UOAA Discussion Board

Am I the only one? Before tonight, the board formatted so that the posts fitted the screen. Now I have a bar on the bottom and need to move it backwards and forwards to read the whole of each line. I'm sure I haven't changed any settings on my 'complicator' but am willing to receive advice if I have changed something which is causing this.

Thanks.

Terry

I second that one! It was driving me crazy last night!!
Any ideas what could be causing that????

You are not alone! I'm in this boat too!

Sandy

This happened to me too. Can't stand it. Somebody do something.

It's only on some of the threads for me.

Me too!!!!
Leslie in KC

im like sarah its only on a few but it is aggravating

I asked Bob about this in the past and he said if someone post a long link it can cause this problem for an entire thread. Sarah said it only happens on some threads for her. I experienced the same thing. I'm sure Bob will have something to say shortly because I will send this thread to him! Steve

Steve, thanks for alerting me that this is happening again. Yes, the major cause is when somebody posts a link with a very long URL (it can also happen when somebody includes a very wide graphic, but that's usually not as common or as serious). The most recent occasion on this board seems to be the thread Considering surgery:need to hear from others where the problem was a posting from Charles containing a very long URL for a page on ConvaTec's site.

The amount of horizontal scrolling required when viewing that thread can vary in different web browsers, because some browsers allow some line breaking within the long URL, while others allow no such line breaking at all. But in all current browsers, the long URL can make the page content wider than your browser window. The problem affects the entire thread, instead of just the responsible posting, because the entire thread is displayed as a single html table.

An ironic aspect of the above example is that Charles' extremely long URL doesn't even work! Instead of accessing the desired page deep in Convatec's site, it brings up only ConvaTec's home page! This can happen with long, dynamically generated URLs on some sites. So, my first piece of advice: before even thinking of including one of these long URLs in a posting, make sure the URL actually works when entered in a new browser window.

Assuming it passes that test, there are a couple of ways you can create a link without displaying the long URL explicitly. One way is to use the board's BBCode system to display just some desired text instead of the actual URL; i.e., enter yyy where xxx is the URL you want to link to and yyy is the text to display. I've already used this technique several times in this posting, as in the above link displaying the text "BBCode system".

Another method you might consider is using http://tinyurl.com/ to make a very short URL that redirects to your desired long URL. A disadvantage of this method is that some users may not click on such a link because it gives absolutely no hint where it will take you. (The previously described BBCode method does give users a hint, by displaying the linked URL at the bottom of the screen when hovering the mouse over the link.)

Bob

Bob Webtech wrote:.....
An ironic aspect of the above example is that Charles' extremely long URL doesn't even work! ....
Bob

Hehehe! Bob, you are too funny - you should post more often! I have seen what happened on this board on other boards I read as well. Too bad the board technology is not sophisticated enough either to shorten the url or alert the poster not to use it.

Thanks Bob!

I thought maybe I did something wrong!... I'm no "Bill Gates" ... you know! ... I feel better now!!!

Thanks!

Sandy
PS. I agree with Mara! Bob you are funny!... and should post more often!!!

Dear Bob,

Thank you for that!

Terry

In my previous message in this thread, I wrote:

So, my first piece of advice: before even thinking of including one of these long URLs in a posting, make sure the URL actually works when entered in a new browser window.

Unfortunately, I've found that simply pasting one of these long URLs into a new browser window isn't an adequate test of whether it will actually work when accessed by somebody who hasn't navigated to that URL through the target website.

On ConvaTec's site, URLs for pages in their product catalog do work when accessed by someone who hasn't navigated to the page, while URLs for pages in their "Ostomy Education" area fail to work when accessed by someone who hasn't navigated through ConvaTec's site. These are all similar-looking, very long URLs. So what's the difference?

The URLs that fail to work (in ConvaTec's Ostomy Education area) depend on cookies that get set in your browser while you navigate through ConvaTec's site. If those cookies haven't been set, the URL only takes you to ConvaTec's home page. If, however, you've just been navigating through their website, the cookies will be set, and the URL will work, even if you paste it into a new browser window.

To identify one of these cookie-dependent URLs: After navigating to the desired web page, clear your browser's cookies, then Refresh (Reload) the browser. If the URL was cookie-dependent, you'll no longer be on the desired web page.

Clearing cookies is straightforward in most browsers. For example, to do it in IE for Windows, choose Tools > Internet Options; then choose "Delete Cookies" (near the middle of the dialog box) and click OK when it prompts if you really want to do that.

Be aware that when you clear cookies, you may lose customizations on some websites. For example, if you've set this discussion board to log you on automatically every time you connect, that's done with a browser cookie. In general, relying on a browser cookie to log you onto a site isn't a good idea, as you may lose that cookie (or wish to log on from another computer), at which point you may have forgotten your actual login info.

Bob