Recent Changes - Problem Thread I

[John Robinson]

Many technical changes are taking place here at Free Republic. While these changes are taking place, I will run a "Recent Changes - Problem Thread". The purpose of this thread is to document problems, bugs, and general difficulty which may be related to these changes. Comments and criticism are expressly welcome.

Issues

• Author, Source, Keyword searches are currently disabled.
• Topic listings are currently disabled.
• Occassional difficulty submitting posts.

Desires

• Return of the E-mail field on replies. I am deciding if it is worth the visual clutter.
• More distinction between posting a reply and sending a private reply.
• More space between Preview and Post buttons on Reply.

[John Robinson]

Consider this list a rough draft off the top of my head. I probably missed dozens of issues and desires, I haven't yet condensed my mail into a wish list.

[Lazamataz]

One problem -- Inability of JohnRob to admit he lost. :o)

No problems seen on this side so far, bro.

[StoneColdGOP]

Umm, don't forget that we still can't put up kick ass backgrounds and sounds on our profile pages.

[xm177e2]

More space between Preview and Post buttons on Reply.

Separate them totally! I've already accidentally clicked the post button twice!

Luckily the posts were basically final, so I didn't look stupid or post trash on a thread, but this NEEDS to fixed, and probably isn't too hard to change.

More distinction between posting a reply and sending a private reply.

Part of the problem now is that they both look very similar. I think you need to move the post button back towards the top of the "Reply" screen, between the "To:" box and the text box, that would solve both problems.

[John Robinson]

For the time being, there can be plenty of distinction between posting a public reply and sending private replies. The posting program makes use of style sheets but the mail program does not. If you customize your style sheet, the posting page can be made to look radically different. Right now style sheets are implemented only as a technical preview, and are far from a polished feature.

Have a look at Freeper George W. Bush's style sheet for an idea of the possibilites.

You may also wish to read the thread where FR style sheets debut.

[Keith in Iowa]

Umm, don't forget that we still can't put up kick ass backgrounds and sounds on our profile pages.

You could put a link on your FR profile to your personal web page stored wherever you have it and have all the kick a** stuff you want and not hose-up JohnRob's server... :)

[The Other Harry]

I'm glad I'm not the only insomniac here...

[dennisw]

BUMP to read later

[John Robinson]

There is a very big problem with the buttons showing before the fields -- if you click a button before the posting page fully displays, you may only partially post your response or article, the rest, having never made it into the fields, simply does not get posted.

The buttons must be below the fields.

[xm177e2]

I suppose there is no way to get the button to display after the fields, even if it is above them?

[John Robinson]

No. However I just now moved the Post Reply button waaaaay over.

[xm177e2]

No. However I just now moved the Post Reply button waaaaay over.

I noticed. It's sort of hard to miss =)

It definitely fixes the problem, people won't confuse the two buttons any more than they used to.

[The Other Harry]

The buttons must be below the fields.

The new buttons look very nice (assuming you haven't just moved them again)

[StoneColdGOP]

Not by a longshot, man.

[StoneColdGOP]

Already done.

[xm177e2]

I will say it looks really ugly. Maybe you could put a blank button that does nothing between the two of them, just so it doesn't leave such a gap. It looks a little bit like a cockpit with the button there (I made drew it with MS Paint)... Maybe you could make it a javascript screen-shaking button, just to scare people when they accidentally click it.

[Sen Jack S. Fogbound]

John,

Is there a way to change the nickname without changing the rest of the registration? Currently the change requires new registration.

Sometime a person may get tired of the nickname or it may be inappropriate type or whatever.

[xm177e2]

It looks a little bit like a cockpit . . . javascript screen-shaking button

I'm sorry, it's 3:30AM, and I need some sleep. Badly.

[John Robinson]

Right now, the only way to change screen names is to ask Jim Robinson. In the future, changing screen names will be as easy as filling in a field.

Just to note about the future ability: all past screen names will be listed in your profile, along with the range of dates the screen name was in use. And, for X (7-30?) number of days after the name change, your "former" will be printed next to your current screen name. That will be done to discourage people from "hit and runs".

[John Robinson]

I need some help, I'm trying to find an article regarding "bump lists". This particular article listed a great number of bump lists currently being used on Free Republic. I can't remember the title, poster, or even when I last saw it. Anybody happen to have any of this handy?