Help please, I can't get there from here

[winwintoo]

Sadly, those of us who use Macs can't access forum postings that have names that are short. For example, the thread called "FTP" does not behave like a link, but "A Longer Name for the same thread" would act like a link.

Please give your threads longer names so that we can read them too.

Sometimes we can get to the thread by clicking on the name of the last poster and get to it that way; sometimes we can get there by going through the top level, but not always.

I've tried every trick I know and cannot link to most of the currectly active threads.

Margaret :

[Doug Nelson]

I've spent literally days researching this, and found that many Mac IE users are having problems on some sites using DHTML. Evidently the most recent IE upgrade made this problem worse. I found this on the MS IE support newsgroup:

have you tried deleting the following file...

Mac HD:System Folder:Preferences:PPC Registration Database

I have no idea what that means, but it was recommended more than once.

I feel really badly about this situation, but it really is a known software bug. I've asked a lot of Mac users to test for me and offer advice, and gotten a lot of "works for me" and a lot of "I switched to Netscape until MS gets their act together".

Granted, it was my move to DHTML that pointed out this bug to a lot of people, but that move was an essential part of our progress. Hopefully a new release of IE for the Mac will fix this.

Try here for more suggestions.

[winwintoo]

Doug, I know you've researched this and I thank you for spending the time - and I know it's an IE problem and there's nothing we can do about it, but for me, Netscape has a different set of problems that make it not a good choice for me.

I just wanted to ask if people could make thread names longer, that would solve it for me and probably for others as well.

Doug - don't beat your head any more about this. As a developer for 20+ years, I know what it's like to search and search and find nothing that is helpful.

Thanks, Margaret

[Doug Nelson]

Ok, here's a deal offer: I'll make the FTP thread title longer (and try to remember to make all links longer) if you help out some of our Mac users learn to FTP, etc. (since I haven't a clue)

[Ed_L]

Out of curiosity, how long do the links need to be?

Ed

[Doug Nelson]

Margaret has hands-on experience, so trust whatever she says, but it seems to me that only the farthest right 10% works, so in a 10-character link only the very last character acts as a functioning link.

[winwintoo]

You're on...

I'm always willing to help! Let me know what you need.

Just a warning, I won't be available tomorrow, but most days I'm not far from my computer.

Thanks Doug for the assist with the FTP thread and you're right in order for the thread title to act as a link, it has to extend into the far right 1/3 of the space.

Thanks all for your patience with my whining,
Margaret

[Doug Nelson]

Hmm...I wonder if it's the space that would be taken up by the floating menu when popped out that determines whether a link works or not. Perhaps if it's in an area that would be covered when the menu expands, IE thinks it's already covered?

[winwintoo]

Doug I think you've got it!!

As I write this, one of the threads that appears in the "new postings" window is one by itzrandy called "spitfire grill" - in the new postings window, only the last letter of "grill" acts as a link; but when I go to itzrandy's profile page, the whole title "spitfire grill" is a link (as it should be)

So you're right - IE thinks the menu is covering that part of the screen even when it's not.

Now that I know what's causing the problem, I'll stop nagging you about it. Thanks a bunch for all your patience.

Margaret

[Doug Nelson]

OK, here's a compromise. I changed the entire forum from left to centered so you can maximize the window if you want and the space to be occupied by the menubar will be empty.

Try it, let me know if it works.