Forum Usage Tips And Reminders - Everyone Read!

[showbizkid]

Hi Studefriends,

I need to remind everyone of a couple of things about using the Forum that may have been forgotten!

1. Do Not Respond to Private Message Notifications Received In Email.When you get an e-mailed notification from the Forum that you have been sent a Private Message, you must reply using the Private Message system. Any reply made to the notification email will not reach your intended recipient - instead, it will come to the Forum general email box and be sent to Trash! Reply to PM's ONLY via the Private Message system.
   
2. Use Only The Forum Text Editor To Compose Messages. Recently we've had issues with folks using Microsoft Word and other editors to compose messages, and then copying the text and pasting it into the Forum to post.This practice causes page and system errors. It also requires Administrator intervention to manually edit the faulty post and correct the errors. Please use only the tools in the Edit Screen to compose your posts and replies.
   
3. Create Descriptive Titles For Your Tech Talk Posts. Starting threads with one-word titles like "Hood" or "Wheels" is useless and, again, requires Admin intervention to edit them so that they are useful. Include the year and model of your car in the title of your post and also remember to Choose a Tech Talk Category for your your post using the "Prefix" dropdown in the edit box.

Thank you for reading this and taking the time to "go the extra mile" to make sure your Forum runs right!

Studebakerly,

Clark

[ndynis]

Clark: Thanks for helping us keep things running smoothly. I have on occasion been one of your problem posters but I swear to do my best to reform from this day on!
Nick

[Skip Lackie]

Clark:
Thank you, But WRT #2: I have been guilty of drafting posts in Word and then pasting them into the forum. The reason is because I have had problems when writing long posts. On those occasions when I get verbose, or get interrupted part-way through a post and have to walk away from the computer, I have come back to discover that I have been timed out and my partly written post has disappeared. I find this to be frustrating.

[showbizkid]

Skip, I can understand that. Buf if you must use a "rich text" editor like Word or Wordpad, I'd ask you to two-step your work -- paste it into Notepad first to eliminate all the formatting Word embeds behind the scenes, then copy that and paste into the Forum editor.

The more sophisticated browsers get, the more sensitive they are to external coding that we can't see with the naked eye

[Colgate Studebaker]

Clark, thanks for the notice. I can honestly say I am not your problem because I'm not that technically advanced as to copying and pasting or any of that other stuff. That's why I ask you for help from time to time, and thank you again for that help! Bill

[tsenecal]

Thanks for the reminder. I believe that I am mostly innocent, except for maybe the descriptive titles. I appreciate you keeping us on the straight and narrow.

[Robert Crandall]

I plead guilty! Thank you for letting us know. I would not stop if I did not know there was a problem.

Do I understand from post #3 that it is acceptable to type and save my words in Notepad then copy and paste from that program?

Thanks.

[showbizkid]

Yes, that would be fine. It’s WYSIWYG editors that are the problem.

[showbizkid]

One additional reminder:

Remember to post For-Sale items and parts/cars wanted, as well as items found on the Internet, in the Sale / Want / Found Cars channel only. Moving posts from one channel to another is quite time-consuming. Please also remember to select a Prefix from the dropdown box when posting your sale / want items.

Thanks everyone!

[PackardV8]

Guilty as charged. We get a lot of e-mails and sometimes it doesn't register this one is via the SDC site. I'll be more careful in the future.

While it's impossible to idiot-proof, other sites have a title drawing attention to "this is a no-reply notification; you dumbshit, don't hit the reply button!"

jack vines

[showbizkid]

Ours have a paragraph with that warning also, but once you've seen it enough I guess it fades into the background

[tim333]

Can I edit the title of my post? How?

[r1lark]

I plead guilty! Thank you for letting us know. I would not stop if I did not know there was a problem.

Do I understand from post #3 that it is acceptable to type and save my words in Notepad then copy and paste from that program?

Thanks.

Clark, what if we paste the Word text using "Paste as plain text"? Does this accomplish the same thing as pasting the copied Word text into Notepad, then copying the Notepad text into a post?

[Son O Lark]

One additional reminder:

Remember to post For-Sale items and parts/cars wanted, as well as items found on the Internet, in the Sale / Want / Found Cars channel only. Moving posts from one channel to another is quite time-consuming. Please also remember to select a Prefix from the dropdown box when posting your sale / want items.

Thanks everyone!

I think maybe changing the the title to something like "Wanted/ For Sale/ Cars and Parts" would be easier for newbies to understand. It is a bit confusing without the word "parts" in the header.

[showbizkid]

Can I edit the title of my post? How?

Tim, you can only edit a post during a short window of time - 15 / 30 minutes after posting (I forget which). If you want to edit your post title during that time, you can do it by clicking the "Edit" button at the bottom of the post. After that window closes, though, you will need an Admin or Moderator to help - just drop us a note and we'll help.

[showbizkid]

Clark, what if we paste the Word text using "Paste as plain text"? Does this accomplish the same thing as pasting the copied Word text into Notepad, then copying the Notepad text into a post?

Robert, that looks like a right-click context menu, which means it's part of your browser's functionality, not the Forum's per se. However, it should work - give it a try!

[showbizkid]

I think maybe changing the the title to something like "Wanted/ For Sale/ Cars and Parts" would be easier for newbies to understand. It is a bit confusing without the word "parts" in the header.

That's a good suggestion - thanks!