Pens Issues + New Index for Archives

[watersong84]

Hello!

Thanks so much to the mods who put so much into the move. The site is awesome!

I was just wondering if you were going to resurrect the "pens recommendation thread"? I realize that the links might not work here, but the search does! I found that thread extremely helpful when I was new to Pens, and I still have not read every completed fic out there, and would like to know where to start.

Thanks!

[Ginner WTluv]

Just wanted to drop in and say a HUGE thanks to all the mods who worked so hard on the move. You guys rock! New board looks awesome!

~ Jen

[maudmac]

So... I'm guessing that it's impossible to amend the title of the thread/fic I posted then...?

The mods are discussing some options to deal with this issue right now. We'll let you know soon.

xita did some tweaking and you should now be able to edit the first post in your fic thread. (Only the first post in the thread, not all your posts.) She did this for several threads.

If you find it absolutely necessary to be able to edit the first post in your fic thread and find that you can't, please PM xita and let her know and she'll fix it for you when she has time.

Please remember that we do have an Update Thread here for letting people know that your fic has been updated.

[watty]

So... I'm guessing that it's impossible to amend the title of the thread/fic I posted then...?

The mods are discussing some options to deal with this issue right now. We'll let you know soon.

I was wondering if I can get some help there. When I changed the thread title of Kitten Race I also spectacularly messed up the first post -- posted an html coded post in ezcode, and didn't get a chance to clean it up before the move. Guess that's one of the reasons behind restricting posts to BBCode, huh? I'd like the opportunity to clean that first post up, and clean up the title so it isn't stuck on Episode 6.

Edited to add: wow, maudmac, you posted just as I was writing. I'll still need help cos my login name has changed, but thank you very much for all your help!

I've also noticed an error when I hit Submit. I think that's one of the reasons why multiple posts are occuring, cos the posters think there's an error, hit Back and submit again. I find that the post has actually been made, but it takes a few seconds for it to show up on the thread. I usually wait about 10 seconds, hit refresh on the index and my post is there. Hope this experience is useful.

[maudmac]

I was just wondering if you were going to resurrect the "pens recommendation thread"?

You bet! We have a new Pens Recommendation Thread now.

We're still working on getting those author index threads updated. Hopefully in the next week, those will have correct links that go here instead of back to ezboard.

[xita]

Watson, done! Yes it would be helpful if you do absolutely need that first post changed that you PM me with the thread link.

[JustSkipIt]

Xita,
While you are working so hard on moving threads, would you mind moving Holiday Cheer to the Archive thread? Thanks.

[maudmac]

Done. (But it will be several days before the author index posts are updated.)

[bohemicus]

I like the new board much better, including the friendly URL.

However, there is one issue that's come up for me. It seems that it is no longer possible to increase the font size using the browser 'Text size' function. This makes it very strenous to read even relatively short posts. Is there any way that could be changed? Or is there some setting somewhere that I'm missing?

Thanks, Dominik

[JustSkipIt]

Maudmac, thanks so much.

[xita]

The font issue should be better for IE users now for the thread names and the text. Increasing the text size should work now.

[bohemicus]

Thanks a lot Xita. Sorry to have bothered you with this, I of course forgot that I could have saved you all this trouble using Firefox. Now, it works in IE, as well. There is a slight problem with kerning in IE; in the largest text size the lines run together. But it's fine in Firefox, so don't waste your time on it.

Thanks again. I can imagine what a huge job this transfer must have been. Dominik

[umgaynow]

OK major snafu here...I was trying to post a story in Carleen's fic challenge...now the story was very long...and when I tried to post it I got a "web site not responding screen...so I contacted Carleen and got permission to post it in 2 parts...again, tried to post 1st half and "web site not responding"...then I pulled up the site to try it again and found The whole story posted once...and the forst half of it posted twice...now the board won't let me delete the half posts...either says "cannot delete unless your own post" which it is...or I log in and it still says I'm not logged in...or I click on yes, delete this file and get "site not responding or file doesn't exist"

Aaaarggghhhh...can the mods delete the two half posts for me? But please not the full post...I can't deal with typing that long thing all over again...OY...going to bed now...early appt in the morning

Sandi

[bytrsuite]

Okay, should be good now.

I think you did manage to delete one of them, but as soon as someone posts after you, it won't let you delete anymore.

When the time outs happen, it's really best to just wait a little bit because even if the screen seems to time out and doesn't look like it changed, nine times out of ten, the post or other action went through.

Also, it's a good idea to write your posts, and especially your fic in something other than the posting window. Notepad or Word or something like that, and save it to your harddrive or email it to yourself so you have a copy if the board malfunctions.

[Patches]

Ratings notice - are we going to have the "G - NC-17" tags back for Pens and Inward Eye, or should content ratings be mentioned in the title and in the first post. Just curious.

Cheers!!
Patches

[maudmac]

I believe that the next version of phpBB is supposed to have something like our old ratings posticons. I have no idea when that will be available, though.

All fics should be rated, and that information should always be in the first post. It's not necessary to include the rating in the title, but you can if you want. But yes, definitely include proper disclaimers, including a rating, in the first post. This applies to all fics posted on Pens.

[Katharyn]

Katharyn's fic appears to have been eaten after all sorts of trouble.

I was posting for her, or trying to, getting numerous errors so I went away, left it, came back and there were two copies of it (formatted wrong) so I went to edit and then delete the latter one and her whole fic appears to have been swallowe or otherwise missing.

I have to say, we're not having fun with this new board - much as we appreciate all the work put into moving things. Its performance isn't great but its something we'll have to get used to or make arrangements to get around.

Whilst I have you attention can I also ask how, assuming you can get Sidestep Chronicles back or it turns up somewhere, how do I post and avoid the half page gaps between paragraphs that are in the transplanted versions? I tried removing the double spacing in the text but found (in the subsequently eaten version) that it then all ran together here. Other people have managed it I see - but is it in the settings? Or just a legacy of the transplant??

Thanks in advance, Louise on behalf of Katharyn.

PS - bet it makes a fool of me and reappears before someone answers this. But I swear it's not visible to me right now!

[GayNow]

Sidestep Chronicles

It did show up on the first page before I posted this. But I figured I would put this up here anyway just in case it disappears again. I've noticed that happening with other fics as well...not just this one.

Hope it helps.

Carleen

[bytrsuite]

Yeah, we're having server issues. They're being worked on. That's pretty much the sole cause of all the double posting and the lags when posting or editing and numerous other problems.

The formatting thing, you have to use BBCode now. HTML is no longer allowed. You're better off editing that in Word or wherever. Mostly, it's finding all the < > and replacing them with [ ]. The spacing of all the older posts is definitely from the move. If you space it like you usually do, you shouldn't get that huge spacing. At least I hope not. If you have questions about the coding, please feel free to post here or email one of the mods.

If you see a thread that's been around for a while disappear, chances are it's still there. When threads seem to disappear, it's some weird issue with time outs and the database. It doesn't really get deleted, it just stops showing up. If you know the thread addy, just put that in and it should show up again for you. You need to post in it, though, to make it show back up in the list. So, it's a very good idea to keep a list of all the thread addys for your fics and whatnot. That's where we are with that right now, I think.

That's another lovely side-effect of our server issues. It bugs us too, and we are looking into it. It's just going to take a while, I think. Very sorry about that.

[Katharyn]

Many thanks for the swift response and apologies for the frustration. It had been a long day even before that!

L

[cperrins78]

I just wanted to thank everyone involved in making this new board. It's awesome. I just have a quick question. I'm having a little trouble with the watching this topic for replies. I click that it and it states that I am currently watching this topic. But then the next day it seems to have gone back to me not watching the topic. Has anybody else had this problem?


Christina

[JustSkipIt]

Not urgent:

Does any one know how I can indent a section of text under the BBCodes? I used to use the html "

" but I don't see a BBCode for it. Thanks.

[bytrsuite]

Christina, it seems to be working for me, so I'm not sure what to tell you. You sure your email isn't blocking the notification as spam or something?

All's mine does is send me a notice that something has been posted, with two links. One to go to the post and one under that to stop getting notifications.



JustSkipIt, xita messed around and you should have a bbcode blockquote now.

[xita]

There's now a button for blockquote and you can use this code

Code: Select all


[blockquote] TEXT [/blockquote]



[JustSkipIt]

Thanks a ton! Y'all are doing such a fantastic job.

[meretricious]

first, let me shamelessly admit that the biggest reason i'm asking this nit-picky little question is that every time i open pens, i think debra has updated, but then i realize her name's at the issues thread, not the update thread, and i get all disappointed.
anyway, mod's you've done an awesome job with new board, and only thing i miss about old board (besides the lightening bolts, they were kinda cool) is being able to jump to a middle page in a long thread. esp. something like sidestep or neverland, would be nice not to have to go page to page when your flipping back to an old update to refresh your mind on something.
thanx, mary

[xita]

Well, I've made this thread an announcement. So now the update thread should stay at the second spot no matter what. with the pagination thing, you may try switching the last number in the URL that will take you to any post in the thread. I'll look at alternatives.

[bytrsuite]

Okay, those two fics should be all there now. Thanks for pointing that out.

[bytrsuite]

Okay, it's zapped.

[KrisBo5]

Hey there, Mods Fantasticos,

Quick question for you all. Curious to know why 'Darkness Falls' posts as 'Guest' as the author? I'm pretty sure I wrote it. LOL!

Thanks, all, great job on the new board btw!

Kris
"Frell that!"