Helpful Hints for using this Forum

Weezie

Bleu replied at 2013-10-5 04:58

                               
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Its always helpfully to read
the HELP THREADS in FORUM BULLETIN.,
because Trixey made a great job. ...

Blue, Yes, we know there are HELP THREADS in FORUM BULLETIN.,

Have you read them recently**** They are confusing... and oudated!! They offer little help to a new person trying to find their way around the board and just do the day to day things.

Were just trying to give a few helpful hints ....
Is it wrong to be helpful? Thats all we are doing here... just trying to give some Helpful Hints.

Link To Forum Bulletin - //www.pindiy.com/forum-2-1.html

Lots of info on this Free Page, that you are reading right now, too- Top of this page and also the next few pages, 2,3,4 ect - lots of questions and discussions...

CrochetGranny

For Clarification regarding .RAR files:

There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding how a .rar file works or best method on extraction, naming and size.
This post is Helpful but a bit out of date as indicated.
//www.pindiy.com/forum.php? ... &extra=page%3D1

But Id like to clarify that .rar files have been used incorrectly by some members which is the reason it has been stated there are "different types of rar files" as well as the allowed size of file.

When creating a file for upload:
The nice thing about .rar files is that you can create a package and specify the size of the package and WinRar or any other comparable application will break up your one large file into smaller more acceptable ones.

In the case of this forum we do allow up to 11mb files but it has been discovered that some members do have problems with this size so I do suggest you limit them to 10mb or preferably 9.50 mb which is what I do.

Use the instructions from the above given link on how to make .rar files of appropriate size for upload to the site or read the help file in your application.

To reiterate the 4mb size in the above tutorial is incorrect. You can safely make a 10 mb file for uploading. Always name your file(s) something relevant to the product, do not use winrars default "newrarfile.rar" (or whatever it might be)

Opening a .rar file:
Here is where the confusion lies.
A true set of rar files will be one set of files or one large file that has distributed the files amongst the smaller ones. You can tell if it is a true set as you will often see something like this

filename.part01.rar filename.part02.rar filename.part03.rar etc.
All files with the exception of the last one will be uniform in size. The last file may be smaller as it is picking up the remainder of the file set created.

As stated you must download all of these files and place them into one single directory for extraction. Simply click on the first file and Winrar should open up, Click the Extract To button and a new window may pop up asking you where to extract the files. Here you can actually create a new directory if you wish there is no need to go into explorer to create a directory then extract. Click extract and wait for it to be completed.

Here is where the confusion lies with some of the files on this site. Members who have incorrectly created a .rar set of files actually have created individual rar files manually one by one instead of allowing the program to package it properly. When you run into this situation you are going to see files that have been manually named something like

filename1.rar filename2.rar

These files are often NOT uniform in size because the individual did not use the program correctly nor are they named correctly according the standards of WinRar. In this situation you MUST manually extract ALL of the files one by one or you will only end up with the files that are in the first set of files. I can safely say that 100% of the time these types of files that were not correctly made using WinRar are going to be images or multiple files. You will never (I bite my tongue) see a single PDF file that is not correctly packaged. So when in doubt, just click open each rar file and see what is inside. If the same file exists in all other files then its a "true" rar file package.

I personally extract the first one with using the file name as my directory then I open the rest up and dump those files into that same directory. I later rename it if I feel I need to. I do this for speed and identification purposes. You may extract them to any directory of your choosing.

There are times however when I will make a directory because the individual did not give their file package a new name or correct name, they have relied on the application to name it for them and it will be something like "newwinrarfile.rar" or similar. This is only going to cause problems because youll end up overwriting files if you have another set of files with the same name.

I hope I have helped to clarify things and not simply confuse them more.

CrochetGranny

Heres a few other tips that might be of assistance:

Did you know that if you download a file and cant find where you saved it or maybe you lost it, you have 7 days from the time you downloaded the file to re-download it for free.
After that period is up you will be charged only the Site Fee, not the poster fee. Currently that fee is 20 gold coin.

Unsure of what you might of downloaded or didnt?
Click on the Money link at the top of the page. When the new page Opens click on
Points Log.

Choose from the Points box "Gold Coin". Leave everything else as it is but Operation.
In the are where it says Operation click on the dropdown box and choose Buy Attachment. Press the "Query Button" and wait for the results. There you will see a history of everything you purchased! All of the text in the Detail section are links taking you back to the page you downloaded the file from.

You can also use this same function but change it to "Sale Attachment" and then use the Query to see everything you have sold!

***

To see the newest topic in any forum Click on the Order By list and click on Post Time.

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Did you know that in the Upper Right hand corner of the Main Home Page there is a link to "My Threads" and "New Threads" ? Click it and see what happens!

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If you come across a file, particularly in Crochet and Resources I have noticed, that has a generic file name such as newwinfile.rar did you know you can rename it before you download it? Its Easy!

Depending on your browser when the window pops up to save the file just simply give it a new name, name it something relavant like the name of the pattern. Be sure to not change the extension. By default most browsers will keep the correct extension but to be safe dont.

If it is a case of a set of .RAR files be sure you DO keep the .part01.rar .part02 etc or .part1.rar .part2 exactly as they are because if you try to unpack it you will get an error "file not found" or similiar.

***
Did you know that Rating a post doesnt cost you a thing? Every day, depending on your level, the system allots you a set amount of free gold (you can not use this on yourself or to buy anything it is for rating only). So when you see a particularly helpful post or a really great pattern be sure to rate it! When the server starts a new day you will get more coin to rate other items of interest. Unused gold from the day before does not accrue so it is simply lost, take advantage of rating Threads of quality and this great feature! As you level up you will find you can rate Threads higher and will be given a larger amount of Gold to rate others!

*(updated to add more tips)*

CrochetGranny

For those who wish to create new Threads in the Crochet Resources and Magazines I put together a thread with information that is important to know prior to posting.
You an find it here

//www.pindiy.com/forum.php? ... 517&pid=4443781

CrochetGranny

A suggestion for members who upload (this is a suggestion only, not a rule). When creating a new thread for a pattern (or any thread with an image) it is best to save the image of the pattern you have on your hard drive then upload it to the site here instead of linking to the image outside of the site.

When an image is linked instead of uploaded it can cause problems with creating a thumbnail for the main pages of any Pattern area. You may, or may not be able to "set" the image depending on the server that the image is being hosted on.

Additionally it can cause problems for members if a site keeps track of who is using their images in places such as forums. Many individuals frown upon this and can actually be considered as bandwidth theft. It is rare that legal ramifications can occur but it is possible. Generally the site who is hosting the image will rename their image or block hot linking all together.

Free image hosting services however are fine to use as it is their sole purpose. If your image is too big to upload on the site use free services such as Image Shack, TinyPic etc.

KISS

Thank you for the "updated" helpful hints and threads. It is appreciated by many of us "new" people. We DO need and deserve this help. Thank you, its nice to know that some still pay attention to "us" new people when we say the old threads are outdated!

It is so much nicer to have updated information by those that have suffered from these outdated threads and KNOWS and addresses what new members are looking for.

waterlillie

Sometimes its hard to find things in the Free Talk forum, as all the (really fun) games appear at the top. To see the newer post, look at the line right above the start of the posts. You can change the Order By to be Post Time instead of Last Post. Then the newer posts will be at the top and its easier to look for what you need.

mustaangel

thank you.  for taking the time to help all the newbies out..

CrochetGranny

Instead of using magic to see who is online try this link

//www.pindiy.com/home.php?m ... e=member&page=1

Shuuuush

Thanks for all the info! Very helpful :D