Just so strange

Hi,

could you please provide us more details ?

May I add that "hi", "please" and "thanks" may probably be appreciated ?

Kind regards,

Julien

Julien wrote:

Hi,

could you please provide us more details ?

May I add that "hi", "please" and "thanks" may probably be appreciated ?

Kind regards,

Julien

Hi there,
Now you see Jul, what I have been saying all the time:
no picture + 2-line profile + ....??? = ???
This makes two of us now. 

Hello Julien,

I recalculated the formula above and now it looks like this:

no bother to add a picture in profile or in the picture section + no bother to write more than 2-line profile + God knows what other nonsense = no bother for me to reply. 

Please take a close look into the formula and drop me a line when time permits and only when you are in high spirits.
Thanks.

this is what it says:

Post errors

The following errors need to be corrected before the message can be posted:
Your message hasn't been sent. In order to prevent issues, the private message system is not fully activated for new users. Did you introduce yourself on the forum ? Please post a few messages on the forum, and your private message system will be fully activated. Thank you !
********
I have actually done whatever i need to do to activate the message system but still everytime i send message, this is what appears. also, if I try to do the other option of replying to the conversation, the message cant be sent. please help, i need to use this method of communicating.

The message is clear: you need to be a active before you can activate the system.  This includes an introduction of you.

Is this clear enough for you now?

......       ...............

Primadonna wrote:

The message is clear: you need to be a active before you can activate the system.
And active means you have to post at least 10 replies.  This includes an introduction of you.

Is this clear enough for you now?

Hello Primadonna, 
The system must be improved: it's not a matter of a new member posting minimum 10 posts for his e-mail privileges to be activated, but rather a matter if the poster gets at least 10 replies to what he posted from established expats.
If nobody replied, then what's the use of taking him in?

That's the other way around and it depends how you look at it.

The fact is that you have to be active and participate on the forum.

And not whining after a message or two that you're mail system is not activated.

Sorry to disagree with you John, but the system does not need to be improved, it's working just fine. Every private forum board I know of has its own registration and messaging activation procedures. Some require confirmation of account opening via e-mail, others like Expat-blog require that new members participate in the forums in order to activate their messaging capabilities.

Our rules are clear and when the individual member sends a private message that is not able to be sent for lack of activation of their account, this is CLEARLY explained to them. If the member simply can't understand what is necessary or doesn't wish to do what it takes to activate the account that shouldn't become my problem. I don't want my inbox filled with spam and other junk because we don't have an automatic system to filter it out. That's too high a price for me to pay for somebody who doesn't want to participate here anyway, just so they can send out tons of unsolicited and unwanted PMs to other members who do take the blog seriously.

The concept is quite simple, they want to come into OUR house then they follow OUR house rules... we as members shouldn't have to bend to the wishes of every new member that comes along and doesn't like the way things are.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

Primadonna wrote:

That's the other way around and it depends how you look at it.

The fact is that you have to be active and participate on the forum.

And not whining after a message or two that you're mail system is not activated.

Hi there, 
I am done for the day so I have time to post replies here.
I am a contrarian which is somebody who comes when all others go and goes when all others come.
As for the rest, I knew all that. 

wjwoodward wrote:

Sorry to disagree with you John, but the system does not need to be improved, it's working just fine. Every private forum board I know of has its own registration and messaging activation procedures. Some require confirmation of account opening via e-mail, others like Expat-blog require that new members participate in the forums in order to activate their messaging capabilities.

Our rules are clear and when the individual member sends a private message that is not able to be sent for lack of activation of their account, this is CLEARLY explained to them. If the member simply can't understand what is necessary or doesn't wish to do what it takes to activate the account that shouldn't become my problem. I don't want my inbox filled with spam and other junk because we don't have an automatic system to filter it out. That's too high a price for me to pay for somebody who doesn't want to participate here anyway, just so they can send out tons of unsolicited and unwanted PMs to other members who do take the blog seriously.

The concept is quite simple, they want to come into OUR house then they follow OUR house rules... we as members shouldn't have to bend to the wishes of every new member that comes along and doesn't like the way things are.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

Hi James,
We are on the same page long time ago: you are saying exactly what I was saying.

However, here is something different.
The e-mail activation procedures could be improved as follows:
1). new member signs in,
2). he immediately tries to send PMs,
3). he gets a "Sorry, no can do" message with a link to "Terms & Conditions" web page.
4). he begins posting minimum 10 replies or opens new topics, IF he still wants to remain a member, or he walks away.
5). I suggest his PM privileges DO NOT kick in yet.
6). he gets less than "x" replies to his replies, meaning he failed to prove he has interesting topics which expats here like to reply to. Sorry, his privileges are not activated.
7). he posts more replies or new topics.
8). when the number of replies to HIS comments exceed the minimum "x" number set by forum management, then PM privileges are activated and we have a new, approved member, somebody with whom we can have a conversation.

You James, may say it's complicated.  Absolutely not. It just takes a bit more programming to do in order to get this route working. The elimination or education of minimalist new members can be changed into an automatic process. 'Hi', 'Please' and 'Thanks' is universal communication standard, isn't it?
I hope this helps cure the problems you mentioned. Management decides.

My other point is this:
ITEM                            SCORE
no name ....................... 0
no pic ........................... 0
2-line profile ................. 0
typos ............................ 0
---------------------------------
TOTAL ......................... 0 answer from me.

In my experience with forums (here and professional forums where I am a member) is that people like that are the most problematic and trouble makers.  I, as a member, stay away from answering to unprofiled members or poorly profiled members unless the post is very good ('good' to my standards) even if the member is not up the standard.
Why help the helpless, when I can find nice posts to answer to here instead?
Time is not to be wasted or it will lash back.
One of the secrets of my success is that I manage my time productively switching from focusing on bad news, bad events and bad people to the opposite end of the spectrum, if I am lucky to find them, that is.
Why?  Because there is so much nonsense going on around us that it makes one believe it ...

Hi John,

In a perfect world we wouldn't have to worry about spam and would be able to give free messaging access to everybody and his cousin (and their dogs), but we both know we don't live in a free world.

I personally would like to see the Private Message System and the Automated Anti-SPAM System even more restrictive, but I'm just like any other member here despite the title. My position is voluntary and I have relatively few powers that other members don't have. For those I put in many hours of diligent work to justify, at least to myself, that I merit them.

You should see some of the PMs that I've received over the years, they are truly amazing in some cases.

I absolutely loved your point system, however it too has a few drawbacks that I will attempt to explain.

ITEM                            SCORE
no name ....................... 0
no pic ........................... 0
2-line profile ................. 0
typos ............................ 0
---------------------------------
TOTAL ......................... 0

There are a number of reasons, some very valid, that a person would not wish to use their real name as their username. I can think of several reasons this is especially true for women.

Photo - same thing. You need only look at most postings from female members, but especially those posted that are specifically looking to make acquaintences and friendships with other FEMALES. A hoard of men descend and begin responding to the post, giving phone numbers and suggesting meeting, etc. These guys are either brain dead morons that think no woman in her right mind could possibly live without them or simply have no grasp whatsoever of the English language or believe that the FEMALE only part couldn't possibly be referring to them. It happens with postings where the member has no AVATAR photo, so you can imagine how much more it does when she has a photo. Some members also don't have a photo since they don't want to expose themselves unnecessarily on the internet... another very valid reason.

2 line profile, I agree with you. I think profiles certainly could be a bit more complete, but it's kind of difficult to achieve since we can't force members to give out information they don't wish to.

typos - well in a worldwide forum that is limited to 5 basic languages; English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese we cover a lot of ground, but for many those are still not their mother tongue. English is my native language and as you pointed out I'm kind of a wordsmith, but every-now-and-then I make a mistake. I'm also fluent in Portuguese which for me is a second language and I will never be as accurate as a native speaker of the language. So typos would put me in real hot water on that score. I think we must make allowances for such errors if we want to insist that there be an official language for any given forum.

I can't speak for Julien, but Expat-blog is HIS BABY and I'm sure that it was not his idea to put people off from being members and using the blog to obtain all the obvious advantages that membership offers, but rather make it a place where we all can access much needed information, share our knowledge and experiences and exchange ideas in a safe, friendly and enjoyable environment. So far I think that he really has done a fabulous job at doing exactly that!!! What is more impressive to me is that no matter how good it gets, it is continually getting even better. Where else do we see that in this day and age?

Keep up the good work, I'm enjoying your postings. Regarding Mars however, I don't think I'm quite ready to volunteer myself for a modern day version of Noah's Arc to re-establish human civilization on that planet. Especially if it means cooping myself up with so very few of them... I think that would get rather tiresome quite quickly. I find that in most cases it's our differences that make us most interesting.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

wjwoodward wrote:

Hi John,

In a perfect world we wouldn't have to worry about spam and would be able to give free messaging access to everybody and his cousin (and their dogs), but we both know we don't live in a free world.

I personally would like to see the Private Message System and the Automated Anti-SPAM System even more restrictive, but I'm just like any other member here despite the title. My position is voluntary and I have relatively few powers that other members don't have. For those I put in many hours of diligent work to justify, at least to myself, that I merit them.

You should see some of the PMs that I've received over the years, they are truly amazing in some cases.

I absolutely loved your point system, however it too has a few drawbacks that I will attempt to explain.

ITEM                            SCORE
no name ....................... 0
no pic ........................... 0
2-line profile ................. 0
typos ............................ 0
---------------------------------
TOTAL ......................... 0

There are a number of reasons, some very valid, that a person would not wish to use their real name as their username. I can think of several reasons this is especially true for women.

Photo - same thing. You need only look at most postings from female members, but especially those posted that are specifically looking to make acquaintences and friendships with other FEMALES. A hoard of men descend and begin responding to the post, giving phone numbers and suggesting meeting, etc. These guys are either brain dead morons that think no woman in her right mind could possibly live without them or simply have no grasp whatsoever of the English language or believe that the FEMALE only part couldn't possibly be referring to them. It happens with postings where the member has no AVATAR photo, so you can imagine how much more it does when she has a photo. Some members also don't have a photo since they don't want to expose themselves unnecessarily on the internet... another very valid reason.

2 line profile, I agree with you. I think profiles certainly could be a bit more complete, but it's kind of difficult to achieve since we can't force members to give out information they don't wish to.

typos - well in a worldwide forum that is limited to 5 basic languages; English, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese we cover a lot of ground, but for many those are still not their mother tongue. English is my native language and as you pointed out I'm kind of a wordsmith, but every-now-and-then I make a mistake. I'm also fluent in Portuguese which for me is a second language and I will never be as accurate as a native speaker of the language. So typos would put me in real hot water on that score. I think we must make allowances for such errors if we want to insist that there be an official language for any given forum.

I can't speak for Julien, but Expat-blog is HIS BABY and I'm sure that it was not his idea to put people off from being members and using the blog to obtain all the obvious advantages that membership offers, but rather make it a place where we all can access much needed information, share our knowledge and experiences and exchange ideas in a safe, friendly and enjoyable environment. So far I think that he really has done a fabulous job at doing exactly that!!! What is more impressive to me is that no matter how good it gets, it is continually getting even better. Where else do we see that in this day and age?

Keep up the good work, I'm enjoying your postings. Regarding Mars however, I don't think I'm quite ready to volunteer myself for a modern day version of Noah's Arc to re-establish human civilization on that planet. Especially if it means cooping myself up with so very few of them... I think that would get rather tiresome quite quickly. I find that in most cases it's our differences that make us most interesting.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil & Canada Expert, Expat-blog Team

Hello James, 
Just so strange (the title of this thread) to make me wonder how many beers you and I can drink before we need to go home?
And how about if we include Gordon Barlow?

1). You said: "I personally would like to see the Private Message System and the Automated Anti-SPAM System even more restrictive".

James, that's what I was saying.  The way it is now, new signers must post 10 replies or open threads.
Who cares about threads (or posts) like these?

Hi all.
Hello everybody.
I am new here.
I want to make friends.
I come to Panama in July.
Let's meet up.
My neighbor is from Norway.
How is weather?
I am a truck driver.
I need a job.

"See? I posted 10 messages, now I can PM everybody", says the new member to himself.
A more accurate filter would be to wait and see how many replies the new signer gets, as a measure of interest expat members have in replying to him.
Only when expats vote for him with their replies, the computer would give him PM privileges.

2). Did you notice that posts from retirees who want to become expats are more carefully and politely worded?

3). You plagiarized me.    You included my now famous table omitting "answer from me" after the 0 at the TOTAL line.  Now why would you do that? 
My table is not only 100% illustrative (you even said you liked it), it reflects reality 100% and its brevity is surely going to inspire generations of forummers who will read it here to think and do the same like me.
I have a natural positive influence on people ... and now you left out the very reason I divulged one of my greatest forum posting secrets. It's just so strange ... how you copied my table incompletely when the missing part was the best part ... 

4). I do not ask or impose on new signers to divulge their name. Initials or a funny nickname will do.  And, by all means, new signers can copy the style of my username.

5). Women and men looking for dates at this expat forum can be stopped very easily, if not by complicated filters in the PM system, then by you moderators deleting amorous threads and posts by hand.
I already know what you will say when you read this, but let me assure you in just a few months of manual pruning the word will go out that this is a serious web site where dating is seriously not desired.

6). This is not a perfect world, we know it, but we can perfect it.  Do we really have the choice not to?
If we fail to improve it, then at least we have the chance of going to Mars.
By the way, why did you not post your opinion on going to a new planet and only mentioned it here where we debate the poor manners of new signers?
James, the things you do are simply just so strange ...

Hate to burst your bubble John, while I do like beer - after two you and Gordon would have to carry me home and tuck me in, I rarely drink any alcoholic beverages and thus have ZERO capacity.

You made a point John!

Thank you Primadonna (ladies first, James!), and James.    I know you are my friends and that you can read my heart through reading my words.   
I created a new test account just to see how the registration process at this web site works nowadays.
It's disastrous and invites promiscuity.
Watch for my report tonight or tomorrow.

John C.

Thank you Primadonna (ladies first, James!), and James.    I know you are my friends and that you can read my heart through reading my words.   
I created a new test account just to see how the registration process at this web site works nowadays.
It's disastrous and invites promiscuity.
Watch for my report tonight or tomorrow.

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

The report I mentioned is now at https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 88#1681241

thank you for email. I didn't realise that i should get 10 replies before I use the PM system, It only says there to post few messages on the forum and introduce yourself, which of course I followed. It was not clear to me that I have get 10 replies first before I could use it. Anyway, I am happy now that I tried to test whether I could send a message through PM and it worked. Thank you all and more power.

mangohorse320 wrote:

thank you for email. I didn't realise that i should get 10 replies before I use the PM system, It only says there to post few messages on the forum and introduce yourself, which of course I followed. It was not clear to me that I have get 10 replies first before I could use it. Anyway, I am happy now that I tried to test whether I could send a message through PM and it worked. Thank you all and more power.

Hello Mango, 
Now you have an experience from where you learnt something.  Just like you have your personal rules for whom to talk to and whom not to talk to, this forum also has a set of rules in place which must be observed, rules which protect YOU too.
You did not know what to do because you have not been explained what to do, and you did not read the Terms & Conditions (just like I did 4 years ago ...  ), nor have you been inspired enough to take your time to, even here ... 

It seems you are someone who can be converted up to the standard.   (edit added: See? Nothing is strange anymore ... ).
Feel free to add your picture and describe yourself better in your profile.  Post your wishes in the Denmark forum since Denmark is your destination.

Please give us some good news because there are enough of bad news here and we (me included) need not more of them ... 

I welcome you to this expat forum! ... 

Hi John C,

Thank you and really appreciate your kindness. Denmark looks like a promising destination (in my perception), and hopefully i could use this site to find friends as well.

thank you and take care

cheers
mango