Help! I'm a mailing list user, and this is so different ....

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Jonathan Robie
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Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:34 pm
Location: Durham, NC
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Help! I'm a mailing list user, and this is so different ....

Post by Jonathan Robie »

If you've been using the B-Greek mailing list for many years (as I have), the new forum is a very different environment.

What's causing you problems in this transition? What haven't you figured out how to do yet?

What did you like better about the old software? What do you like better about the new software?
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Ken M. Penner
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Location: Antigonish, NS, Canada
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Re: Help! I'm a mailing list user, and this is so different

Post by Ken M. Penner »

I initially felt the move to a forum style was more inconvenient for the user. I was used to being able to scan the topic and author, to decide whether the post was worth reading or ignoring, even worth saving on my own computer for later reference. At first I couldn't see how to do this with the new forum.
Then I discovered that the messages from the forum can come to my Outlook mailbox in very much the same way as they used to. The simple solution was to use Outlook's RSS Feed functionality, using the URL feed.php .
I also "subscribe" to specific forums, to receive email notifications when there is a new post in that topic, but I don't find this quite as useful as the feed, since it doesn't include the content of the new post like the feed does.
Ken M. Penner
Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, St. Francis Xavier University
Co-Editor, Digital Biblical Studies
General Editor, Lexham English Septuagint
Co-Editor, Online Critical Pseudepigrapha pseudepigrapha.org
Louis L Sorenson
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Joined: May 5th, 2011, 9:21 pm
Location: Burnsville, MN, USA
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Re: Help! I'm a mailing list user, and this is so different

Post by Louis L Sorenson »

I've found that the latest active topics link is exactly what I was looking for in order to stay up on the latest topics.

http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/sea ... ive_topics

That page has more than just the latest....there are pages 1, 2, 3.... and they keep going back.

I took that page and put it into my bookmarks. I suggest everyone do the same. Perhaps we could generate a daily email (although the RSS feeds and Google Reader does this) sending everyone to the latest topic (activity) page?
Charles A. Wootten
Posts: 2
Joined: June 3rd, 2011, 4:52 pm

Re: Help! I'm a mailing list user, and this is so different

Post by Charles A. Wootten »

Three things:

First, the phpBB error messages that seem part of the routine....at the top of the page. I'm using Firefox 3.5.19.
quote
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /common.php on line 222: require() [function.require]: Unable to allocate memory for pool.
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /posting.php on line 18: include() [function.include]: Unable to allocate memory for pool.
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /posting.php on line 19: include() [function.include]: Unable to allocate memory for pool.
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /posting.php on line 20: include() [function.include]: Unable to allocate memory for pool.
unquote

Next, llsorenson suggests that we use bookmarks to see the latest active topics link. Is this going under the assumption that folks have their browsers on all the time with 15-20 tabs (I still have only 2 eyes, so I can't figure that one out)? I turn on the browser to research something, then turn it off when the project is complete. Typing text in a graphic environment seems silly. Since I cannot reply back through the RSS in Thunderbird, I had to deliberately turn on the browser to get here.

I glanced at Google Reader while typing this. Nah....

I'm watching the discussion in the NG concerning the change, and if it weren't for the RSS B-Greek would be a dim memory.

{charley}
Jonathan Robie
Posts: 4158
Joined: May 5th, 2011, 5:34 pm
Location: Durham, NC
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Re: Help! I'm a mailing list user, and this is so different

Post by Jonathan Robie »

Charles A. Wootten wrote:First, the phpBB error messages that seem part of the routine....at the top of the page. I'm using Firefox 3.5.19.
quote
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /common.php on line 222: require() [function.require]: Unable to allocate memory for pool.
That's irritating. I'm waiting for someone to fix it - I don't have access, he says it will probably be next week. You can get around it by using this URL in the meantime:

http://www-test.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/
Charles A. Wootten wrote:Next, llsorenson suggests that we use bookmarks to see the latest active topics link. Is this going under the assumption that folks have their browsers on all the time with 15-20 tabs (I still have only 2 eyes, so I can't figure that one out)? I turn on the browser to research something, then turn it off when the project is complete. Typing text in a graphic environment seems silly. Since I cannot reply back through the RSS in Thunderbird, I had to deliberately turn on the browser to get here.
Most browsers have a way to save bookmarks so you can just click on them. I suspect that's what he meant.

I glanced at Google Reader while typing this. Nah....
Charles A. Wootten wrote:I'm watching the discussion in the NG concerning the change, and if it weren't for the RSS B-Greek would be a dim memory.
We'll be as helpful as we can.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
Richard Roland
Posts: 1
Joined: June 4th, 2011, 7:05 pm

Re: Help! I'm a mailing list user, and this is so different

Post by Richard Roland »

About an hour ago I did a little googling and found some services that will direct an RSS feed to your email address. The most popular appears to be Feed My Inbox (feedmyinbox.com). They have plans starting at $5 US per month (or $50 per year), that will forward each feed entry from 25 feeds (or more for pricier plans) to your email in realtime. Their free plan will only email you some kind of digest or summary once per day. There are some other free services out there that I have not investigated yet. I don't know whether they are worth trusting with your email address.

I signed up for the $5/mo plan (which one can cancel, upgrade or downgrade at any time) to test it. They have a convenient 'bookmarklet' that you can drag into the FireFox Bookmarks toolbar, or right-click and add to Favorites in IE. Then when on a web page that has an RSS feed, you can just click on the bookmarklet to set up the emailing of that feed.

It appears that there is an RSS feed for the whole B-Greek board, and separate feeds for each forum. After subscribing to Feed My Inbox and adding their bookmarklet to your Bookmarks toolbar, to receive emails of, for example, only the Syntax and Grammar forum feed, enter that forum and click on the "Add to Feed My Inbox" bookmarklet in your Bookmarks or Favorites. A popup window will indicate "Multiple Feeds Found", and offer you some choices. For the Syntax and Grammar Forum Feed only, click the checkbox labeled "Feed - Forum - Syntax and Grammar". Or you can choose the entire B-Greek board. I have just checked my email on my phone and my PC and see that I am receiving not just notices of posts, but the complete posts, similarly to the way the old list worked.
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