Why is this discussion system so rubbish?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

You click on subjects, nothing happens! You click an answer and get a blank
page!You post a message and it doesn't appear!

Why is this discussion system so rubbish?

Microsoft spend some time putting a decent forum in place!
 
Sounds like you have a personal problem.

I click on subjects, I see questions and answers.

I post a message and it MAGICALLY appears.

I learn from discussions and sometimes participate.

The only rubbish right now is YOURS!


Have a nice day.
 
I`ve been utilizing this forum ever since it began and have never encountered a problem. I am quite sure that the vast majority of users will agree with me. It has been interesting, informative, and very useful to me. ................ JRH.
 
topofall said:
You click on subjects, nothing happens! You click an answer and get a
blank
page!You post a message and it doesn't appear!

Why is this discussion system so rubbish?

Microsoft spend some time putting a decent forum in place!
Click to expand...

Instead of the stupid Web interface use a news reader.

Vista comes with Windows Mail which already has the Microsoft Communities
set up for NNTP access.
 
Dude,

There's nothing wrong with the forum - It's Operator Error.

I'm subscribed to GigaNews and use VISTA Windows Mail to access the forum.

You can setup your Outlook Express or Windows Mail to access the FREE MS
news server - It's a lot more reliable than going through the website GUI...

See - You can put aside your frustration and get busy with the solution :-)
 
topofall said:
You click on subjects, nothing happens! You click an answer and get a
blank
page!You post a message and it doesn't appear!

Why is this discussion system so rubbish?

Microsoft spend some time putting a decent forum in place!
Click to expand...



Most of us aren't using the web interface. This forum is actually a
newsgroup, and it can be accessed much more efficiently using a newsreader,
like Windows Mail. There are also thousand of other newsgroups, but on
other newsservers. If you click on the following link, this newsgroup
*should* open up for you in Windows Mail.

news://microsoft.public.windows.vista.general

ss.
 
topofall said:
You click on subjects, nothing happens! You click an answer and get a
blank
page!You post a message and it doesn't appear!

Why is this discussion system so rubbish?
Click to expand...

Start -> Windows Mail -> Click Microsoft Communities. Forget about the web
front end.
Microsoft spend some time putting a decent forum in place!
Click to expand...

It's a newsgroup not a forum.

--
Paul Smith,
Yeovil, UK.
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User.
http://www.windowsresource.net/

*Remove nospam. to reply by e-mail*
 
Synapse Syndrome said:
Most of us aren't using the web interface. This forum is actually a
newsgroup, and it can be accessed much more efficiently using a
newsreader, like Windows Mail. There are also thousand of other
newsgroups, but on other newsservers. If you click on the following link,
this newsgroup *should* open up for you in Windows Mail.

news://microsoft.public.windows.vista.general
Click to expand...

Actually, I think you'll have to put in some account details first. Don't
use your real email address, unless you want to receive lots of spam.

ss.
 
topofall said:
You click on subjects, nothing happens! You click an answer and get a
blank
page!You post a message and it doesn't appear!

Why is this discussion system so rubbish?

Microsoft spend some time putting a decent forum in place!
Click to expand...

You have a misunderstanding. These are not forums, but actually Usenet
newsgroups. The web interface is a kludge for access and is awful. Use a
newsreader to access these newsgroups through NNTP and the microsoft news
server. Outlook Express in XP and Windows Mail in Vista can be set up for
newsgroup access. There are other newsreaders too. Do yourself a favor and
use one.
 
topofall said:
You click on subjects, nothing happens! You click an answer and get a
blank
page!You post a message and it doesn't appear!

Why is this discussion system so rubbish?

Microsoft spend some time putting a decent forum in place!
Click to expand...


Did you mean to write something?
 
Wow. You got a lot of trouble for that one.

Let me be the first to say I agree. I have seen the same problems. Its
intermittent but it does happen. When it happens the only solution is to
double-click and see the entire thread in a new window. I sure haven't
found a work around except to do what others have suggested; use Windows
Mail. Windows Mail is still just a workaround though. There are a lot of
reasons to use the web based reader over Windows Mail:

You can't search the entire group in Windows Mail, only in what you've
downloaded.

You can't vote on whether a reply was useful or not useful, or whether
it was the answer to your question or not.

The web reader also has the "Suggestion to Microsoft" option which you
cannot get to using a news reader such as Windows Mail.

You cannot create a link from a message in your newsreader to post as a
reply to a similar question in another thread.

Group policy restrictions at work prevent me from opening Outlook
Express (and will, in 4 or 5 years when we go to Vista, presumably prevent
opening Windows Mail) but allows me to go to the web readers.

I just haven't found a way to get Microsoft's attention on these bugs.
Perhaps they are aware and working on them. Perhaps they're aware and have
other priorities. Perhaps they don't care. Perhaps they just need for you
or me to figure out how to make them aware.

Dale
 
Microsoft spend some time putting a decent forum in place!

Get an NNTP newsreader instead..
 
Allows you to download the message base (selectively in terms of number
of messages downloaded), then read and reply to them off-line.

I've been doing 'newsgroup' based volunteer support for 20 years
(started back in 1987 with Borland as a TeamB sysop -- where I met
Charlie Russel -- one of the helpful folks here).

Back then it was Compuserve 300 to 1200 baud. Offline readers were
absolutely essential then.

These days, I still find them essential -- especially if one is
involved in multiple newsgroups with multiple servers.

I'm using MicroPlanet Gravity, but there are several others out there.

One thing for me, it is an entirely separate entity from my email
handling (I prefer not to intermingle those). I use Thunderbird for my
email and could use it for newsgroup support, I just find that a
separate reader works much better for me and provides features that are
very useful in the newsgroup environment.
 
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