wydeboi's web wilfings
Comments on internet related issues, generally around accessibility, usability, customer relations and good practice.
Tuesday 29 May 2007, 3:10 PM
Accessing my ZDNet account
It all started when I tried to save a link using the clip link button on an article.
The form asks for the link info and I add it and press Save this Link.
The page then says I need to confirm my email to proceed.
"Your email address must be confirmed before the link you created can be displayed."
Okie, I can do that. I finally find a way to do this by selecting a tab that makes the most sense. I ask to be sent a confirmation of email by following the link under the Mail tab, since I joined the site ages ago, when it relaunched and haven't the email recently to hand.
I receive said email promptly, follow the link and go to a page that says I need to fill in missing information highlighted in red and there is no red highlighted information and the only option is to log in, which I already am, as evidenced from the login account info at left. So for some odd reason, I need to log in to change information when I am already logged in...
So in order to continue with my account I need to provide information, but the request for information is not provided, but I need to supply it to proceed.
I often think that Kafka committed suicide when he heard about the impending computer, as if worried if he kept writing he might actually invoke the society he most feared; one which logic ruled but not one where the logic had any relation with sense.
I can only conclude that I am both logged in and my account not activated. Limbo, purgatory, queue going nowhere!
I have not been able to mail, comment, add links or reviews, in other words, make decent use of my account since ZDNet launched the new site. And before you ask, yes, I have cleared cookies and tried different browsers but surely Firefox 2 on a Mac was tested, and I should safely assume they are adhering to web standards and WAI standards?
The oddest thing is I have repeatedly used the support email as well as the "Like our new site" feedback link ever since registering but nothing ever seems to come of it. Not received a single email offering assistance or explanation. A bottomless hole going nowhere. Complaint window but no one on the other side.
Is there anyone in control?
Comments on this post
First of all, I'm sorry that you have had problems getting access to the community features and have not had any response to your emails. I just got the first one addressed to me (the community manager) and made the adjustments to your account that allow you to blog--hence your posting this entry. Could you please let me know which address you sent your earlier emails to, so I can check what went wrong?
There are still some bugs on the site, which we are working to fix. I hope that you and other members will bear with these, and continue to participate, while we sort them out.
Feedback from our members as to what they like or dislike is important as we prioritize our work on the Community features. Thank you for your input and apologies again.
mm. I sent an email through the site to Rupert Goodwins in response to his invitation for inventors to contact him,and now I'm wondering if he even received it. I imagine he is very busy anyway, but I would appreciate some sort of reply, (if he received mine !!) even if he cannot give the advice I asked for.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Fraser
Hi there, Lindsay
Sorry about the delay - I've answered your email now. For future reference, the reason I hadn't got around to looking at your email was because the title line looked like a generic, almost spammy bit of promotion.
It helps enormously if the title says exactly what's inside. "Hey, Rupert, I've got this fab invention!" is good!
Rupert
happy to have helped the communications flow...
Hahaha!! Rupert, many thanks and I've read your reply and sent you some more info too, unfortunately with the same heading !! I'll put something more eye-catching next time !! Your suggestion is very helpful and I am going to follow it up and let you know the outcome.
Many thanks
Lindsay Fraser
Thanks wydeboi, yes you did help otherwise I would not have been brave enough to test it out !! Hope your tech problems are now resolved. I've only been a member for two days and I've learnt a lot about the industry already. I think it's a great site.
All the best
Lindsay Fraser
Hi, Rupert, your suggestion is really good. The company also suggests to anyone interested in the videogames industry, for development or from the business angle, that they study a 116 page pdf from Igda - The International Game Developers Association Which is www.igda.org/casual and the pdf can be located on
http://www.igda.org/casual/IGDA Casu...paper 2006.pdf
I've spent all today going through it and it is a veritable forest of information with a lot of relevant links. It's printer friendly too and I've printed a copy to study.
Thanks Rupert
Regards, Lindsay
Glad to be able to help... let me know how it goes!
Rupert
Rupert, did you get my lengthy reply on Chomsky? I tried to send it once, and the message wouldn't go through, then I typed it again, pressed "send" and nothing seemed to happen !! Perhaps the computer is allergic to The Theory of Syntax 1965 !! If you didn't get it, I'll have another go next week.
Regards Lindsay
I had just posted a lengthy reply to Lindsay about how she could try Karen Friar (http://community.zdnet.co.uk/profile/0,1000000564,2000342797b,00.htm) for help with this problem but encountered the following illogic.
I wrote my comment and pressed submit and was told I need to be logged in to submit a comment. Of course you know that once I logged in my comment was not kept!
Why not force me to log in BEFORE I write my comment saving me the fury of having just lost all my writing?
Aren't you people thinking this through?
Anyway, thanks for making my first ZDNet blog entertaining at least! But LIndsay, if you want to contact Rupert, you may have better luck contacting him directly, with Karen's help perhaps, instead of in my blog.
Wydeboi, thanks for your suggestion. I think the problem of text-loss may happen when we try to send long messages because the server seems to be slow when switching from one page to another, and I think it gets stuck if the message is not sent fairly quickly. This seemed to happen in my case, so I'll follow your suggestion but try to send the message in two parts.
Regards Lindsay
Wydeboi, my message has gone through now in two parts, with the text of each not exceeding the box space and its bottom line. I think the text-loss problem is one of box capacity limitation and a message shouldn't be more than 10 lines in one go. That's what seems to have happened in my case.
Thanks for your advice
Regards Lindsay
This comment has been deleted at the users request
Looks like fredy123 has posted some spam in here Lindsay.
