I'm willing to invest time and energy into something I believe in, but I want to make sure that it's worth my while .... that I'm not wasting my time.
I came across a local forum ... quite quiet, but nevertheless a useful and targeted spot onto which to post a message about a local issue; I filled in the sign up form ... and submitted it. I pressed the "new post button" an up came a posting window. Great ... wrote my post, and spent quite a while getting my intro and wording just right. Submitted my post. Guess what? An otherwise blank screen with the two words
members only in tiny text in the top left corner.
Guess I should tell them that they've got a problem? Guess I WOULD tell them if there was an obvious contact box!
When I get frustrated about something that I feel is very poor like this ... I console myself by thinking that if everyone knew how to do it well, I wouldn't be kept busy training people to write better code. And I'm reminded that if I do a halfway passable job, it'll be streets ahead of the cowboys!
(written 2005-08-24, updated 2008-05-17)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
G903 - Well House Consultants - Running and moderating forums [4065] Handling requests to a forum - the background process - (2013-04-17)
[4025] Backups, Codebase, Strategy and more - dealing with forum incidents - (2013-03-03)
[4017] Acceptable User Policy / vexatious interacter - (2013-02-24)
[3910] Identifying your real customers and keeping them well informed fast - (2012-11-02)
[3479] Practical Extraction and Reporting - using Python and Extreme Programming - (2011-10-14)
[2820] Netiquette for forum newcomers - (2010-06-20)
[2781] The 500 pound question to get you started - (2010-05-26)
[2569] How to run a successful online poll / petition / survey / consultation - (2010-01-10)
[2527] Flying tonight - (2009-12-05)
[2526] A reluctance to move from old shoes to new - (2009-12-05)
[2386] Computing under the influence of alcohol - (2009-08-29)
[2254] Forum membership - a privilege not a right - (2009-06-22)
[2177] Preventing forum spam - checks at sign up - (2009-05-12)
[2162] Admins thoughts on banning a member from a forum - (2009-05-09)
[2156] Stopping forum spam - control of the signup process - (2009-05-04)
[2116] Why do we delay new forum members through authorisation? - (2009-04-03)
[2103] Ask the Tutor - Open Source forum - (2009-03-25)
[1972] Pettifog and forum boards away from public view - (2009-01-03)
[1923] Making it all worthwhile - (2008-12-04)
[1759] While the world sleeps ... - (2008-08-19)
[1678] Software - changes and delays. But courses must run on time! - (2008-06-15)
[1595] First Great Western Weekend - (2008-03-30)
[1578] Please don't shout at me! - (2008-03-16)
[1569] I dont care - goodbye - (2008-03-09)
[1563] Guidlines for posting on a forum - (2008-03-04)
[1539] A forum is not always the best vehicle - (2008-02-14)
[1532] Comment spam blocked. Please comment via Forums - (2008-02-05)
[1523] Ive just received an email from myself. Should I be worried? - (2008-01-29)
[1485] Copyright and theft of images, bandwidth and members. - (2007-12-26)
[1472] The Horse goes on and on - (2007-12-15)
[1362] No Thank You - (2007-09-23)
[1190] Save the Forum - A regular clean sweep - (2007-05-17)
[1088] Why use BBC code not HTML? - (2007-02-21)
[948] Running an on line campaign - (2006-11-27)
[923] Why shouldn't I spam? - (2006-11-13)
[919] Freedom for X is denial of privacy for Y - (2006-11-09)
[841] Forum help - a push in the right direction - (2006-08-21)
[828] Freedom of speech and freedom to post - (2006-08-10)
[806] Check your user is human. Have him retype a word in a graphic - (2006-07-17)
[651] Please Register with Opentalk - but just once! - (2006-03-19)
[516] Open source questions? Anyone can ask. - (2005-12-03)
[248] Use me, but use me effectively - (2005-03-16)
[231] Feedback as lifeblood - (2005-02-28)
[204] The confidence to allow public comments - (2005-02-06)
[130] Spelling and grammar - (2004-11-25)
[115] Expiration dates or times on web pages - (2004-11-12)
[29] Silence is Golden - (2004-08-26)
[22] Falling out over the silliest things - (2004-08-21)
392d
Some other Articles
Swindon - Chippenham - Melksham - Trowbridge - Westbury train serviceThe Melksham train - a button is pushedRobust checking of data entered by usersCaching an XML feedHow not to run a forumA Victorian LadyPHP Magic QuotesDon't repeat code - use loops or functionsTowards TebayMost popular courses