"How-To" Guide for using dr.com

[crackers]

I want to apologize to all my new "friends" who are now getting useless emails filling up their inboxes from dr.com telling them they are now my new friends. if you did not get an email telling you that I am your friend, you are still my friend, I am just sparing you all that useless email. really. this is all just so terribly embarrassing.

[jparrott]

Friends don't let friends spam.

[Heather]

Does anyone else find it amusing to have their "gender not set"? And the "rate me" thing is just weird.

And I am still not allowed to have friends.

[TinDC]

Well, I never got any of these messages about friends, but if you have a little man next to your name and it is gray, does that mean you are not my friend and if your little man is colorful, does that mean you are my friend? I am just trying to figure out these new little pictures.

[hillvalley]

I'm still figuring this whole "friend" thing but if the little person next to a screen name is lit then it means that person is on the board right now. If it's dull it means the person is off living in the real world.

ETA: Ewww-I don't like the new wink icon. It's cheesy.

[Meaghan]

I'm still figuring this whole "friend" thing but if the little person next to a screen name is lit then it means that person is on the board right now. If it's dull it means the person is off living in the real world.

ETA: Ewww-I don't like the new wink icon. It's cheesy.

+ <----those guys are funny looking

[Al Dente]

I like it! I have established my gender, made a personal statement, selected a friend, and exposed myself with a new picture all in the same day. I'm beat-- time to hit the sack.

[Al Dente]

Is it just me or is dr.com slower than turtles stampeding through organic free-range peanut butter? Takes forever to load a page.

[Heather]

Is it just me or is dr.com slower than turtles stampeding through organic free-range peanut butter? Takes forever to load a page.

The server is capricious this morning.

[Pete]

Is it just me or is dr.com slower than turtles stampeding through organic free-range peanut butter? Takes forever to load a page.

Considering it has taken me 10 minutes to reply to this message...yes, it is pretty darn slow. Also, has anybody else had to re-log in more than usual lately?

[Al Dente]

I will keep posting subversive videos until this problem is resolved!

click

[DanielK]

I want to apologize to all my new "friends" who are now getting useless emails filling up their inboxes from dr.com telling them they are now my new friends. if you did not get an email telling you that I am your friend, you are still my friend, I am just sparing you all that useless email. really. this is all just so terribly embarrassing.

There's a setting that seems to allow you to opt out of sending an email when you add a friend, but when you make the option selection and click "save settings", it reverts to send the email! Hopefully just a bug that will be worked out, and then you can add friends without spam.

[Al Dente]

Another one... this is freakin' hilarious and not politically over the top. Warning: There is a hilariously filthy Buddy Hackett joke told during the 2nd half:

Enjoy...

[DonRocks]

[JPW]

Dear Invision,

Please test you database changes better before inflicting them on your users. Bad sql queries are the devil's petard.

Joe

[johnb]

I like it! I have established my gender, made a personal statement, selected a friend, and exposed myself with a new picture all in the same day. I'm beat-- time to hit the sack.

This gender business reminds me of the time in college I was registering--there was a box on my punch card (you old folks will remember those) for sex, and an explaination that 1=male and 2=female. I looked at mine and it was 3. That gave me great pause. I'm still not fully recovered from that one.

(Yes, I am 1, as it were, and I did get it straightened out, as it were)

[ol_ironstomach]

"What would Ti-girl Woods do?"

[hillvalley]

I just received a frantic PM from someone who is being forced to log in every time they try to open a new page. In order to divert a mass donrockwell.com I can't post, I have no friends on my friends list, and maybe they are trying to tell me something anxiety attack, I wanted to tell you to relax. It's a glitch with the new upgrade, and we're working on it but there is only so much we can do without Invision. My guess is that it may just take a few days for Invision to get all the glitches out. Sorry

[DameEdna]

Well, I never got any of these messages about friends, but if you have a little man next to your name and it is gray, does that mean you are not my friend and if your little man is colorful, does that mean you are my friend? I am just trying to figure out these new little pictures.

I just thought if "DonRocks" was "lit up" it just meant ... oh, never mind.

[squidsdc]

I've encountered some of the same problems listed above--but I resorted to upgrading my IE to 7.0 and am using it (sigh) instead of my standard Firefox until these annoying issues get resolved.

[Scott Johnston]

Is there a proper way to display photos of DR.com events? I added a link to my account that will last a while, but is not permanent. Should we upload the pictures? If this was a single picture, I would have no problem uploading it, but these are multiple pictures.

Scott

[crackers]

HOW DO I POST PHOTOS INTO THE BODY OF MY POST?

It's not as simple as copying and pasting. For Windows users, there are actually two ways to get a photo to show up in your post: the "thumbnail" style and the "big picture" style.

Method One - the "Thumbnail" style. This changed recently with the so-called "upgrade" for Invision.

Thumbnails are the easier of the two methods. First, save the photo somewhere you can easily find it on your hard drive. It should be saved as a .jpg file or something similar. If possible, condense it down before saving it onto your hard drive so that when someone opens up the thumbnail it isn't the size of your head.

Start a new post or a new topic.

1. Look right below the box where you post to locate the "Attachments" box.

2. Locate and click on the "Browse" button. Another box will open up that allows you to locate your photo that is stored on your system.

3. After locating the photo that you want, click on it, and then click on the "Open" button.

This will cause the link to appear in the box next to the "browse" button.

4. Locate and click on the "Upload" box. (it is green on my screen, ymmv)

5. Locate and click on the "Manage Current Attachments" box, located directly above the "Upload" box. You will get a pulldown menu. Select the image you want to insert. Make sure you have your cursor in the correct post in your post first. Click on the image you want to insert and the link should appear in your post box.

Repeat for additional photos that you want in the same post. Before posting, you can add any text before or after the photos.

6. Always proofread your work by locating and clicking on the "Preview Post" button at the very bottom of the screen. This will allow you to see if the link worked and if you need to move things around in the post before you hit the "Add Reply" button and allow the world to see your photo.

To delete a thumbnail:

In the old "Invision" program, one must hit the "Remove" button as well as the link in the actual post. Haven't tried it yet in the new version.

Method Two - the "Big Picture" style... stay tuned...

comments and corrections gladly welcome (but beware, you may get tagged as "it" for doing the "Big Picture" post). Anybody have suggestions for Mac users?

[Scott Johnston]

comments and corrections gladly welcome (but beware, you may get tagged as "it" for doing the "Big Picture" post). Anybody have suggestions for Mac users?

Yes, get a PC

[jparrott]

Critical posts about ANY restaurant are always welcome. The problem with the negative posts that were deleted was that there were no qualifying statements about what was wrong or evidence to back it up. For instance, if the poster had said, "the mashed potatoes were bad" would probably get flamed. "I did not like the mashed potatoes because they were runny and lumpy at the same time and tasted of paste", is a perfectly fair post and the flames would be deleted.

We are a sensitive bunch (at times too sensitive) but as long as you explain the reasoning behind your statements your posts will not be deleted.

Well said. File this in the how-to guide for "how to not appear like a troll."

[Stretch]

Yes, get a PC.

No need for extremes of self-mortification.

Use a remote image hosting site like, say, www.imageshack.us -- free, easy to use and all you have to do is copy the generated link into the body of your post.

Seems to work.

[Scott Johnston]

Is there a definitive list of the amount of posts needed for each level (and the names of each level?) I have searched for this and came up with na na. While posting messages just to get to the next level is a no no, I have always wondered what the levels are.

Powers that be, a ventworm has asked you a question! Will you dignify him with a response???

[Al Dente]

Is there a definitive list of the amount of posts needed for each level (and the names of each level?) I have searched for this and came up with na na. While posting messages just to get to the next level is a no no, I have always wondered what the levels are.

Powers that be, a ventworm has asked you a question! Will you dignify him with a response???

I'm not sure about the names, but I do know that you get a special 50% off card that is good at all area restaurants once you hit 1,000 posts. At 2,000 posts, the restaurants will send a limo to pick you up on a moments notice and they'll kick customers off the table of your choice. At 10,000, I suspect all meals are gratis, and if you take a shine to your server, you can take them home with you.*

*Certain Restrictions Apply

[Jacques Gastreaux]

Is there a definitive list of the amount of posts needed for each level (and the names of each level?) I have searched for this and came up with na na. While posting messages just to get to the next level is a no no, I have always wondered what the levels are.

Powers that be, a ventworm has asked you a question! Will you dignify him with a response???

Once you get to a certain level, a field appears in the profile edit screen that will allow you to customize your member title.

[Scott Johnston]

Wow and I thought you had to sleep with Rocks for that! Who knew?

At 10,000, I suspect all meals are gratis, and if you take a shine to your server, you can take them home with you.*

*Certain Restrictions Apply

[crackers]

minor annoyance: not being able to go from one PM to the next without going back to the Inbox.

major annoyances:

1. when receiving a "cc" to a PM - not being able to tell who the PM went to as the primary recipient. (A good way to handle this is, when drafting a PM, start out at the top of the PM by stating the person's name, e.g. "Hi Don".)

2. No "Reply All" function.

[hillvalley]

Is there a definitive list of the amount of posts needed for each level (and the names of each level?) I have searched for this and came up with na na. While posting messages just to get to the next level is a no no, I have always wondered what the levels are.

Powers that be, a ventworm has asked you a question! Will you dignify him with a response???

Your response is contigent on if you start putting your reply to a post after the original post in question, not before

I Just Made My First Post! 1

shrimp 2

clam 20

grouper 50

ventworm 100

hammerhead 500

leviathan 1000

[Jacques Gastreaux]

What does the button next to the "Reply button do? (the button that says +quote and if you press it it turns red and says -quote).

[edenman]

What does the button next to the "Reply button do? (the button that says +quote and if you press it it turns red and says -quote).

It works in IE but not in firefox. Details:

1) click on the "Quote" button of the post(s) you want to quote

2) click on "Add Reply" below posts

3.IE) the form is displayed, with each post you selected quoted

3.FF) the form is displayed, with nothing quoted

Ideally, this will be fixed in FF, and then we can all multi-quote in perpetuity.

[Macao]

Thanks! My wife did know Gephettos from her Georgetown days - so we did try the real Mendocino's - but about 4 years ago - will check into!

BTW - is there a place for newbies to post dumb posts about how the site works?!? Thanks!

[hillvalley]

At the right top of evey page is a Help button. That your best way to find answers for help.

There is also This How To thread you should check out for answer.

[Pat]

In addition to technical aspects about the way the site works, it's probably helpful for people who are new(er) to understand some of the traditional practices in the way the site is moderated. I don't have anything to do with the moderation but have had the sense of confusion when I see that I seem to have started a thread on something and was unaware of doing it.

It's not unusual for threads to be retitled, split, or moved to other locations where they better fit an ongoing discussion. This helps build an archive of information on topics that may emerge repeatedly, albeit in somewhat different forms. Sometimes, posts will disappear during active debate and seem to be gone but have, in fact, been moved to another discussion on the forum(s). This, cleverly, diffuses any potential incendiary exchanges and adds to past conversations. Don's a smart guy .

This is my view from the outside, for whatever benefit it might have for anyone just arriving.

[Scott Johnston]

If you start a new restaurant thread (after carefully searching to see if that topic/ restaurant already has a thread) it is very helpful to list the location, website, address, and phone number of the place you have visited.

[SrtaJRosa]

Triple Spacing, as we were reminded today...You should see the thread here. and I suggest reading it top to bottom. Or just skip to the end and peer over a summary of quotes. (I'm still a newbie too, but I think I got this spacing thing down.)

[Hannah]

For the love of all that is good and holy, the word is dessert, not desert. You are not wandering through the Sahara or Gobi in search of the final course of your meal. Therefore, the word contains two, count them, two s's.

Oh, and you don't have a palette for wine, either. A palette is the board you put blobs of paint on when you're creating a masterpiece, or doing paint-by-numbers, or whatever. The thing in the roof of your mouth, or the one you sense flavors with, is a palate. Some wine may taste like paint thinner, but that doesn't mean the two words are interchangeable.

Just because your spellchecker tells you it's right doesn't mean it's correct.

Bah.

[synaesthesia]

click

[Heather]

and click

[DonRocks]

[A couple other guidelines that apply specifically to dr.com, and not forums in general:

1) Write to the best of your abilities. That includes longer, thoughtful posts containing original information that might be of use to our readers, rather than short, choppy responses consisting of two sentences, each containing three words. Consider your posts a "piece of journalism" that you might be proud of, rather than part of a "phone conversation." Too many short, choppy posts are every bit as "noisy" as POSTING IN ALL CAPS!

2) Don't feel like you need to "police the forums," or immediately question a member when he or she issues an opinion. Give others a chance to chime in and express their views, and don't hog the microphone. Always treat users with the respect they deserve, erring on the side of courtesy and inclusiveness. Just relax, have a good time, and if there's an obvious "problem posting," simply click on the "Report Post" button.

3) Always disclose your professional affiliations when writing about a restaurant with which you're directly or indirectly associated. "Indirectly" can mean you work for their PR firm, your sister is a bartender there, or the owner is your cousin. It's okay - perfectly fine - to write positive things about an establishment, if and only if you fully disclose your relationship.

4) When issuing a negative opinion about a restaurant, use your real name. Yes, there is leeway on this, but as time has passed, many people have abused their anonymity, and I'm going to start cracking down on this more in the future. Members with a longer history of substantive writings have nothing to worry about.

5) Please send first-time posters a PM, introducing yourselves and welcoming them to the community.

Cheers,

Rocks.]

[synaesthesia]

Oh, and you don't have a palette for wine, either. A palette is the board you put blobs of paint on when you're creating a masterpiece, or doing paint-by-numbers, or whatever. The thing in the roof of your mouth, or the one you sense flavors with, is a palate. Some wine may taste like paint thinner, but that doesn't mean the two words are interchangeable.

Nor is it a pallet. Unless your mouth is topped and bottomed by some nailed together wooden boards for shipping boxes on. If so, I know some shipping agents who might be interested in meeting you.