Songwriting Workshop

[blue2blue]

[TIPS ONLY. Bugs and suggestions are best addressed in the Feedback forum for the whole site.]

First, if you feel like the text is too faint, even if the size is OK with you, try changing the default text size in your user prefs...

My Settings / Preferences / Display...

You'll see Text Size (currently third settings cluster down). The default is Medium. Try Large.

If you don't like the blue sidebars (and many don't), consider using ctrl-scroll wheel to zoom the page until the main page bleeds the edges. (In Firefox, you may want to turn off Zoom Text Only). I thought it was a bit silly when I first saw it suggested -- and it really makes things big on my wide screen, but it actually is much nicer than the sidebars, which are fatiguing -- as I recognize in their absence.

Horizontal Scrolling -- a feature not a bug. =/  A fix-it ticket has been issued and the guilty are burning midnight oil. In the meantime, consider going to HTML view. As long as you use straight text, it's somewhat readable -- and it wraps properly. Also the Quick Reply (which only uses plain text) works.

Posting a Reply leaves you in the thread location where you clicked the Reply button -- not at the end of the thread where you expect it. It has been reported although there seems to be some discussion as to what the actual behavior is. I assume it will be sorted when folks have a better chance to test.

 _____________________________

Also -- since there appears to be no way to get an email notification of a personal message -- anyone who needs to get hold of me in a timely fashion (in my moderator function) might want to consider using the contact form on my business site: http://www.tkmajor.com/cm/contact/

[guitarville]

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blue2blue wrote:

First, if you feel like the text is too faint, even if the size is OK with you, try changing the default text size in your user prefs...

My Settings / Preferences / Display...

You'll see Text Size (currently third settings cluster down). The default is Medium. Try Large.

If you don't like the blue sidebars (and many don't), consider using ctrl-scroll wheel to zoom the page until the main page bleeds the edges. (In Firefox, you may want to turn off Zoom Text Only).

Horizontal Scrolling -- a feature not a bug. =/  A fix-it ticket has been issued and the guilty are burning midnight oil. In the meantime, consider going to HTML view. As long as you use straight text, it's perfectly readable -- and it wraps properly. Also the Quick Reply (which only uses plain text) works.

Posting a Reply leaves you in the thread location where you clicked the Reply button -- not at the end of the thread where you expect it. It has been reported although there seems to be some discussion as to what the actual behavior is. I assume it will be sorted when folks have a better chance to test.

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Thanks blue, I'm now trying the large size. Too bad the print isn't darker. Hey, I just figured it out, change the color. Spread the word, that should take care of the color print issue

[blue2blue]

LOL.

To be sure, I was using black or dark gray on my posts for a while. (But the black [like the gray only more obious] looks smudgy with my built in fonts). The large font for me is sharper. (And when I combine that with the zoom, the resulting font is very sleek. And big enough to make a first grader feel right at home, Jane said.)

[guitarville]

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blue2blue wrote:

LOL.

To be sure, I was using black or dark gray on my posts for a while. (But the black [like the gray only more obious] looks smudgy with my built in fonts). The large font for me is sharper. (And when I combine that with the zoom, the resulting font is very sleek. And big enough to make a first grader feel right at home, Jane said.)

Maybe if we all use RED they'll darken the color black by default.

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[Lee Knight]

Any word on youtube embedding?

[rsadasiv]

Film strip/Insert a video icon in the Rich Text editor.

[blue2blue]

I'm happy to say that while there were some rough spots yesterday, the transition team seems to have been putting in some real effort to clean up the issues that were raised yesterday. 

Prime among them, the horizontal scrolling in the rich text editor issue is fixed! = ) There were a number of other fixes, as well; one that bugged me was that you weren't taken to the post you'd just created after posting. 

As noted, aesthetic and readability issues can be addressed to some benefit by increasing default text size in the user preferences and/or by using the ctrl-scroll wheel or other browser page zoom to 'push' the blue sidebars off the screen.

I recommend trying out those fixes -- I didn't feel bothered by either -- but tried them both out and realized they made a BIG difference in my comfort with the new site.

[grace_slick]

Hey Bluey, how do you view threads and not posts? You know what I mean? On the old forum when you went into the Songwriting section, you had a list of all the threads, but here all I can see is all the POSTS and so there are a HEAP of repetitions, like say if a thread has 50 posts in it...and so I find I have to go to page 30 or something to see all the different threads!! I'm sure I'm doing something completely wrong here.

I also can't work out how to START a thread. lol

HELP!!!!

PS. Why are the avatars so small! I can barely see anyone here! lol

[grace_slick]

Ignore this. My above post didn't show up for ages so I re-typed it all and then of course the original post appeared. D'oh! lol

[grace_slick]

Something else I just noticed while investigating My Settings, I changed the layout thing to "Topic" instead of "Linear", hoping it'd show the threads instead of the posts, and it sort of did (sort of), but then when I went INTO the threads, there was no option to reply!

EDIT - sorry Blue! I finally have it set up right and can make new threads AND view posts in thread & then post form. YAY!

[blue2blue]

Happy I could help! 

My first use of this system's smilies. FWIW, they are definitely shopping for a new set of smilies. It's AMAZING how many people are hung up on the smilie selection. Me, I've taken to using real, typographic smilies all over again -- although you have to find ways of defeating various 'smilie converters.' It's a distinctive, hipster look.

= D 

[blue2blue]

BTW, here's how my screen looks zoomed to 125% in the browser. No distracting sidebars. A little easier to tell (bolded) links from regular text. Smoother fonts in my browser. It's... usable. For me.  = )

Of course, you kinda losethe vibe when it's all shrunk down to fit in this page. But, on the monitor, it's not too bad.  = )

[blue2blue]

Here's a Chrome plugin that will automatically restyle the new HC to make it arguably easier on the eyes and easier to use...

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Let It Burn... wrote:

I messed around a bit with Stylebot and got this:

Looks a lot more useable IMO.

How to do it:

1. Download Google Chrome on www.google.com/chrome

2. Install the Stylebot Plugin: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stylebot/oiaejidbmkiecgbjeifoejpgmdaleoha

3. Go to this page and select "Install style in Stylebot" from the upper right corner http://stylebot.me/styles/2054

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I need to keep my browser stock for testing purposes, or I'd probably install this.

Of course, it doesn't fix the problem with way-too-shortened thread titles. THAT is perhaps the single most perplexing 'issue' with HC3.0 from my point of view. 

I mean, even for the customer service purpose Lithium was clearly built for, you STILL need to be able to have enough thread in a title in order to see what the heck the post is about.

[Mark Blackburn]

I can't figure out (I'm not that bright) how to "edit" -- once I've posted something. I'm sure it's "easy when you know how," right? 

[oldgitplayer]

Mark - you will see the 'Options' Menu in the top right hand corner of the open post. When you click on that it offers an edit option.

[Mark Blackburn]

Not on mine! Under "options" the ONLY ones listed are these:

- mark as new

- bookmark

- subscribe to RRS feed

- highlight

- print

- email to a friend

- report inappropriate comment.

(that's it, that's all under "options."  And yes, I am always signed-in.

In the moment after I posted this reply, the "edit reply" function appeared for the first time -- at the top of that list!  A corollary of Murphy's Law? "The moment expert help arrives, the problem disappears."

[oldgitplayer]

The options that you listed appear when you click on the 'Options' of anybody's post, but for obvious reasons only offers the 'Edit' option on your own posts.

I didn't think Murphy could cope with Manitoba in January... 

[blue2blue]

Are you guys finding that you can come back and edit after hours or days? 

When I was first on (as a non-mod) I noticed I could edit for a limited period only, as you find on some boards.

(Facebook was that way for a short period when they first introduced the 'revolutionary' feature of the ability to edit a post. = ) I have to say, though,  that I quite like the current version, which reveals all previous versions.)

[oldgitplayer]

As an experiment, I just went back to a post over a month old and it offered me the edit option.

[Mark Blackburn]

No, you're right, "Blue."  The "edit" function has disappeared in the "five hours" since I posted the above. Back to the original options I listed above:  "edit" is gone.  Thanks for noting that, erudite moderator. And thanks for all that you do here.