Hi Justin, tommo, salgolf, hi everyone First of all, all of us (if I may be so bold) are very happy with Computing.net, it's features, our honorable host: Justin Weber, and last but not least the poster's (those looking for a solution and those offering a (possible) solution). With all due respect, I think it's a little premature to cheer. I would like to suggest to first give it a try for a couple of weeks, let's say a four to six weeks. When the four to six weeks have past, evaluate how we all (the regulars) have experienced the new feature. Maybe it's just what we have been looking for as a addition to this treasure of information and knowledge, maybe the feature needs one, or two, adjustments to better meet our needs. Or perhaps we don't like it all, who knows? Maybe the feature needs to be turned on by default for all members in order for the (original) poster to easily alert, one of (or more of), the replyier(s). Maybe, as it is currently, the replyier needs to turn it on or off in his/her My Computing.net. Maybe, the replyier needs to be able to turn the alert on or off when replying (from within this screen). Just some thoughts... Whatever side the coin turns up, keep up the excellent work every single one of you! Greetz from The Netherlands, The Count

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Hey, I'm not sure if turning it on by default for would be all that great. If its on by default, users who are not going to look at alerts might not bother to turn it off. I really want the feature to only be used if the person wants to get feedback about his or her posts. Personally, I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want feedback. People always complain about not knowing if their solution worked. If they have alerts on and are not alerted, a good bet is that the solution worked. As for allowing the setting to be changed on the posting page, I can do that. I can't imagine why someone would want to turn off alerts for one specific message and then turn them back on for another. (Technically, he or she could do that through My Computing.Net too, it just wouldn't be very easy). Either way, like you said, it should be experimented with. Worst case scenario, it doesn't get used very much. I'm not going to take it down. I don't take down features simply because people don't have to use them if they don't want to. Thanks for the suggestions. They are always useful. I'll post another message in a couple of weeks. Justin

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Justin,Count, I for one truely appreciate your continuous improvments. Thanks, Bryan I will click on your Alert me button to see what it is about and for no other reason at this time. Bryan

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I am posting this one so that I can alert myself to see how it works. Sorry for using the bandwidth. Bryan

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That is actually pretty good. I thought that it was not much different then seeing a response in the mail box which I check always anyways. But this is more specific. It will let me know that someone is not just responding to the thread but that they are requesting my personal attention in the matter. Good job! Bryan (a/k/a Report_2 in "My Computing.net" terms)

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just a test.............

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Hello, Bryco, I agree. I think it could allow helpers to better learn whether or not their advice works. The user can alert a helper if the problem wasn't solved. If a helper doesn't get alerted, the problem was probably solved. My Computing.Net message tracking is a very good system for those who want to know about any developments in a thread (usually the "helpee" so to say). This alert system is much more proactive on the "helper" end. Justin

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Hi Justin, tommo, salgolf, Bryan, hi everyone, Just testing out the new feature, ignore me. :-) Best Regards, Mesich

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Hello everyone, Still checking this out, continue to ignore me. :-) Best Regards, Mesich

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I win one on occasion and yes, I'd like to know about it. I'd also like to know when I'm out in left field. Thanks Justin, Skip

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Hi y'all, Just getting the feel of it:-) beansoup

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Mesich, Hi... Is this what your getting? "Alert Error You cannot alert the poster of the last message posted. Please go back and post how you need additional help. Then you may alert this person. Return to message"

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Hi y'all Justin, Maybe Comp.net, should add detail instructions in the left hand column.. "New Features" For dense guys like me:-) If someone alerts me, where does the alert come up? In the forum? Draw me a picture:-) However it works it seems like a great idea..I'll get it sooner or later... beansoup

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beansoup, (Hi all), The process is...Reply to the thread and then go back to it to hit the Alert Me button. I will hit that button on your first post so you can see what it does within My Computing.net. Bryan (Report_2)

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Thanks Bryco, When I read your last post, I remembered that I shut off the alert...Went back and activated it and your alert showed up in my computing.. Got it now:-) appreciate the test beansoup

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Justin, Cool idea... I typically just add any threads that I respond to to the normal My Computing.net so that I don't have to scour the board later to see if anyone responded. Problem with that is if I'm feeling particularily ambitious, the number of saved messages can get pretty large. Due to this, I had a suggestion. What would you think about letting us set the default view in My Computing.net so that it either always shows all the messages or just ones with replies? Right now if we set it to 'only show messages with replies', leave, and come back it resets back to 'show all messages'. Something completely off this topic is keeping track of how many posts a user has made. I know this was brought up some time ago and somebody mentioned that it might cause competition. This wouldn't happen if the number of posts was only shown on a user's My Computing.net page. Kinda interesting for the regulars to see how active we are (at least for me). Google gives you an idea, but isn't very accurate. Thanks though, Nick

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Hello, I'm posting with my other name (jweber) just so that I can test sending the alert to myself without using my own name. Beansoup, that error is to prevent someone from sending an alert to you without letting you know why. If you got alerted and were the last message on there, it wouldn't make any sense. It would only frustrate you when you went to the message. Dr. Nick, I can look into do that. You'd have to set it in the settings. Justin

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this is a test of new feature,,,,,disregard please...

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Hi y'all, Thanks jweber, I got the idea of how it works now..Takes awhile to sink in, but I have the picture ...I'll watch how the "New Feature" progresses... Happy Holidays beansoup

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Hi y'all, Thanks jweber, I got the idea of how it works now..Takes awhile to sink in, but I have the picture ...I'll watch how the "New Feature" progresses... Happy Holidays beansoup

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OK, I gutta check it out too, ignore this...

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testing...

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Holy Katoopy Batman. I turned it on for (I think) one post, then turned it off again as I got scared. ;>) I'm a selective poster. (I just read and respond to what realms I'm comfortable in. I read many to learn, and just respond to what I know.) I didn't want people depending on me for answers, unlike the gurus here. (You know who you are.) I'm going to re-instate it and see what all the hoopla is about............

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Hello everyone, First of all, thank you all to comply with my request in favor of Justin and yourselves to concentrate the replies here and not scattered all over the place. Thank you! Since everyone is testing the new feature here, I'm going to do some testing now myself therefor my alerts (related to this thread) can be simply ignored. :-) My initial thought was to turn the feature on and to wait and see what happens, burning with curiosity. :-) :-/ Greetz, The Count

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Hello again everyone, Needed another post to be able to Alert myself, response #30, to actually see the effect in my My Computing.Net. So once more I bag you to ignore any of my alerts related to this thread. Greetz, The Count (10:31 hours)

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I see that most or all of us have found it's value but the process, is maybe, a little daunting. The 'Alert me' button is similar to a 'Reply to me' button. If I just click on the Alert me button then it will bring me to the error, message required screen. Would it be possible to have the message form added to that error screen? The heading of that screen could be changed from 'error' to "This is not a Private message and in order to use the 'Alert me' function a reply to the thread is required" or something similar. Just a thought. Bryan

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Interestingly, post #32 was a perfect example of the use of the button in question. Unfortunately I am unable to Alert Justin because he has already been alerted in this thread already. So, I alerted The Count instead. Bryan (Report_2)

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Hi to all, Hey Bryan, the alarm bells went off over here, what's up? ;-) "Unfortunately I am unable to Alert Justin because he has already been alerted in this thread already." Or isn't playing by his own rules: LOL "...remember to remove messages you have replied to from your alert list. Otherwise, people won't be able to alert you anymore." Greetz, The Count (December 21st, 00:51 hours)

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The Count, I thought you have been working with Justin in an Administative capacity so that is why I flagged you (since I couldn't alert him). I wanted to present the ideas posted in thread # 32 above. Bryan

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Hello everyone, Bryan, I wonder where that thought came from? :-/ I don't mind you alerting me, I would even be flattered. But I think the other way around is more likely. There are two things I noticed about the Alert Me button. 1) You can't alert the last person whom posted. If I'm not mistaken, this was already mentioned by Justin, but thought to point it out anyway. 2) Once you have posted in the thread, you can simply go back to the thread later on (even after a reboot) and alert someone without first making a additional post. Nobody needs to get alarmed, I didn't confirm the Alarm. :-) Need to try this once more, after cleaning out my cookies. :-) Justin, personally I think it would be more accurate to replace the line: Your My Computing.Net will be shown as the sender of the alert. on the Alert Confirmation page in to: Your My Computing.Net account will be shown as the sender of the alert. or Your My Computing.Net Login name will be shown as the sender of the alert. Just another thought... Greetz, The Count (02:45 hours)

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The Count, "There are two things I noticed about the Alert Me button. 1) You can't alert the last person whom posted. If I'm not mistaken, this was already mentioned by Justin, but thought to point it out anyway. 2) Once you have posted in the thread, you can simply go back to the thread later on (even after a reboot) and alert someone without first making a additional post. Nobody needs to get alarmed, I didn't confirm the Alarm. :-) Need to try this once more, after cleaning out my cookies. :-)" How it currently works: Re: Your #1 above... In order to utilize the 'Alert me' function you must first post to the thread. Then you can go back to the thread and hit the 'Alert Me' button to any but the last post on the thread. This makes sense. If you have not posted to the thread then there is nothing to alert anyone about. Your #2 above... This thread is a good example. I came to it because I saw there was a new post showing in My Computing.net. To try out your theory I clicked on your Alert Me button in post #36 (just above this). Following is what I saw: More Information Required No replies have been posted since this reply was made. Alerts are designed to inform a user you need additional information. Please go back and post how and why you need this additional help. Then you may alert this person. Return to message In my change request in post #32 above I would like to be able to read the post that inspires me to hit someones Alert Me button and have that action bring me to the "Use following form to reply to current message:" page. Confirming the message would also send the Alert to whom I hit the Alert me button on. Re: Your idea has also caught my attention. Since I do not use my Login name in my posts I am thinking about creating a new login under the name of "Bryco" so nobody is confused when I use the 'Alert Me' function. Currently, whenI use the Alert Me function I add my login name (Report_2) to those posts so the person I alerted will know whom sent the alert. On a related sidenote: Computing.net is my most favorite website on the internet. The first site I visit everytime I open IE is Computing.net (unless I am searching for something specific on Google). My Login name is Report_2 as it is on few other forum boards: Winguides VirtualDR OzGrid Mr Excel At OzGrid and Mr Excel I mostly can only extract help for Excel or VBA specific solutions that I want or need but at Winguides and at VirtualDR I only provide help. If I need computer help myself then it is only at Computing.net that I can find answers to problems that I have. A tribute to the knowledgebase of the contributors here. At VirtualDR I got totally frustrated with the childish attitudes of the multiple administrators and moderators of their site and decided to no longer support or contribute to their cause. I posted a bye, bye message on their feedback forum that was promptly deleted and then in recourse they banned my IP. (How this relates) It is because of Justin's efforts and desire to accomodate or at least listen to the needs, wants and desires of the folks that make up Computing.net that caused me the frustration with the attitudes of those at the other site. The convincing fact was the attitude of the administrator himself when in response to another posters request he replied with "If you don't like the way things are done here at VirtualDR then there are plenty of other forums you could join." So, although it has been said before, Justin, thank you for your efforts and more importantly caring about the contributors of this site. Sincerely, Bryan (Report_2)

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Hi Bryan, hi everyone Let me try to explain what I meant with the 1st note. Prior to posting this reply, I clicked on your Alert Me button in response #37 (just above this), and got the More Information Required page. Logical. There isn't added any additional required information, thus the one being Alerted can't tell why he/she is being Alerted. On the other hand, and that's what I meant with my 2nd note. Since I've at least once posted in this thread, if I click on your Alert Me button in response #35 prior to posting this reply I get the Confirm Alert page. This means I'm able to alert you without asking you for additional information/help. Go ahead try it, don't type anything yet, just click on any Alert Me button except for the one in the latest response, currently this one response #38. "In my change request in post #32 above I would like to be able to read the post that inspires me to hit someone's Alert Me button and have that action bring me to the "Use following form to reply to current message:" page. Confirming the message would also send the Alert to whom I hit the Alert me button on." Sorry, but I'm not catching on on this one. :-( As I see it, you can read the whole thread and hit anyone's Alert Me button, providing it's enabled and you have made at least one post in the thread at anytime. If I would like to Alert Mesich, beansoup, tomo or raincheck I can simply click on their Alert Me button. The person who's button is clicked gets the Alert notification in his/her My Computing.Net, and hopefully comes over to the aid. As I'm typing this, I think I'm catching on. :-) The alerted person, can't tell why I alerted him/her. See my opening line in response #34. Is that what you meant with your request for change? Am I catching on? Maybe Justin is willing to make a exception, and rename your Login name into Bryco if you asking him real nice through email, practically nobody would know of the exception made, and with a good motivation. :-/ Creating a new Login name, has as a consequence that you won't have your currently saved messages in your My Computing.Net at hand. You would have to switch login names, constantly to get to them and back to your new account to continue your posting with the new Login name. Or you would have to have at least two IE windows opened to Computing.net. One with your new Login name, the one you will be using to make any new posts. And one where you are logged in with your "old" Login name, to be able to access your saved messages in your "old" My Computing.Net list. Could you kindly provide me the URL's of the mentioned sites/forum's, with the exception of VirtualDR. Based on your experience with the later, I'm not interested in that one. Aside of Computing.net, there are three other forums I frequently visit. mesich's forum, why would that be? ;-) "Dé vraagbaak voor de bezoekers van Leejoo's Webhebbies en Anouks Web", a Dutch forum related to two websites on building/designing sites. And last but definitely not the least, Script Zine forum, a Dutch and English forum which is recently brought to live by my 14 year old son. This forum is related to his second creation, Script Zine, which went live on the day that princess Amalia was born. (December, 7th 2003) Princess Catharina Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria, is the first born of crown prince Willem-Alexander and princess Máxima. I'll second that, and I have a feeling Justin is quietly monitoring our exchange of thoughts. :-) Best Regards and Wishes, The Count

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The Count, Sure enough, I clicked on it on your post#34. I continued with the confirmation. It went through just fine. I suspect by error??? If I was not posting this thread now then you would nothing to be alerted to. Winguides OzGrid MrExcel and another good one for Excel CPearson Bryan (Report_2)

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Hi Bryan, hello everyone "I suspect by error???" I would think so, I hope Justin will appreciate us debugging the new feature. :-) "If I was not posting this thread now then you would nothing to be alerted to." But still be alerted. :-) Thanks a bunch for the links, I'm going to review them later on. First have to catch up with the other forums, and what's more important at this time: I still have to create, "design", one or two season Greeting E-Cards... While doing such, I'll keep an eye on here. :-) Greetz, The Count

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Guys, I changed the system. Now you can be alerted multiple times about the same thread. The mitigating factor is that the SAME person cannot alert you multiple times. This is probably why you are able to alert each other even though you think you can't. I decided to make that change because, originally, anyone could make an alert. Now that only people who have posted to the thread can make alerts, there's really no point in having the other restriction. People can't easily "spam" you with alerts by going into every one of your posts and clicking "Alert Me." They must post to the message first. I cannot put the follow up form on the alert page as Bryco has suggested. There are a whole bunch of inputs in that form that are required for the script to work properly. Besides, I don't want people to just fill out the form (which I guarantee they will do). I want them to read the "error" message they get and follow the instructions. Justin

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Hello Justin, Bryan, hi everyone, "Now you can be alerted multiple times about the same thread. The mitigating factor is that the SAME person cannot alert you multiple times." Prior to posting this reply I've alerted Bryan, once successful, second time I got the new Already Alerted page... be patients. :-) "I decided to make that change because, originally, anyone could make an alert. Now that only people who have posted to the thread can make alerts, there's really no point in having the other restriction. People can't easily "spam" you with alerts by going into every one of your posts and clicking "Alert Me." They must post to the message first." And it was my impression, that one first needed to enter a reply to the thread before he/she could Alert someone else in the particular thread. Guess at least one of my findings still stands; if you have once posted to the thread and let's say come back the next day or so, there has been a couple of new posts made in the thread, one can simply click on any of the posters Alert Me button without making a additional post describing their need of help/attention. As I wrote above, I've Alerted Bryan, without first posting this reply. I'll include my local time and probable forum time, and hope Bryan will take notice of the time he was alerted by me. Maybe this accommodates to Bryan's whishes, if you could insert the latest post made on the thread by the person alerting someone. Can't tell if this would involve a lot of re-programming, nor if this would meet up to Bryan's desire. And the question already arises, is this useful when one has made (only) one post "ages" ago? Hope we aren't being to picky, just trying to get the very best out of you and Computing.net. :-) And make the new feature fool proof. Greetz, The Count (23:40/14:40 hours)

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Justin, I understand the problem and as usual, thank you very much for your considerations. Justin and The Count, I wonder if it is really a good idea to be able to Alert without posting. I hope I do not get alerted unless the alerter has posted something for me to read. Otherwise I always go back to threads that I am tracking that show a new post. There are, however, many posts that I do not track. In these cases the Alert Me function is highly applicable. But again, I'd hate to have to read an entire thread to see if I can understand why an individual has alerted me to that particular post. The process of Posting and then Alerting, although combersome, does provide the needed input. Thanks and regards, Bryan

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Great Idea Justin!

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thx justin !

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For finding out what posts you made yourself [originals are already kept] in replying to someone, how about implimenting a feature where you can click on someone's name and that shows every post they've made? Whether original or reply. I realize that now if you click on a name you get their email addy, but maybe stick all the posts on the same page as that? Or add another link under the names titled "View All Posts by this Member" ?? Don't know how hard that would be to do, it's just a thought... Teesa

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