Folks smarter than me

[Murphy Siding]

    That includes most of you....

Can someone help me figure out a few things I can't seem to correct with respect to my forum information?

1) How do I change my signature?

2) How can I update my bio information?

3) How can I get paragraphs to show up when I send a private message?  Sure, I can write in paragraphs, but when I hit send, it all becomes one big run-on paragraph.  Clue: It only does that on my work computer, not at home.

I have read all the info I can find on the sight about doing these things.  I can change things sometimes, but can't get the changes to stick.  Any help would be appreciated. (Please.... talk to me like I'm 4.  I am that computer illiterate.)

-Thanks

[schlimm]

1.  Try going to the screen (from box to the right) that says "Community Settings" in which there is a place for signature.  Put in your new one.  

2. Go to "Manage Profile" and enter changes/additions on tab "Profile".  Be sure to click the small circle to the right "Edit Profile."

[RME]

You might -- on general purposes -- clear the browser cache (the Ctrl-F5 thing, or similar) or do a reset (the "refresh Firefox" sort of thing) if it looks like settings in a browser aren't "taking" properly.  Also, might be wise to have the tech staff at work update your browser version to the 'latest one they will support', or at least let you in with permissions to update it on your machine.  I suspect 'obsolescent browser' is the likeliest "reason" for the formatting not working as expected ... not that there's any excuse on the Kalmbach end for it.  CSS has the characteristic that "only the greater" of margin-top and margin-bottom will express between paragraphs, and it seems possible that if both should become set to zero some wrong way, the paragraph separation (HTML <p> and </p> tags) itself might disappear or be deprecated.  (If you feel so inclined, look at your browser version's documentation to figure out how to edit CSS settings for margin-top and margin-bottom)

On my system, "community settings" is only listed as "Settings" (in red, right under the user name and avatar at the right side).  The signature block is in the middle of the page, below the 'Basic Information' section.  (BTW, down at the bottom, non-intuitively, is the setting to allow PMs via e-mail; I'd set this 'on' as a default, but remember where it was in case of trolling action.)

Easy to miss the 'biography' control -- I believe you start typing right over the text that, on my system, says "RME has not entered a biography". 

[schlimm]

RME

Easy to miss the 'biography' control -- I believe you start typing right over the text that, on my system, says "RME has not entered a biography". 

You must click on the EDIT box (upper right) or else you cannot enter anything in bio.

[RME]

schlimm

RME

Easy to miss the 'biography' control -- I believe you start typing right over the text that, on my system, says "RME has not entered a biography".

You must click on the EDIT box (upper right) or else you cannot enter anything in bio.

This is of course correct.  I meant "where he starts typing when he gets into 'edit mode'" as, if I recall correctly, the screen doesn't change much if at all aside from the 'save changes' button, and he might not recognize that he has to insert the cursor right over what may be pre-existing text.

[Murphy Siding]

So far, so good.  I've been able to change my signature.  Thanks for the help.

[Murphy Siding]

Okay.  I cleared the browser settings.

If I click
manage profile
then Edit Profile
change my profile information
then click
Save profile

My profile reverts to the existing information.  Am I missing a step or a click somewhere along the way?

[RME]

Murphy Siding

Okay. I cleared the browser settings. If I click manage profile then Edit Profile change my profile information then click Save profile My profile reverts to the existing information.

This is interesting.

As you can see from looking at my 'new' bio, when I follow the precise steps you indicated, my profile seems to be changing properly.  It did this with so little latency as to be effectively zero, and persists across cache reset so I presume it executed correctly on Kalmbach's end, as designed.

However, when I tried to access the forum via the version of Safari provided with Mac OS 10.6.8, I couldn't even log in -- I suspect this is a Java or javascript issue, and this immediately suggests that you, or the security policies on your system, are disabling some access to javascript that the Kalmbach system now requires.

You might want to go into browser settings, if you can, and look for 'enable java' or 'enable javascript' (they aren't the same thing).  If I remember correctly, we've already had the discussion that javascript is needed to run some of the features on the Kalmbach site.

[sandyhookken]

Is your work computer under the control of an IT department? Some places limit how much you can change on your computer.

[Murphy Siding]

sandyhookken

Is your work computer under the control of an IT department? Some places limit how much you can change on your computer.

 

Actually, it's lorded over by a bookkeeper more comfortable living in the last century.  He prefers to use the fax machine or post office to send even the most mundane info 7 miles from his office to mine.  We presume he fears the KGB or the boogie man.

     i understand what you're saying though, about making changes.  I'll check into that.  Thanks

[RME]

Can you provide a couple of brief details?

The type (and technical stats, if you know them) of the work computer

The operating system, with version and "build" number if you can get them

The browser(s) you use, with their version and build numbers

 

What I'm thinking at this point is that you can get your bookkeeper to do a clean install of one of the browsers (I'd recommend Firefox) that would NOT be set as the default system's browser, would only be opened by you, that would be very strictly firewalled to connect to Kalmbach or other 'select' sites (work sites if you need a good "security" excuse).  Don't set that up so it autostarts when you boot. 

Then we'll see what does, and doesn't, update properly, and have a leg up on the sort of diagnostic information that Kalmbach's tech people would want to know if it turns out to be "their fault".

[Murphy Siding]

RME- Honestly, no.  I'm really not that smart.  I talked this over with a tech savy coworker. We determined that the system at work probably has some tight controls and outdated settings that don't allow things to work the way I wish they would on that system.

      I did change my signature and bio info at home.  So, I guess the only big pain is the lack of being able to use paragraphs in the PM function.  Maybe for fun I'll quit using capitalization and punctuation in the PM's as well.  That way people can quit wondering if I'm crazy.  They'll know.

[Deggesty]

Norris, tryhwriting thisway.

[zugmann]

You should keep posting.

But make your posts in Haiku.

That would be awesome.

[Murphy Siding]

There once was a man from Nantucket....wait that might not be a haiku.

[Deggesty]

Murphy Siding

There once was a man from Nantucket....wait that might not be a haiku.

 

Right; it's a limerick, which ends "As for the bucket, Pawtuckett."

[RME]

Deggesty

Right; it's a limerick, which ends "As for the bucket, Pawtuckett."

Johnny, the limerick quoted is not funny unless the punchline contains the word "Nantucket".  As in the daughter's name who eloped. 

Only the sequels involve Pawtucket or Manhasset.

[Deggesty]

Thanks for the correction--it has been many a year since I last read it.