Feedback on PhysicsForums Operations: Questions & Answers

[mysearch]

Apologies upfront if this is not the most appropriate route to raise operational feedback, but...

I added the question in the quote below about the new operation of the PF below at the end of a new posting in the hope that somebody might simply help. However, it seems that while' jtbell' is a mentor, he/she doesn't want to answer such question in a technical thread. As indicated, I have not used PF for awhile and therefore was aware of quite a few operational changes, which may not be bugs, simply your new way of doing things. Anyway, if this is the 'right' place, here are my questions:

1) You use to be able to see posts is reverse order within a thread, i.e. the latest post was listed first. I could not see any obvious options in preferences to configure this.

2) Every time I enter the thread, see link below, it takes quite some time for the scroll options to work. First it seems to want to always jump into the middle of the posts, then jump around a bit, before I can scroll to the post of interest, e.g. the latest. See problems 1) by way of cross-reference.

So can 1) be configured?
Is 2) normal operation?
Do mentors not answer such questions?

Thanks

Footnote: Can you still print a single post, e.g. I wanted to just print post #18 in the thread below, but clicking on #18 doesn't seem to open a new window with independent print option. Again, is this just a matter of configuration that I need to do?

P.S. I haven't used the forum in a while. Can you still reverse order the posts within a thread, i.e. latest first? Plus, its seems to take a while for the scrolling within a page to settle down - is this now normal?

You might get a quicker response to these sorts of questions in the "Forum Feedback and Announcements" forum instead of buried in a highly technical thread on a completely different topic.

Full link:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...oup-velocity-simulations.762019/#post-5133902

 

[mfb]

2) Every time I enter the thread, see link below, it takes quite some time for the scroll options to work. First it seems to want to always jump into the middle of the posts, then jump around a bit, before I can scroll to the post of interest, e.g. the latest. See problems 1) by way of cross-reference.

This could be related to MathJax, which needs some time to format LaTeX (if present in the page you are loading). Apart from that, I cannot reproduce the problem.

No idea about the post order.

 

[Nugatory]

Do mentors not answer such questions?

Generally not, as most of the mentors do not have access to the underlying machinery of the website itself. Posting here in feedback is actually one of the better ways of reaching the people who do.

 

[jtbell]

Exactly. I did not know the answers to your questions myself.

 

[Evo]

1) You use to be able to see posts is reverse order within a thread, i.e. the latest post was listed first. I could not see any obvious options in preferences to configure this.

The order in which posts appeared oldest or newest first was an option in the old forum, you are correct, I no longer see that option @Greg Bernhardt can advise if he can return this option.

2) Every time I enter the thread, see link below, it takes quite some time for the scroll options to work. First it seems to want to always jump into the middle of the posts, then jump around a bit, before I can scroll to the post of interest, e.g. the latest.

My guess is the same as mfb's above, it could be the LaTeX.

Footnote: Can you still print a single post, e.g. I wanted to just print post #18 in the thread below, but clicking on #18 doesn't seem to open a new window with independent print option. Again, is this just a matter of configuration that I need to do?

That would also be a question for Greg.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

1) You use to be able to see posts is reverse order within a thread, i.e. the latest post was listed first. I could not see any obvious options in preferences to configure this.

Since our migration to XF last September we have lost this user option.

2) Every time I enter the thread, see link below, it takes quite some time for the scroll options to work. First it seems to want to always jump into the middle of the posts, then jump around a bit, before I can scroll to the post of interest, e.g. the latest. See problems 1) by way of cross-reference.

Can you link us to the thread? Heavy equation pages can be slower.

Do mentors not answer such questions?

Some technical questions are outside the scope of Mentor operations.

Footnote: Can you still print a single post, e.g. I wanted to just print post #18 in the thread below, but clicking on #18 doesn't seem to open a new window with independent print option. Again, is this just a matter of configuration that I need to do?

A printer friendly option or single post pages no longer exist.

 

[Evo]

A printer friendly option or single post pages no longer exist.

I would suggest copying and pasting the page into word (this will preserve formatting and hyperlinks), then print. I know it's an extra step, but not that much.

 

[berkeman]

1) You use to be able to see posts is reverse order within a thread, i.e. the latest post was listed first. I could not see any obvious options in preferences to configure this.

2) Every time I enter the thread, see link below, it takes quite some time for the scroll options to work. First it seems to want to always jump into the middle of the posts, then jump around a bit, before I can scroll to the post of interest, e.g. the latest. See problems 1) by way of cross-reference.

There is a feature that may help you. When viewing a list of threads in a forum, you will see a black dot to the left of each thread title. When you click on that dot, it takes you to the first unread post in that thread (I believe that is the algorithm). I usually click on the black dot to avoid seeing posts in the thread that I've already read. Hope that helps some.

 

[jim hardy]

Bold, italic and underline simply refuse to turn off see post $99 in EE "how power transfers across ideal transformer"

driving me batty win7 firefox centurylink

 

[berkeman]

Bold, italic and underline simply refuse to turn off see post $99 in EE "how power transfers across ideal transformer"

driving me batty win7 firefox centurylink

When you are in the Edit window, look in the upper right corner and mouse over the thing that looks like an eraser. It says "Remove Formatting", which seems to work well for me pretty much always. Try that?

 

[jim hardy]

thanks will try beats swapping deitprs

bold italic underline on unclicked underline it continures to unbderline spaces but not textl unclicked italic that worked unclicked bold maybe it's to do with sequence ?

undrline italic bold on unclicked underline successfully unclicked bold unclicked italic

bold on bold off italic on italic off underline on underline off

it is inconsistent and working at this moment.

 

[mfb]

The source code editor doesn't have all those issues.

 

[jim hardy]

The source code editor doesn't have all those issues.

but it doesn't have Greek alphabet or insert image ? both of which i use a lot.

Sorry guys, i got really frustrated earlier,
i try to make decent looking posts and when the machine goes "Bartleby the Scrivener" , i just lose it.

 

[berkeman]

Were you able to fix it, or would you like me to have a look?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What browser and version are you using Jim?

 

[jim hardy]

firefox, windows 7

if I'm the only person it's happening to,
well,
upgrading my DSL router/modem seems to have fixed the "Ignoring Keys" issue of a few months back.
We can now stream Netflix so i assumed that bottleneck is gone.

Could try traceroute some more i guess..

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What FF version?

 

[jim hardy]

hmm i tried to query FF as to its pedigree

tono avail

do you know where's the inspection port for that ?

 

[mfb]

Help -> about Firefox (or something similar, it depends a bit on the version)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Can you also clear your cache? If this just started yesterday, I did do a small update to the software yesterday so there might be a cache issue with a javascript file.

 

[jim hardy]

found the inspection cover, ff 39.0

no it's been ongoing frustration for weeks, just eally gotin the way of my thinking this morning

will try cache clear but first - does that wipe out passwords ? My kids once set me back a month.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

does that wipe out passwords ?

No that is cookies. Is PF the only site that is wonky?

 

[jim hardy]

Yes, only one I've noticed , but i do >90% of my not-so--creative writing here.
If you want to see a site that works excellent, try market-ticker.org but he doesn't have hardly any frills.

Little things, like leaving a space in hetwen the "quote" brackets so when you click "paste" it doesn't land someplace else, work smooth there.

 

[jim hardy]

okay attempting cache-clear, standby

 

[jim hardy]

cache went from 350 mbytes to zero

will see if underline bold and italic continue working for a while .pingpingboldoff looks good italics on try strikeout next worked second try but didnt turn off how now brown cow try clicking it again that worked BIU all on now u won't turn off i did turn off but B won't nor woukd u until i hit space key, now B turned off

 

[dlgoff]

Now I understand why you chose your signature.

cache went from 350 mbytes to zero

dang. you must have cached a Netflix.

 

[jim hardy]

dang. you must have cached a Netflix.

a friend put it well -
Windows should have been named Lemmings. It overruns its host then jumps off a cliff.

 

[mysearch]

Not sure I understand what is going on with this new-look forum, but it seems to have more than a few 'teething; problems. I originally started this thread June 7. Got a notification of post #2 the same day, after which I never heard anything more, so I forgot about the problems as I don't use PF much these days.

Anyway, an email notification turned up today (Aug 3) – see below. Based on a quick scan only, it seems that reverse ordering no longer works. Printing a single post more longer works. The jumping about problems still seems to be a problem – see link below as requested post #6 (Jun 7), which I didn’t know existed because I had received no notifications after post #2 until today.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...oup-velocity-simulations.762019/#post-5133842

On 02/08/2015 17:35, Physics Forums wrote:

Physics Forums - The Fusion of Science and Community

mysearch, jim hardy replied to a thread you are watching at Physics Forums - The Fusion of Science and Community.
Please do not reply to this email. You must visit Physics Forums to reply.

Bug - General Feedback

Bold, italic and underline simply refuse to turn off see post $99 in EE "how power transfers across ideal transformer"

driving me batty win7 firefox centurylink

 

[jim hardy]

Windows 10 shut down my computer to install itself last night.

This morning it went through a series of questions, asking whether i wanted microsoft to track my use to the end of providing tailored advertising, improving my web experience and the like.
Of course i set all those 'switches' to OFF.

Scariest one for me was about autoconnecting to nearby wifi sites .
Well, that's two way communication...
I think Win10 could be the biggest Trojan Horse ever.

On the bright side it kept my desktop and remembered my PF login info.

Will try edit next.
Will try edit next. BIU and strikethrough on strikethrough turned off ...undrline turnd off...italic turned off...bold turned off

That's a WHOLE LOT BETTER !

hope it lasts.

 

[jim hardy]

WinTinTen was just too aggrvating so I'm back to 7.

I presume you fixed B I U , they're working well now

and ... Praise the Gods of Things Binary -
finally got that accursed 'touchpad tapping' turned off
it had been coming and going of its own volition, tormenting me like cat and mouse but roles reversedin device manager rolled driver back to microsoft mouse , it's junk too,
then by sheer accident stumbled across where laptop manufacturer Asus has hid their touchpad drivers - there's a list of about forty..
one at a time downloaded, installed, then sent them to trashbin as they reported being incompatible with my touchpad

( i maintain if there's any intelligence in the software industry it's artificial )

finally one of the drivers didn't complain, about number thirty i think
It replaced the microsoft driver
and it allowed me to click on "apply" settings after selecting them, something the previous driver refused
it's synaptics v 7.5 if anybody else is hunting, my Asus is a X53EIt's how the small things of the Earth confound the mighty..

keeping my fingers crossed

old jim