picbasic users web sites

[lester]

Hello all,

we are ready to trial a beta of the picbasic users web site portal (http://sites.picbasic.net/)

The PIC BASIC User site is provided by Crownhill associates to enable users of PIC BASIC products to submit for publication hints and tips. We also encourage users to submit for publication projects that showcase the solutions that they have produced using PIC BASIC.
The PIC BASIC USER SITE is open to all, regardless of the ‘flavour’ of PIC BASIC you use. Details of registration and use can be found under the ‘HOW TO (http://sites.picbasic.net/content/view/2/5/)’ section located under the button on the TOP MENU (http://sites.picbasic.net/content/view/1/2/).

We invite you to try it out, sign up and create a personal web site to promote your picbasic project.

We will be inviting some long term forum members to volunteer as moderators and ultimately we'll be looking to appoint a system admin to manage the site.

For now, this is a beta test, we aim to ensure that even if the site fials or is taken down by abusers, we'll not loose any data or sites created....;-I

Have fun and let us know what you think of the concept and implimentation.

[Darrel Taylor]

This site is going to be fun!

You guys should try it out.

.

[Acetronics]

This site is going to be fun!

.

Is there any moderator yet ??? ( already needed , YES !!! )

It's indeed more than Fun :



Sayzer's Extremely Complex Coding Techniques

On this WEB site, you will find the most complex coding techniques ever been on earth. A good example would be as follows: PORTB.0 = 1: PAUSE 1000: PORTB.0 = 0: PAUSE 1000: If you are an advanced coder, then you already see how complex it is to write such a flip flop code.



I think it was the VERY VERY VERY BAD Example ... wasn't it ???

allowing such subjects means the beginning of a new war ....

Alain

[sayzer]

What is it making hard to see it?

1. witty: possessing wit in speech or writing;

www.dictionary.com


Alain, it was the best example possible for such a complex code !
Can you show a better one? :)
----------------------------------------

[Acetronics]

Hi, Sayzer

Long time we had no news from you ...


That example was not ESPECIALLY about you ...

BUT Just to show what NOT TO DO with PERSONNAL mocking ...

[ Humour ON]

Here, It's typically a Turkish affair ...

[ Humour OFF ]


Alain, it was the best example possible for such a complex code !
Can you show a better one? :)


I'm not here to criticize your coding way ... if you understood the post matter !

Alain

[sayzer]

Lester,

Hit counter counts any visit thus the same ip increments the counter.

Check my counter.
I was testing some page issues, and the counter incremented on each refresh.

[lester]

Yes, i'm aware of the way the 'hits counter' operates.

How would I know exactly wwwhich project is yours???

Actually I dont see any completed projects on the sit yet!

Though I do see some nice examples on DT's site, which is better than nothing:-)

[sayzer]

Yes, i'm aware of the way the 'hits counter' operates.

How would I know exactly wwwhich project is yours???

Actually I dont see any completed projects on the sit yet!

Though I do see some nice examples on DT's site, which is better than nothing:-)


Ok, I see the point.

My projects will be pouring in soon.


-------------------

[Darrel Taylor]

And as an inhibitor to false page hits ...

I'd recommend leaving the "Publish" option at the bottom of the page set to "No" until the page is actually finished.

http://www.pbpgroup.com/files/Sites/Publish.GIF

It still counts your hits while editing, but at least there aren't 1000 people waiting for something that never shows up, until it does.

Might even want to make that the default????

.

[lester]

Any ideas on how we encourage usres that have posted projects on the forum to transfer them to the user web site???

[sayzer]

Any ideas on how we encourage usres that have posted projects on the forum to transfer them to the user web site???



1. Lester makes a promise to publish an annual magazine for code examples.

2. Lester makes another promise that the good examples on user website will have a chance to be published on that magazine, get free stuff etc.

3. The owner of the good examples will have a reference with the magazine, thus will look good on resume, etc.; those who do not need a reference will have a great hit on their egos.

-------------------------

[Joe S.]

Any ideas on how we encourage usres that have posted projects on the forum to transfer them to the user web site???
Some easier to use tools. Code tags would be very helpful. I am not skilled enough in HTML to create the web page I would do. In my mind I see a picture as a background, and frames . . . Thank you.

[Joe S.]

This HTML isn't so tough !
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-page1.htm

[Darrel Taylor]

I'm not sure what you mean Joe.

The editor for the websites is WYSIWYG (well, close).
You don't need to know any HTML to make your own user site.

Dive in ... the waters fine. :)

[Joe S.]

It is not worth the bother Darrel, Lester has advised me not to ask for personal support with this, and yet he asks what he can do to get people to use it, make it work ! Anyway I asked him to delete my profile, as I will not fool with it again.

[lester]

Joe, to be clear, I asked you to post your request via the forum, rather than a PM to me.

1) if its on the forum all users can see the issues and learn form my response.

2) if its on the forum other suers that already use the facility can assist you

3) i dont have time to go through all the PM's i get, so its likely that i'll not respond for some time.

[lester]

Originally Posted by Joe S.

Hi Lester,
I am trying to upload pictures to my web page and get an error:This file uploader is disabled.
Please check the "editor/filemanager/connectors/php/config.php" file , anyway it won't upload the picture for me. Any idea what I am doing wrong ?

-------------------------------------------------------------------
if you follow the instructions in the tutorial it works. http://sites.picbasic.net/content/view/7/1/

Just to be sure i logged in as lester ( a normal user- not admin) and created a directory Example and uploaded an image and made a link to picbasic.org.

It all seems to be working, following the instructions in the tutorial.

Please watch the tutorial and advsie me if you still cannot create a directory and upload images.

For files etc you need to use the page type repository and upload your files via that editor page. which i have tested and also seems to be working. Create the page and scroll down the editor page and you'll see that you can attach upto 25 files for upload.

[lester]

Users will get out of this forum, no more than is put in by other users.

Many users have made very good contributions over th years, but they are lost in the depths of the forum data base and can only be located by complex and tedious searches.

The user web sites will allow any user to create a small freindly site that will provide help and support to PBP users well into the future.

I think it is worth the bother! even if its not appreciated by some. This forum and the preceding email list is the ONLY solid reliable resource that PBP users have. Thanks to the moderators and contributors, PBP users have a support forum that is second to none. With the users sites resource they also have a repository for their files, code snippets etc free of charge and well maintained.

To be clear, I don't offer personal support to anyone free of charge. I do offer this forum and all associates resources free of charge so that the community can help its self.

I did ask for comment on how i could make the users sites more popular, i did not propose to offer 1 to 1 support on subjects like how to upload a file.

It is fair to say that if one user expieriences difficulty in uploading a file, others will too, so in my opinion that question IS valid and should be addressed, but NOT on a 1 to 1 basis.

We spent time making short video tutorials, others might consider doing the same. We hope that if you watch the tutorials and discuss the user site on the forum we can learn how users feel about the resource and we may be able to improve things based upon the discussions and feedback.

Please remember that like the users that contribute to the forum, we receive nothing in return for our efforts. We are not obliged to offer these services and we make absolutly nothying from. MEL and sales of PBP make NO contribution to these resources.

We are asking for nothing. However if users dont help others and themselves, this resource will fail and die. Under the same circumstances so will any other similar resource that replaces it.

The forum moderators and the users sites moderators offer their time for free to assist users, they actually do a lot more than I in keeping these resources up and running. Consider me the catalist, not the key ingredient.

I really dont care if users cant be bothered, its your resource, use it or abuse it, its no loss to me!


Sayzer made some suggestions:

1. Lester makes a promise to publish an annual magazine for code examples.

2. Lester makes another promise that the good examples on user website will have a chance to be published on that magazine, get free stuff etc.

3. The owner of the good examples will have a reference with the magazine, thus will look good on resume, etc.; those who do not need a reference will have a great hit on their egos.

I think its a great idea, and I was concidering it. It is a lot of work, but i'd be calling on the resources of PBP users to help with articles and artwork.

I was thinking that Crownhill could pay for the printing / distribution and run some advertising to cover the costs. Its risky, but we can afford it.... but hell, its a little bit of work and i'd have to think a little, so maybe i shouldn't bother????

[Joe S.]

It is fair to say that if one user expieriences difficulty in uploading a file, others will too, so in my opinion that question IS valid and should be addressed, but NOT on a 1 to 1 basis.And my point was, if I was having trouble, others were, I felt I was reporting a bug, this is beta testing, yes?

Please remember that like the users that contribute to the forum, we receive nothing in return for our efforts. We are not obliged to offer these services and we make absolutly nothying from. MEL and sales of PBP make NO contribution to these resources.

We are asking for nothing. However if users dont help others and themselves, this resource will fail and die. Under the same circumstances so will any other similar resource that replaces it. Agreed. This is new. There are going to be growing pains. In your garden, do you plant a seed and turn your back, or do you assist it until it has root enough to sustain itself?
As for bother, it went like so:Hello,

1) please dont ask for personal support. Questions like this are relavant to the whole community and should be posed on the main forum in the appropriaate sub forum. Pardon me for mistaking you, Chief Administrator and employee of the forum owners, for someone willing to help get this thing off the ground.
I understand Darrel and Melanie are uncompensated for their effort here. I did not believe that to be true of you, Is it? It puts no bread on my table, to set it up either, I do think it is worthwhile, and it is NOT unappreciated. Your comment rather ticked me off as mine did you. It felt like if you do not care why should anyone else. If you do care then address the issues. The flash tutorial is marginal, additionly Flash and Java have relatively poor support on older operating systems like WIN98.Questions like this are relevant to the whole community and should be posed on the main forum in the appropriate sub forum.Fair enough, so here we are. It is not that I enjoy bothering you for personal help as it is an unwillingness to drag out the dirty laundry in public. I am not a "great" programmer, you cannot make the argument, I do not do my share to help others, I help wherever I can.

.... but hell, its a little bit of work and i'd have to think a little, so maybe i shouldn't bother???? now that's just being bitchy.

[lester]

Joe, its not often that i enter into dicussion about my feelings as to the comments that I see on this forum, public or otherwise. Your recent comments about me, were really annoying.

Having spent time and money setting up the new facility, and NO i'm not paid for doing it and neither is anyone else, I was unimperessed by your "can't be bothered attitude" and the suggestion that I'm not offering you enough support.

In a personal - non public - exchnage between us, I advised that your query should be posted on the forum and that I dont offer 1 to 1 support.

I then went on to direct you to the answer to your question AND invited you to advise me via the forum if there was an issue that needed to be addressed, so that other users could verify the issue and if it was found to be valid, i could get it fixed.

You decided to put my response to you in the public domain and then went on to advise another forum user that "it is not worth the bother", giving the impression that the facility was less than useful and not worth the time taken to learn how to use it.

I stand by my comment to you and my request that discussion and questions regarding the user web sites should be discussed openly in the designated section of the forum.

If you do not like the facility, or dont want to use it, thats fine. But please do not try to disillusion others such that they might not look into using the facility.

[scalerobotics]

Would it be possible to add the picbasic users web sites to either the bookmarks that show up at the bottom when looking at a particular thread or single entry, or better yet, to the toolbar above which contains User CP, FAQ, Community etc? It would be great to have Darrels improved search engine at the top toolbar too. I am constantly going to the threads to find both of these links, which is not hard. But it would probably bring more visitation and usage to the picbasic users web sites if it was "in your face" so to speak.

Thanks,

Walter

[lester]

next time i do an update i'll add them.

darrel can you pm me a link to your search

[sayzer]

Lester,

Is it possible to have sales on the site?

In terms of Software, not hardware of course.

The site can get commission from the sales; the users (publisher) can receive offers for additions or modifications on the software being offered etc. and have a final sale.

This is a rough idea and is open to development.

---------------------

[lester]

Yes, its entirely possible, is any one else interested in a facility to offer products, code and developments ervices for sale via the user sites??

[Ioannis]

Sounds interesting.

Ioannis

[aratti]

why not!

Al.

[chrisshortys]

Another Idea to get more people using this facility.
The best projet of the month gets previewed on the crownhill home page so when people look a the software before purchase they see the work that the users have done.
Doesnt have to be a large thing just a small pic and somthing like "PBP Project of the month"

my 2 cents

[lester]

The plan is that once we see the user sites facility being used, we'll impliment some more of the overall portal plan.

The portal is to feature on its home page a link to the "project of the month" as voted by the user base.

Also we plan to have a user site of the year award and smaller awards throught the year.

We cannot move forward with any of these and other plans for the portal untill we see some support for the idea.

At present we ahve the portal roll out on hold.

If the user site become popular we'll add a Wiki similar to that on wiki.picbasic.org ( for the proton compiler)
and
a magazine 9if we can get some help with the articles each month)
and
a video section so that users can upload video's of projects etc
and
more

[whoop_john]

Have fun and let us know what you think of the concept and implimentation.

That's implementation I think Lester. Concept good. Implementation a little clunky, but I am sure time will improve that.

It's showing an unreadable block of text on the homepage in Firefox and Safari on Mac. It is sitting behind the UHP2 Newest site panel on the right. See below:

http://www.jsdesign.co.uk/esoterica/picbasic.jpg

[whoop_john]

Lester, I found the culprit for you regarding the above table misaligning.

In the code you have a line above the table content that is floated left:

<h3 align="left"><img src="/images/stories/welcome3.jpg" alt="Welcome to PIC BASIC Users' Site" title="Welcome to PIC BASIC Users' Site" style="margin: 5px; float: left" width="637" height="279" /></h3>

As the float is not cleared afterwards, the following table floats left also, crashing the layout. It needs a 'clear: left' or a 'clear: both'

Easier still would be to remove the 'float: left' from the h3 tag. I tried it here and the layout worked fine.

[Darrel Taylor]

I think the PicBasic Users site has a few problems that are a bit more serious.
Catastrophic even. :(

Maybe they'll address your suggestion while they're fixing the major ones.
Major meaning ... corrupted :eek:
.

[sayzer]

Would that be possible to have "member corner" here at this forum instead of having a user web site at a different location?

People are already coing to this forum for one reason, why send them to another location ?

Everything is already here.

Lets have a corner here and publish our personal projetcs, code examples etc.

?
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