my question won't post

  • Thread starter Thread starter lawandgrace
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L

lawandgrace

I don't know where to send this, but I have tried posting the same question 3
or 4 times over the last couple of days, and I get the notification that it
was submitted successfully, but it never shows up.

So we'll see if this one shows up :-)

mike
 
Okay, now I'm really confused. If I post under Excel General Questions and
then search for my post, nothing comes up. But if I go to the left column,
select Excel, then General Questions, it seems to bring up the most recent by
date and voila! there is my post.

Why won't it show up when I search for it though?
 
We must have been posting at the same time. This is what I've discovered: If
I post under Excel General Questions and then search for my post, nothing
comes up. But if I go to the left column, select Excel, then General
Questions, it seems to bring up the most recent by date and voila! there is
my post.
 
lawandgrace said:
Why won't it show up when I search for it though?
Click to expand...

Because the MSDG web interface has defects. Simple as that.

All software has defects. (Notwithstanding Japanese claims to the
contrary.) The MSDG web interface seems to be more defective than others.

If you want a web interface, you might try Google Groups
(groups.google.com). It has different defects ;-). Seriously, the downside
is: in the past, GG sometimes failed to get postings that were submitted
using the MSDG web interface. I never understood why not. Those articles
did appear on the MSnews server, and GG gets its feed ultimately from MSnews.
I don't know if that still is a problem. It caused me to use the
alternative below, and I have not used GG for a couple years, with rare
exception.

Alternatively, you might be able to set up Outlook Express (Windows Mail in
Vista and later) to access the MSnews server directly. It, too, has
different defects ;-). But they are much less frequent, and they are usually
self-correcting eventually. However, recently some responses that I posted
using the MSDG web interface were readable using the MSDG web interface, but
they were not readable using the MSnews server. That is amazing only because
there were readable using GG; and as I said, GG gets its feed from MSnews.

The real problem with relying solely on the MSnews server is that it retains
postings for only 90 days (for m.p.excel* NGs, at least). You need to resort
to GG or MSDG in order to find older articles. Also, your ability to search
articles acquired from the MSnews server using OE (WM) is limited to what you
have in your cache. You need to understand the quirky way that OE (WM)
updates its cache (several different ways, with different consequences).


----- original message -----
 
Thanks Joe! Wow - MS has defects? LOL

Thanks, really, though. Had never experienced any problems before.

mike
 
lawandgrace said:
Thanks Joe! Wow - MS has defects? LOL
Click to expand...

Yeah, wonders never cease. :-) :-)

The real "surprise" for some people is that their favorite alternative -- GG
or the MSnews server -- has defects, too.

Had never experienced any problems before.
Click to expand...

Problems with MSDG search are a common complaint in these NGs. I don't use
it much myself. But my experience has been that it is incomplete, at best.
Also, I don't like the fact that historical postings are presented seemingly
in random order.

Of all the NG interfaces, I like MSDG the least, and it seems to attract the
most reports of problems. The only reason that I use it nowadays is to
ensure that responses to articles posted using MSDG are seen in a timely
manner. Responses posted to the MSnews server directly (e.g. using OE or WM)
tend to take about 30-40 min to propagate to (get pulled by) the MSDG server.
And that's a good day.


----- original message -----
 
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