Oh for crying out loud!!

On the articles it is 2 per article and 5 across all articles. Presumably you had last posted 9 hours before you got this message. When you go to post on an article you get a notice at the top which spells the restrictions out. When you post on a thread, you can post 4 times and you can have 10 posts across all threads.

This recognises that threads are more discussions between posters than articles are, although thinking about it we could probably loosen-up the restrictions on the articles without the discussion deteriorating.

"Oh for crying out loud!!"

I'm with you Ginx. I have just signed in three times in a row. All yesterday I could post one message, wait an hour, post one message.

If I stayed on line and read stuff it wouldn't register that it had been an hour.

I really don't get why all these new windows keep opening up. The server error comes up a lot.

Now the posting rule and number of words freaked me out enough but the errors are coming thick and fast.

Help. [whimper]

Jewely, I am intrigued that you say you had to log in three times. I've never experienced a logon problem. I also hardly ever experience a server error since we fixed the major one a couple of weeks ago. How is it some posters seem to have all the problems? Is there something different about your web browser?

The reason separate windows open up is that to return to where you were all you have to do is to close the window. If it opens up the new page in the window you are looking at it is very easy to navigate away from the page you were on and have a lot of trouble working out which one to go back to. We made a design decision 5 years ago to work the forum that way. This is the first time I recall having a complaint about that. Interested in feedback, but would take a bit to change.

Ginx: "I'm getting sick of the slowness of the site"

For what it's worth, I don't think it is the site itself that is slow - unless you are submitting a post. It takes about 5 seconds to load 100 comments, which is fairly average. Occasionally the ads take a while to load, but they don't come from OLO's server.

As for the post limit, all I can say is get used to it. If you compare the posts on this site to a typical newspaper site you see there has obviously been more thought put into the posts here. I put it down to the post limit - posts are precious so you don't waste them. Without the post limit, I'd say OLO would loose much of its attraction to me.

I'll grant you the 5 post total limit does seem low. I presume it is for spam control. But it is so low you can't post a comment to each of the days new articles. It also means you can't be an active participant (ie two posts a day) in more two main article threads. Occasionally I follow more than that.

Ginx: "Oh for crying out loud!!"

This is a fine example of the sort of thing the post limit tends to filter out.

Ginx: "Given that it will take time to get another technical thread approved"

They seem to get approved about twice a day, which probably matches the frequency people scan the site. This doesn't sound like a long time to me, and more to the point I have always been pleasantly surprised at how quickly my new general discussions have been approved. If only our Telco's could respond that quickly to an email.

GrahamY,

Is it possible within the existing Forum software to incorporate a 'sticky'* topic within the respective index pages?

Such 'sticky' topics could take the form of, for example, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) with corresponding answers or explanations, and/or 'page pages', descriptions of the features available on the Forum on any given page. I suspect many users, or would-be users, whilst possessed of elementary internet surfing skills, may not be as familiar with many of the Forum features or usage techniques as might be supposed. Indeed, many users may have little requirement of, or exposure to, the ongoing computer-literacy education that those within the IT field take for granted.

Jewely herself constitutes an example. Despite having run a bulletin board in the pre-internet days, aspects of this forum's operation are not self-explanatory to her. She is clearly capable in a general sense within an IT environment, simply not current with respect to features and jargon that may be encountered on OLO. Other regular users, and both Bronwyn and Belly spring to mind, have expressed gratitude in isolated instances where site behaviour has been explained during discussions both within and outside Technical Support threads.

Might it also be possible to farm out the writing-up and maintainance of such FAQs and 'page pages' to approved volunteers amongst the regular (and perhaps not yet regular) users of OLO? It is a classic telecommute task. Since it would be a purely technical facilitation of usage of the site, there would appear to be no issues with respect to the creation of any 'privileged' class of OLO user by virtue of any having participated as volunteers in this respect. There may also be some advantage in running an associated blog wherein comments relating to Forum usage techniques could be posted by any users.

Ginx:

"I am finding the post limit message to be totally inconsistent."

So, too, did a now-retired High Court Justice.

* A 'sticky' topic is one that is always on display, being one not pushed down the lists by new topics or article comments threads.