LOG your web issues here

Hi all,

Thanks for this idea, I'll put that on our wishlist of things to be do when we have spare developer time booked in.

Can you tell me where you tried to make posts and if there was any error message? When you say they aren't appearing -- are they replies that aren't appearing in a conversation? Or are you starting a new conversation and it isn't showing up (if this one, then is it not showing up in the topic area, or in 'recent conversations' or both?) Is anyone else having a problem like this? We'll try to track this one down but just need more information.

Here are items we've fixed:

- Jumping around the page when conversations load

- Clicking 'last post' on a conversation doesn't take user to last post

- Duplicate notification emails 

- Users being logged out without clicking 'sign out' (resolved for most users but not possibly not all - please PM ASAP if you're still getting logged out)

- 'Confirm new topic' button on compose page is confusing and deletes user input

- Pressing Enter on tags field performs site search

- Various button size and alignment problems

- Avatars delivered too large causing page load problems

- Conversation titles sometimes disappearing (we *think* we've solved it - please let me know ASAP if you see this again)

- Search by author doesn't work for users with space in their names

- On search results page 'show more conversations' button not working

If you are still seeing any of these issues please PM me and let me know, even if you think it's already been reported -- because it's very hard to track down bugs that only happen for certain users or in certain situations, and multiple reports can help narrow them down. 

The changes to the homepage are happening soon as well -- you'll be able to customise which sections you want to see on your community home page, including the list of all topic areas.

Best,

Sadie

Edited by member 14 Jul 2014 at 12:31  | Reason: Not specified

Hi Sadie

It was interesting to see in your email of 14 July which fixes have been made although I have to say that I am not familiar with some of them.

The comments below may be useful and they add to what I said in my posting on 3 June 2014. For ease with this posting I have copied in my earlier posting at the end of this message.

Comment 1 Archives: In your posting on 4 July you said that at some point achieved material would be locked and be available as “read only.” I assume this means that even the person who set up the thread is subject to the read only arrangement. If so, then the option at that time, or before, will be for the person who set up the thread to decide whether or not a thread which was based on current clinical opinion at that time needs to be noted to show the posting is valid up to the at the time when the archives went “read only” – alternatively the posting could be deleted.

Comment 3 Previous posts: My original comment that “My Conversations” brings up only 50 postings still stands. However, I have discovered how a user can bring up all of their previous postings.

On the Home page got to “I’m interested in conversations about ...” and enter your “user name” in the box “Know exactly what you want? “, - then click “GO”

Then when the page changes go to the “Search term” and make this blank then insert your “user name” in “Posted by” box .

Then in “Topics” click on “All topics” and scroll down and click on “Posts from the old forum”: then click “REFINE SEARCH”

This brings up all of the users past postings in reverse date order.

Can you amend the system so that using “My Conversations” produces the same results as the sequence just described? As far as I am aware the sequence described is not made clear elsewhere. If you cannot improve how “My Conversations” responds could you make it clear that it produces only a short list of postings, which for me is 50. This is different to my Profile which includes my last 10 postings.

Comment 5 Since your last visit: this still stands so if this cannot be made to work then why not remove it from the page?

Comment 6 Instructions: this still stands. However your response in your posting of 7 July welcomed Georges suggestion to have a tutorial about continuation topics. That would be good but that, and more, is included in my suggestion about some sort of “Instruction” in my comments on 3 June 2014.

Comment 7 Registration denied: Has the browser problem been sorted out – especially for prospective members looking to join the Message Board?

Comment 8 Quick fix and Comment 9 Topics: Nothing further to add about these except the new Comment 13 below may be of interest.

Comment 10 Preview: this comment still stands and is important when doing long or detailed technical postings.

Comment 11 Cut and paste: This comment still stands and was supplemented by my later comment on 7 June.

NEW COMMENTS:

Comment 12 Recent Conversation: My “Since .........“ box is set to “Since Last visit on xx xx xxy” and this has shown the wrong time, and even the wrong date, when I last logged in.

Comment 13: It is not for me to comment on the detail of how other people feel about the new site. However, I would mention that a few weeks ago I met a number of members of the Online Community at the B2PCA’s weekend event. It was interesting to hear their views, and without going into detail, those to whom I spoke, with one exception, did not like the new site and were still puzzled - I say no more than that - by some parts of the new site.

On 16 July 2014 Allister posted under Posts from the old Forum / Treatment / Chemo Part 2 and said, “I'm still finding this new site very difficult to navigate and overly complicated”. I cannot speak for other members of the message board but I think Allister’s comment reflects, generally, how some members continue to feel in principle about the new site. I understand that issues of concern are still mentioned in emails between members.

I think it would be good if you could say which fixes are under consideration and give an expected date when the fixes will go live. Also, can you say which problems or issues will not be fixed so they will continue as they are. If you can say why they will not be fixed that would be good.

I hope this is useful.

Alan

MY POSTING OF 3 JUNE IS COPIED IN BELOW

“Here are a few comments.

1. Archives: I understand that the old threads will be closed at some point and converted into an archive and the content will be available on a "read only" basis. There is good information in many of the old postings and they continue to have value. When postings are based on clinical opinion and research findings current at the time of the posting previously it was possible to update them to take account of new information and positions on various subjects. The postings then reflected current thinking – I don’t mean personal thinking here but that which is based on clinical viewpoints – and so they were relevant again.

I have made a number of postings over the years which were based on information from clinical and technical sources or from personal research and experience of a subject. If these postings become available as “read only” and cannot be updated then I don’t think they are much use as a reference. Depending on the circumstances it will most probably be best to remove any postings which have become out of date and cannot be updated. I understand that at present a posting cannot be deleted from the system but that content can be deleted which will leave a blank posting. Will it be possible for a member to deleted text from a posting in the Archive?

2. Copyright: In a recent post someone asked about using the content from postings for an outside purpose. See “Including information on my blog” – not sure where the posting is. Barry TG quite rightly mentioned the issue of copyright in the context of the posting. Anyone who was around in 2011 may remember a bit of activity (?) to make changes to the Message Board, which eventually fizzled out. Some of you may recall that one point of interest at that time, at least for me, was how copyright law affected the information in postings. The Intellectual Property Office confirmed that in situations like message boards the person who makes a posting retains the copyright of the content of that postings and how it is used.

3. Previous posts: My Profile page used to give me access to all my previous postings in the various categories but now my profile page shows only the last 10 postings. If I go to “My Conversations” this lists 50 postings – I have opened a few and there are some which do not include a posting from me. I have about 400 postings so the question here is how can I access all of my previous postings?

4. Spacing: I think there is too much space between the postings on a page and too many postings on a page. It is not as convenient as the previous format which allowed a quick and easy scroll down and pick up a posting even if you had to change pages.

5. “Since your last visit ...?” When I sign in the first screen always shows the message: “Since your last visit on (date) there have been 0 new posts, 0 new conversations and 0 new members.” When I then go to “Recent postings” there are new conversations/messages. Not sure what is going on here.

6. “Instructions”: We all learn through experience but I have to ask why an instruction note or guidance, was not provided when the system started on 6 May. It is not too late to do something like that now. If the PCUK is keen to get new members involved with the board then something is needed to tell them how to use the system.

7. Registration denied: I was locked out of the Message Board for 5 days recently because “The user name or password is not recognised” even though it had worked for the previous 3 weeks. My browser then was Mozilla Firefox and I also tried Internet Explorer both of which could not get me into the Message Board. After speaking to the company which I have used for years for all my computer needs and support by way of an annual care package I tried Google Chrome and this worked for me. My computer experts said that if a system like this rejects attempts to register using three different browsers then the problem is with the system and not the browsers. I got in using my third browser but I have to wonder if this has something to do with your system and not my browses. Could this be the case?

8. Quick fix: I agree with almost all of the points made by others about problems with the new Message Board which, I understand, are being considered. Activity on the board looked to have stalled at one point. I know you and your team are working on this but it is worth mentioning that if this is not fixed soon the charity may well lose some of what the board has provided for many years which is a valuable source of good support, good information and good humour ... and members new and old.

9. Topics: We had a system which worked and was understood by newcomers to the board. The layout, as shown by George in a recent posting, worked well. We now have Topics which are subdivided and, in my view, it is not as easy to find postings as it was before.

10. Preview: Is it possible for a posting to be previewed before it is posted on the board?

11. Cut and Paste: I tried to “cut and paste” this posting by clicking on “Post Reply” box but that doesn’t accept “cut and paste” but go to the “Show Quick Reply” box and you are OK.
..................................

Edited by member 21 Jul 2014 at 19:40  | Reason: Not specified

Hi all,

Thanks very much for re-reporting the login timeout issue. I've re-raised the same ticket with our developers so they can track down the problem. 

We haven't been able to reproduce the 'missing posts' problem in any browser and think it may be down to the design of the page – the POST and CANCEL buttons are right next to each other, the same colour, and CANCEL is actually bigger than POST yet asks for no confirmation or gives any feedback telling you it's cancelling -- it just goes back to the conversation just like if you'd clicked POST. You'd think you'd posted until you were unable to find your new message. If you're clicking quickly or tapping [tab][tab][tab][tab][enter] to post, it's way too easy to activate the wrong button. We're going to fix that first as the most likely cause of this issue.

That's right, and we're happy to update those old threads with such notices by request, even after the archives are made read-only.

We'll fix that after the more urgent fixes are done. I've put in a request to add a link at the bottom to switch to the search page to find more results. 

We have a request in to make this work better.

Done: http://prostatecanceruk.org/we-can-help/online-community/continuing-an-archived-conversation 

We haven't had any further complaints or any emails asking for help registering.

We already have a ticket in with the developers on the issue of WYSIWYG editor display not matching the posted output in terms of the way linebreaks are displayed. This will hopefully solve the need for preview. 

We've not had any more complaints about users not being able to cut and paste - developers tell us it's a browser issue as it's a user's local browser and operating system that handles cut and paste, not the online community software. The online community software doesn't have any cut-and-paste functionality to be fixed. 

Developers are working on a better definition for what 'last login' means -- ie, last time you signed on vs last day you visited vs last page you loaded.

Are there particular parts that were puzzling besides those logged in this thread? Please let us know. 

We're prioritising bugs vs feature requests. Bug fixes are free, since something's not working right. New features needed that weren't caught in testing or other steps of the process, we have to pay for and balance against the other services we provide to men and their families. So, we do have to look at whether a change someone's requested (like a button to switch signatures on and off per post) is as urgent as a bug that's stopping someone from finding the information they're looking for, or a change to the community homepage that would mean everyone finds it easier to find the topics they want. 

We've put all of these useful requests in to the developers, but some we've prioritised and some we're hanging onto for a slow time when we have developer time to spare. I've tried to say that when responding to a feature request if it couldn't be prioritised. 

We have developer time booked in this week to get through more bug fixes. Some of the problems people have reported are very hard to reproduce and diagnose, and we may think we have a fix but then it turns out it hasn't fixed it for all users. So I can't promise a particular day for a particular issue. I can say that I will keep updating you as the changes go live and keep asking for your very helpful feedback so we can continue to improve the service.

I really hope this is helpful and will update soon with more improvements made.