204

Post your commenting problems here

Any issues with the updated comment system, post here.

UPDATE(June 4): We have increased the comment text font size.

And also note you can now edit your comments after posting. If you select your comment you’ll see a cog icon bottom right, click on it and you have the edit option. You can edit your comment for fifteen minutes after posting.

We have also added a “read more” function on longer comments to speed up comment loading. Any issues you have with that should be reported below

UPDATE (June 6): We have disabled the ‘read more’ feature again as it was causing issues for some people

UPDATE (June 9): We have fixed an IP issue which may have been preventing some people voting for comments.

SUPPORT OFFGUARDIAN

If you enjoy OffG's content, please help us make our monthly fund-raising goal and keep the site alive.

For other ways to donate, including direct-transfer bank details click HERE.

Categories: latest, OffG
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

204 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 3, 2020 8:29 PM

Please keep these threads exclusively for commenting issues and any related problems. If too many extraneous conversations get started that can make it easy to miss relevant posts.
 
Thanks

Jim McDonagh
Jim McDonagh
Jun 12, 2020 2:39 PM

Why provide an edit option , that does not work?

tony_opmoc
tony_opmoc
Jun 12, 2020 5:33 PM
Reply to  Jim McDonagh

Jim, It used to work a bit, and they tried this years ago for a bit. However, this is just a blog. Say what you mean the first time you write it. No one is bothered about typos, and not that bothered if you write bollocks when drunk. If you are that worried about it, just think what it is like, if you are on stage with a large audience, who can see you, and maybe even touch you, and you ad-lib. You are not following any script. You just say what you think, and the cameras are there – cos you are a person of interest, or you wouldn’t be up on stage… You can’t edit that can you? You may well regret saying what you said, but you can’t unsay it, and it may well be held against you, and you may well end up in a load… Read more »

John Pretty
John Pretty
Jun 12, 2020 10:35 PM
Reply to  tony_opmoc

“We are now being controlled to not say what we think.”
 
It’s not stopping you, Tony.

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 12, 2020 5:35 PM
Reply to  Jim McDonagh

because it does work, it’s just time-limited.

nondimenticare
nondimenticare
Jun 12, 2020 6:19 PM
Reply to  Jim McDonagh

It sometimes takes several goes to get you back to the original writing screen. In that time, though, often you could have looked back over what you’ve written.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 13, 2020 9:56 AM
Reply to  Jim McDonagh

How does it not work for you?

Jim McDonagh
Jim McDonagh
Jun 13, 2020 1:42 PM

I wanted to add a sentence, but could not?

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Jun 11, 2020 12:54 PM

Duplication of posts when editing. Several times when editing a word or line the whole text has duplicated… This morning I got three copies of the text, all within one post.
 

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Jun 10, 2020 7:15 AM

When doing an Edit/Save the software seems to automatically add three or more lines of empty space below the post. When saved, this means the post has a large area of white space beneath it which you then have to go back in and delete.
 
I am not talking about space which the poster may accidentally enter, by creating extra lines with the ‘Enter’ button during the initial post. I mean space which inserts itself only when going back to edit a post.
 

Gwyn
Gwyn
Jun 8, 2020 5:53 PM

I’m getting a lot of messages telling me that I can’t vote for a particular comment (or that I’ve already voted for it, when I haven’t done so). The problem seems worse today than it’s been on other days.
 
Hope all at Off-G are well.

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 8, 2020 3:21 PM

Comment-editing seems a bit erratic today (Monday 8 June 2020 15:20 BST ).
 
Lets me go into comment-editing , but not save it.
 
And this was very soon after posting the comment – the 15 minutes or whatever should not have elapsed. The cogwheel was still showing. Happened more than once.

ZigZagWanderer
ZigZagWanderer
Jun 8, 2020 2:07 AM

Probs with up/down voting … thinks I have already voted …… when I most certainly haven’t.

Objective
Objective
Jun 7, 2020 5:31 AM

Admin getting some issues posting comments, if i try to post more than 2 comments in the same thread nothing happens. I press post but nothing works. I have to f5 the page but then i lose which comment I was replying to LOL.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 7, 2020 9:55 AM
Reply to  Objective

Try refreshing after posting each comment – if it keeps happening report back

Objective
Objective
Jun 9, 2020 11:22 AM

Ya know what the f5 key does 😉

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 9, 2020 3:03 PM
Reply to  Objective

Yes, I am suggesting you do that BEFORE trying to post another comment so you don’t lose anything. But I realise I misread your original comment

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Jun 7, 2020 2:56 AM

Test
 

I am a test. This is a test. That is a test. They are tests.

There are two tests the tests are both tests, and jointly the tests exist in unison as tests, together, inseparably tests, in tandem, in perpetuity.

And another thing. Three tests are all tests, a trinity of tests. The tests are all tests and the spaces between the tests (two spaces) are not tests but are brief intervals between the trio of tests.

 
Test

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 7, 2020 9:46 AM
Reply to  Sam - Admin2

Yeah, that needs fixing 🤦🏻‍♀️

Admin2
Admin
Admin2
Jun 9, 2020 2:37 PM

Test Reply 3

Admin2
Admin
Admin2
Jun 9, 2020 2:38 PM
Reply to  Admin2

Test Reply 4

Ort
Ort
Jun 6, 2020 10:52 PM

Two problems with this comment: https://off-guardian.org/2020/06/06/coronavirus-fact-check-6-does-wearing-a-mask-do-anything/#comment-187229   I tried to format the dialogue as a blockquote, in hopes of condensing or minimizing the spaces between the lines and making the comment neater. This embedded blockquote is unlike the standard HTML tag version I’m familiar with; when I applied the tag, weird gray graphics resembling oversized apostrophe marks cluttered the background.   When I posted it anyway, the results were embarrassingly the exact opposite of what I’d hoped or expected; for some reason, each line is isolated in a separate blockquote– in italics, no less. This is a really peculiar and frankly weird result; if this is the way it’s supposed to work, I’ll just stay away from it in the future.   I immediately tried to edit out the blockquote, and tidy up the text. After my labors, when I tried to save the fixed version I got an error… Read more »

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 7, 2020 9:54 AM
Reply to  Ort

Maybe you exceeded the time limit for editing your comment (15mins)?
 
We are looking into the blockquote issue

Ort
Ort
Jun 7, 2020 8:58 PM

Thanks. I was so bothered by the weird blockquote that I took time fussing with my would-be improved revision– it didn’t feel like it took longer than 15 minutes, but it’s possible.   Live and learn. I would’ve wrongly assumed that the time “window” only applied to the edit function being available, i.e. if one opens the edit window within the allotted (but undisclosed until now) time limit, one could edit at one’s leisure.   Now that I know the clock is ticking, I will take it into account.   As a non-technical person, I constantly suffer from the strain of trying to suppress the curioso-reflex to “reason why” in Internet-related software matters. I appreciate this site’s attentive and considerate feedback, but it’s obvious that in general, software design is authoritarian, and end users are decidedly “not to reason why”.   Predictably enough, in my childlike way I would argue… Read more »

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 9, 2020 3:59 PM
Reply to  Ort

‘…it’s obvious that in general, software design is authoritarian, and end users are decidedly “not to reason why”.’

  1. Current computers are essentially deterministic and programs are rigidly literal down to the exact placement of every last comma; so programmers are both contrained by that and, thus, necessarily conveyors of it.
  2. an essential element of computing is heirarchy and layering; rules of precedence, scope of authority, etc., are embedded constraints in the very material programmers have to accede to and work with.
Ort
Ort
Jun 7, 2020 9:04 PM

FYI, ironically I just now attempted to edit in the postscript below to my previous reply; it took about four minutes to compose, but I got the same “can’t edit” error message– I most definitely didn’t exceed the 15-minute limit.
_____________________________________
 
PS: a quick edit 😉 the minor issue of votes appearing on new comments where I have not cast a vote persists. The workaround reported by some of simply attempting to vote repeatedly doesn’t work.
 
Of course, here again is a paradox of sorts: if I intended to upvote a comment, and an upvote is already displayed, I suppose there’s no need to cast a “fresh” vote– but it’s still confusing and mildly disconcerting.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 9, 2020 3:43 PM
Reply to  Ort

Ok, we will add to the list

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 6, 2020 3:41 PM

Admin
 
I am finding that I seem to intermittently get two different messages when I try to vote on other people’s comments. About 80% of my votes succeed. But I have been getting at various times “You have already voted” when I truly know that I haven’t, or “You are not allowed to vote on this comment”. I seem to receive this second message when I am trying to upvote a reply to me from someone else. In both cases I have been able to vote on comments either side of the ones triggering these messages.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 6, 2020 4:24 PM
Reply to  JudyJ

I think this might be an IP issue. CloudFlare assigns proxy IPs randomly to site visitors as a security measure, but when there is a lot of traffic that can mean several visitors are allotted the same IP, and this may be causing the problem.
 
There is a workaround. We will try it and see if it clears up this issue.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 6, 2020 4:31 PM

Thanks, Admin1.

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 7, 2020 2:22 PM

I see a similar problem. I don’t think I get as high a rate as 80% of votes succeeding (first time), but some do.
 
What I typically get is an error message the first time I vote. If I try again, it sometimes works. If it doesn’t, I keep trying, and it usually works eventually.
 
If it’s the IP problem you mention, and you’ve tried the workaround, well, as of 1420 BST on 7 June 2020, there is still a problem.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 7, 2020 4:38 PM
Reply to  Mike Ellwood

Since I posted the above yesterday my vote success rate has diminished seriously. This morning I was systematically working through comments on the two most recent articles and was getting the message that “You have already voted” to at least 50% of my attempts. Even when I try again, or leave it for a few minutes and return, I get the same message. I was also still intermittently getting the message that I wasn’t allowed to vote.
 
Neither of these is a major concern to me, just frustrating, and I can still post a comment or reply. But I wanted to mention it so that Admin1 is aware that the problem is still persisting.
 
If it’s of help, I am using Google Chrome.
 

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 7, 2020 5:00 PM
Reply to  JudyJ

That issue is on the list and we will try to get to it tomorrow

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 9, 2020 2:59 PM
Reply to  JudyJ

We have fixed the IP issue – so let us know if this has any impact on the voting problem

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 10, 2020 7:16 PM

Hi Admin1
 
Just a message to confirm that the voting issue seems to have been resolved. Thanks for your much appreciated endeavours. 😀

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 9, 2020 4:05 PM

“…when there is a lot of traffic that can mean several visitors are allotted the same IP, and this may be causing the problem.”

Worth an upvote. Done.

Steve Hayes
Steve Hayes
Jun 6, 2020 2:30 PM

On “A conspiracy theorist confesses” the “reply” button is not working.
 
**If anyone else has this problem can they comment under here – Admin1
 

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 6, 2020 2:41 PM
Reply to  Steve Hayes

It’s working for me. If the comment is marked unread you may have to click reply twice before it responds.
 
 

Steve Hayes
Steve Hayes
Jun 6, 2020 2:06 PM

The software has now decided that a comment of mine has to await approval. This has never happened before.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 6, 2020 2:45 PM
Reply to  Steve Hayes

It just does that sometimes, it’s an Akismet issue not a comment software issue.

Steve Hayes
Steve Hayes
Jun 6, 2020 12:23 PM

The software occasionally thinks I have voted for a comment that I have not voted on.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 5, 2020 11:24 PM

Admin
 
Not sure why, but the latest OffG article “Perspectives on the Pandemic #8” doesn’t feature on the home page listing of latest articles although I saw it featured on your Twitter feed about 6 hours ago. ( It is, however, included in the listing of ‘Covid19 narrative’ articles subset.) That is why there aren’t many comments as yet, it’s not that we’ve all decided to surrender to the mainstream propaganda!

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 5, 2020 5:59 PM

Admin
 
Many thanks for increasing the default font size. 😀

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Jun 5, 2020 4:38 PM

The “Read More” feature, while keeping the pages free of long posts, does seem to slow down at times that I guess are peak use… late afternoon European time/ early U.S. breakfast with Off-Guardian.
 
At the time of writing I can’t open posts to read the full content. “Read More” let me in after four attempts/ waiting four minutes.

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 1:59 PM

With the previous version of this comment system, it was possible to post the URLs of either images or Youtube videos, and they would be displayed inline. This seems to be no longer functional, which is unfortunate. Can it be restored? Even then, people often posted the short-form Youtube URLs, and these were not recognized and displayed inline. It seems like this would be easy to fix. For example: https : // youtu . be / 2DDXG-dHugc With the new version, it was very briefly possible to upload an image with your comment, which was then displayed inline. This was a useful feature, but it now seems to have been removed. It would be nice to have it back, but if the inline display of external image URLs is restored, it’s not particularly important. But currently, there seems to be no way to display inline images, which is not an… Read more »

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 6, 2020 4:31 PM
Reply to  snuffleupagus

We can’t support direct image uploads to our server as it is a potential security issue and – most importantly – will quickly take up a massive amount of space.

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 1:35 PM

I find that the “Read more” feature, wherein all but the first few sentences of a comment is obscured until it’s activated, actually makes the comment threads almost unreadable. At least, it’s sufficient to deter me from doing so, I and suspect that I’m not the only one. This (mis)feature is copied from sites such as Youtube, where 99% of the commentary is completely inane, and the last 500 words of any random comment are unlikely to be of any more interest to anybody than the first 50. In forums such as this, where there is supposed to be, and usually is, serious discussion, having to click “Read more” on anything that is long enough to be informative, just trashes the whole discussion. It also trashes any formatting that the commenter applied to make their meaning clear, so you don’t even know if it’s worth reading more without seeing the… Read more »

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 5, 2020 1:23 PM

I’ve noticed two more changes today (Friday 5 June) compared to yesterday:
 
 You have changed the “thumbs up/down” to “up/down arrow”.
 
 
 You seem to have removed the facility (only recently introduced) for direct upload of an image (e.g. from device storage, rather than from a website)
 
.
 Any particular reason for these changes?
 
 
 Edit: Oh yes: could you please explain exactly how to use the “link” icon in the present configuration (when using a keyboard, e.g. PC/laptop)? It doesn’t seem to work quite as before, or at least not particularly intuitively.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 6, 2020 4:39 PM
Reply to  Mike Ellwood

see reply above re. Image library
 
https://off-guardian.org/2020/06/03/post-your-commenting-problems-here/#comment-187007
 
 
How to use the link button
 
Highlight the text you want to be the hyperlink and click on the link button. A box should appear for you to enter the URL. Enter the URL and click ‘save’. The text will then be a hyperlink.
 
or if preferred you can just paste the link directly into the comment box and it should be clickable.

Glenda
Glenda
Jun 5, 2020 3:24 AM

Why does my browser have to check before accessing this site? Puts people off when I share on FB – they think it’s a dodgy site.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 5, 2020 10:42 AM
Reply to  Glenda

“Checking your browser before accessing this site”

 
Glenda,
 
I think you’ll find this is what the message says. So it’s the opposite to what you think it says! OffG is from time to time subjected to disruptive and damaging external cyber attacks so it is their web managers who institute these Web protection measures.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 5, 2020 11:27 AM
Reply to  Glenda

It’s nothing to be concerned about. We are being cyber attacked a lot lately. That notice is our CloudFlare software filtering out the real users from the attack bots.

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 5, 2020 1:33 AM

Suddenly HTML tags are forcibly transmuted into escape sequences (even just ‘p’s !!).!

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 5, 2020 1:40 AM
Reply to  Robbobbobin

Can you explain what that sentence means please.
 
I’ve already told you the comment box is WYSIWYG and can’t take markup. Just use the buttons below for formatting.

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 5, 2020 2:50 AM

Yes, I can. Yesterday ‘blockquote’ in the new style BTL system worked, today the required angle brackets to make them HTML markup tags are converted to escape sequences to render them as angle brackets, which obviates their use as tags. As noted elsewhere in this BTL, the markup buttons you speak of (below the text box, to the left) do not appear on this tablet. But the point is that yesterday (technically yesteryesterday UTC) markup tags worked in the NEW commenting setup and today they don’t.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 5, 2020 11:35 AM
Reply to  Robbobbobin

Ok, it wasn’t easy, but I think I divine what you’re trying to say. Sometimes you can use markup, and sometimes you can’t – correct?
 
Are you always on the same device?
 
Rich text WYSIWYG editing is currently only available on desktop machines, and reverts to normal plain text editing on mobile devices.This is why the formatting buttons are probably not visible on phones and smaller tablets. You should therefore be able to use html markup on these smaller devices but not on a larger tablet, laptop or desktop.
 
Does this fit with your experience?

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 2:12 PM

if it’s possible to use HTML markup on a mobile device, why should it be impossible to do so on a regular computer? I find using HTML tags easier than the WYSIWYG editor, but this no longer works. if it’s supposed to work for mobile, why should it be disabled for desktop?
 

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 8, 2020 3:46 AM
Reply to  snuffleupagus

I find using HTML tags easier than the WYSIWYG editor, but this no longer works. if it’s supposed to work for mobile, why should it be disabled for desktop?

It works sometimes

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 8, 2020 3:54 AM
Reply to  Robbobbobin

And the proof of that lies in the fact that the above blockquote was done with tags, not some ‘tag selected text’ button, which don’t appear on this tablet for some other reason that I have not yet bothered to think about.

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 8, 2020 4:51 AM

“Ok, it wasn’t easy, but I think I divine what you’re trying to say.” Oi ! “Sometimes you can use markup, and sometimes you can’t – correct?” Not sure about ‘sometimeS‘. First I could use it, then I couldn’t, then I could. One instance, may or may not be intermittent: insufficient evidence. “Rich text WYSIWYG editing is currently only available on desktop machines, and reverts to normal plain text editing on mobile devices.” At some point the cogwheel icon offered me a choice: rich or plain text (I chose plaintext). From memory: only once. Just when? From memory: blank. “This is why the formatting buttons are probably not visible on phones and smaller tablets. You should therefore be able to use html markup on these smaller devices but not on a larger tablet, laptop or desktop.” For stuff that doesn’t need a grunty desktop, e.g. the Off-Guardian, I have–since ~6… Read more »

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 8, 2020 4:53 AM
Reply to  Robbobbobin

Did I forget to close a blockquote? Moi?

Lemon
Lemon
Jun 4, 2020 11:35 PM

All formatting dissappears when the comment is collapsed.[Carriage return]
So that what was a well constructed diatribe turns into a streaming rant. [Return]
 

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 5, 2020 1:25 AM
Reply to  Lemon

Yes. I’m retaining the rant (it’s my default style) but using big splodges of —————- to format it.

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 5, 2020 3:16 AM
Reply to  Lemon

Just discovered it might be a memory problem (shortage thereof?) in your device.

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 5, 2020 3:17 AM
Reply to  Robbobbobin

For “your device” read “our devices”.

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 2:31 PM
Reply to  Robbobbobin

it’s not a memory problem.
 
unless, for some reason, 16GB is insufficient for proper paragraph formatting, but that seems rather implausible.
 

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 8, 2020 4:02 AM
Reply to  snuffleupagus

As we don’t know what Lemon is using your certainty is indicative. Indicative of what I’ll leave it to you to decide.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 5, 2020 12:34 PM
Reply to  Lemon

Can you be more specific about that please.

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 2:27 PM

Please note the appearance of this comment both before, and after, clicking “Read more”.
 
This is supposed to be the second paragraph.
 
This is supposed to be the third paragraph.
 
This is supposed to be the fourth paragraph.
 
now for some padding, to reach the 100-word collapse threshold:
 
’twas brillig, and the slithy toves
 
did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
 
all mimsy were the borogoves,
 
and the mome raths outgrabe.
 
beware the jabberwock, my son —
 
the jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
 
beware the jubjub bird, and shun
 
the frumious bandersnatch.
 
This is supposed to be the final paragraph. Do you see how the collapsed text has omitted all the paragraph breaks? All other formatting disappears as well.
 

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 6, 2020 4:46 PM
Reply to  snuffleupagus

It looks fine to me

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 8, 2020 4:07 AM

No, there is a problem somewhere. Lemon’s initial report possibly corresponds with a seemingly similar problem here (where it is possibly intermittent).

Reachable Spike
Reachable Spike
Jun 4, 2020 11:22 PM

I accidentally upvoted my own comment. I somehow thought that maybe if I clicked the arrow it would show me who had upvoted it. I am contrite, but I also want to warn that it is possible to violate the integrity of the system.

Frank Speaker
Frank Speaker
Jun 4, 2020 10:04 PM

Excellent news that comments can be edit for 15 minutes! Many thanks.
Edit: it works too!

John Pretty
John Pretty
Jun 4, 2020 9:19 PM

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it … why did you do this offg?

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 5, 2020 1:30 AM
Reply to  John Pretty

We didn’t. As already patiently explained several times, the developers of the comment software we use instigated a major update. We are just trying to work through the many bugs and glitches there seem to be.
 
On the plus side there are some good new features that should improve people’s experience.

Matt Grigsby
Matt Grigsby
Jun 5, 2020 1:44 AM

Is the 15 minutes edit window configurable? i think 3-5 is already generous and means you don’t have to wait between every comment

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 2:34 PM
Reply to  Matt Grigsby

you don’t have to wait between every comment.
 

John Pretty
John Pretty
Jun 4, 2020 9:18 PM

There’s a comment by “Eric McCoo” on the Robert Kennedy article. I tried to downvote it, but I got an error message saying “you cannot vote for this comment”.

Ort
Ort
Jun 4, 2020 7:42 PM

There is still a problem with upvotes/downvotes: when I attempted to vote on comments posted to the excellent “Conspiracy Theory” article just now, I was surprised to find that some already display registered votes. I got the “You already voted” error message. I assure you I didn’t already vote; I just got to the comment(s) in question!   FWIW, it appears that these votes conform to previous votes; i.e., when I encountered comments where a vote was already displaying, the displayed vote was consistent with my inclination. To use a handy example, a Louis Proyect comment already showed a downvote– so perhaps the system is duplicating votes from previous comments. _____________________________   Since both the Admins and some knowledgable commenters seem familiar with WordPress’s arcane functions, can anyone point me to information regarding customizing one’s avatar? Perhaps I’m just thick, but when I’ve perused the WP “Support” page linked above, it seems mostly geared toward… Read more »

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 4, 2020 7:48 PM
Reply to  Ort

To have a custom avatar on WordPress you need to get a gravatar profile. You can then upload images to that profile and select one to be your universal avatar.
 
https://en.gravatar.com/

Ort
Ort
Jun 6, 2020 12:42 AM

Much Thanks!

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 4, 2020 5:18 PM

1. Wot, no simple markup buttons?

2. Previously the “strong” tag seemed to be the only consistent way to get emphasis into a blockquote (though I suspect “b”, while not strictly synonymous, would have worked as well-. Now “strong” seems not to work at all.

Here is strong and here is b.

So, now neither. Forced lesson in good style. No bad thing

as long as SHOUTING IS STILL PERMITTED.

Big grey inverted commas screw up “blockquote” use as a primitive formatting device, though…

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 4, 2020 7:52 PM
Reply to  Robbobbobin

The comment box is a wysiwyg editor, which doesn’t take code – the markup buttons are bottom left
 
Point noted about lack of bold option inside blockquote

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 5, 2020 1:43 AM

Bottom left? No indication here (on this tablet) of anything bottom left, just white space. Also, on the same tablet, the ‘Settings’=’Edit’ gearwheel doesn’t appear until the posted text is touched somewhere. I found that out when I tenderly stroked one of my posts, which I usually do before moving on to the next…

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 5, 2020 11:39 AM
Reply to  Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 8, 2020 5:06 AM

Just now seen…

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 4, 2020 4:58 PM

I think there are still some funnies in the up-voting part of the comments system. Sometimes it seems to be allowing me to vote for something I might have voted up before, and other times it won’t allow me to vote on things I haven’t voted for before.
 
Now, I could be mistaken; I don’t keep a careful note of which comments I up-vote (I may be OCD, but not in that particular respect), but I seem to have found quite a few comments that I could have sworn I’ve never even read, let alone voted on, but which have the coloured “thumbs up” indicating that I’ve voted, which if I click on, I get the red error message from on high.
 
Worth your looking into it perhaps, when you get a quiet moment. 🙂
 

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 5, 2020 1:28 PM
Reply to  Mike Ellwood

It just allowed me to vote up my own post. I was a good boy, and voted myself down again (and the total ups went down to what it was). I don’t think this is correct functioning though.

Brian Llewellyn
Brian Llewellyn
Jun 4, 2020 2:51 PM

I’ve just posted on comments under the conspiracy theorist article. The post appeared but when I click on “reply” to those who’ve commented on the comment, nothing happens. I tried signing in but not sure why since I posted originally without signing in. That didn’t work anyway and now I’m being told I’ve been banned from trying. Help!

Nemo Nomark
Nemo Nomark
Jun 4, 2020 2:17 PM

I’ve just started using the new comments functions. At last, an edit function, and a much easier formatting system. Top marks from me Admin!

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 4, 2020 4:28 PM
Reply to  Nemo Nomark

Edit function? Not seen that.
 

  • Well, blow me; it is there. Starwheel thingy.

 
Thanks for the heads up. I assume it may only work for a short while after the initial post? But that’s fair enough.
 

Nemo Nomark
Nemo Nomark
Jun 4, 2020 4:44 PM
Reply to  Mike Ellwood

You got it Mike, very useful for sausage fingered old coots like me.

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 4, 2020 5:04 PM
Reply to  Mike Ellwood

“I assume it may only work for a short while after the initial post?

Yes. Don’t know how long but yesterday it didn’t last an afternoon tea & snooze.

aspnaz
aspnaz
Jun 4, 2020 1:28 PM

I had a problem loading the second page of comments on the “It’ all bullshit …” article, I assumed you were suffering a DoS attack or a China firewall issue, but I tried with a VPN and got the same result, so left it to the next day. Maybe just a result of the changes settling in. No complaints! Great site.

Harry Stotle
Harry Stotle
Jun 4, 2020 12:49 PM

My comments have been premoderated (for months) – no explanation, but presumably because I disagreed with the general tenor of the COVID debate?
 
Comments appeared on the thread for a short while (albeit with premoderation notice presumably implying other posters could not see it) they then started to disappear.
 
From where I’m sitting this looks like censorship.
 
Don’t forget one of the reasons Off-G started up was because of frustration about censorship BTL at the Guardian.
 
It would be a shame to go down the same road IMO.

Sam - Admin2
Admin
Sam - Admin2
Jun 4, 2020 1:13 PM
Reply to  Harry Stotle

Don’t worry, we’ve not forgotten. Thanks for your feedback. Admin2

IANA
IANA
Jun 4, 2020 12:34 PM

On a side note I think you have people here (maybe one in particular) posting under numerous names. I appreciate if they use more than one email its difficult to police but the writing is the same. I post this because if they are posting under a single email and you have called them out on this before can this be ‘managed’? Its very disrupting especially if they are sponsored. Thanks.

Paul too
Paul too
Jun 4, 2020 10:50 AM

The article voting doesn’t work at all now for me on firefox + win 7. I get either ‘you have already voted for this comment’ when I haven’t, or something along the lines of not being authorised to post a comment in red text.

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 4, 2020 11:16 AM
Reply to  Paul too

I have had similar problems, using Chrome + Win 7.
 
Voting does work as expected sometimes, but at other times, I get the error messages that Paul too mentions.

ScottyJ
ScottyJ
Jun 4, 2020 11:23 AM
Reply to  Paul too

Have a look at Linux Folks, move away from Windows unless you need it for a particular reason, i suggest Linux Mint, Linux Lite or Ubuntu.
 
Great operating system and free yourself from Microsoft then try again tou can also try them without installing on your system.

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 3:10 PM
Reply to  ScottyJ
scottyj
scottyj
Jun 6, 2020 8:13 PM
Reply to  snuffleupagus

Totally agree Sir

Daniel Spaniel
Daniel Spaniel
Jun 4, 2020 6:38 PM
Reply to  Paul too

I’ve had that “not allowed” to upvote message too… bit odd.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 4, 2020 8:06 PM
Reply to  Paul too

I think some of that may be due to lag, particularly if you click on the button twice, thinking the first didn’t register. Our server loads have been high or very high for a few days due to DoS attacks so that probably induced a lot of lag. Let us know if it persists.

Nixon Scraypes
Nixon Scraypes
Jun 4, 2020 9:13 AM

Replying to a comment on the colour revolution article the uptake was so slow I lost patience and gave up. I rarely up or down vote but when I have it tells me erroneously that I’ve voted already. On a local forum the upvoting was so suspect I investigated and found a way to upvote my posts! After that I ignored it.

Frank Speaker
Frank Speaker
Jun 3, 2020 10:52 PM

The new comment system is an improvement but loading very slowly on long threads.
Please introduce the edit function which you once said you would do, at least for 5 minutes after posting.

Frank Speaker
Frank Speaker
Jun 3, 2020 10:57 PM
Reply to  Frank Speaker

Upvoting and downvoting is very slow. On an iPad that’s otherwise quick.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 3, 2020 11:02 PM
Reply to  Frank Speaker

Yes, we see that. It might just be a function of the server loads being pretty high the last few days.

Konstantin
Konstantin
Jun 3, 2020 10:18 PM

A bit slow on Opera but on the positive side, you are keeping a lot of trolls from GCHQ and 77th Brigade under pressure round the clock trying in every way possible to take you down. Keep up the good work.

Dungroanin
Dungroanin
Jun 3, 2020 10:10 PM

Not working on my iphone 5.

What is the ‘Login’ ?

Why?

What is the ‘Attach’ function?

Why? Copy and paste is easier and worked fine.

What cookies are placed by Off-G?

What are they called?

How do the stars function?

This from a old Samsung.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 3, 2020 10:59 PM
Reply to  Dungroanin

Can you explain more clearly and specifically what your problem is? The comments work fine with the iPhone5s we have tested.

Login is surely self-explanatory

The ‘attach’ function comes up when you click the add image icon; it gives you options to browse your device for images to add. You can copy paste a url Without clicking the image.

Info on cookies used by WordPress can be found here.

The stars function by clicking on them. As they always do. You can rate the article as you think appropriate. An average of all votes is shown.

You seem both needlessly antagonistic and bewildered. I hope this helps.

Dungroanin
Dungroanin
Jun 4, 2020 8:30 AM

Admin1, Specifilly the comment does not load and the upper right hand corner menu bars display their version of the never stopping wheel of doom as it fails to upload. It is an Iphone 5, not 5s or any other such ‘improved’ variations since. I know some banking sites have stopped working on it and Apple don’t support it with upgrades to its OS anymore. But it works fine with all websites and many apps. And certainly all websites. Are we expected to upgrade hardware that costs more than a first car? I am using a friends old Samsung J3sto post these messages. There has been no login upto now – i am posting this from a friends old Samsung J3 and have not had to login in. What extra benefit does it bring? It has also remembered the name and email details. Text entering can be jittery and laggy… Read more »

Frank Speaker
Frank Speaker
Jun 4, 2020 10:18 AM
Reply to  Dungroanin

“Are we expected to upgrade hardware that costs more than a first car?“
No.
Direct your frustrations at the vendor of your phone. WordPress is based on internationally agreed web standards but some mega companies do their own thing, don’t blame OffG.

Dungroanin
Dungroanin
Jun 4, 2020 12:41 PM
Reply to  Frank Speaker

Frank,

In what way did your intervention help resolve any of the issues?

Does WordPress registration provide any additional facility? Like accessing comments and replies? Is it mandatory?
I have only once had to enroll with such a registration on any other website unless having to use an App .

Has anyone else got an Iphone 5? That can shed any light on this bugginess?

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 4, 2020 8:13 PM
Reply to  Dungroanin

ok – I tried to use an iPhone5 to comment and had exactly the same experience you describe. We will check with the software developers but my guess is they have just not bothered to make it compatible beyond iPhone6, which is poor in my view.
 
I am guessing the only option is a new phone. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Dungroanin
Dungroanin
Jun 4, 2020 9:17 PM

Got a spare £500 you can send me?

Web sites should be able to function on any old browser.

After all it’s not as if the upgrade is a into an app, with need for intrusive access to people’s equipment for …security!

I guess I’ll have to downgrade to an ancient Samsung or you’ll have to manage without my support.
👌

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 3:21 PM
Reply to  Dungroanin

get an Android phone; they’re better than Apple’s overpriced junk, anyway.
 
Huawei phones are well-made, and substantially cheaper than such as Samsung. plus, you can stick your finger in the eye of the American empire.
 

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 3:17 PM

I am guessing the only option is a new phone.
 
it seems likely that upgrading the webbrowser should be sufficient to fix such problems. if Safari can’t be upgraded for some reason, try Firefox or Chrome.
 

LisaLane
LisaLane
Jun 3, 2020 10:07 PM

Is there a search facility to find commenters?

Binra
Binra
Jun 4, 2020 12:05 AM
Reply to  LisaLane

you can page search in any browser – but only for comments showing.So search ‘lisa’ would find you but not if your comment is under ‘show more comments’

Ort
Ort
Jun 4, 2020 7:41 PM
Reply to  LisaLane

That’s on my “wish list” too; as Binra pointed out, unless one laboriously “unlocks” each “Show More Comments” bumper (or whatever it’s called) to display the entire thread, a simple page search for a username is inconclusive at best. 🙁

snuffleupagus
snuffleupagus
Jun 5, 2020 3:25 PM
Reply to  Ort

you also won’t find any text that is currently hidden under “Read more”. there should at least be buttons at the top of the page to “show all comments” and “expand all comments”.
 

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 3, 2020 9:18 PM

I would just like to say that I think the addition of the name of the person being replied to is a very welcome addition. It was sometimes difficult with more involved or multi-person exchanges to keep on top of the flow of comments and tracing back presented practical difficulties, now overcome. Thanks for that. 😀

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 4, 2020 11:20 AM
Reply to  JudyJ

Seconded. This is a useful improvement.

jay
jay
Jun 3, 2020 9:17 PM

I should have added, the “lagginess” in firefox occurs when you try and exand the comments. I am in the habit of doing that for a “control F” to see if anyone has replied to my comments and need a reply back.
Teething Troubles…

breweriana
breweriana
Jun 4, 2020 3:15 PM
Reply to  jay

You can use the ‘comment link’ button on the top right of your comment, to copy the url to the clipboard. If you put it in a text file, and call it something like ‘comment links’ or whatever, you can then go back to them anytime, without the need to ‘load more comments’, or even load the Off-Guardian home page etc, by just copying the link into your browser.

JoeC
JoeC
Jun 3, 2020 8:29 PM

OMG! Never read so many First World problems.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 3, 2020 8:38 PM
Reply to  JoeC

And what exactly did you expect to find on a thread dedicated to glitches in computer software?

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Jun 3, 2020 8:26 PM

The problems vary, but over all the solution is to type a comment into Notepad or Text Edit then, once you’ve checked it, copy and past into O-G.
 
The delay in typing has two main characteristics. Firstly, a marshmallow stickiness – not a delay but rather like a typewriter where the key returns so slowly that you have to wait one second before hitting the next key, other wise the returning key will jam with the next.
 
Secondly, and most importantly, a feature in which sequential typing is fine but if you make a just one error and go back to correct an error, typing ‘space back’, everything goes out of sequence. I experience this on Infowars which seems to have the same software glitch.

Koba
Koba
Jun 3, 2020 8:55 PM
Reply to  Moneycircus

The problem is off g is as censorious asnit pretends not to be! They’ve just within the last half hour deleted my post except replies. It’s not a glitch or software or anything it’s off g being bent a fuck

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 3, 2020 9:08 PM
Reply to  Koba

We are removing comments on this thread that have no relevance to the software issues – for reasons explained above. Go to any other thread and you are welcome to express yourself freely, but here we need to stay strictly on topic.
 
Thanks

jay
jay
Jun 3, 2020 8:05 PM

Seems to be a bit laggy on firefox since the ‘facelift’…
and I cannot upvote my own unworthy and banal comments any more 🙁
 

Skookumchuck
Skookumchuck
Jun 3, 2020 7:51 PM

I really value the comments section and links to other sources / videos and new platforms people provide. I had not paid any attention to mainstream ‘news’ aka propaganda sites in over a decade, however, when the covidiocy launched I quickly figured out google/youtube etc. were censoring and promoting dis-info – so where to turn? I came across offG from links on another site and I have found numerous other interesting viewpoints / sources from comments on this site. Thank you.

George Mc
George Mc
Jun 3, 2020 6:24 PM

I had a few teething problems with the new system but it seems to work fine now. And it looks better. Though I wonder if OffG could help me with trying to reset their main page so that I can see the last ten or so latest comments across all the posts. I used to be able to see this down the right side but it’s been gone for a while.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 3, 2020 6:29 PM
Reply to  George Mc

We removed that feature from the front page pending fixing a few issues. We do intend to put it back.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 3, 2020 8:44 PM

Admin 1
 
There was me thinking you’d removed it because the display couldn’t keep up with the flood of coronavirus comments! 😀 Look forward to seeing it back in due course.

MAYA
MAYA
Jun 3, 2020 6:21 PM

I don’t post often but when I do, no problems. I always read the comments and I just want to congratulate this site. Always a variety of articles from different perspectives and generally intelligent comments, although they always include the silly ones. But they are allowed to be published . I’m getting tired of some other sites like Sqwawkbox’s hysteria, and RT has become disappointing. Off-G has intelligence and an open mind. Thank you for constantly striving towards and inviting comments for, improvements.

Joerg
Joerg
Jun 3, 2020 6:19 PM

1) I wounder how I can embed a video. When a put a youtube-link into my comments some weeks ago the video-screen would appear – but now only the link appears. May be Admin can give me a tip.
2) The same with pictures (jpg, png): Some weeks ago a link of a picture in my comment would let the photo or cartoon appear. But now only the link appears. May be Admin can give me a tip also for that.
Thank You!
 

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Jun 3, 2020 6:29 PM
Reply to  Joerg

Ok, noted – will look into that

Reg
Reg
Jun 3, 2020 6:37 PM
Reply to  Joerg

You’ll get the thumbnail if you refresh the page after posting the link.

Barovsky
Barovsky
Jun 3, 2020 7:03 PM
Reply to  Joerg

WordPress normally automatically turns youtube links into a video, like this:
 
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgP_Au5RZVw?feature=oembed%5D
 
<youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgP_Au5RZVw?feature=oembed&gt;

Barovsky
Barovsky
Jun 3, 2020 7:04 PM
Reply to  Barovsky

Okay, well that didn’t work!

Objective
Objective
Jun 3, 2020 7:58 PM
Reply to  Barovsky

LOL

Objective
Objective
Jun 3, 2020 5:56 PM

Please sir why do people always thumbs down my comments?
 
Seriously you seem to have cracked all the glitches from last night, it was pretty bad last night very frustrating & slow just trying to scroll down was a like watching paint dry, seems all good today. 😉

Reg
Reg
Jun 3, 2020 6:19 PM
Reply to  Objective

True. And the cursor hasn’t suffered a touch of paralysis as I type this reply to you.The font is a bit small for my eyes though. At least on Firefox.

Objective
Objective
Jun 3, 2020 8:13 PM
Reply to  Reg

Depending on version (i’m using v77. you can zoom in (incremental size increase of text & images)) as much 300%. you’ll find it & be able to add it to your status bar (for quick easy access) via customize on main menu (or view on menu bar). Bound to be an addon that’ll do the same thing too.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 3, 2020 8:51 PM
Reply to  Objective

Objective
 
Maybe I’m old, maybe I’m thick but what you say here is like a foreign language to me . 😉 😉
 
I’m with Reg on this. I have got bad eyesight, even with my glasses on, and I find the new font quite a strain to focus on for any length of time. Whilst not the be all and end all, if it could be marginally adjusted at source it would be a help.

Objective
Objective
Jun 3, 2020 10:15 PM
Reply to  JudyJ

I hear ya, i’m no spring rooster myself, but sometimes we’ve got to help ourselves when its to troublesome for others to accommodate our little problems.
 
Anyway text zoom feature is good for all websites. If ya need further assistance how to use/find it on firefox i’m happy to oblige.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 4, 2020 11:09 AM
Reply to  Objective

Thanks, Objective. You are right about helping ourselves. I have actually been helpfully guided on a number of computer techniques over the months by some very patient people on here 😀 so now I can add a couple more tips to my skills!
Cheers.

Reg
Reg
Jun 4, 2020 1:09 AM
Reply to  JudyJ

Judy, hold down the ctrl key and use the + and – ones to zoom in and out of a page. Cheerio

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 4, 2020 11:13 AM
Reply to  Reg

Thanks, Reg. Yes, I discovered this facility courtesy of @Butties just after I posted in reply to @Objective. So tip no 3 I was reminded of yesterday was to read to the end of the whole thread before making a fool of yourself and wasting everyone else’s time! 😉

breweriana
breweriana
Jun 4, 2020 3:24 PM
Reply to  JudyJ

Pressing ‘Ctrl’ with ‘+’ works to magnify the text on most browsers.

JudyJ
JudyJ
Jun 4, 2020 6:20 PM
Reply to  breweriana

Sorry, b. I tried to upvote you – to acknowledge receipt and gratitude for your comment – but, for some inexplicable reason, a message popped up in red telling me:
 

You are not allowed to vote for this comment

 
So thank you for the comment. 😀

Reg
Reg
Jun 4, 2020 1:08 AM
Reply to  Objective

Yeah, I do the usual ctrl + to enlarge the page. Didn’t have to before. I’m on FF Extended Support Release.

Mike Ellwood
Mike Ellwood
Jun 4, 2020 11:26 AM
Reply to  Reg

That also works in Chrome, so maybe it’s become a browser “standard”, not that “standards” are necessarily universally standard. 🙂
 
And like you, I didn’t have to before. Well, what I used to find was that the top level comments were at a readable size, but that replies to comments were at a smaller size, and so less easily readable. That appears not to be the case under the new regime.

Robbobbobin
Robbobbobin
Jun 4, 2020 5:58 PM
Reply to  Reg

And too much grey ink. What is it with tiny letterforms in light grey ink and young typographers? Ageism?