h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Jim- none of my submissions have been rejected or accepted - even those sent 3 weeks ago. I just noticed that the one in the guide on venus fly traps was written & submitted a mere week ago... are you going backwards through entries, editing by the 'lucky dip method', or tipping my stuff straight in the bin? Thought I would ask you, because you are obviously there at the moment!

Just realised something is most definitely up with my page. I commented on raymond baxter - you replied and it doesn't appear at all on my front page - but it should shouldn't it - because you just replied to it. Help! What's up! Its all gone wrong!!

OK all my new posts are listed, but right at the end, sandwiched between a load I did 4 weeks ago.

Here's how it works - you are always shown conversations in which there are newer replies before you are shown ones to which there haven't been any replies. This is deliberate, although you're the second person in as many days to be confused by this. So I might change it.

If your stuff had been rejected you would have received a rejection email.

Some articles get accepted sooner because someone here happens to read it and likes it enough to work on it right away. Otherwise, they are processed in time order. I'm really sorry it's taking so long, but we are working as hard as we can. It hasn't been helped by the server the editors use being extremely flaky because it wasn't installed properly.

Things are improving, but it will take some time before the huge backlog we have has been overcome.

"We apologise for the inconvenience"

Just wanted to mention that I think you guys have something great going on here, and it doesn't bother me at all to wait to be rejected. I have always felt like doing a little writing but never new what to write or where to write it. Now I have an outlet for my (small amount of) creativity.

Keep up the good work!

P.s. I was going to joke that the check is in the mail, but I don't want to cause trouble.

But Jim - I am not being shown 'on the top of the stack' the newest replies. Most of the new replies are being shown way done the stack two pages back! Have a look.

Thanks for reply - I know its only the start, happy to wait patiently!!

Right I now know what is going on this is it - this is what throws me. I put something in. you for instance reply to it, so it goes to the top of the stack, but as soon as I reply to you again - it throws it right to the back because it has no reply - so a really recent conversation goes to the really old bit, 3 pages back, it doesnt count the first reply any more. Thats the loop it has to acknowledge ALL recent replies - but it doesnt - it just takes into account the final No reply - this is not practical because, for instance, to refind this thread I had to click all the way past the 'dead' mail to find this at the back to add this comment ...

The answer is therefore that it needs to work on most recent post and not most recent reply - I think...! Whew. Hope that helps. Now I know whats going on I will leave you alone to get on with it all .....

You could be right. I was using this method to effectively move replied-to threads out of the way, but when you want to reply more than once it can be a pain, at which point it's not clear what's going on.

I think this is the point where article threads as forum fails - you loose track too quickly of where you went. Would it be better if the researcher could put a marker on threads that they wanted to go back to, whether you contributed or not, paper trail of where you go, where you want to check out again? Many of the threads in my post I would have no desire to go back to ever -ie Tea, but it is obviously going to stay there at the top for ever, because I said something three weeks ago.......

It comes down to favourites. If we allow you to keep a list of favourite threads/articles/people and also when you last read them. The system at the moment is too simple to be useful in all situations.

We're going to do all of this. Eventually.

You're right of course. patience, peta, patience!

What is patience and where can I get some? I'm badly in need of it! Glad I found this page though because I too wondered about why my articles hadn't been rejected. Figures that the editors don't like them or was it because i upset the editors? Hope you caught the apology on the We want a Proper Chatroom page.

I wondered if my page had a glitch in it that made it 'invisible' or something because I posted some conflicting html into it and only just managed to recover the page by using the back button and deleting the whole lot. Whoops nearly did a Spartus trick!

I've had the same kind of problems. i don't seem to be able to use all the HTML codes that others can for instance disappears text, colours don't work and when I create links they appear ok but can't actually take you to the relevant page. John the Gardener can't use smiley's whereas I can so I think it must be something to do with our set up rather than H2G2's.

I too have come to share my HTML woes. Actually I know nothing of this HTML of which you speak, but I have copied a few choice lines from others to achieve some meager effects. What gets me is that I will try BORROWING (as I intend to give it back eventually) a line of code on two different pages, and I get two different results for the same line. I hadn't expected that.

Then again, the pound symbol on my keyboard looks like this (#) instead of the L-thingy, so what do I know?

What do you think, Sirs?

Maybe Jim or someone could set up an article with approved html code examples in so that people could go there and copy it. Very useful for the beginners who they are trying to encourage to participate. I know he put the code for insert a picture into a thread somewhere - but impossible to find it in the threads.

Check out slashdot.org 's forum. People can switch between threaded and indented, and flat I believe is the other choice.