just tried to post and got the same error message...
posted by MaggieThurber at 09:22 A.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
tried to post and got the same error message...
Me too.
posted by McCaskey at 03:28 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
Had to change my password to get into new version of TT. I can live with that.
posted by McCaskey at 03:47 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
You should no longer receive the "Invalid User" error message when trying to post.
The problem only affected users who had an uppercase letter in their username. User digests are created differently in the new version, and in a couple spots, I wasn't lowercasing the username.
posted by jr at 04:00 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
Ummmm....well, I can now get into new TT using diff. password but can't post.
posted by McCaskey at 05:11 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
McCaskey, redo the password generation process, login, and then try posting. It should work.
If users with an uppercase letter in their username got a new password before 5:00 p.m. Sunday, you'll have to do it again. The new password creation step was one of the places where I wasn't lowercasing the username, and this caused a problem.
posted by jr at 05:23 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
Seemed to work. Thanks.
posted by McCaskey at 05:46 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
I'm still not able to log in, nor able to retrieve a new password.
I don't mean to be a nag, jr. I'm actually excited about the new site, if it helps!
posted by TheTalentedMrC at 07:41 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
"I did have to double-check which e-mail I had signed up under originally using the v1.0 forgot password link, which worked fine."
TheTalentedMrC, send me an e-mail to admin@toledotalk.com, and I'll make sure that's what is in the database.
posted by jr at 08:06 P.M. EST on Sun Aug 05, 2007 #
You should no longer receive the "Invalid User" error message when trying to post.
The problem only affected users who had an uppercase letter in their username
Thanks JR. Seems to work now.
I have posted the comment below on the NEW ToledoTalk...
I am still a bit confused from where to do it though. do I use My Workspace or do I go to Lewiki home, drill down and post from a corresponding catagory. If I post from a Lewiki page will the article still appear on the home page index of recent articles?
Whats the differences from where I post?
From what I understand; if I post from my workspace I can option that no one can edit the article but if I post from Lewiki anyone can edit the article. Is this correct?
posted by KraZyKat at 09:24 A.M. EST on Mon Aug 06, 2007 #
Sorry to be a pest..I've registered at the new site as "karen"
Is there something I'm missing to keep me logged in every time I visit? Or, do I need to log-in each time I open TT?
posted by aperson at 09:49 P.M. EST on Tue Aug 07, 2007 #
Ahhhh, thank you Karen/aperson! The exact same question I wanted to ask!
posted by jmleong at 11:41 P.M. EST on Tue Aug 07, 2007 #
The way it's setup now is if you close your browser, then you have to log back in the next time you open your browser and visit Toledo Talk.
But if you login and then use your browser for other sites, but you never close your browser, then the next time you visit Toledo Talk, you should still be logged in.
I'm not offering the option of "saving" your login, so that the next time you open your browser, you're already logged into Toledo Talk. Saving a login could present problems on shared PCs. Although if you don't logout of Toledo Talk, and if you don't close your browser, then a problem could still exist if someone else uses the computer.
posted by jr at 12:05 A.M. EST on Wed Aug 08, 2007 #
Well thats a bummer.
Couldn't you just offer it as a check box so that people could choose to save it or not?
posted by OhioKat at 12:18 P.M. EST on Wed Aug 08, 2007 #
:(
No-likey.
I'm the only person who uses my computer so admittedly perhaps I'm insensitive to those who have to share. And I suppose it's not the most important thing in the world to quibble over, either.
It's a bit cumbersome, though. I'm not going to automatically log in at the start of each visit to ToledoTalk, because much of the time I don't necessarily have anything to post. However, I'll read the new topics and if I want to comment on one, THEN I'll have to log in, which takes you back to the home page, THEN you have to re-find the topic so you can post.
Granted, the simple act of putting my shoes on takes more effort, but still ... .
posted by jmleong at 01:19 A.M. EST on Thu Aug 09, 2007 #
"Couldn't you just offer it as a check box so that people could choose to save it or not?"
The old version of Toledo Talk used to offer this, but eventually I removed it. I rarely used it, and when I did, it didn't seem to function properly. And then there was the shared PC issue.
But I'll add this save login checkbox option to the to-do list.
posted by jr at 03:44 P.M. EST on Thu Aug 09, 2007 #
Awesome, Thanks!
posted by OhioKat at 09:11 P.M. EST on Thu Aug 09, 2007 #
Thank you jr!
posted by jmleong at 09:22 P.M. EST on Thu Aug 09, 2007 #
Yes, Thank you!
Karen
posted by aperson at 10:20 P.M. EST on Thu Aug 09, 2007 #
Syndicate ToledoTalk
