Hot Tips for Forum Useage

[Karen]

I recently switched to Full WYSIWYG Editing Message Editor Interface to write posts and I LOVE IT! (What You See Is What You Get)

Go to User Control Panel and then to Edit Options, scroll down to the last section.

Message Editor Interface
When posting messages to the forums or other members, there are three interface types available to you. The simplest of these is a simple text box, while the last is a fully-fledged WYSIWYG editor, which allows you to format your text as you want it and see the results immediately.

Depending upon the capabilities of your web browser, you may not be able to use all of these options. If you experience problems when posting messages, try switching to a different interface type.
Basic Editor - A simple text box Standard Editor - Extra formatting controls Enhanced Interface - Full WYSIWYG Editing Message Editor Interface:

[Karen]

User Control Panel
Edit Options

Since I'm such an ultra sensitive little thing {giggle} I keep a folded newspaper nearby to hang over some of the avatars while I read the posts. Now I can't see the beautiful ones anymore either, but I can ditch that newspaper! Here are some other reasons you may want to turn off some features:

You have the option to show or hide various elements of messages, which may be of use to users on slow internet connections, or who want to remove extraneous clutter from posts.
X Show Signatures
Show Avatars
X Show Images (including attached images and images in [IMG] code)

[Karen]

Do you find moving avatars and animated emoticons annoying and distracting?
Just hit the escape key and they will freeze.

I turned them off in my Firefox browser so almost everything on every page is holding still. Videos and Flash still play.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2315723_.html

Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Start your Firefox browser and open a new window. Visit a website you know features animated images. Identify an animated image in your browser. Wait for it to load completely.
Step2
Press the ESC key on your keyboard.
Step3
Type "about:config" in the browser's address bar and press Enter. Allow the list to populate.
Step4
Enter "image.animation_mode" into the filter field and let the single result show under Preference Name.
Step5
Double-click on the result. Type "none" in place of "normal" in the Enter String Value pop-up.
Step6
Click OK. Close all windows and completely exit the browser.
Step7
Restart Firefox to enjoy an animation-free web browsing experience.

To stop animated images in Internet Explorer, first open the browser. Click on the Tools menu and choose Internet Options. Select the Advanced tab and identify the Settings portion of the tab. Under Multimedia, uncheck the Play Animations in Webpages option and click OK to exit the Internet Options pop-up. Close all windows and exit Internet Explorer before restarting the browser.

[Karen]

From Jnana on another closed thread:

Here's a simple way to improve your life:

1. Click on the name of a user who is making your forum experience less enjoyable.

2. Click on "User Lists"

3. Click on "Add to Ignore List"

[Karen]

How to start a new thread

Near the top of the page of this thread you will see the various levels of the forum, and they are clickable links:

Project Avalon Forum » Project Avalon Forum » Project Avalon » Project Avalon General Discussion » Hot Tips for Forum Useage

Now I'll add some numbers. You want to get to the correct Sub-Forum (Level 3), click the correct topic area and then start your new thread at Level 4.

1) Project Avalon Forum » 2) Project Avalon Forum » 3) Project Avalon » 4) Project Avalon General Discussion » 5) Hot Tips for Forum Useage

1) Level 1 will take you to the top - Level 1:
http://www.projectavalon.net/forum/index.php

Here you can click on Level 2:

2a) Project Avalon Forum - Finding safe places, information and resources for building communities, site suggestions. Current and future topics.

2b) Project Camelot Forum - Reactions, feedback and suggestions on interviews, current events and experiences. The past - as revealed by witnesses and whistleblowers.

2c) The Work Group - Project Light Warrior Forum -Light Warrior Developers Forum (Entry Password Required) [***See explanation at the bottom of this post.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Level 3
Now you can find an area where you can start a new thread.
Scroll down the page - there are lots of Sub-Forums
Use General Discussion if it looks too overwhelming.
Come back for frequent "get acquainted" visits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Level 4 - You will find a button on the left near the top.
In Avalon Electric Skin - It says New Topic (white letters on dark blue background)
In Minty skin - It says New Thread (Dark green letters on a very light green background)
The button to switch skins in lower left corner.

Click the button and start your new thread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Level 5 - When you are reading a thread, you are on Level 5.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A quick way to access a level on which to start a new thread is to go to
Forum Jump at the bottom on the right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

***2c) The Work Group - Project Light Warrior Forum -Light Warrior Developers Forum (Entry Password Required) [for more info see: http://www.projectavalon.net/forum/s...&postcount=29] [quotes from that link: Project Light Warrior was conceived to be a game eventually (I see some of you are already tapping into that aspect of it!)... And to begin with as a sort of 'yellow brick road' to becoming a light warrior or Jedi master. ... Anyone wanting to participate send an email to: projectlightwarrior@gmail.com with PROJECT LIGHT WARRIOR in the subject line preferably in all caps.]

Who is needed: We still need people with programming skills, flash, spiritual knowledge, + + + to be able to make this project as best as possible! If you want to contribute, please shout!

Project Light Warrior now open in 'Beta' (as of Dec 19, 2009)
http://www.projectavalon.net/forum/s...ad.php?t=18288
or
http://projectlightwarrior.com/

[Fredkc]

Hi Karen

I recently switched to Full WYSIWYG Editing Message Editor Interface to write posts and I LOVE IT! (What You See Is What You Get)

Reminds me of something John C. Dvorak said in PC Magazine back when Windows was "new" (he was not a fan).

"Mostly I think WYSIWYG is just as bad an idea in computing as it is in women."

Anyway... for those of us who HATE switching back and forth from the keyboard to the mouse, over and over....

In both posting modes, you can do text highlighting without leaving the keyboard, as well.

First of all, you can hi-lite text by holding down the shift key while you "arrow key" over it. Once you have text hi-lited you can make it
Bold, by pressing Ctrl-B
Italic by pressing Ctrl-I
and
Underline by pressing Ctrl-U

Or do all of it by pressing all of them.

Fred

And once you're done typing, instead of clicking on "Submit Reply" you can just press Tab twice, then press Enter.

Kinda lik....

[Majorion]

Thanks, I'm trying this option now...

Feels like I'm writing an email.

[SiriArc]

Originally Posted by Karen

User Control Panel
Edit Options

Since I'm such an ultra sensitive little thing {giggle} I keep a folded newspaper nearby to hang over some of the avatars while I read the posts. Now I can't see the beautiful ones anymore either, but I can ditch that newspaper!

Zact-A-Mundo !!!

Flash Stuff In General Has Become An Irritation, Especially In Post After Post .......

Nuke Anything https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/951 Also Comes In Handy On Many Occasions.

[Karen]

FredKC if you have any more tips on how to navigate the forum using the keyboard and without touching the mouse - sock 'em to me! I am sensitive to EMF and holding the mouse really zaps me.

tab tab enter -- ZINGO you made my day.

[haibane]

I've been using computers well since before Windows, so I thought this was kinda common knowledge, but here's what I do when there's no mouse, or before drivers are installed etc.:

At the Windows desktop, use cursor keys (the ones with arrows for UP, DOWN, RIGHT, LEFT) to navigate between icons. Press ENTER / RETURN instead of double-clicking on the icon.

The START menu invoked by the Windows symbol key between CTRL and ALT can also easily be navigated by the cursor keys.

If you really hate mouse, get yourself an old-school file manager software like Total Commander (ghisler.com) - it'll give you two side-by-side panels with folders and files, where you can do everything and more than the Windows Explorer allows you, without ever touching the mouse. The app is free and is regularly updated, with lots and lots of useful free plugins to work with different kinds of files.

Most of the Windows interface, like dialogue boxes / file requesters, can be navigated using the cursor keys and the TAB key. When you see a letter underlined in a dialogue box, it means you can press that letter on the keyboard instead of clicking on the button without a mouse.

The ALT key invokes the horizontal menu at the top of your current window - the menu can then be navigated with the cursor keys, and of course you fire your selection off with the ENTER / RETURN key.

EDITING TEXT:

CTRL+cursor keys moves the cursor to the next/previous word. Holding down the SHIFT key still works with this key combination to highlight text.

Of course CTRL+C copies whatever is selected to the clipboard, CTRL+V pastes it at the cursor position.

If you're using Firefox or other Mozilla-based browser on a PC which isn't too slow, download a spell checker plugin, it does miracles, especially if typing in a language which isn't your native. There is another plugin called Dictionary Switcher, which will auto-detect the language based on your current choice of national keyboard layout, but you can also switch this manually (with your mouse only I'm afraid) at the bottom right corner of your browser window. This is also available for the Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail client, although you have to download and install it separately.

Hope this helps (^_^ )

BTW if I just didn't want to see the avatars, I'd drag the browser window to the left so that that bit 'sticks out' off the screen ...

[Fredkc]

BTW if I just didn't want to see the avatars, I'd drag the browser window to the left so that that bit 'sticks out' of the screen ...

Au contraire!

Press Alt-spacebar, then the letter M now you can move the window with the arrow keys. when you're done press enter. Voila!

And I thought you were a purist!
Just kidding (but that really does work)


Karen;
I will try to gather up a list of "board keystrokes" and post them.

Fred

[haibane]

Originally Posted by Fredkc

And I thought you were a purist!

Nope, I'm not, I love mouse, couldn't do much without it these days in my line of work (short of falling back to TeX, dunno if there's a command line driven Photoshop equivalent tho). But to need a mouse when wordprocessing, with most of my fingers needed at the keyboard, and the rest not detachable, is outright pathetic, and this compliment of course goes the software developers (^__~ )

[Fredkc]

Halbane;

I worked for 9 years in mechanical design, using AutoCad
I do graphics for web design/programming
I play with Bryce-3D as one of my hobbies.



So given the choice, I would probably grow a third arm/hand too.

Bit of history;
For many years, Bill Gates was not a "Mouseketeer". He also hated the continual switching back and forth that Windows wants. It is for this reason that most of the keyboard alternatives to mousing, within the OS, still exist.

Fred.

[lindabaker]

Thanks for the tips. Old knowledge come round again.

[haibane]

Originally Posted by Fredkc

Halbane;
Bit of history;
For many years, Bill Gates was not a "Mouseketeer". He also hated the continual switching back and forth that Windows wants. It is for this reason that most of the keyboard alternatives to mousing, within the OS, still exist.

That shows that beautiful, efficient and elegant GUIs can't be made by those who don't love them (^__~ )

(I think we might cause an off-topic here ... )

[GaiaLove]

Hi

Insert the youtube file code between [youtube] and [/youtube] tags.
so if the youtube vid url is 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vHRwmFc-1o 
the following is typed: 

[youtube]1vHRwmFc-1o[/youtube]

it should look like this

[Karen]

I make ample use of the Home, End, Page Up and Page Down buttons.

Home will take you back to the top of a web page. End will take you to the bottom.
I often read threads by using page down and if necessary, the up and down arrows.

I do a lot of google searching in the toolbar.
If I decide to add quotes Home will take me to the beginning of the search box and End to the end of it.

[metaw3]

Originally Posted by Fredkc

I have been doing something, on my own, since the 2nd day of this thread. I have kept a complete running copy of just Bill Ryan's posts, complete with all links, etc.

Great job. I did the same but I used an obscure vBulletin feature for it. I just bookmarked this URL:
http://projectavalon.net/forum/searc...threadid=17977

Then you just click on each link titled "Re: Bill Ryan's thread" to read the entitre post from Bill.

To get the link is a little tricky though because a vBulletin search has an ID and it expires. So instead you want the URL (above) that creates the cached search. To filter any discussion by poster, go to the forum where you see all the threads. The number of replies column for the thread is actually a link. Clicking on it opens a popup window in which you see all posters in the thread and the number of posts they did. This number of posts is the link I posted above to filter Bill's posts in this thread. If you click on this link, it closes the popup window and creates a cached search. If you right-click and copy or bookmark it, you have the link I posted above. Does that make sense?

Here's THEWATCHER replies in his thread:
http://projectavalon.net/forum/searc...hthreadid=4106

And Astralwalker's:
http://projectavalon.net/forum/searc...hthreadid=8441

They show in reverse chronological order by default so you get the last one on top. From a favorite in your browser, it becomes rather easy and fast to follow the posts of just one member in a specific thread, and to check frequently whether he posted, without actually going through the other replies.

[Karen]

Originally Posted by SiriArc

Zact-A-Mundo !!!

Flash Stuff In General Has Become An Irritation, Especially In Post After Post .......

Nuke Anything https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/951 Also Comes In Handy On Many Occasions.

I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying this little Nuke Anything add-on!

I also immensely enjoy Adblock Plus, NoScript for protection, and FoxClocks to tell the time where all my new Avalon Friends are located.

[gita]

Hi Karen

Sorry to sound so dim but I just can't get to level 3 much alone level 5 to start a new thread! What am I doing wrong??

[Moxie]

When I click on a name I do not find a "user lists" in order to "add to ignore list"
as stated below?

1. Click on the name of a user who is making your forum experience less enjoyable.

2. Click on "User Lists"

3. Click on "Add to Ignore List"
__________________

[Karen]

Originally Posted by gita

Hi Karen

Sorry to sound so dim but I just can't get to level 3 much alone level 5 to start a new thread! What am I doing wrong??

Hi Gita,

Look at the top of the forum for this row - it doesn't stand out much ....

Project Avalon Forum > Project Avalon Forum > Project Avalon > Project Avalon General Discussion
Reload this Page Hot Tips for Forum Useage

between each pair of > marks, is a level of the forum

click Project Avalon General Discussion.

If you have skype or want to get skype, you might find chat easier, and you can also do free worldwide internet voice calling ... http://skype.com

I'll keep working with you until you understand.

[Karen]

Originally Posted by Moxie

When I click on a name I do not find a "user lists" in order to "add to ignore list"
as stated below?

1. Click on the name of a user who is making your forum experience less enjoyable.

2. Click on "User Lists"

3. Click on "Add to Ignore List"
__________________

When you are in a thread and click the name on the left, you usually get 4 options, click "view public profile". If I click your profile - I see there, right under your awesome avatar, a little row with the "User Lists" button.

[SiriArc]

Karen and All

A Consideration:

Since Avalon doesn't Automatically Limit Picture Sizing, some pics get posted that are HUGE creating the “slider” to view the whole thing, this also drags any verbiage out to the “right” along with the entire thread; This makes reading hard (having to slide forth > and < back) and effectively ruins the dynamic of the picture itself.

{Here, width is limited to ~ 450 px on General Principles; Length really isn't a consideration, just click the "Maintain Aspect Ratio" so the ReSize won't be distorted}

Most any Picture Application can ReSize with ease .......

A personal favorite, used almost constantly, is IrfanView:

http://www.irfanview.com/

[Karen]

Originally Posted by SiriArc

Karen and All

A Consideration:
Since Avalon doesn't Automatically Limit Picture Sizing, some pics get posted that are HUGE creating the “slider” to view the whole thing, this also drags any verbiage out to the “right” along with the entire thread; This makes reading hard (having to slide forth > and < back) and effectively ruins the dynamic of the picture itself.
{Here, width is limited to ~ 450 px on General Principles; Length really isn't a consideration, just click the "Maintain Aspect Ratio" so the ReSize won't be distorted}
Most any Picture Application can ReSize with ease .......

A personal favorite, used almost constantly, is IrfanView:

http://www.irfanview.com/

Is this something each member has to do? That would be a challenge to get everyone aware of this.

I wonder if there is a fix in the vBulletin admin panel?

I have put this is the list of things for admin to look at ... I sorta understand what you are saying, but not fully. Those HUGE pics - yes, I've been wondering if there is a cure for them also.