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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 5, 2011 0:33:42 GMT
Can we talking about the screen jumping around, slow loading pictures, etc.? Maybe if we pool our solutions, we can all have a better forum browsing experience. Personal observation: the thread is really difficult to download for me, keeps jumping back and forth, stalling, going back to the home page etc. I have never yet had an uninterruped viewing of it. Jazz, you're referring to the Pierrefonds thread, correct? I haven't had any problems with that thread, but I've experienced some of the other stuff you mention. Here's some stuff to try for that or any other picture-intensive thread that gives you problems: 1) Open the thread and leave it open, but don't touch it any way -- no scrolling, nothing. Go off & do something in another tab, then come back to the thread when it's completely loaded. 2) Don't have too many other tabs or windows in use when trying to load a balky thread. 23 Try another browser. I was using Firefox quite happily for a good while. Then, I think around version six, it got so downright bouncy that I could hardly use this forum at all. I switched to Chrome, & have been pretty happy with it. For me, IE is annoyingly slow. Some of the problem could be the photo hoster. I'm getting very unhappy with photobucket, not just for poor picture reproduction, but because it can be very slow loading. I've seen this on my own pictures and that of other people. The going back to home page worries me. That shouldn't happen. If you want to give me details, it can be reported to proboards Support. Anyway, that's all I've got. It would be great to hear what other people do about various problems. A question for everyone -- do threads seem to load better if there are fewer pictures per individual post? Any thoughts about what might be the optimum number?
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 26, 2011 2:42:17 GMT
Now there is an extremely easy way to share what you see and read on Any Port in a Storm: At the top of every single page on the forum, just below the horizontal menu & above the titles over the forum body, there is an array of buttons. Use them to quickly email, print, or share with a social medium any page on this forum. Let's get the word out on what we've all created here! So far I've tested it with email and with facebook -- worked perfectly. If you cannot see the buttons (they will be the last thing to load on a page, but only take a split second longer) or if something doesn't work for you, please post the problem here.
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Post by hwinpp on Dec 1, 2011 8:44:12 GMT
Hey, that's pretty good.
I will send it to FB, I don't use the other ones.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 2, 2011 4:20:39 GMT
HW, try it on email, too. It's great -- you don't navigate away from whatever anyport page you're on. Another page opens in your chosen email, ready to send.
Thanks for the feedback & support!
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Post by onlymark on Dec 3, 2011 8:13:53 GMT
I've recently just had to buy two laptops for my daughters. These are supposed to be taken to school for schoolwork usage and then brought home again. However, there is no telling if they might get 'accidentally' left somewhere or 'lost' and then disappear. So I've been hunting round for a way to locate them if this happens. I know it is possible to do this via any wifi connection the laptop detects but what I need is a way for a report to then be sent to me telling me where it is. Hence I've decided to download a programme called "Prey" on each one. It is also on my own laptop - preyproject.com/How it works is that if your laptop gets stolen, from another computer (cos obviously you can't use the missing one) you log on to your control panel in the website and notify that it is missing. Various reports are then sent to you as to when it has made a connection, where it is (using Google Maps I think) and other things like it can activate the web cam, detect what the usage is (i.e. it has been used to show the Facebook account when the thief logged on), also it can sound a loud alarm so that if you are near to it you can find it. There are other features as well. I don't know if I can recommend it (other than it is free and you can register up to three devices) and I hope I never have to use it. But we'll see.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 3, 2011 18:07:33 GMT
I hope you never have to use it either. Had you been told of events of other students having lost or misplaced theirs that made you seek out this form of protection?
My brother once put a gps sort of device on his car when he suspected his wife was having an affair. The device worked and it proved his suspicions were sadly correct. He was devastated but relieved he acted on his instincts quickly.
Mich
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Post by onlymark on Dec 3, 2011 19:49:50 GMT
I don't know of any incidents mich. I just want to be prepared.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 3, 2011 22:47:10 GMT
That's pretty intriguing. I've read recently of how many lost pets are recovered because they have micro chips. Think how amazing it would be if they animals could "tell" you where they are, the way certain phones w/gps now can.
Sad story, Mich, but less costly & complicated than hiring a private eye, at least.
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Post by mich64 on Dec 4, 2011 2:07:12 GMT
Bixa, I did hear an actual report of that the other day. It was a new feature of a certain brand of GPS, it came with a dog collar, sorry I cannot remember the brand name. Our Jebidiah is chipped, we got him from our Humane Society and they do it for free so if lost and brought in, they would just give us a call. No charge for first incident.
Yes, it was cheaper than hiring an investigator, I was surprised at the whole incident and how he did this tech stuff all on his own. He is now happily separated and his boys chose to live with him.
I think being prepared is prudent Mark.
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Post by Kimby on Dec 8, 2011 4:26:05 GMT
A question for everyone -- do threads seem to load better if there are fewer pictures per individual post? Any thoughts about what might be the optimum number? Yes, and thanks for bringing this up. Since pictures do take a long time to load, if people post 20 pictures in one reply, as often happens with photo-travelog type threads, and there are lots of subsequent posts/replies containing many pictures on that page, with 30 replies to a page, it can take F O R E V E R for that page to load. Which isn't too bad the first time you look at it, but each time you look at a new reply on that page, you have to wait for allllllllll those pictures to reload. I love the photo-rich threads, but wish they could load faster. Perhaps reducing the number of photos per post would be a start. I'd hate to see the number of replies per page reduced, though.
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Post by Kimby on Dec 8, 2011 4:47:04 GMT
BTW, for the first time ever the compass thingy worked when I clicked on it. But I was on a library computer, and it still isn't working on my home computer.
It does seem like a great way to catch up on what you've missed. When it works.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 8, 2011 5:08:53 GMT
Kimby, have you tried another browser on your home computer to see if it might work better for you?
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 11, 2011 1:22:05 GMT
FOR THOSE OF YOU HAVING TROUBLE WITH PAGES LOADING OR EVEN GETTING ON THE FORUM:
from our host forum, posted at 7 pm CST Sat. Dec. 10: As a short update, we're waiting for our new load balancer to come online. After that our team will get it all setup and running. We are waiting for our server host, SoftLayer, to get the server online (this could take up to an hour, maybe a bit more).We are still seeing overall improvements for many users in terms of ability to access forums, however some people still have limited access. Please know that our team will not stop working on this issue until it is fully resolved.
and further, posted at 7:16: For those users still having issues, please try adding www. to the start of your forums URL. You will need to log in again, but it should allow normal access again.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 11, 2011 8:22:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2011 11:18:17 GMT
I sure wish I had known this yesterday. I really thought it was my computer issue and just having dealt with other woes I was beside myself. What was particularly frustrating was that I was trying to show off the forum to somebody last evening and there I was waiting waiting for the connection to load and we finally had to abort the attempt as it was taking so long. Anyway,I still had problems this a.m. and had to resort to the url thingie and so far it seems alright.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 11, 2011 15:48:39 GMT
It wouldn't have done you any good yesterday, as the problems had not yet been fixed then.
The hints in #283 were posted by the host forum at 2:13 CST this morning, their repairs having been completed only shortly beforehand.
The attack affected all proboards forums, not just this one.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 14, 2011 18:39:32 GMT
My internet connection is steadily getting worse and worse. Here's a sort of solution for those of you suffering the same thing --
When you want to open a thread that you know is full of pictures, first go to Modify Profile and under Account Preferences, set Show Images: to "No". Save the change, then go to the thread(s) you want.
This is for when you want to reply to a thread where you've already seen the pictures & know (or believe) that no more have been posted. If you do arrive at the thread to see [image] posted where there was no image before, it means that you'll have to re-modify your profile to see it.
Doing this is pretty handy when you want to reply to your own photo threads, as you can quickly see & reply to any responses without having to wait for the page to load.
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Post by Kimby on Dec 14, 2011 23:53:33 GMT
Can someone who's been paying closer attention than I have post and list the photo editing software that is favored by users on here? I don't mean online photo hosting, I mean like Photoshop Elements, or Corel or .... Pros and cons would be nice. I need a Christmas gift for someone who's getting a new Mac for xmas. Thanks a bunch.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 15, 2011 0:34:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2012 13:18:04 GMT
Call me the Queen of The Stretched Screen!! I have had problems posting two different threads in the last two days and don't know if it's the computer I'm using that isn't mine,or it's a tech issue in my brain circuits.... In any event, I do apologize for the sloppiness of the threads and will remedy as soon as I figure it out.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2012 16:10:14 GMT
Oh, I'm so sorry for you. I haven't suffered stretched screen syndrome in ages.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 15, 2012 16:52:41 GMT
casi, I find that when I log into my photo uploader of choice (imageshack) from a new computer, the photo settings are automatically defaulted to a larger size than my choice. So each time I log in, I check the settings are where I want them. HTH.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 19, 2012 3:37:25 GMT
Would you like the text on the forum to be bigger?I've always thought that the smallest size type on the forum is just a little too teeny for my taste. If you're using Google Chrome, you can fix that. Click on the wrench in the upper right corner and select Options. In Options select Under the Hood. The second group of selections, Web Content, is where you can tweak the font size. Click on Customize Fonts for further fine tuning.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2012 15:08:37 GMT
casi, I find that when I log into my photo uploader of choice (imageshack) from a new computer, the photo settings are automatically defaulted to a larger size than my choice. So each time I log in, I check the settings are where I want them. HTH. Thanks Kimby,but,it's nonrelated. I checked with my guru.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2012 15:45:50 GMT
Would you like the text on the forum to be bigger?
I've always thought that the smallest size type on the forum is just a little too teeny for my taste.
If you're using Google Chrome, you can fix that. Does the text wrap feature adapt to the bigger characters then? Or do you end up having to use the arrows to move the page left and right to read the bigger text? (I just wear glasses to read the little letters!)
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Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2012 15:53:55 GMT
BTW, for the first time ever the compass thingy worked when I clicked on it. But I was on a library computer, and it still isn't working on my home computer. It does seem like a great way to catch up on what you've missed. When it works. Kimby, have you tried another browser on your home computer to see if it might work better for you? The answer is yes, google chrome does work for me. The downside is that there are so many photo rich posts that are trying to load at once that it keeps jumping all over the monitor. My preference would be to go to the bottom of the list and work from oldest to newest posts so I can read in sequence, but it is impossible to read the last (oldest) new post without waiting for ALL the previous(newer) photo-laden posts to load. What to do?
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Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2012 15:59:15 GMT
A question for everyone -- do threads seem to load better if there are fewer pictures per individual post? Any thoughts about what might be the optimum number? Yes, and thanks for bringing this up. Since pictures do take a long time to load, if people post 20 pictures in one reply, as often happens with photo-travelog type threads, and there are lots of subsequent posts/replies containing many pictures on that page, with 30 replies to a page, it can take F O R E V E R for that page to load. Which isn't too bad the first time you look at it, but each time you look at a new reply on that page, you have to wait for allllllllll those pictures to reload. I love the photo-rich threads, but wish they could load faster. Perhaps reducing the number of photos per post would be a start. I'd hate to see the number of replies per page reduced, though. Still waiting to see if the mods will rule on a maximum number of photos per post in a thread, to make pages load more swiftly. I have found that if I compose a thread with multiple pictures and do it in a preview window, I can copy all the characters and formatting into a word document, then divide it into multiple posts with 4-6 photos per post, and post them one right after another within a thread. This way the response/chatter takes place at the end of the photo essay instead of while I am still trying to post it. And the thread will load more quickly, too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 26, 2012 16:36:51 GMT
Kimby, there is no rule about how many images per post, but I hope people attend to your very useful comments about page loading, etc. And YES -- I often use the method you describe in #296. It's useful in so many ways: if you're interrupted while putting together a thread, if you want to start constructing a thread but need more research, if you wish to post several posts at once, etc. Another reason I like fewer images per post is because it's easier to refer to them when responding to the thread. My personal index when making a picture-heavy thread is to use from five up to eleven per post, depending on what's logical for the text content. ammended to respond to this question:Does the text wrap feature adapt to the bigger characters then? Or do you end up having to use the arrows to move the page left and right to read the bigger text? Everything is normal, at least for me. I only have it set to make the teeniest letters just the slightest bit less teeny. If you have it set for text to be much bigger, it would not stretch the screen sideways, although there would be fewer words per line. That's also how the skin Big Buttons works -- bigger text, but no distortion of threads.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2012 16:38:37 GMT
so bixa with all these good reasons for limiting photos per thread, why not make it a "request" if not a policy or rule? I don't think anyone will be offended when they understand the reasoning.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 26, 2012 16:45:59 GMT
I'm sure the other policy makers here are reading your suggestions & considering them.
Incidentally, I just modified my response #297 to address your question about using Chrome's larger text feature.
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