http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:12:33 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/43/andrew-cuomo-is-no-hero-hes-to-blame-for-new-yorks-coronavirus-catastrophe-lyta-gold-and-nathan-robinson-opinion-the-gu http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/43 Sat, 23 May 2020 15:48:17 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/40/guide-to-fetch http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/40
The Challenge

Seeding is a clumsy process.    Source articles have very different structures, embed advertisements and other distractions, including at times complex HTML that screws up the formatting.  Time must be spent copying & pasting contents and then cleaning up the resultant mess in NT.    On top of that, the process of downloading an appropriate image so that it can be uploaded and attached to the article is annoying.   Finally, it is not always easy or possible to attribute the seed properly to the original author.    
Fetch

The Fetch functionality uses a collection of heuristic techniques to acquire as much good content while ignoring as much bad as possible.   It aggressively pours through the HTML of seed articles to get:
Title :  This is almost always easily found in an article so Fetch will typically provide the correct title
Quote or Summary :  If supplied by the author, Fetch will place the summary in the Quote field
Author (and site) :   Surprisingly, the author is often omitted or embedded in the actual content of the article.   Fetch uses a sophisticated method to determine the author.   But since this must be extracted from unstructured English, the author will not always be correct.   Also, sometimes articles provide a meta-data field for author but then put in the wrong information.   Author is one key field a seeder needs to scrutinize.
Content :   Ideally this is the core content of the seed.   This is often buried as a minority of content in an otherwise complex mess of HTML and related instructions.   Further, publishers often embed advertisement and teasers among the content (before, within and after).   Although Fetch tries to weed out the bad content, the seeder will often need to do more editorial work.
Designated Image :   Most every seed has a designated image.   This is the image deemed by the author to go with the seeded article.   Fetch can find this almost every time, but there are occasions when the seeded article has no image, states the wrong URL for the image, etc.   In these cases, the seeder must manually provide an image (but Fetch can help there too, see: FETCH IMAGE).
Embedded Media :  Optionally, the seeder can ask Fetch to include appropriate embedded images and videos.   These are graphical media sprinkled throughout the content of the article.  This is not something the seeder would typically do, but the option is available.
Fetch appears to the user as one or two buttons on the upper right corner of your Create Article or Update Article forms.   The principle button is labeled FETCH SEED .   This is the workhorse that accepts a URL from the user and then goes to the web to attempt to acquire that which is needed for an NT seed.   The FETCH SEED button appears when you are trying to create a Discussion or a Group Discussion .   It does not appear when creating a Blog because blogs are always original work (never seeded).
The other button is FETCH IMAGE .  This button appears when you create or update any type of article.   It gives the user the option to enter a URL instead of downloading a file to one's local machine and then uploading into NT.  FETCH IMAGE does all that work for you.   
Note :  you will not usually use FETCH IMAGE since FETCH SEED   frequently brings in the author-designated image for you.
Disclaimer

Fetch is atypical automation;  it works on imperfect data and the results will vary per article and per site.  Fetch contends with a very messy world of inconsistent standards, human error and wildly different formats and styles.  It must grab raw code from an arbitrary target website (what Browsers process before presenting a nice view to the user) and extract only that which is needed for an NT seed.  To make sense of this content, Fetch contains a complex set of inferencing tools designed to cleanse and surgically extract desired content.  While it is usually not possible for Fetch to construct a seed as well as a human seeder (Fetch operates at the server level and thus does not have the benefit of a sophisticated browser), it does handle a lot of the grunt work and ideally leaves the seeder with minor cleanup work.  
Sometimes Fetch delivers perfection, sometimes the results are ugly.  Expect to find cases where Fetch ed content contains embedded advertisement, and sometimes complete junk (like portions of script code).   These items are usually a result of poorly encoded HTML content that lacks sufficient information for Fetch (and its supporting third party tools) to detect and remove.   Basically, if an author / site embeds content in the middle of an article and provides no markers to distinguish it from the true content of the article, there is nothing Fetch can do.  To Fetch, it all looks like article content.
In contrast to excess unwanted content, Fetch cannot always get necessary information from a site.  Twitter delivers almost entirely junk so Fetch will typically at best get the tweet itself.   Some sites (e.g. Bloomberg) prevent bots ( Fetch is effectively a bot ) from acquiring their content.  Some sites forbid access to their images (access denied).   Other sites use dynamic content which appear only as a result of the browser interacting with the server;  Fetch cannot even see this content (an example of this is a picture gallery).  When Fetch is not able to provide good content, the seeder should create the seed using the old manual approach (copy & paste).    However, even here, the FETCH IMAGE function will be available to facilitate acquiring a suitable image directly from the web (vs. download / upload).
Usage

When you click on the FETCH SEED  button you will see the following dialog box:

Seed URL :  is the URL you wish Fetch to access.   Typically you would paste in your URL as shown.
Include Compatible Embedded Media : checkbox is normally unchecked.   Thus Fetch will normally not include pictures and videos.   If you would like pictures and videos (at least those that are valid for NewsTalkers) then check this box.
Starting Point :  is rarely used.   Its purpose is to give Fetch your desired starting point in the article.   This will be used if the article has a bunch of junk content upfront and Fetch has no way to distinguish it from good (MSN likes to do this).   In this case, you would copy & paste (this must be exact) a unique portion of the starting sentence in the article.   Fetch will scan the content looking for this exact match and, if found, take that as the beginning of the article (and will throw away all content that precedes it).
Once you have entered in your data (typically just the URL), press the FETCH  button to automatically populate your seeded article.
Summary

Fetch seeks to make seeding easier.   It will not eliminate all the work but in most cases greatly streamlines the process.   If Fetch does not work well for a site, the legacy functionality (the copy & paste you do today) for seeds is still in place.
One should use Fetch as a support tool and always verify the content it provides.   The data Fetch can acquire will not always be perfect.
]]> Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:57:07 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/33/guide-to-comment-panels http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/33
Comment Panels

At the beginning of the comments section for each NewsTalkers article you will find a series of circular buttons.   These buttons each are a minimized representation of a comment panel.   

These buttons represent, respectively, the panels: Tracker Panel – for navigating tracked comments
Finder Panel – for navigating text found in comments
Bookmark Panel – for navigating bookmarked comments
Thread Panel – for managing how threads are displayed
Clicking a button will disclose the panel for use.   The tracker, finder and thread panel functionality are not new but have been enhanced.   The bookmark functionality is a new feature.
Thread Panel

This panel is simply an updated version of the existing panel which used to look like this:

Now, when you click on the Thread panel button you will see this:

The Collapse All , Expand All and Automate buttons have not changed in functionality.   They are just housed within the panel construct and thus can be minimized.   To minimize this panel, click on the panel button on the far left.  The panel will then shrink down to the button: 
Finder Panel

As with the Thread panel, the Finder panel functionality has not changed.   When you click on its button, the following panel will appear:

Enter the text in the ‘Find’ field and press enter (or press the FIND button) and the text will be located in each comment.   If the desired text was found, the Finder will display a tool for navigating the found text in the comments.   This tool will appear on the upper right corner and will look like this:

Click on the upper part of the tool to go to the prior found text (in this case to 1 of 15) and click the lower part of the tool to go to the next found text (3 of 15).   The CANCEL button will end the navigation and remove the navigation tool.  As with the Thread panel, clicking on the button (on the far left of the Finder panel) will minimize the Finder panel back to its button:    
Tracker Panel

This panel helps navigate through tracked comments.   If you are in an article that you are tracking, the comments in your tracker (seen via the Tracker main menu item) are managed by this panel.    Clicking on the Tracker panel button discloses the panel:

The large button ‘Go to tracked comment …’ holds a list of all comments tracked in this article.   Clicking on this button reveals a scrollable list like this:

The tracked comments are listed in the order in which they will be navigated.    You can now click on the comment you are interested in.   In response, the system will scroll to that comment and display the Tracker navigation tool:

As with the Finder, click on the upper portion to go to the prior comment (8 of 21) and the lower to go to the next comment (10 of 21).    Pressing CANCEL will end the navigation.
The DISCARD button on the panel performs the same function as the discard button (  ) on the Tracker page (Tracker main menu item).
Pressing the DISCARD button will clear all tracked comments for this article.   You will still be tracking the article, but the currently tracked comments will no longer appear on your tracker.
Finally, as usual, clicking on the button (on the far left of the Tracker panel) will minimize the Tracker panel back to its button:  
Bookmark Panel

Bookmarking is a new feature on NewsTalkers.   This feature provides the means to bookmark any comment.   The bookmarked comments can be navigated within their article and are recorded on your page (the page that comes up when you click your name on the far right of the main menu).    Other members (other than mods) will not be able to see the comments you have bookmarked.   Bookmarking is a private function for you to use at your convenience.
The Bookmark panel looks similar to the other panels.
Clicking on the Bookmark panel button discloses the panel:

As with the Tracker panel, the large button ‘Go to bookmark …’ holds a list of all comments bookmarked in this article.   Clicking on this button reveals a scrollable list like this:

Clicking on one of the listed bookmarked comments will cause the system to  scroll to that comment and display the Bookmark navigation tool:

As usual, click on the upper portion to go to the prior bookmarked comment (1 of 5) and the lower to go to the next comment (3 of 5).    Pressing CANCEL will end the navigation.
The UNMARK ALL button on the panel deletes all bookmarks in this article.   
Clicking on the button (on the far left of the Bookmark panel) will minimize the panel back to its button:  
Bookmarking

The Bookmark panel can only work if you have bookmarked comments in the article.   Bookmarking is a new function.   It is available on the same menu used for Friend, Ignore and Impasse.   This is the menu attached to the avatar on each comment.    Clicking on the avatar will show a menu like this:

Clicking on the MARK item will bookmark this comment.   Bookmarked comment will always show a bookmark on the avatar.   In this case, the bookmarked comment looks like this:

To remove a bookmark, bring up the menu and you will find an UNMARK menu item.
Bookmark History

To review your bookmarks across all articles, click on your name on the far right of the main menu to go to your personal page.   There you will see a new tab entitled ‘Bookmarks’.   In my case the history looks like this:

The list is organized by article and shows the bookmarked comments within each article.    You can click on a bookmarked comment and the system will take you to it.
Summary

The new comment panels will always initially show in a minimized fashion:

And when fully expanded the four panels together look like this:

The menu now contains a Mark | unMark menu item.    In addition, your personal page now contains a list of your bookmarks across all articles where you have left a bookmark.
]]> Mon, 03 Feb 2020 18:13:27 -0500 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/32/guide-to-threads http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/32
Thread Basics

NewsTalkers uses hierarchic comments to organize long discussions.   First level comments have integer identifies (1,2,… n).   Second level comments have two integers such as 3.4 or 12.7.   The third and final level of comments have three integers such as 3.3.1 or 12.7 5.
First and second level comments define threads.   A thread is defined as the first or second level comment and all of the replies that fall within it.   Thus the first level comment ‘3’ defines a thread that includes 3.1, 3.2, … 3.n comments.    The second level comment ‘3.3’ defines a thread that includes 3.3.1, 3.3.2, … 3.3.n comments.
Each thread can be closed.  Closing a thread hides its contents.   Closing thread 3.3 will cause all comments beginning with 3.3… to be hidden.   Not only does closing allow the user to dismiss comments that are no longer of interest, it helps substantially with performance.   A closed thread will not be downloaded from the server and prepared for presentation by your browser.   Less work for the browser translates into a faster load.
New Features

Enhancements have been made to thread functionality for convenience and performance.   Each feature is discussed below:
Thread Panel

In each article, you will now see a panel consisting of three buttons: 

These buttons condition all the comments in the article:
Collapse All Threads will cause the article to show only the first level comments (i.e. those numbered 1,2,3, … n).   This gives you the best load performance, but you will often see a delay if you need to open a thread to see its comments.
Expand All Threads is the other extreme.   This will open every thread in the article.   It can result in a very long load, but every comment will be loaded on your browser and available to you.   This is good if you need to browse (or search through) a bunch of comments.
Automate Threads is middle of the road.  Pressing this button will cause the system to automatically determine which threads to open and close based on timeliness of comments, tracker history, etc.  
It is expected that you will use Expand All Threads only on rare occasions.   Collapse All Threads will be used when an article gets big and you want to just collapse everything and manually open one or a few threads.   The Automate Threads option is the default; all new articles are in ‘Automate Threads’ mode.   You would use this option if you (for some reason) wish to return to the default after pressing Collapse All Threads or Expand All Threads .
Long Thread Suppression

At times, a second level thread can grow very long.   For example, a comment made at 2.1 might trigger a debate that could add hundreds of comments all starting with 2.1…  (e.g. 2.1.134).  In this case, having the ability to close threads does not help.   We need the ability to partially close a thread.
Now, when a thread grows too long, the older (stale) comments will be suppressed.   This means that they will not show on the browser.    Suppression is based on a variety of factors, but ultimately it will be used when a thread passes a size threshold.   Typically, a percentage of the comments will be suppressed.   At times comments will also be suppressed due to age.   For example, comments that are a week old in a thread are very likely to be suppressed.  
The following shows a tiny example of suppressing comments.   ( Here the threshold has been set very low for illustration purposes .)  There are 12 comments starting with 9.1… in this example.   The first 11 are suppressed due to age (they are months old).   The only comment showing is 9.1.12 because it is recent.

Suppressed comments can be disclosed by the user.   When suppression is in effect, you will see a button indicating the suppression state and a count of the comments subject to suppression.   In this example, where suppression is in effect, the button you see is the DISCLOSE button.  

If you were to click the DISCLOSE button, the 11 suppressed comments would be disclosed and available to you.    At that point the SUPPRESS button will now show.  

Clicking this button will suppress (hide) the 11 comments subject to suppression.
[ These buttons use icons ( ► and ▼) that are frequently used on websites to mean ‘content available to disclose’ (►) and ‘content is fully disclosed’ (▼).   ]
Navigating Comments


Given the new features, it is possible for comments you are currently tracking to be hidden within closed threads.   This means that as you use the Navigator (on the right) within an article, you could navigate to a hidden comment (one that is in a closed or suppressed thread).
The Navigator will now automatically reveal comments to you in real time as you navigate.   If you, for example, navigate to comment 3.3.2 in a closed thread (3.3), that thread will be revealed and the system will position you to the newly visible 3.3.2 comment.    The revealed thread is only temporarily revealed.   If you want it to show each time you open (or refresh) the article, you will need to open the thread yourself.   Manually opening a thread tells the system to keep the thread open until you change your mind (same is true with manually closing a thread).


]]> Thu, 02 Jan 2020 22:57:41 -0500 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/26/guide-to-migration http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/26
Types of Articles

NewsTalkers provides three types of articles:  discussion, blog and group discussion.   The discussion type is the most common - it is used to create articles (original or seeded) in the general forum.   Blogs are typically used by original authors who might syndicate their work from NT.   Group discussions are articles that are hosted within a particular NT group.
In the past, articles were frozen into their type.   If, for example, you have a series of discussion that you would like to organize under a new group, there was no option to do so.   You could copy & paste the article content, but the comments and other components would not follow.    The new Migrate function addresses this limitation.
Migrating Articles

To migrate an article from one type to another first locate the article in your Collection.   Click the MIGRATE button on your right to get the form where you can select the target type.

The migrate form will look something like this:

The actions available to you depend upon the type of article you are trying to migrate.   
  Article Type   Available Actions   Discussion
  migrate to a blog   migrate to a group discussion   Blog
  migrate to a discussion (in the forum)   migrate to a group discussion   Group Discussion
  migrate to a discussion (in the forum)   migrate to a blog   migrate to a group discussion in a new group In the form, select your Action and supply the remaining details and then push MIGRATE ARTICLE .   The article will be migrated and you will be returned to your collection. Alternatively, you can migrate an article when it is presented.   For articles you have authored, you will see a migrate icon: This icon will perform the same function as the MIGRATE button. Usage
The migrate function is intended for special cases.   It works one article at a time (i.e. does not migrate a group of articles).   Basically, if you have a need to organize your collection, the migrate function provides a means to clean things up.   ]]> Tue, 22 Jan 2019 13:50:06 -0500 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/19/guide-to-participating-groups http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/19
Groups Have Grown Up

NewsTalkers groups provide a forum for like-minded individuals to focus on a particular subject matter.    As an example, we could easily have a Chess group where chess aficionados discuss the latest in the chess community, analyze games, admire chess piece designs, etc.   The group members could informally communicate using the group wall (like a bulletin board) but could also host articles and discuss same.    But groups have the downside of being out of the limelight.   Articles produced within groups can only reach group members.   This makes it difficult to attract new members and deprives the general NewsTalkers community of (often relevant and interesting) content generated within groups.   
To remedy this while still preserving privacy and protections, we have the functionality of Participating Groups.  A participating group is one that can, by its own choice, make some (or all) of its articles available to the general Newstalkers community.   This is accomplished by promoting articles.
Promoting Articles

An author within a group can now promote an article to the front page - making it available to the entire NewsTalkers community.   The author can promote (or demote) an article at any time by clicking the check box ' Promote to Front Page ' in the details of the article.

A promoted article will appear on the front page in the Recent Articles section.   Everyone will be able to click on this article, read it and read the comments.   The following shows three promoted articles as they appear on the front page:

You will always be able to identify a group article since the group avatar will be attached to the lower right of the article's image.
Group Membership

Everyone can read the comments in a promoted article but only group members are allowed to enter new comments.   Joining a group, however, is easy.   NewsTalkers members who are not part of the article's group will see the group badge on the upper right corner of the article.   Clicking the badge (see below) takes the member to the group and thus access to the ' Join Group ' button which instantly allows the member to comment.

Group Ownership

Every group has a distinguished owner who serves as the ultimate authority for the group.   Each owner has the ability to allow or disallow members from participating in the group (using the Active checkbox).   The owner also determines which members of their group are allowed to promote articles they have authored to the front page.   To allow promotion, the owner clicks on the member's avatar and clicks the new ' May Promote Articles ' checkbox:

As long as that checkbox remains checked, the member will have a ' Promote to Front Page ' checkbox on the member's articles for this group.
Group Moderation

The owner of a group is also the lead moderator for the group.  Owners can also recruit other members as group moderators.   The 'Group Moderator' checkbox above lets the owner empower the member as a moderator for the group.   Each group moderator has certain capabilities - similar to those of the site moderators (the traditional NewsTalkers moderators).   A group moderator can: edit or redact a comment on an article
ticket a comment (or an entire article) as a violation of policy
The system used for group moderation is a subset of that used by site moderators.   It is driven by the NewsTalkers flagging system which is now engaged for all group articles.   When an item in a group article is flagged, the flag notification will not go to the site moderators but rather to the group moderators.  It is up to the group moderators to determine the course of action for each flag.   Group moderators run their own show (albeit with site moderator oversight).  
If a flag exists for any group in which a member moderates, the personal menu (on the far right under your member name) will have an entry labeled 'Group Flags'.   Clicking on this menu item will present the Group Moderator - Flagged Items panel:

This panel allows the group moderator to see all flags for all groups the member moderates.    From this panel the group moderator can go to the comment (or article) flagged and look at the context.   Alternatively, the group moderator could click the Comment button to see the comment without navigating to its hosting article.   Ultimately the group moderator will either issue a Ticket or Allow the comment (or article) to stand as it.   The Allow button disables the flag and removes it from the list.   The Ticket button provides a form showing the comment, allowing the group moderator to edit if needed, and lets the group moderator select the offense.   

Any changes to the comment will appear in the article.  The offense will be shown (along with the name of the issuing group moderator) on the lower right of the comment.   For this example, here is how the issued ticket looks in the article:

All tickets issued by group moderators are warnings.   However, comment contents may be deleted and the group owner might, at some point, remove a repeat offender from the group.
Private Groups

Groups can be made private (as before).   Private groups do not have the ability to promote to the front page.   They remain isolated in their own private chamber.   However the articles within private groups now have flagging and group moderation functionality if the group wishes to use it.

]]> Fri, 10 Aug 2018 00:00:33 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/17/guide-to-threads http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/17
Threads

Comments on an article tend to split into threads of discussion.   A thread is a topic comment along with its set of reply comments.    The topic comment typically focuses on an aspect of the article and, properly done, the replies would do likewise.   The current hierarchic structure of NewsTalkers facilitates threads by organizing comments into a basic hierarchy as shown below: 

Using the diagram as a reference, here we have three top level comments: 1, 2, and 3.   Each would be directly addressing the article and each might focus on a distinct aspect.   For example if the article was about renewable energy, the first comment might focus on political aspects, the second on environmental concerns and the third on technological feasibility.   In this example, comment 3 has 5 replies - comments 3.1 through 3.5.   Comment 3 along with comments 3.1→3.5 are a thread.     Note that comment 3.1 and 3.3 also have their own structures.   These replies mean 3.1 and 3.3 are themselves topic comments for distinct threads.    In all, the above structure has three threads:  3:     3.1→3.5 
3.1:  3.1.1→3.1.2
3.3:  3.3.1→3.3.6
Threads have been in use on NT for a while, but up to now they have simply been a way to organize the ' threads of discussions ' within an article.   The new threads functionality takes advantage of the existing structure to give new benefits to users.
Collapsible Threads and Browser Performance

Browsers are limited in resources.   The more comments accumulated in an article the longer it takes for the browser to prepare the article for use.   The delay is mostly the time it takes to download comments from the server coupled with the time spent by the browser to prepare the comments for viewing.   The more comments downloaded and shown, the slower the operation.  The best way to deal with this situation is to work with fewer comments.   This is where collapsible threads become quite powerful.  Collapsing a thread means shrinking it down to its topic comment.   If we collapsed thread 3.3 in the above graphic, comments 3.3.1 through 3.3.6 would disappear leaving only comment 3.3.   
A user would typically collapse a thread when the user has read it and no longer wants to see it.   Once a thread is collapsed, the system remembers the user's request and will leave it collapsed until the user decides to expand it ( exceptions to this discussed later ).    When the user later returns to the article, the collapsed threads are not even downloaded from the server thus the user saves all the processing time and the article loads (typically substantially) quicker.  If the user has collapsed a thread but then has a change of heart, that is easily remedied.   The user can expand any thread at any time.   If the comments within the thread have not been downloaded they will be dynamically retrieved from the server and shown to the user.   In result, collapsing a thread offers no loss to the user but provides a great potential gain in performance.
Collapsing and Expanding Threads

There is nothing difficult about collapsing and expanding a thread.   Basically this involves a single mouse click.    When the user looks at comments some will show a plus icon ( ) others will show a minus icon ( ) and the rest will show no icon at all.   The meaning is as follows:

Expand :    Click to show  comments; the newly shown comments are the replies for this thread comment.
Collapse :   Click to hide  comments; the newly hidden comments are the replies for this thread comment. ( no icon ):  Means this comment has no replies.  It is not a thread, just a normal comment. In an article, these symbols appear next to the avatar and to the left of the Like button:   Comment 1 has one reply (1.1).   Comment 1.1 also has one reply (1.1.1) but this is not showing (but the count is showing).   If you click on the   button it will expand (even if the system has to retrieve from the server).   Similarly, if you click on the   button for comment 1, comment 1.1 (and its comments if showing) will be collapsed and the button for 1 will turn into a  . Note :  if you see this symbol (   ) after you press a   that simply means the system is loading your requested comments from the server.   This symbol continues until the comments are on your machine and ready for use. Explicit Expand and Collapse
When a user presses the   or   button, the system treats that as an explicit command.  It will attempt to keep the explicitly expanded or collapsed threads true.   But there are situations that affect this. First exception situation is when the user creates a new REPLY comment.   If a user replies to a collapsed thread (by REPLY ing to the topic comment) the system will automatically expand the thread.   This is necessary because the new reply cannot be shown unless the thread is expanded (showing its comments).    Second exception is that all threads containing a currently tracked comment will be expanded.   Basically if your tracker contains comments, the system ensures that the tracked comments are available to you when you go to the article.   To stop this automatic expansion, simply cease or discard in your tracker. The third exception is when you open an article using a link to a comment.   When this is done, the thread containing the target comment is automatically expanded. Effective Use of Collapsible Threads
The main idea is to collapse all threads that you have read (or are done with).   Collapsing a thread makes it easier to navigate around the comments you are interested in reading, but also dramatically saves system resources.   The more collapsed threads the faster your browser will operate.    Given the tracker, you can aggressively collapse threads and not miss anything.  If a new comment is posted to a thread you have collapsed, the system will automatically expand the thread.   So the net result is a win-win.   You can tuck away comments that you no longer need to see, boost your browser's performance and not miss anything. When an article reaches a certain size (configured by the site) the system will automatically start collapsing the least recently used threads.   These will typically be threads you would want collapsed, but if not you can stop this.  If you explicitly expand a thread, it will remain expanded until you explicitly collapse it (unless one of the above exceptions apply).   That is, the system does not automatically collapse threads that you have explicitly expanded. ]]> Sun, 08 Jul 2018 00:40:04 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/15/notes-on-new-moderation-functionality http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/15
Moderators now have a support system to automate most of the manual work that has taken place behind the scenes.   The new system will be largely transparent to members - especially if one is never suspended.   Most of the new functionality will only be seen (and used) by the moderators.
The most visible change to members will be the flagging icons (and behavior) and the new moderation area.
 
Flagging

The flagging icons and behavior are as follows:

Available .   Flagging is available.   A red flag indicates that you can flag the associated item.   Clicking on this flag offers the usual menu where you can indicate the reason for the flag.   Once a flag is issued for an item it is considered flagged .
Flagged .   Flag has been issued.   A lowered green flag indicates that you have flagged the associated item.   Now it is up to the moderators to rule on the flag.   They will either accept the flag and issue a ticket to the author (rule in favor of the flag) or they will accept the item as is (rule against the flag).   In either case, no further flagging will be available for this item.   When a moderator has ruled, the flagging for this item (site-wide) will be disabled .
Disabled .   Flagging is no longer possible.   A lowered grey flag indicates that you can no longer flag this item. Note that a flag icon may not even appear on some items.   For example, you will never see a flag on any of the articles ( i.e. the article itself, not its comments ) or comments you have authored.    Also, items that have grown stale (from prior months) will no longer have a flag icon.   Moderation
In the past, moderation comments were accomplished by moderators editing the offending comment and inserting 'purple ink' along with the initials of the moderator.   With the new system, moderators are still free to edit comments and insert notes as they see fit.   However, there is a special area (where the flags reside) that holds the ruling of the moderator and the name of the moderator who has acted.   Thus when a moderator acts on a comment, the ruling and moderator name will appear in purple on the lower right corner of the comment.   Purple ink in the body of the comment will be on an exception basis. There are two symbols indicating the nature of the ruling:
Violation .   This symbol notes that the associated item has violated the CoC.   In result, points have been added towards a potential suspension.
Warning .   This indicates that the item has a problem as noted, but this has no points associated with it and thus does not lead to a suspension.   Suspension
Suspensions will work the same as always.   That is, the decision to suspend will be made explicitly by a moderator.   The key difference is that all record keeping and administrative tasks are now automated.   Suspension email messages are automatically generated and will include a list of all outstanding tickets that contributed to the suspension.   In addition, suspension (and expiration of same) are handled automatically including the email message informing the member that the suspension is now over. ]]> Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:52:53 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/14/uno http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/14 Mon, 21 May 2018 20:53:56 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/9/new-blog http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/9 Sat, 12 May 2018 21:03:35 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/6/flat-earth http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/6 Sat, 12 May 2018 01:04:51 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/5/does-he-really-believe-his-own-nonsense http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/5 Sat, 12 May 2018 01:02:10 -0400 http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/3/test-blog http://betathenewstalkerscom.jamroomhosting.com/tig/blog/3 Tue, 31 Oct 2017 22:54:23 -0400