General comment on the use of the Actinic forum

[pinbrook]

this is one thread that has actually got off topic to its benefit...

any back to one of its sub topics,

"all girls boarding school" girl myself..

me too, although i was all girls grammar school

and back to another sub topic, congrats Fergus

[RuralWeb]

Wheres Dolly gone today

Is that Dolly the GM Yorkshire sheep?

[Cheapprices4u]

2 bonny girls.

2 & 4yrs old.

Wifey wants No.3..Daddy wants a stiff drink!

snap
and were going for it the third will be with us,

the trying is good fun though

but as lee said i could do without the teenage bit


fergus congrats man you kept that quiet how did you do that

when i got mine i wanted to scream from the top of the highest mountain

[leehack]

when i got mine i wanted to scream from the top of the highest mountain

From an efficiency point of view, wouldn't you be better to do this from the top of a tower block?

a) It would be closer
b) It would be heard by more people
c) You don't risk your fingers going black on the way there
d) You don't risk being eaten by a Yeti
e) You don't have to pack a bag

[Cheapprices4u]

to be fair yeah but i didnt care as long as i told someone

[TraceyHand]

From an eficiency point of view, wouldn't you be better to do this from the top of a tower block?

e) You don't have to pack a bag

maybe not..although, if some of the tower blocks I've seen are anything to go by, a handgun might be an idea

[leehack]

I was thinking more like a stairlift off Thora Hird to be honest.

Every time i have visited one, the lift is either burnt out or cannot lift the extra spray paint, with which it has been decorated.

[kevster]

Im thinking as Louise does (or is that Looise) that in real world situations people will use forums differently, some good, some bad and you cant change that. Hopefully a quick slap on the wrist will point people in the right direction or make them think about how they do use resources like this.

Any successful forum will attract good and bad users and needs constant monitoring but this one has saved my skin a few times - especially at 3 in the morning when im about to rip my head off so thanks actinic for providing and to all the contributors!

[blimey that kicked off quick!!]

[kevster]

it should be captain scarlet but due to the mysterons inflitrating my account there is a tad distortion - just need to find the img again ta!

[jont]

Congratulations Fergus

[fergusw]

Thanks Jont, and everyone for your kind words.

I would have been shouting about her on the forum earlier, but as soon as she arrived I took 2 weeks of work to revel in 24 hours a day with her I wish it had been 4 weeks

[brian.mc]

Congratulations Fergus!

Enjoy every minute - they grow up so fast!

I've got 2 lovely daughters who between them have given me 5 delightful grandchildren - look forward to years of pleasure (and some pain too!)!!

She's lovely by the way - must take her looks from her mum!!

[richard.cranium]

Until now I have used the forum in "read only" mode. The reason I visit is that sometimes other users have alrerady solved a problem I've just encountered. The reason I hadn't joined before is that I haven't needed to post a new query, if the answer in the documentation or here then then I can use a support ticket. I won't post a query here because I don't like the attitude of some regular posters and don't wish to join them, some of the responses are unhelpful, dismissive and insulting. There is absolutely no need for that.

I'm about to be chastised for not contributing to the community, and with plenty of Actinic experience under my belt I could. The reason I don't is that I don't want to have my postings immediately followed up with a nit-picking comment adding no value, a worthless "that's what I think too" to further boost the ego of an idiot or personal attacks as has happened in this thread.
I expect the originator of this thread is in the same boat as me, could be a useful contributor but put off by the attitude of some of the "regulars".

One contributor writes: "You'll notice that a lot of the more brusk comments here on the forum are by members such as myself that are tired of answering the same questions over and over." (Quoting from that post doesn't imply that I think the author is one of the offenders, I only recall seeing worthwhile postings from him - but maybe I missed some! I won't mention at whom I would point the finger).

If the best response people can offer is along the lines of "get a different job" why respond at all? If anyone considers they are making a valuable contribution with that kind of "help", get a life! An unhelpful or rude response helps nobody except the imbecile who posted it who doubtless feels proud of himself for putting the world to rights. If you consider it a naive question then don't waste your time, and mine, and that of the poster, by responding in an unfriendly and unhelpful manner. Leave it for someone with a kinder disposition or maybe they won't get a response at all - and the originator will have to fall back on a more intensive search of the forum and documentation or maybe raise a support ticket.

It may also be constructive to reflect on the fact that a substantial part of the Actinic userbase is non-designer end-users, both those who have bought the product and to build their own ecommerce site without professional assistance and those who have had professional help originally but are now maintaining the site on their own. If you were one of those, finding yourself out of your depth and deciding that maybe it is time to seek professional assistance, would you choose one of those designers who give unhelpful answers on the forum or would you think - "if that's how they treat people, I'll look elsewhere."

Yes some of the newbie questions are repeats and are covered elsewhere but it is wrong to assume they have not _tried_ to find answers elsewhere. They may have tried but being new to the product not understood the correct terms to search for or found the information difficult to understand. Personally I would use a support forum as something of a last resort. I'm usually in a hurry to get the job done and waiting for a forum response is a lottery. With luck I suppose I might get a positive helpful response within minutes but there may be no response, there may be something useful but not for a couple of days or there may be a smartarse reply. If you think the originator is cutting corners by coming here first and you feel compelled to respond then what's wrong with something like "search for xyz in the knowledge base" - not giving the answer on a plate but providing a useful signpost.

The forum is part of the public face of Actinic - I often read support forums before buying a product as the nature of the postings can be quite revealing. As it stands there are some regular posters who are doing Actinic a disservice. If there is fault to be apportioned here I'm afraid some falls at the feet of Actinic. IMHO the forum needs to be moderated more actively, there are one or two regular posters who "need a bit of guidance". Also issues raised here (especially those that keep coming round time and again) are indicative of weaknessess in the "official" support/documentation - so fix it.

In the process of registering I read the conditions which include:
"The aim of the community is to provide a friendly and useful forum ..." and "No ... general rudeness ... should be posted."
In my opinion there are posters on here that violate those on a daily basis. Most have appeared in this thread on the defensive so they know who they are. And as for those who have chosen to make derogatory comments about the starter of the thread: yes I can add you to my blacklist so I don't have to read your rubbish but you will continue to discourage a wide community of Actinic users like myself who don't contribute to the forum specifically because of you. Who does that benefit?
Who but an immature schoolkid would indulge in the kind of behaviour we've seen here from some individuals who would lay claim to the title "professional"? Who would take the touble to look up the sender's profile, trawl their employer's website and post some spiteful little criticisms? For goodness sake grow up.

Because of the personal attacks on that individual I've signed up with false credentials, I don't want people visiting my site and posting sarcastic comments about myself and perhaps my employer here as has happened to her. The antagonism directed toward Polly here is tantamount to bullying and is an absolute disgrace. If Actinic are not going to throw those responsible off the forum then the T&C is worthless and reflects as badly on Actinic as on those who have responded that way.

I fall foul of the T&C too so feel free to get me kicked off, as explained above I've only registered now because I don't like seeing such a great product being let down by the forum in this way.

[Jan]

This thread is getting off track again, I have two girls, 8 and 10 (last week they were 7 and 9 - so it's been a fun week). Both completely different, personality wise and looks wise - very interesting I find that.

Regards,

[los_design]

This thread is getting off track again, I have two girls, 8 and 10 (last week they were 7 and 9 - so it's been a fun week). Both completely different, personality wise and looks wise - very interesting I find that.

Regards,

I notice that Jan.

Although my two are younger (4 &2) the only thing they do the same is the things we do not want them to do