Feedback
1747992 Members
5055 Online
108756 Solutions
New Discussion

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))

 
Alex Geroulaitis
Respected Contributor

better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))

Is there an existing thread complaining about the forum's resident spellcheck?  (I've tried searching for it and couldn't find any.)

 

  • no custom dictionary, i.e. it persistently flags words like Z800, SAS and many other routine terms used on this forum) and there is no way to stop it from flagging these terms
  • the forum appears to disable browser-based spellcheck (e.g. in Chrome) - possibly a side effect of a rich text editor - i.e. it forces me to use its own inferior spellcheck. :)
  • if the forum's rich text editor and browser-resident spell check can't work together - please add custom dictionaries and inline "always on" spell-checks.

Among other things that leave a lot to be desired on this forum platform:

  • no custom avatars? (tried uploading one - didn't work) Sorry but the current ones - cameras, animals, etc. - are just corny and not worthy of a professional forum.  If you don't want to allow custom avatars even for users with thousands of posts, disable them altogether.
  • No plain text editor option?  Personally, I'd quickly forgo rich text capabilities in favor a browser based spell-check.  I don't use rich text much anyway aside from occasional hyperlinking and bold text.  Ideally, the forum would offer an option to switch between rich and plain text editing modes.
  • Geography?  The geographical location of the poster is often very relevant to the question he or she is asking as availability of HP support and warranty options varies depending on location.  It doesn't have to be required, but making it a prominent part of a profile and making it appear on every post will help a lot.

After years of participating on forums driven by major and popular platforms like vBulletin, I find it unusual when a brand like HP uses a relatively obscure platform like this one (Lithium?) with limited functionality and a host of apparent problems (e.g. sign-on problems).  Is there a compelling reason for doing this?

 

 
Systems Administrator
(if my post was helpful, please "mark as a solution" or give "kudos" - thanks)
8 REPLIES 8
Dennis Handly
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))

>Is there an existing thread complaining about the forum's resident spellcheck?

 

Only in passing.  I didn't like the fact I couldn't use firefox's spell as you type spell check.

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Community-Feedback-Suggestions/Feedback-on-new-site/m-p/4802971#U4810365

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Community-Feedback-Suggestions/Rich-text-input-box/m-p/1153216#U1153216

 

>no custom dictionary, i.e. it persistently flags words like Z800, SAS and many other routine terms used on this forum) and there is no way to stop it from flagging these terms

 

Huh?  Just add them (learn) to the dictionary.

 

>the forum appears to disable browser-based spellcheck (e.g. in Chrome) - possibly a side effect of a rich text editor - i.e. it forces me to use its own inferior spellcheck. :)

 

Right!

 

>no custom avatars? (tried uploading one - didn't work)

 

You have to achieve a high enough rank to do that.

 

>I'd quickly forgo rich text capabilities in favor a browser based spell-check.

 

Right.

 

>the forum would offer an option to switch between rich and plain text editing modes.

 

There is a profile option that says: Turn on the Rich Text Editor

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/user/myprofilepage/tab/user-preferences

I don't have it on but I get it anyway.  ??

 

>The geographical location of the poster is often very relevant to the question... but making it a prominent part of a profile and making it appear on every post will help a lot.

 

It used to be there in the ITRC and it may be there in the EBC but yours and mine are suppressed with our current privacy settings.  And there isn't enough room to have it on each post.  Just have the link on the author to click.

Alex Geroulaitis
Respected Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))


>no custom dictionary, i.e. it persistently flags words like Z800, SAS and many other routine terms used on this forum) and there is no way to stop it from flagging these terms

 

Huh?  Just add them (learn) to the dictionary.


Thanks, that worked.  ("Learn" though? Why not "teach" or "roll over"?  "Add" sounds more logical to me.)

 


>no custom avatars? (tried uploading one - didn't work)

 

You have to achieve a high enough rank to do that.


Is that documented anywhere?


And there isn't enough room to have it on each post.


Disagree.

 

Thanks for the answers!

Systems Administrator
(if my post was helpful, please "mark as a solution" or give "kudos" - thanks)
Alex Geroulaitis
Respected Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))

One more thing: the current inactivity timeout su... is no good.

Systems Administrator
(if my post was helpful, please "mark as a solution" or give "kudos" - thanks)
Dennis Handly
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))

>"Add" sounds more logical to me.

 

Well, if it said "Add to dictionary" or "Learn a new word", it would be obvious.  I probably have seen other spellchecks that used "learn" and I look at all the choices the first time I use something new.

>>You have to achieve a high enough rank to do that.

>Is that documented anywhere?


In the FAQ:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/help/faqpage/faq-category-id/personalization#personalization

 

>>And there isn't enough room to have it on each post.

>Disagree.

 

Then you'll have to fight the complaints about too much whitespace:  ;-)

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/tag/layout/tg-p/board-id/community-feedback-suggestions

>the current inactivity timeout is no good.

 

Yes there are complaints about that too, with an official reply.

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Community-Feedback-Suggestions/Feedback-on-new-site/m-p/4802971/highlight/true#U4809157

Alex Geroulaitis
Respected Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))

I was not and am not looking to fight anything or anyone.  This is a "Community Feedback & Suggestions" topic, and the purpose of my original post was exactly that: feedback and suggestions regarding this forum.  The hope is that the community managers use some of it (if any) for productive changes useful to the majority of community members.

 

I was not looking for answers, affirmations, "solutions" from self-appointed authorities on what really is a matter of personal preference to me.

 

In other words, if my feedback is not useful to you, well, sorry about that.

 

(That said, thank you again for teaching me the "learn" button.)

Systems Administrator
(if my post was helpful, please "mark as a solution" or give "kudos" - thanks)
Alex Geroulaitis
Respected Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))


>>You have to achieve a high enough rank to do that.

>Is that documented anywhere?


In the FAQ:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/help/faqpage/faq-category-id/personalization#personalization



Where in that FAQ is it documented that "you have to achieve a high enough rank" to create a custom avatar, and exactly what rank does it need to be?

 

All I could find relevant to a "rank", was "if you have permission" - with zero additional information.  To me, this is nowhere close to "documenting" the rank one needs to achieve in order to upload a customer avatar.

 

Sorry, but that response was not a useful one - and thank you, I've been to that page before.  Before proposing a hyperlinked document as a solution, please be so kind to actually find out if the document contains a solution.

Systems Administrator
(if my post was helpful, please "mark as a solution" or give "kudos" - thanks)
Dennis Handly
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck? (better forum? :))

>Where in that FAQ is it documented that "you have to achieve a high enough rank" to create a custom avatar, and exactly what rank does it need to be?

 

Hmm, perhaps I saw it under images?

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/help/faqpage/faq-category-id/images#images

 

Or since you can't see it, I assumed it was obvious you don't have high enough rank?  I saw it here:

http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Community-Feedback-Suggestions/Image-galleries-are-now-available/m-p/1157504

 

>Before proposing a hyperlinked document as a solution, please be so kind to actually find out if the document contains a solution.

 

I assumed everyone would know permission == rank.

(And we have all found, a lot of this is secret.  ;-)

 

Perhaps this no longer has anything to do with rank.  What didn't work when you tried uploading an image?

Dennis Handly
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: better forum spellcheck?

>I didn't like the fact I couldn't use firefox's spell as you type spell check.

 

Hmm, I'm not sure what I did since my original post but I have a firefox 11 spell check.

(Unfortunately I have to right click to enable it each time. :-)

 

Either it was always there and I never right clicked or I wanted to use "It's All Text!" add-on with vim and that did it or that caused me to right click?

 

It appears Check Spelling was always there without add-ons, it's there in safe mode.