News's Journal

01/21/2006 01:54 #30201

Tk on the web
Category: webhunt

I was doing my usual search for the site robot hunt when I found this link to (e:flacidness)'s journal (TK) on cum-dump-bitch.givemesex.info

Elmwood Strip Journals and Lifestyle Info v4.0 Buffalo NY -
Anywho the reason I posted tonight is that some bitch who promised me she would be here tonight, didn't show up . . . Cindy lick a twat you ugly cum dump . . .

It looks like a robot found ever site with cum dump bitch and TK's journal was one of them.

01/12/2006 02:02 #30200

Some mini fixes
Category: estrip

I think I finally squashed the bug where you would change pages and you mute preference would reset. The same bug squash should have also fixed the problme where the message box pops up on every screen, even after you close it. Now it should stay closed until you click on your post-it control panel again. If you roll over the post-it control panel it should display the number of messages you have.

hodown - 01/12/06 09:49
The message box still pops up on IE and so do those damn snow flakes- every time!

01/10/2006 01:48 #30199

Theme Choice
Category: feedback

I was wondering what you guys think about this. I record what theme everyone selects when logged in. Should I make it so that the theme you have selected is the one that shows when your journal is being viewed by others. On one hand I think it is a good idea, on the other, it might make the site look too dijointed if every journal was in a different theme. Right now, when you select a new theme and you are logged in, it displays your theme selection in the stats bar after hangman score. Maybe that is enough, people could always choose after reading that.

[size=l]P.S. Does anyone want to help with the help files or the newbie guide or am I all alone on this.[/size]

--Paul

jim - 01/11/06 17:17
Also, I've been working on the help/newbie guide. I've got the outline set. Look at my journal for info. :::link:::

jim - 01/11/06 17:15
It's really not user friendly to switch themes at random. If someone goes to the trouble of setting one, it's usually for a reason. I know there are a couple of themes I have trouble with. The link colors are sometimes to hard to distinguish against the background, and my eye sight is a bit bad, so the less I have to squint, the better.

Please please let me just stick to a theme that I like. Or at least give a check mark next to the theme selection option to make it non-over-rideable.

Also, something like 1 in 10 males and 1 in 50 females is at least partially colorblind. A couple of the themes on the site are not so good for the color blind.

I like the themes (most of them :) - they're a really nice feature and the variey is awesome) but the choice of themes is there for the benefit of the site viewer, not the author of an entry. Customizability should help, not hinder.

Sorry for my tirade. No ill will meant.

metalpeter - 01/10/06 19:41
I think that idea is a preaty cool one myself. That way when people read journals they see what theme the person writing likes. Plus that way the background color would fit in with the theme they where typing in, instead of the viewers theme. If at some point the themes change type fonts and colors that would also insure that the type and background color warn't them same. However there is one slight downside. That would be that some people might not like the themes people wrote in and would be forced to look at it or not read the journal. Overall though I think it is a cool idea maybe it could be in the form of (not sure if or how you would program it) an on off switch on the site. I can't think of a good term but maybe Writers/readers theme.

theecarey - 01/10/06 18:22
yes Paul, what would you like me to tackle? I was thinking about how to break it down, but I don't have anything solid. I was thinking about the very first steps a new user may want to have access to..
Anyhow, anything you need..

jim - 01/10/06 09:47
I could probably help with a newbie guide. What do you want it to cover?

jim - 01/10/06 09:45
If anyone's color blind, they not want their theme switched around on them.

kara - 01/10/06 07:10
I'd love to help - check your email for something I sent yesterday.

01/07/2006 15:53 #30198

Help and Fixes
Category: estrip

[size=m]Wanna Help Out Help[/size]
If more people are interested in working on the help files with (e:uncutsaniflush), we can probably get through them all in about a week or so if there were more people. If you are interested just tell me and I can make you a help admin. That allows you to edit help files directly from the help interface.

[size=m]Fixed Journal Dots[/size]
I fixed the journal dots and overview mode, both had been down for a while - I just didn't realize it was down. It was basically two lines that had to change and was a result of the date format switch I implemented about a month ago. I didn't realize till (e:uncutsaniflush) wrote about it on the news journal comments the other day.

In response to (e:uncutsaniflush)'s comment I would like to point out that you guys are in fact beta testers.

Part of this being a community is you guys aiding in and helping guide it's development by using it. I have consistently repsonded to people's feedback. The reason things change so much is because I am constantly adapting it to user feedback and because as the community evolves and grows the needs change.

I think in general the site has been extremely stable for about 3 years using window with IE or firefox or mac with firefox which is 99% of the computer based viewers setup according to statics. Even on linux it hasn't been that bad. In fact I think that it is actually more stable than most operating systems.

01/06/2006 19:41 #30197

e:strip newbie guide
Category: help

So, the other day I was complaining about all the work for the site and trying to think about what would make it easier. Then (e:ucnutsaniflush) had the brilliant idea to write a newbie guide to get new people started. This is the perfect kind of task for other people to work on, because it involves no programming or technical savvy, just a little time investment for your fellow estripppers.

Maybe (e:theecarey) because she has excellent writing skills and she seems to be good at breaking stuff down. If anyone else is interested in working on it, you are all invited.

It would definately make it easier on the newbies and easier on me because it would answer many of the questions that people ask all the time.

The help files have lots of info, but I don't keep up with them, and I am not sure if (e:uncutsaniflush) (help admin) did either. A newbie guide would be an excellent supplement to that.

How should we do it? You can leave comments here. I guess the first task would be identifying what belongs in the help and what belongs in a newbie guide. I would like it one simple searchable, printable document. Does anyone else have ideas?

metalpeter - 01/07/06 16:46
I don't really have any suggestions my self. But I do think it is a good idea for the help and newbie area. There are some features that people don't use that often or havn't used in some time so they may change and having a good way to look them up would be good. The best example I think think of the inlink nobody had really used it in months and I forgot how to use but once i remembered it was no big deal. Or here is another example now that there are differant themes you can change the background of blogs but can you change the text and what is the color picker I have no idea. But with a newbie page I (or anyone) who is new or dosn't remember how to use those features could look them up.

kara - 01/07/06 13:29
I am willing to put together an outline and start writing the technical documentation new members ((e:newbie)?). I'll have to start next week, though, as I'm on a superslow internet connection for the rest of the weekend, and I have some skiing to do!

uncutsaniflush - 01/07/06 11:14
alas, I got frustrated by the whole help thing. e-strip is very much a moving target and sometimes the help entry end up being obsolete almost as soon as they are written.

Another frustrating thing is that I kept finding errors and things not working so I couldn't write a help for something that didn't work at the time. And, after you had fixed it or finalized the new improved api, I never went back to write a help item for whatever it was that wasn't working.

Speaking of things that don't work, here's some error messages from journal dots:

"Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /opt/lampp/htdocs/elmwood/elmwood/classes/publish_data.php on line 20

Warning: mysql_fetch_assoc(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /opt/lampp/htdocs/elmwood/elmwood/classes/publish_data.php on line 21"

This error is repeatable using Firefox 1.5 in both osX and Linux.

So I guess in the end, when all is said and done, I just haven't done a very good job of being a help admin because I give up too easy and don't have follow-through.

When I try to do the help files, I end up feeling more like a beta-tester filing bug reports than anything else when I want to write a help item and it turns out that feature temporarily is not working because it is broken or being upgraded.

And that frustrates me and sometimes makes me throw my hands in the air like the little drama queen that I am and say "the hell with this; i'll write the help when it is working again." Except that I never get around to writing the help item even when things are working again.

Sorry abut that.

theecarey - 01/07/06 01:43
excellent idea..will be beneficial *thinking*
I will sleep on it and get back.. it is past my bedtime!