How sad, these buttons really don't work in the new topic window, but they do in the comments window. I tried to report this bug, but it seems to require a really complicated and annoying process. I suppose as a member of this community, I should really learn about that whole process. But I don't really want to invite other Global Lives people here and expect them to do that, as it is very challenging to get people to sign up for a new site anyway...

Ok, I'm gonna test out the blog now.

Hey Dave

I happened upon this entry by absolute chance - i see this is from 22 July! This really is a bug, I just tested it out. I'll report it to the developers - but for next time, please don't be shy to mail me with any problems you might have with the site.

Hey Daniela!

I'm glad that you saw the post! After posting this, what I did was click on the "report a bug" button down at the bottom of the screen here, and it involves a 6-step process that includes reading an article, following a bunch of links, and looked like it would take me about a half hour or so to figure it all out. If I were a computer programmer or had a lot of free time on my hands, that might have been easy, but unfortunately, neither of those is the case:(

Anyhow, maybe if you do want people to not be shy about reporting bugs in the future, you could have the "report a bug" link offer the option of just sending an email to you directly instead of the whole long process.

I honestly did think about sending an email directly to you, but I was sort of embarrassed about the idea of not following the protocol, so instead I put it on my to do list, and it never got done. Sorry:(

I suppose that this may be one of those core issues around getting "artists" or educators or non-tech people in general who are using open-source community-developed software to become contributing members of the development communities via our efforts as would-be beta testers. I think that many of us are happy to give feedback, but if it's a complicated, confusing, and, above all (in my opinion), time-consuming process, that feedback might never arrive.

Anyhow, that was a very long explanation of something only marginally related to your post, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Finally, thanks for all your hard work on this software and on the website and everything, and much thanks to the programmers as well. I don't mean by these criticisms to insult anyone, so I hope you don't take them that way!

Abraços!
-Dave

P.S. I just noticed another bug: When you aren't logged in, and you click the "answer" button to reply to a post, it just seems to reload the page and not do anything else. It would be nice to have some sort of message explaining that you need to be logged in in order to reply to a post. Also, shouldn't it be a "reply" button, rather than "answer"? (I'm guessing this was just a little portuguese-english issue).

Hey Dave

I really appreciate your feedback, and no offense taken... :) We are slowly but surely weeding out the bugs, and are working on making the site, especially the node section more user-friendly... But yes, i'll look into simplifying the report a bug page, and have reported your other suggestions too.

You got me thinking about the beta testing though - at the icommons HQ we started doing a regular 'audit' of the site - every person gets a section, and they thoroughly test it and report any bugs or improvements that can be made. maybe we should do this with some volunteers too? would you be keen?

I also just wanted to point you to two 'how to' guides for the nodes: http://icommons.org/blogs/how-icommonsorg-nodes-work and http://icommons.org/blogs/but-what-can-i-actually-do-with-a-node

I think these may explain the nodes and how to use them, a bit better. Thanks for your input!

Daniela

Thanks, Daniela!

I'm a bit overwhelmed with work at the moment to handle a thorough "audit" of any section of the site, which is also why I haven't yet delved into this node thing more thoroughly. However, in October or November I may be able to contribute more. For now, thanks for those links and I'll keep sending thoughts on the site your way, ok?

Thanks!!!