Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

[R.Daugherty]

Pat, the new setup that positions to and highlights the post in question was working for me yesterday. It was announced in a post from operations a couple of days ago, whose cumulative body of work might be cosidered an Idiot's Guide, but then I wouldn;t know because I'm an idiot... Ralph

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

Hey Pat, Thanks for your posting. We have ongoing discussions on the site and its usage here. They're available to anybody (not hidden), and with the recent enhancements, the posts show up on the home page until they scroll off. We also recently added a feature that provides what I think you're looking for. If you use the home page or the "All View" (click the Most Recent Posts link on the home page, which is kinda hard to see) to view a message, you will be taken directly to that particular message. Other messages in the thread are still shown for context, but they can easily be "tuned out". Is that the functionality you were looking for? Regards, Brian Singleton Midrange Computing

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

Pat,

The simple solution is to use an NNTP news reader like Outlook Express. I did that months ago and haven't been back to the web pages since!

chuck

Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my employer.

"Pat Erickson" <Pat_Erickson@forums.midrangecomputing.com> wrote in message news:1ec1855d.-1@WebX.WawyahGHajS...

I know the Forum Administrators were probably hoping I'd place this in the "Complaints Forum," (out of the "public-eye"), but this really needs to have more attention: I have a heck of a time reading replies to postings here. Every time I click on a reply, the original of the reply to the reply to the reply, etc. displays. Then I have to "Find" the actual posting I clicked on. I have to do this each and every time I read each reply. This is a pain in the butt! Or did I fail to read The Idiots Guide to Midrange Computing Forums. Sadly, I think they need to publish one. I am sure we are all aware of these problems and am certain several have probably complained to no avail. For those who agree and sympathize, I suggest we all threaten to leave and create our own forum hosted by ZDNET or DELPHI. Alternatively, we can leave a single "Referral" Posting here stating something like, "PLEASE READ REPLIES ON "

[R.Daugherty]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

also, Pat, the e-mail notification works very well, sending just the particular post to you as it's posted. A URL is included with which to reply or see the thread. This e-mail option is what I use. Ralph

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

(nt)

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

I don't see how anything could be easier than participating in these forums via a Newsreader. I suggest you try it.

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

I agree with Chuck that something needs to be done about his point raised. Also chging the title makes monitoring in date order difficult because it gets changed to something useless like OOPS, etc.

[michaelr@railcarmgt.com]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

I now use the news reader and it is great...BUT...if you have attempted to use the forums over the internet the basic view all messages by date functionality in the new forums STINKS when compared to that same functionality that was available in the old forums. I know, I know about all of the other nice new features that are available and have heard and like all of the benefits of the new forums. Still, if the newsreader was not an option for me...I would be deeply disapointed because (for my personal preferences) the other methods cannot hold a candle to the ease of use of the old forums. If would have been nice if they could have provided all the new features, bells and whistles without limiting/demolishing the old tried and true method that many had become accustomed to.

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

I agree with Chuck that something needs to be done about his point raised

Does the new functionality on the home page and the All View get us closer? If not, help me understand what the trouble is...

chging the title makes monitoring in date order difficult because it gets changed to something useless like OOPS, etc.

We could easily go the other way and show only the thread title, but then on a busy thread, it gets to be a long list of messages with the same title. Kinda boring, if you ask me. Everyone let me know and I'll change it if that's the consensus. Brian

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

I know, I know about all of the other nice new features that are available and have heard and like all of the benefits of the new forums. Still, if the newsreader was not an option for me...I would be deeply disapointed because (for my personal preferences) the other methods cannot hold a candle to the ease of use of the old forums.

BUT, the point is that you do have the newsreader option. And others may prefer the e-mail option. And others may only have the web option available to them at work. That's what makes this such an improvement, everyone gets to pick their preference.

Bill

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

Hi, I use the web interface to read the postings, but I would like to know how I configure Outlook Express to read the posts. Thanks in advance Arun Prasad R

[michaelr@railcarmgt.com]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

No that is not the point. The point is that while I now use the newsreader option, I only do so because my preferred method is not nearly as user friendly and easy to use as it once was. That being said, let me go on record as saying that I am not intentionally trying to bash the forums. All in all, I think that they are great, and they are a great resource serving the midrange community. On numerous occasions, I have turned to the forums for guidance and have always found the information that I was seeking.

[ronakamu@ksbe.edu]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

Hi Brian, When you referred to “show only the thread title”, is that the same as showing the discussion “topics”. One thing I did like about one of the old forum views was that I could see a list of all new discussion topics by their creation dates. Clicking on the topic would bring up the discussion thread. It is very helpful when you stop monitoring the forums for a period of time, like when you are on vacation. Being able to see only the Discussion topics, with it's creation date allowed me to quickly get caught up again. It would also would be beneficial in that I am only able to scan the forums about twice a week, and there could be quite a few responses posted even within 2 or 3 days. The all view that lists individual responses makes for a fairly long list of items to scan through. Maybe the All View could have a preference setting to view by topics or all postings. Then those that like to see all the postings could still use it that way. Anyway, thanks for your efforts and MC for hosting these forums. There is a lot of information shared here and I really appreciate it.

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

Hi Roy, Check out the [ Message Center ]. You can access it on the toolbar at the bottom of most screens, if you're registered. It does exactly what you're looking for for the areas on the site to which you are subscribed. There's one link for each new topic (or each topic with activity since you last read it) on a single page. You might also try Email or Email Digests. Glad you like the forums, and hope that helps! Regards, Brian Singleton Midrange Computing P.S. If the Message Center is a little slow, make sure you are not subscribed to the Archive area.

[Guest.Visitor]

Forum difficult to use, or is it just me?

Brian, Subscribing to threads to get the view desired doesn't seem like an answer. In the old format it was great to view all by date retaining the topic so you can keep track of the post that interest you as well as viewing new ones that may interest you or solve a problem you have encountered in the past. It takes more time and effort to use the site as a tool than before. It might be a good idea to do a brief article in MC showing us people who are not convinced that this was a change for the better the light. Maybe we are missing something in regards to tools and configuration and some screen shots and explanation would help.