Mod post - Midnight Whispers panic posts, and an idea...

[wouldbedorothy.livejournal.com]

Hi folks :)

We've noticed that we are getting quite a few "Midnight Whispers is down for me, anyone else?" posts lately. We understand that you get stressed when you can't get to a fic, and no need to feel bad if you've done a post like that, but it is getting a tiny bit ridiculous, especially as it seems that often MW is only not working for a few minutes or a couple of hours. Might we ask that next time that happens to you, you give it a day?

Now, we are talking about possibly giving you guys a place to post things with a bit more freedom. An open discussion post type thing (always to be started by the mods). This is a search comm, but since we seem to be one of very few active QAF comms left, we figure maybe we should give you a place to say things that don't fit the "search" criteria.

Thoughts?

ETA: I'm kinda loving that so far no one wants anything to change!

Comments

[mander3-swish.livejournal.com]

or midnight whispers should get their own comm/twitter/tumblr for keeping members updated when the site goes down...

Not sure if I've said this before, but thanks to you 3 wonderful mods and this comm because it is awesome. I follow gleefinders and I want to punch the mod in the face everytime I see she comments to someone's post about tagging properly...and their tags are totally vague and mostly useless IMHO. (so i guess i'm saying it's awesome that you do the tagging here and the tags are fantastic! ....just wish more people knew how to use "CTRL + f" to search for a specific word in the list...)

anywho, keep up the fantastic work! :D

[predec2.livejournal.com]

That might not be a bad idea about at least having a Twitter account for MW; there IS a FB page, but it's vastly underused from what I remember. I'll ask Bob about that idea.;)

[vlredreign.livejournal.com]

Maybe we need to get together with you about that Ctrl+F thing. A how-to.

[predec2.livejournal.com]

Yes, the CTRL + F ("Find") is a great shortcut! I use it all the time, too. Works wonders especially when you're looking at very lengthy text on the web.:)

[vlredreign.livejournal.com]

As you know, we get repeated requests for the same fics over and over. Really long fics that have multiple plots and characters, like BYBR, would have people remembering different scenes, making it harder to pinpoint the fic unless you've read it. Beign able to demonstrate how to search for something like that would save the searcher a lot of time.

[predec2.livejournal.com]

This shortcut would only be helpful, I think, in this regard if you already had the fic open and you were searching through it to find a particular word, although it CAN be used to find other things besides words such as captions, tables, graphics, etc. It could be used on the tags page on this site, though, if you wanted to search for a keyword, such as 'jealousy,' for instance, and didn't want to scroll down the page to locate stories that have to do with a particular subject. When you hold down the control key and then hit the letter "F," a text box opens (either in a separate window or at the bottom of the page) where you can type in a word you are looking for. It's great tool if you're on a lengthy webpage with a lot of information and you only want to check out something in particular. And it's come in handy when I get confused on occasion when writing a story and I wind up naming a new character two different names and need to correct it - ha!

I'm not sure if it would really help when searching for a particular story on here, though, since as I said it's mainly to use when you have a web page up or a document already open and you want to look for a particular word or phrase.

There ARE some other wonderful shortcuts, too, that not only work in Microsoft Office but also when posting journal entries, for example, [Ctrl] + C to copy, [Ctrl] + X to cut(text, for example), [Ctrl] + V to paste, and [Ctrl + A] to select everything in a document, along with [Ctrl] + the home key to go to the top of a lengthy document and [Ctrl] + End to go to the end of a multi-page document or web page.

Sorry for the impromptu lesson.;) I guess I can't help it - I teach Microsoft Office 2010 at school.

[vlredreign.livejournal.com]

I've used MS Word forever, and honey, you just told me stuff I didn't know. I know enough to do what I need, and that's it. So, thanks, and anytime you wanna teach this old bitch new tricks, go for it! :)

[predec2.livejournal.com]

Here's a few more I forgot that I use all the time, too: [Ctrl + B] for bold, [Ctrl] + I for italicizing, [Ctrl] + E to center text, [Ctrl + L (or R) to left or right align text, and [Ctrl] + the enter key to force a hard page break so the text that follows goes down to the next page. There's more than that (oh, [Ctrl] + O to open a document, [Crl] + S to save a document, and [Ctrl] + W to close a document after saving.

I LOVE all these shortcut keys! Couldn't do without them and they are a real time saver. Two more - [Ctrl] + Z to undo (invaluable!) and [Ctrl] + shift key + < or > key to increase or decrease font size by one point.:)

[urugwaj.livejournal.com]

or [Ctrl] + and [Ctrl] -
if letters or pictures are to small ;)
for example some icon is so small and you want to see what is on the picture :)

[mander3-swish.livejournal.com]

I use ctrl + all the time on tumblr....people have the teeniest fonts on their blogs!

[petulant2u.livejournal.com]

Thanks for these tips! I knew most of them, but not all! Thanks.

Gina

[predec2.livejournal.com]

Hi, Gina! You're welcome; I'm glad that I could help. They are such time savers!! My students love them, especially [Ctrl] + Z (undo - ha!). Oh, and one of my favorites on line: Using the scroll key in the middle of the mouse with the [Ctrl] key (at least in Foxfire) to enlarge the screen text.:)

[wouldbedorothy.livejournal.com]

I had no idea about CTRL + F! This is becoming a highly educational post :)

[urugwaj.livejournal.com]

if you want to find some word, for example at tags page, you could use [Ctrl] F and write "jealous Brian" or only "jealous" and it find you ALL jealous at this site :)

[mander3-swish.livejournal.com]

you didn't! omg i use it all the time! glad to be of service!

[mander3-swish.livejournal.com]

thank-you for taking over the hotkeys lesson! (i forgot to come back and check in on this post after lunch yesterday)

[mander3-swish.livejournal.com]

how to vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3MP7y1vMUs

http://searchresearch1.blogspot.ca/2010/02/why-control-f-is-single-most-important.html