Help, Suggestions, Future of The D-Word

Groovy, guys... thanks!

Danke Ben!

Can anyone recommend a fixer / production manager in Peshawar Pakistan.

Wrong topic, mate. Please post in Classifieds (Public or Members-only).

Thank you.

For some reason, I can't get the search function to work. This may have been dealt with somewhere, but... I can't get the search function to work. Any suggestions? (I have cookies enabled, btw).

What are you searching for? You need more than two characters in the search.

Well, I was looking for "Schoeps", "Inconvenient Truth", "pmw ex1", things like that.

The search function appears to work fine. What browser (version) and operating system (version) are you using?

I think I'm the only person on the planet that doesn't know how to use the hyperlink feature. Can someone 'splain how I can type a word and have it link to my trailer on youtbe.

I searched the pages and found nothing, so I swallowed my pride (not so hard once you get use to it) and am asking for help

mark, in order to link to a site you have to do the following:

(quotation mark)visit my site(quotation mark):www.yourlink.com

note: the part between the quotation marks can have spaces and be any length you choose

Thanks, Christopher. Don't tell anyone I asked.

Mark, just click the blue question mark icon on the top right of the text box you're writing in, and it'll give you the whole range of linking and formatting options.

It's amazing what you can do on the internets.

This morning I completed a move of our database. Apologies for the inconvenience caused. This change should improve stability of the website.

Thanks, Peter. I had never even noticed any instability... You do great work behind the scenes!

here here!

There, there. And even hear hear!

Yes, thanks, I noticed. Now about the speed....

I'll be making a few more performance updates over the next few weeks before building the new features as part of our "Milestone 2" update... Stay tuned...

I've just made another wee upgrade. I will make a major upgrade next week.

I will post info about planned downtime soon.

Thanks for your patience!

OK, I apologize for the long period of downtime today. We had a server emergency this morning which required me to move the entire site to a new server. This took longer than I expected, but it has great benefits. I ended up doing next week's major upgrade today!

The server software has been updated to the latest versions and we are using some new and efficient technologies that will speed things along on The D-Word. Enjoy!

Thanks Peter, and though I haven't conducted a poll, this probably mirrors the appreciation of the full stable...! (By the way, it does feel faster).

It does feel much, much faster now, doesn't it? (But maybe that's because those people who usually spend their whole day on The D-Word simply couldn't log on during the downtime.)

Go Speed Racer!

Already big improvement in velocity... thanks!

well done, peter. thanks for improvising on your feet.

Turns out it takes a bit longer for some people to get back on... This is because the new server for d-word.com needs to be propagated around the net first. No need to worry, and nothing has been lost! Good night...

I haven't been able to connect at all today..Still can't through my own access point.
I'm borrowing a neighbour's wifi in order to write this. Weird.

don't know if this relates to you, joe, but when i typed in "d-word.com", all i got was a page that said "It Works!" when i typed in "www.d-word.com", then i got in without any problem...

Yay..it's back.

If you're having trouble with DNS propagation (meaning you can't access d-word.com or www.d-word.com), you can try changing your computer's DNS servers.

Try OpenDNS for a free alternative to your ISP's DNS:
https://www.opendns.com/start

Hi, I have noticed that other people have more than one URL listed under website on their profile. I too have several URLs that I think would interest the community. How can I do this?

There's a field "Other website" when you're editing your profile.

Also, you can just put URLs into your bio.

I don't get that field – is it only for members? I'm planning to apply to be a member, but wanted to get my profile together first.

I don't actually know... but I can assure you that the number of websites won't determine eligibility for membership... :-)

Fair enough, thanks! I applied.

In reply to Christopher Wong's post on Tue 13 May 2008 :

Yeah, I had the same experience as you, with the "It Works!" page. Likewise, I eventually typed in the complete URL and got in. Just out of curiosity, what was that page anyway?

I'm still getting occasional "bad response from server" messages and the pages are often very slow to load. Will look into Opendns.com...

Appears that problem is fixed, Mikal. I had it, too. Peter will come on sometime soon and explain. Anyway, the pages should load now with lightening speed.

minor loading issues here this morning – just letting you know. Some threads worked well and some not at all.. All fine this evening.

Doug, you know, the funny thing is that just after I made that last post, I couldn't get in at all. I had wanted to add a thank you note to Peter and the hosts for keeping this great site together. So, there, thanks!

P.S., seems to be working fine for me now. Yes, "It Works!" indeed.

All should be ironed out now. Technical details hidden below:

I won't pretend to understand all that technical stuff just extend my thanks to someone who obviously does. Thanks Peter.

Yep, we're just creepin' and crawlin' with spiders and bots here.

One of which seems to have built a web in the little bit of code that resets the already-read topic lists when I click on Topics. Was that clear? Here: I read the new posts in a topic, click Topics, but when the Topics page comes up, the topic I just looked at still has the circle with the number of unread posts in it. Just so you know...

Okey dokey. Never mind. Working now.

I found out that the Skype extension for Firefox (at least on Win XP) plays havoc with a number of websites, including The D-Word. For example, I couldn't open image attachments. Disabling the extension fixed my problems.

Anyone know where, in Seattle, on a Saturday afternoon (for an out of town Monday a.m. shoot, so we need by Sunday), one can get an XD Cam disk? have tried all the usual suspects (companies) to no avail. Thanks...

Next time, please post in Public Classifieds . This Help topic is about The D-Word itself.

Humble apologies.

Humbly accepted. Believe me, having to play a topic cop here works against my nature. If I wasn't a bloody co-host, I would get sidetracked all the time. Like, I could really start one of my XDCAM rants now... I learned to hate the cameras, so I really hope you didn't find that disk. ;-)

XDCAM rants in the Camera Topic, please!

Sheesh, Ben!

I don't understand how the posting works on this site. It's impossible to follow any thread or specific question. It's just one giant heap of responses, but how do I track those responses to the original question? The main topic page is well organized, but if I go to any section, all I see is hundreds of pages of responses with no way to find any of the information I'm looking for. If I'm using the site incorrectly, please advise.

try the search engine, zack. and, yes, obviously this place works better for those who come here regularly and participate in the discussions.

Apologies to everyone for the site being down most of past 24 hours. Peter will hopefully have an explanation soon, and we'll do what we can to find a more stable web hosting situation.

Hi Doug,
This is Vincent Ochen, Hope all is well.
I have embarked on reserching on Vanishing African tribes, its the loss of culture which is a principle cause of this.
lets hope a commercial TV station can help put into reel.

Kind Regards,

Vincent

Fingers crosed, Vincent. But this is the Help topic. Anything you need help with?

I tried to search d-word with "exclusive + contracts + subjects" and it did one that brought up any of the words instead of posts that contained all of the words. Is there another way to do this?

Mark, you need to not have spaces between your plus signs. When I did that, however, it brought up no posts with all those words, so you may wish to try some other word combinations.

The search algorithm uses a natural language search, so adding "+" won't do anything. You can search for a phrase by putting it in "quotes" or you can just search for a few words and it will do its best to find relevant results. They come in order of relevance so if there are any posts with all 3 words they should be nearer the top.

Peter, can you add these instructions to the formatting drop-down, please? Perhaps others, like me, will forget about using quotation marks when they need to connect the words. I had tried the + a few weeks ago too. .

Not sure what "formatting drop-down" you're talking about, but we could add a few lines about searching in our Help section or directly on the Search page.

She's referring to the small blue circle with the question mark inside at the top right hand side of the post window. You click it and a window titled 'formatting' drops down.

Well, that's for formatting your posts. It would be the wrong place to put information on searching.

For the meantime, just remember that it's the same as with Google: phrases need quotation marks.

That's what I meant Nigel – or as you suggested Ben, a note in the advanced search spot at the top of the page.

I'm not sure which topic to use to post this info:

I have received an email from colleagues in Cuba about a fabulous small, independent festival there called the FESTIVAL DE CINE POBRE. The festival is held annually in the town of Gibara, in Oriente... and that town was absolutely destroyed by hurricane IKE. The festival organizers have sent an international call for assistance of any kind, addressed specifically to the international filmmaking community. I want to post this info somewhere on D-word so that perhaps we can brainstorm about fundraising to help out this festival, the filmmakers who run it, and the people of Gibara.

Please let me know if this is appropriate for D-Word, and if so, where to post it. Thanks!

Hmm, I guess the Festivals topic would be best, Alysa.

thanks, Doug!

Has anyone ever delivered to A&E? If so, can you email me at jbrannum@gmail.com, please? Thank you!!!

That's really a question for the Production or Marketing and Distribution topics. This topic here is for Help with using The D-Word.

Hi,
I have just finished an MA course in documentary film making. I made my dissertation film in a prison in the UK. The prison director has praised the film but has said that she does not want the film to be show publicly.
What I would like to know is – can women in prison give consent if they sign release forms. Some of the women were mentally ill – does this mean the prison would have to sign the release form as their legal guardian.

I would appreciate any advice on this issue,
Suzanne

That's a question for the Mentoring Room . As I said just before, this topic is for help using The D-Word's software.

Is there any way I can retrieve a copy of my Submission to Become a D-Word Member? I haven't received a response yet, but either way, I just wanna keep it for my records. Is that possible?

You can access the information in your profile.
John has just responded and made you a member.

I'm so honored!! :)

If I hit preview for a post I've written it never loads.

What's your browser, operating system, versions, contents of posting?

Yeah, maybe it just doesn't like what you're saying.

Haha good one, Doug!

I'm still having the problem with the preview function. I'm using Firefox 2.0.0.18 on Windows XP and it happens regardless of topic, length or content – flattery, sarcasm, dumb puns, even buying drinks. I see the loading wheel spinning, but it never actually loads. If I stop it, I lose everything I've written.

Maybe it thinks I'm so brilliant I should post directly without second thought, but I doubt it.

I'm on Firefox 3.0.4 on XP and can't reproduce your problem. I'll notify Peter. In the meantime, consider updating your browser...?

I agree, the best thing would be to move up to Firefox 3. I recently trouble-shooted several friends' PCs and they were using Firefox 2 and Win XP and could no longer access some websites. This appeared to be after a recent upgrade in Firefox, which judging by the release dates was 2.0.0.18. Upgrading to the current version of Firefox 3 fixed the problems.

Interesting. I just clicked on "check for updates" and it said there were none available. Maybe they're just not available to ME. I'll go to the website. Thanks for the tip.

This is a test of the Firefox 3.0. Damn, it worked! You guys are gods. I wonder why 2.0 never told me there was a 3.0 update. Perhaps that's why there is a 3.0. Thanks everyone.

For some reason Firefox 2.0 just checks for updates along the 2.0 line and it probably updated itself 2.0.0.18 which is what I'm guessing caused your problems... It is strange that they wouldn't automatically encourage people to upgrade to 3.0...

It's annoying to have to type in my full login every time i check out the site. I don't know too much about cookies and all that, but Safari remembers my login info for most sites- any way I can do that with d-word?

Yes, especially for those of us who are iPhone users too. I like to look at D-Word on my phone when I'm waiting somewhere, or have time to kill out and about, and it's a real drag from that perspective. Fancy designing a D-Word iPhone app, Peter? :)

Where can I post a production question?

a few things mark...

1) you should ask production questions here: Mentoring Room
2) the "Help" section is only for technical issues with this site
3) you should sign up with your full name (not just "Mark A")

good luck with your postings!

Any browser should be fine remembering the D-Word login when asked to do so. It works fine for me.

You can tell FireFox to remember your login and it will auto-fill.

Ok- got it. If anyone's wondering, go to safari prefs > autofill, make sure "user names and passwords" is checked. Then, when you login, it will ask if you want your information stored.

In reply to Marj Safinia's post on Wed 10 Dec 2008 :

If you want to buy me an iPhone I'll make an iPhone version!

I also liked checking D-word on my iPhone, back when I was living in an iPhone-data-compatible country.

Actually the big problem with D-word on iPhone is that it tends to hang and crash the iPhone browser. I've noticed that certain sites do this on the iPhone, and certain sites work fine and never crash. Of course, there have been some iPhone software updates since I last checked this.

still happens. And I often end up accidentally striking the "hide this topic from now" link instead of the "back to topics list" link. And I hate that everytime it crashes I have to type in my login again.

Facebook's got a pretty decent iPhone app. Different from the site, but pretty solid on the phone. Makes me jones for a D-word version too.

Well. Maybe we iPhone / D-word people should all pitch in for a phone for Peter.

We had discussed a mobile version before but were not sure there was a big demand. Maybe the iPhone is changing that.

Not that I can test it (yet...), but what actions make it crash on the iPhone?

Nothing in particular. If you just go to the D-word site and do nothing it has a tendency to crash. Sometimes even before you get a chance to log in. Sometimes it crashes sooner, sometimes later, but it always crashes if you stay on the site for more than a few minutes.

I assume there have to be some coded operations taking place in the background of the site that cause this, because it can happen while the site is just sitting there, without any user action. Sometimes it becomes VERY slow on basic operations like text entry and then crashes.

Maybe borrow somebody's iPhone and take a look?

I'll do that later this week and see if I can figure out what's going on.

This is not a big deal, but my profile says I joined in 2005, when actually I joined back in 2001. Is there any way to fix that? (Just in case some day there is a special 10-year anniversary party or something)
thanks.