TECH HELP NEEDED: Assistance with Forum Use

Unread post by **J Simulcik** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:02 pm

Just a heads-up. Clicking the multiple page indicators on the new posts page does not take you to that page, but to page one -- just the same as if you had clicked the thread title.

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:18 pm

Thanks for mentioning this -- we are aware of the problem, and our site administrator (Art Roberts, a.k.a. "Forum Support") is trying to resolve the issue.

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 4:51 pm

I noticed the same thing with the "First unread post" link not working quite right too. It just takes you to the top of the page.

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:57 am

I've noticed that what seems like edits to catherine's posts show up as "new" even so much as being given the current date as the date of posting rather the original post date. If I read closely, sometimes I see a substantive addition (depending on how much time passed from my first reading) sometimes it's just a fixer-upper of typos.

Is this a forum glitch? Or are these actually getting re-posted to appear as new posts?

It was quite noticeable when I logged in for the first time today and I had 32 unread posts, but really only about 6 were new. When Miss Catherine said she was a chronic fixer-upper she wasn't kidding.

((no, it's me, nagasiva, fixing everybody's posts! I love things to look pretty and clean! -- ny))

Unread post by **J Simulcik** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:17 am

I've noticed that my edits do this too, so I believe it may be the way the forum software handles it.

((exactly correct! -- ny))

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 11:53 am

Yes, I've been aware of this one for a bit myself. I'm trying to pin it down.

(only a temporary revision - ny)

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:13 pm

Yes, I've been aware of this one for a bit myself. I'm trying to pin it down.

Thanks, Art. It sure makes the "new posts" tool interesting to use right now, that's for sure.

(sorry about that -- not sure how we might fix it so edits don't affect it. -- ny)

Unread post by **catherineyronwode** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 2:15 pm

That's because nagasiva went on a typo-fixing rampage last night and this morning, fixing every typo in all of my and Lara's posts. He's super nice to do this, but it threw a lot of old posts into the "new" category." Still, i am deeply thankful that he cares enough about us to make us look good in print! Big xoxoxos to nagasiva, the spelling champion!

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 5:38 pm

catherineyronwode wrote:That's because nagasiva went on a typo-fixing rampage last night and this morning, fixing every typo in all of my and Lara's posts. He's super nice to do this, but it threw a lot of old posts into the "new" category." Still, i am deeply thankful that he cares enough about us to make us look good in print! Big xoxoxos to nagasiva, the spelling champion!

OK, that's really cool, but if you're going to do that, I would appreciate you not do it to my posts without telling me. If an admin or moderator sees that I have made a typo, then I would appreciate either a private message giving me a heads up message that I need to make a correction or a note at the bottom of a post saying that it was edited and why (I believe this is usually a standard thing with phpBB software). Blind editing seen on my own posts is quite disturbing when the date of the post changes dramatically (the post I saw this editing on was originally posted at the end of January and now I see that it appears I posted it just Sunday evening February 22). I see this as a huge issue in potential abuse of moderation. While I can appreciate not wanting the board to look like a bunch of illiterate folks, there is a certain matter of individual voice showing through, typos and all.

(I'm just fixing catherine's and Lara's, and maybe mine; others i'm just fixing the SUBJECT lines. -- ny)

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 5:54 pm

Hrm, it should be showing that the post was edited. If it's not, I have a setting to track down and fix.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 5:57 pm

sounds good, Art. so far it seems to make the posts come up as "new" for some reason.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:04 pm

Yes, there does appear to be a problem with the "Page X of X" link. There are other links on there that can be used while while this is being worked on.

Just to the right of the "Page X of X" link, both above and below the thread, there are buttons that will allow you to go to specific pages. Just click on the page number you want to go to.

There are also "Next" and "Previous" links at the bottom of the thread just above the quick reply box that will take you to the next or previous page in the thread.

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:05 pm

nagasiva wrote:sounds good, Art. so far it seems to make the posts come up as "new" for some reason.

Yes, I double checked the one that really threw me off when I saw the date change on my own post. There is no edit notification (unlike in my last post in this thread that I edited that does show and editing notification). I understand that administrators on some php software have an option to have that line not appear (at least that is an option on my forum). The date change is quite an odd thing though, I don't envy Art trying to track that down.

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:08 pm

I've noticed that this has improved. If you click on "page x of x" from the list of new posts, then you do continue to go to just the first page as noted, but once you are there you can click on the individual page links to navigate within that thread.

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:18 pm

The "Mark posts as read" doesn't work (believe me I was giving that button a workout too with all the edits to the subject lines lately).

Similar issue:
The icon on "Ritual candles" always says there are new posts even when there aren't (when I've just read them and return to the main board, etc. not just use the back button; I even will open that board to see if there was a new reply, but there isn't.)

I wonder if this is a corollary to the "New Posts that Aren't New" thing.

(Eclecktic Mama: Subject line edited to reflect accurate name of the tool as pointed out by nagasiva. 2/26/09)

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:33 pm

This is pretty much the same issue, yes.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:50 pm

How amusing. I don't see that button, just

"Mark forums as read"

and

"Mark topics as read"

where is the "Mark posts as read"? button?

I haven't yet tried marking things read as i have everything set to read all the time. soon i'll begin to get the hang of that one.

Unread post by **J Simulcik** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:46 am

At least we're all having fun playing with our new toy!

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 12:13 pm

nagasiva wrote:How amusing. I don't see that button, just

"Mark forums as read"

and

"Mark topics as read"

where is the "Mark posts as read"? button?

I haven't yet tried marking things read as i have everything set to read all the time. soon i'll begin to get the hang of that one.

You're right nagasiva, I called it the wrong thing. I was referring to the "Mark topics read" clickable thing-y. It's not graphically formatted as a "button".

Oran2 · Unread post by **Oran2** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:17 am

I used to run a PhpBB forum, and I've found that, while this is sometimes a bug in the base installation of PhpBB, it's usually a problem introduced by a modification being applied to the base installation. It is often far from being the administrator's fault, but rather a faulty editing of the code by the install script/application. To be honest, I manually installed all of my forum modifications for that very reason, though it was quite tedious. In a situation like this it's usually a pretty straightforward fix (if you know where to look)....often a very small error. Such is the nature of php code, or any for that matter. One colon or something out of place and, Bam!, a function doesn't work.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Mon Mar 02, 2009 12:40 am

Yup, that's what I figured myself. That's why I'm currently working with a forum testbed, starting from scratch as it were, with a clean, unmodified version for comparison purposes. Probably what I should have done from the beginning, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Morrigan_Aria · Unread post by **Morrigan_Aria** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 8:01 pm

Hi!

Ms. Cat suggested I learn more via the links at the top of each of these subsections and in undertaking that suggestion, I have noticed some links are broken.

The broken links are as follows:
"How to make incense" http://herb-magic.com/incense-powder-cones.html
"Herb Magic" http://www.herb-magic.com/

I checked on the regular home site and the links given there are not working either.
Thank you!

Well met,
Morrigan Aria

Unread post by **Leah Rivera** » Sun Mar 08, 2009 7:07 am

Hello Morrigan,
I have just tested all the links on the "Read More before Posting" thread on Incense Boards, and they appear to be working.
I would need some more specifics as to which page the broken link is on to investigate further.
Lara

EcleckticMama · Unread post by **EcleckticMama** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 9:10 am

When reporting an off-topic/misplaced post I got an SQL error.

Should I PM Art or Lara (or another moderator who may be online) to let them know which post I mean?

Morrigan_Aria · Unread post by **Morrigan_Aria** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:34 pm

Hello Lara,

For the incense link:
Board index ‹ How To Use Lucky Mojo Spiritual Supplies ‹ Incenses and Resins < Please Read Before Posting About Incenses < How to make incense powder cones and light them: http://herb-magic.com/incense-powder-cones.html

That link just won't open for me at work or at home..

For the Herb Magic link, there are a couple ways I navigated there:
Board index ‹ How To Use Lucky Mojo Spiritual Supplies ‹ Herb, Mineral, and Animal Curios < Please Read Before Posting About Herbs, Roots and Minerals < How each magick herb can be used is described in "Herb Magic" by catherine yronwode:
http://www.herb-magic.com/

On the same page the Herb Magic hyperlink isn't working:
To find out more about the magical properties of the specific herb, root, mineral or zoological curio that you have purchased, go to http://www.luckymojo.com/mojocatherbs.html or Herb Magic and scroll down until you find the item title.

This link is also unable to open:
Board index ‹ How To Use Lucky Mojo Spiritual Supplies ‹ Baths and Washes < Please Read Before Posting About Baths < To blend your own herbal and mineral baths, visit Herb Magic: http://www.herb-magic.com/

Thank you for your consideration.

Morrigan Aria

sahjia · Unread post by **sahjia** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:49 am

i like to how can i sand a private message if some time i want to, so please let me know. thank u.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:37 pm

There are a couple of different ways to send a private message through the forums.

If you look over to the right, you'll see all the information about the person making the post you are reading, and one of the lower icons is a person with the letters PM next to it. PM stands for Private Message, and if you click that it will take you to a screen allowing you to send that person a message.

Also, if you look at the top just above the advertising banners, there is a panel with a bunch of links for various controls and rules pages for the forums. One of those is the User Control Panel, and if you click it and go to the User Control Panel screen you will find the forth tab on that screen is Private Messages, which allows you to send and read your own private messages. The first screen (unless you have unread messages of your own) is the compose new message screen, and the first field is the name of the person you are sending it to. There is a link right next to this field, Find A Member, and clicking on it will bring up another window where you can search for and select who you want to send the message too.

I hope these descriptions help. If not, just ask and I'll see if I can be clearer for you.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:47 pm

Yes please, I need specifics with that type of error to pin it down.

SilverStar · Unread post by **SilverStar** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 2:10 am

I always encounter this problem when a thread is long enough to have several pages. When I enter a part of the forum, like Altar Tools for example, and click on the small numbers next to the thread title (for example "Protocol for offerings" is 2 pages now and I click on the number 2) it gives a 404 error. Can this be fixed?

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Tue Jun 16, 2009 6:31 am

Yes, this is a known issue that is already being working on.

mysiclady · Unread post by **mysiclady** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 12:54 pm

Hi everyone I have been on this forum several months can anyone help me with sending private messages, Thank You's and replys, can't seem to get the hang of it,ThanksLol

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:36 pm

Up above the ad banner there is a section with several links and controls, the first one on the second row should be User Control Panel. After clicking on that, you will be presented with a page with several tabs, the forth one being Private Messages. Clicking on that tab will give you access to your private message area, which includes your Inbox, Outbox, stored drafts, etc.

Any message you read in your Inbox should have a SendReply button visible while you are reading it. Clicking it will take you to the Compose Message page and should automatically fill out the field on who to send it to.

If you are creating your own private message from scratch with Compose Message, you will need to choose the forum member or members to send it to. The first field is the list of who to send to, and there are several ways to add to this. The first is to simply type in the persons forum name (for example, mine is Forum Support) and click the ADD. If you don't know the name (or don't know the exact spelling), you can add to it using the Find A Member button. This will bring up a separate window/page where you can search for names and mark check boxes for one or more names. Just click on the Select Marked button at the bottom right of that page to have the names added to your message.

Once you are done adding names, entering a subject, and entering your message, just click the Submit button to send it.

The_2 · Unread post by **The_2** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:58 pm

Just a glitch: I've been trying to bookmark a few topics, but the bookmark function at the bottom leads me to a 404 page and the subscribe topic function doesn't work at all.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:23 pm

That may be part of another issue I am still trying to make work (without completely breaking things entirely). I'll make a point of looking at it to be sure though.

path2success · Unread post by **path2success** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:37 am

Past 3-4 days I am not opening any website on my computer except for LM website and at times when I click on the link of New posts I get an adware popup saying your computer has been affected and it takes me to some totalscan webpage. I immediately closed it. When I open google home page or mail nothing happens.
Not sure if some third party can do anything to a website but just thought of putting this up to see if anyone else has faced similar issues.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 8:04 am

It sounds like your system may be infected with malware or a virus. One of the things some of these things do is block your ability to download tools to remove them or your ability to search for ways to remove them, which may be why you are finding web sites and searches blocked. This is especially true if you have pop ups telling you you may be infected, as there is currently at least two malware infections that I am aware of that do this (my father was just infected himself).

Unfortunately, if your system is infected, the only advice I can give is to take your system to a repair facility or call a computer technician to come to you. This type of issue is not easy to get out of without access to an uninfected system, knowing what tools to use and how to use them, and having ways of getting those tools to the infected system bypassing the blocks the infection is throwing up.

I wish I could give you an easier answer, but that's my advice.

path2success · Unread post by **path2success** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 8:43 am

Thank you! I just wanted to confirm it was nothing to do with the site.

Unread post by **jwmcclin** » Sun Sep 27, 2009 9:44 am

Path2sucess, if you PM me I can give you a few suggestions...

detached · Unread post by **detached** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:45 pm

ok at the bottom where it displays the upcoming birthdays, next 2 the names, is that the new age or the old age? jus askin cuz i gamble a little and i always use birthdays and wateva i dream 2 interpret wat numbers i wanna play. thanks.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 6:43 pm

Yes, that is their age assuming they put in a correct year in their forum profiles.

detached · Unread post by **detached** » Tue Oct 13, 2009 7:20 pm

o ok so their age 2 be when their birthday comes?

freegirl · Unread post by **freegirl** » Tue Jan 05, 2010 10:12 pm

I feel stupid but I can't figure it out, the only one I understand is the lock, and the ministar that means I've posted in it. what do the heart and question mark mean?

MightyAphrodite · Unread post by **MightyAphrodite** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 2:50 pm

Thought I'd mention this, since it's the 2nd time this has happened recently.

I was just read a forum post in the annointing oils section and clicked my back button. Instead of going back to the index, it went to another URL which triggered my AVG software to give me a virus alert. The alert says:
Threat detected!
Threat name: Virus identified HTML/FRAMER.BZ

It also happened last week, when I went to read more posts in an old thread (not the one I was reading today) and instead of taking me to the thread, it went to that same link.

It doesn't happen every time I visit this forum.
It's not on the same post/threads.
It's only happened on this LM forum, never on the LM products/info site, nor on any other website I visit.
I run my AVG virus checker every night and it doesn't seem there's anything on my machine.
Is it possible someone was able to infect the forum software?

Unread post by **CopperFox** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:03 pm

I have had something similar happen while reading on the site a few times; it seems completely random. When I run my malware check; however, it detects nothing. Hopefully the site admin is aware of the issue and working to keep the forum virus free.

1usyuyl · Unread post by **1usyuyl** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:30 pm

that happened to me today, too. but i had that warning very often last week.i thought was just my computer.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:35 pm

phpBB is known to give off false positives on a variety of anti-virus/anti-malware software. It has to do with session ID information, which phpBB will use occasionally in the URLs and links, which the anti-virus/anti-malware software try and interpret as an attempt at usurping your computer. AVG seems to be particularly susceptible to this, which is one of the reasons I personally no longer use it myself.

Having said that, the forums are checked regularly, and every time someone reports an issue they are checked again, just to be on the safe side. And so far, everything appears to be in order.

On that specific link, I don't know why your browser tried to do that. That particular link does not show up anywhere within the forum posts nor in the code. I do confirm that it IS an infected website, but why it's showing up for you while you are reading the forum I can't explain. I WILL keep looking though, as I take every such report seriously.

Unread post by **CopperFox** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:47 pm

Thank you, Art, for your vigilance!

Vielen dank,
Michelle

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:50 pm

In doing some research on this particular message, I have some information that it many cases it is a Trojan infection, which is a program that has managed to insert itself into your computer by pretending to be something else (like the Trojan horse). You may need to use additional tools other than AVG to find and/or remove it if this is the case. Some I recommend (and I'd recommend using more than one just to play it safe):

Spybot Search and Destroy
WinPatrol
Super AntiSpyware
COMODO

They each have free versions, so they can't hurt to try.

Unread post by **CopperFox** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:55 pm

Thanks for the recommendations. Is there any reason to suspect that our spammer du jour, Tasha Woddy, may have anything to do with this? If so, we would all be wise to avoid her posts and the PM's she's been hitting everyone with under assorted user names.

faith2008 · Unread post by **faith2008** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:23 pm

CopperFox wrote:Thanks for the recommendations. Is there any reason to suspect that our spammer du jour, Tasha Woddy, may have anything to do with this? If so, we would all be wise to avoid her posts and the PM's she's been hitting everyone with under assorted user names.

I was wondering the same thing since I had sent her a PM before I knew she was spamming and I didn't have any warnings until after I tried to click back from that PM.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:26 pm

It's possible, but those posts and accounts should be getting purged (at least all the ones I'm aware of are). Those typically trace to Nigeria, and are usually attempts at getting certain words and phrases scanned by Google to give added weight to web sites they want people to go to to be ripped off, or attempts at getting people to send messages to email addresses to add to their spamvertising lists.

Unread post by **nagasiva** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:37 pm

You will have the option of deleting them. Going to the messages will present you with a list of them, which you can then chose to read individually or perform operations such as deletion on. As a side note, that particular user is part of the Nigerian spammer net, and has already been banned. I didn't think to check for private messages to purge though, that's a new wrinkle. My bad.

MysticRootworker · Unread post by **MysticRootworker** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 4:43 pm

Thanks Art- I saw earlier where she was spamming people so I was forewarned. I Love this forum and I am addicted to it already. Thanks to all of you who make this possible for us to all learn and share!
Have a nice evening.

Unread post by **CopperFox** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 5:48 am

Those symbols are put there by the original poster -- several different ones are offered just below the subject line. They are just little indicators of the thread's content. A question mark for someone seeking input, the flames for a "hot idea" or someone may be angry/venting, the heart for a positive testimonial or regarding love work...you get the gist, I'm sure! You can even add one to your reply to posts, if you're so inclined. The option doesn't show on the quick reply tab, so to add from there, type your post, click "Preview" and from there you can add the cool doo-dads. (That's the really technical name for them...

)

See, I just added one to this reply! ("i" for "information")

Michelle

freegirl · Unread post by **freegirl** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:08 am

THANKS!

MightyAphrodite · Unread post by **MightyAphrodite** » Mon Jan 11, 2010 11:43 am

Thanks, Art! If it happens again, I'll make a point of copying the triggering URL.

MightyAphrodite · Unread post by **MightyAphrodite** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:19 pm

My AVG gave me that same virus warning today when I clicked this link:

viewtopic.php?f=24&t=4503

So maybe it's just as you said about AVG false positives, but thought I'd post it for you anyways.

kmew1315 · Unread post by **kmew1315** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:41 pm

Based on my limited knowledge of forums, I don't know of any way that reading a post or pm from a spammer can give you a virus. If you click on any links in those messages though, then all bets are off.

MightyAphrodite · Unread post by **MightyAphrodite** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 12:46 pm

If websites can be infected with viruses/trojans by hackers, then it stands to reason that forums could be too. Although I'm inclined to think that what is happening to me is the false-positives you mentioned happen with AVG (since that's what I use.)

But your advice about not clicking links in people's posts is wise. I only click links to LM posts and not anyones signature links.

FLIGHTY1 · Unread post by **FLIGHTY1** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 1:02 pm

hello DID want to say anything but I have had several viruses that have come in while visiting this site to were I can't turn my computer screen on I recently just got it back from the company for repair but that doesn't stop me from coming back I thought I pissed someone off on the forum and that was there way to stop me from making newbie posting mistakes now I now I'm not alone I just had a warning half hour ago turned my pc off for while then tuned it back on it must be something hidden that you can't see but it's here glad someone out ted it