Help

Consider This an Archive

Fri, 23 Jan 2004 08:29:28 GMT

Sorry, folks. I meant to shut down this journal because I don't have time to maintain it (can't even keep up with my regular one right now) but several friends convinced me to leave it up. However, I've had several people email me lately asking for help and I just don't have the time to do that. So if you're perusing this journal looking for helpful information, go right ahead, but if you need further info, you'll need to look elsewhere. I'm sorry that I'm unable to personally respond to emails. Thanks for your understanding.

Remove Sidebar Pictures

Sat, 08 Nov 2003 21:51:46 GMT

John Scalzi, the link between good and evil, cautions anyone who has imbedded graphics in their sidebars with the exception of the "About Me" section, to remove them prior to Monday, November 10th because the AOL techno-nerds are going to be updating the journaling software which will remove this capability or something or other. Read his entry about this change here.

More when I get my head out of the clouds with updates and further "helpful" information.

"Other Journals" Edit Problems

Thu, 16 Oct 2003 16:12:03 GMT

Frank, author of "On Whining Well" got in touch with me after being referred by Andrea (author of "Unhinged") who has been kind enough to plug this journal. Seems that his "other journals" entry had disappeared into thin air. In looking at the site, I noticed that indeed there was something amiss in Journal Land. The bottom of the cell/table was gone, possibly offered as a sacrifice to the posting goddess.

First, the low down:

The problem doesn't appear to have anything to do with Frank or you (if you're trying to add/remove from this area of your journal). It apparently has to do with a coding error the techs left undone when making some changes. I've notified John (Scalzi) who, at this point, is my only contact to the netherworlds of Tech Land. Hopefully it will be read, passed along and resolved within the next 48 days.

Oops! Did I say "days"? I think I meant hours. Well, either way...

Here are some suggestions: Save journals you like to visit (and refer others) to your favorites. I create a folder first titled "Other Journals" then add to that (making a distinction between journals I want to return to, but aren't sure I want to add them to my journal as of yet, etc.). Do whatever your heart desires. Another way is to email the link to the journal to yourself and save it to your filing cabinet (you may want to set your preferences to save mail you've read once it's "offline."). This way, if you ever lose your information from your journal, you're not left out in the dark.

While we're on this subject, if your entries are something you couldn't bear to lose, then save them to a text file on your hard drive (takes up less space in a text format) and back them up to a floppy/cd every now and again (you are regularly backing up your computer, right?). Whenever you are working directly off a server, you are at that server's mercy. Nothing in CyberLand is 100% absolute, so it's wise to keep a backup just in case. And even if you don't think the entries are that important, it's just good practice to save them anyway. Consider it a bit of foresight offered through a personal experience of hindsight.

Write on!

Can You Help?

Sat, 18 Oct 2003 17:59:01 GMT

A few days ago I wrote about a problem that cropped up. It's still being looked into, but it would be helpful if anyone else is experiencing this problem to let me or John know. Even if you're not having this problem, click on that "add comment" link down below and let us know. Apparently this problem occurs when you have hit the last "more links" button after clicking on "Edit" in the "Other Journals" section. As much information as you can provide really does help isolate the problem. Please be sure to provide your journal's name (as seen in the URL just after your screenname) so the techies can get to work quickly. (Please include a note if you're updating your journal via AOL Anywhere!)

Second: I've been experiencing some problems with the refresh of my browser. When I go to Keyword: Preferences and click on Internet Options (WWW) in the "Organization" column, a pop-up window appears. Within the top section under the "General" tab, the radio button mysteriously gets reset for "never" checking for a newer version of the page. I've amped up my storage space (see the middle asking for the size of the cache) and reset (and saved) it to check for newer versions EVERYTIME. Yet, for some oddball reason, it resets. Frustrating as... well... sitting on the toilet in the middle of the night when someone else left the seat up. Since I'm practically forced to use AOL's browser now that I maintain a journal, I suspect that's part of the problem, so a resolution is pretty high on my priority list. Have you experienced this? Do you know of a work around or way to crazy glue it so it doesn't keep resetting? Please do tell!

Last, but certainly not least, I will be away from the computer for a few weeks. I would greatly appreciate it if someone (or several folks) would be kind enough to keep an eye on this journal and help anyone (even if it's by means of redirecting them to someone like John) in need of assistance.

Thanks! And by all means... write on!

Offline Journaling

Sat, 18 Oct 2003 17:45:41 GMT

It's a common misperception that folks maintaining an AOL journal or visiting and commenting on an AOL journal are on AOL. Let me dispel that misperception.

It is true, only an AOL member can maintain a journal. But they can manage their journal using AOL Anywhere fairly easily and there are some who choose to do this for a variety of reasons.

There are some folks that will use AOL Anywhere to update and maintain their journal. It's important to note to those folks that if you are reporting a problem with your journal, you state that right up front as it will help the techies find and fix the problem quickly. This means that they don't have the same capabilities, such as clicking on a screenname for the member's profile.

And while anyone on the WWW can read your journal, only AOL, AIM, Netscape and CompuServe members can comment (but anyone can email you).

That said, there are a few things we should all be cognizant of:

    Don't assume the owner of the journaler can click on your screenname
      left in the comments section and view your profile. If you want them to
      come visit your journal, provide the name of it (because the search feature
      isn't that inclusive) in your comments (most of us know the preceding
      addy is journals.aol.com/yourscreenname/)

If you're leaving a comment in an older portion of the journal, drop the
journalist a note via email to alert them. It's just a nice thing to do.

    Read through the "About Me" section of the journal. There could be some
       important information there, like where to send email so you're assured
       the journalist receives it, etc. (This works especially well when emailing
       for technical support via John M. Scalzi.)

Also note: Even if the journalist only uses AOL, s/he could have preferences set so that clicking on a screenname in a journal will open up new mail and not the member's profile. Keep that in mind! :)

Write on!

Give Me Mood

Sat, 11 Oct 2003 05:16:46 GMT

Got Mood?

One of the biggest complaints logged daily into journals across the system is for more mood selections or a way to add your own mood. AOL Journals folks suggest "skipping" the entry. I'll give you one up.

Edit your journal for the "minimized" layout. Save.

When you go to add your entry, skip right over the "mood" and go to the "music" space. Type in your mood followed by a space, then add a pipe (shift+\ = | ) followed by another space and then either type in a sub-heading for your entry or th e music you're listening to at the time. You are limited to 100 characters in this field.

Now go type your entry, select save and you get something that looks like this entry.

Sharing a comment? Please include an address to your journal (just the name will suffice, I can guess that it's http://journals.aol.com/your_screenname/) so others can come visit!

Wrapping Text Around Photos

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 19:08:16 GMT

[Bridal Notes and Wishes] (Example of text 'wrapped' around an image)

To wrap text around an image, follow these steps:

1. Upload the image you wish to use to your FTP space (see how-to use FTP)
2. Click on the "Add New Entry" in your journal
3. Complete the top portion (Subject, Mood, etc.)
4. In the "Text of Entry" box, click on the hyperlink button and at the prompt, type in:

Note: You can change the align to left, too.
5. Click "okay" and wait for the image to load into your text entry area.
6. Move your cursor to the left of the image and highlight the extra "> characters then click on the text color icon above the text entry window and select white (this makes that ugly character "disappear."
7. For right aligned images, place your cursor between the image and that ugly character group you "hid" and type (just make certain to change your font color!). The image will stay to the right, thus "wrapping" the text around it. Left aligned: place your cursor after the image and go at it!

Questions? Problems? Need more help? Want to send high praises? Leave me a comment! And so that I don't miss your comment (I manage 3 journals, among other things), please clicky-click the email link and let me know!

[Email me and let me know you left a comment!]

Caution!

Wed, 15 Oct 2003 18:44:35 GMT

The following entry about extending your characters in a single entry should include the following caution:

When using this work around, be especially careful to keep the file size down. Over-compression can degrade the text so much it's not worth the effort, however, on the flip side, if the file size of the intended graphic is huge (over 70kb) it can bog down the loading of the page. Sure, many folks now have speedy access (DSL, Broadband, etc.) however, not everyone does (myself included) so those dialing up will have an exceptionally difficult time with the download. So use this trick carefully and sparingly.

Also, I've put it in the comments for the following entry, but here it is again in case you missed it: The width of the image can be up to 640 pixels without causing your format/layout to shift uncomfortably.

An Interesting Way To Add More Characters

Mon, 13 Oct 2003 14:08:59 GMT

Lost Entry

Sat, 11 Oct 2003 05:42:12 GMT

Typing your thoughts directly into the "text of entry" space can be detrimental to your emotional and mental well-being. Here's a way to reduce the stress and keep your sanity:

Open up a very basic text editing/writing program such as NotePad (Programs > Accessories > NotePad).

Type away (I suggest saving it periodically especially if you're on an older machine or prone to power failures)

Copy and paste (Edit > Select All; Edit > Copy from NotePad, then go to your journal, click on Add Entry, place your cursor in the body of the Text of Entry field and select Edit > Paste or merely depress the control button (ctrl) at the same time you depress the "V" button ... ctrl+V) your entry into the text area and then save.

=========================

I went over the maximum characters! Breathe, relax... Just start chipping away one paragraph at a time from the bottom and keep clicking the SAVE button until it takes. After it loads, then go add another entry, jump back over to your notepad and copy out just the text that didn't post the last time. Lather > Rinse > Repeat. :)

Hey! I know my entry, even with HTML codes added, is less than 2,500 characters. What gives? By default, this program generates roughly 6 characters per paragraph. Changing the color of your text will add around 30 characters PER change. If you shoot for 2,225 characters, you shouldn't have any problems posting.

What? 2,225 characters now? Gee, I can get unlimited over at XYZ.com! Yeah, I know. And AOL does too. They claim they'll be increasing the limitations early 2004. But feel free to let them know you're impatient. AOLHometown@aol.com > Journals Feedback.