Tips on using the board

[Luke Blanchard]

I thought a thread of this kind might help out our new members. If anyone has a question, just ask away.

When you're writing a post, you can make the html tags in it visible by pressing the 'html' button (the rightmost one above the reply box). This is particularly helpful if you want to put a "reply" quote at the start of your post. When you press the "reply" button immediately below a post you want to respond to, the board brings up a box with the post's text in a blockquote (at the bottom of the box). If you bring up the html, you can place your own text after the quote by placing it after the /blockquote instruction.

I sometimes write my posts in Word and then transfer them across. This can result in unwanted formatting effects, so when I do this, I switch to html format and cut out the chaff I don't want.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Peter Wrexham reported: "Each item in the 'Latest Activity' column on the right of Home page starts with something like 'Joe Blow replied to Sam Smith's discussion This and That', and the 'replied to' is now a link which takes you directly to that reply, which is great!"

[Jeff of Earth-J]

If you want to go to a middle page of a lengthy discussion, click on the blank space between the last page listed at the bottom of the page and "of X" and a box will appear. Type the desired page in the box and enter. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

If you want to know who's online, click on the MEMBERS drop-down, and there's a "Members Online" link. Click on that, and it shows which board users are online.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

This is a "Tip" within a "knock." Today when I tried to send a PM to a member the "+Compose" button no longer worked properly. (It was working yesterday.) Today, it opens a window, but isn't allowing me to type in the user's name. As a workaround, I went to the user's profile and sent my message from there.

[Peter Wrexham]

This problem, which I reported three years ago (see page 15), has just started happening again.  This time, the error message refers to "storage.ning.com" rather than "st2.ning.com", but otherwise it's identical.  If I use Chrome instead of Edge, there's no problem, but why does Microsoft think Ning is a phishing site?

Peter Wrexham - November 11, 2020 at 5:41pm 

 

Occasionally, I click on an image that someone has posted, so I can enlarge it and make it easier to view.  This is particularly useful when the image is a full page from a comic.  See the "Teen Titans (1976-1979)" discussion for some examples.

For the past day or so, whenever I do this, access to the page is blocked, and I get the following dire warning.

I'm using Microsoft Edge on Windows 10.  Is this an issue that anyone else has encountered?  Is Ning aware of the fact that they've apparently been reported for phishing?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I tried to access Randy's old Showcase Presents Adam Strange discussion earlier today and got the same response. When I tried to open it anyway, it was unavailable (but I don't know if the post he linked was on this site or somewhere else). 

[Peter Wrexham]

And now the problem's gone away again.  Looks like Microsoft has decided that Ning is safe after all!

[Richard Willis]

This isn't really a tip on using the Board, but I can't find the thread that's more appropriate.

I had been wondering why I wasn’t getting my email notifications until long after someone posts a comment. I had noticed that the posts are recorded in Central Time since the Board originated in Memphis. This is no problem, but I think the time recorded for the post is being used by the program. I think it’s being used as an instruction to not send the emails until that time in my time zone (Pacific). Maybe Ning could tell it not to treat the posting time as an instruction?