The HelpCenter™ for 11/03 ("Oz" Update Edition) - Have a Gather Question? or Need Help?

Welcome to Today's HelpCenter™ Discussion Post!

The original Gather help series -- assisting members since 2006.

Need a little help, or have a question?
Can't find something? ...or figure out how something works?

Ask other members!

TIPS FOR USING THE NEW SITE UPDATE WILL BE POSTED THROUGHOUT THE DAY!

DD,

If you visit your My Gather (home) page and try out the new version, you will find the options near the bottom of the page for viewing all Gather content including recent posts, photos or videos, popular content and staff picks, as shown below:

Is that what you are looking for?

This new update clearly takes the emphasis off of content (for visitors to the site).

Thanks for the clarification DD. I need to delve a little deeper into those listings as I have only had time to scan them briefly this morning.

DD,

Photos are appearing for me, but without any associated information (caption, tags, etc.). Thus, valuable screen real estate is blank, and members are presented only with a tiny thumbnail image. This (in my opinion) will reduce views to photo content. I haven't yet noticed whether albums appear the same way.

As for staff picks and popular content…why did Gather even bother?

That's true G D. That does happen quite often, but will likely be fixed soon(ish).

You is CRAZEE woman! ...as far as I know, these problems are unrelated to the sharing of content on Twitter or linking accounts with other services.

Why do you need to hit the back button several times? -- what are you trying to do?

Weeeelllllllll...... first, I would suggest updating to the latest version of Firefox and Java. Then, I would SIGN OUT of Gather, and clear all cache and cookies. Then sign back in and see if it is still doing it.

If yes, then we can move on to the next step.

   ha ha ha

Hello Roy! ...I was thinking about you yesterday, and was planning on stopping by now that I have returned to the land of orange after a brief sabbatical. You are a very talented writer and it is shame that this update will provide even less of an opportunity to highlight great member contributions like yours.

Hello Jennifer!

I appreciate that Gather has given us a choice, even if it is only temporary. However, at some point in time the 'classic' view will disappear...so members will be forced to use the new version.

In my opinion the new design is more difficult to use (requires more mouse clicks), and places member content out of reach of visitors to the site. In some respects this was a step backward.

I know. What a waste of time and effort. Why did Gather even bother?

I hope we see you again Wilma. You'll be missed.

I think it was a wise decision to forego the ads on this page. It allows for more screen real estate to be used for the feeds...which makes the page appear much cleaner and less complicated.

Late blooming dandelions? Really? Still? -- Perhaps we all become late blooming dandelions at the end of our life cycle...and we are simply picked from the yard.

Hello Fancy! ...thanks for stopping by, and I'm glad that you like the changes so far.

I like the drop-down menus as they do allow me to access areas of the site faster. However, once again it is three steps forward, and perhaps four steps back for Gather. I believe this design makes the site, and the content shared here, less accessible and attractive to visitors.

I have 20052 unread mail messages. I don't know how useful that indicator will ultimately be for me.

You're absolutely right Linda. Change is always difficult...and I don't mind change at all, as long as the changes are an improvement upon what was in place previously. In some cases this update is an improvement, and in other ways it's a step backward and will bite Gather in the a** down the road.

What page are you referring to? Your profile, or your home page?

Hopefully you found the pull-down menu options for your profile and 'stuff'. I do like being able to access these options from any page...which is similar to a former design (that they did away with).

Pulldown menus can be a hassle on PCs encountering memory or other resource problems. However, so far the new Gather pulldowns are working efficiently....although there are some obvious design problems that they should have corrected before implementation, and didn't.

I just wanted you to know that you're not being ignored...at least not here.  

Hello Linda!

It is my understanding that ratings given or received have no bearing on your points. It is the viewing of your work that earns points...thus a '1' or a '10' earns you the same amount.

However, INDIRECTLY a low rating (anything less than a perfect 10) can reduce your ranking in some listings on Gather that still offer the "Highest Rated" option.

Dorothy,

In order to view general content now, you must switch your home (My Gather) page to the new design. You will then find the options you seek near the bottom of the page on the left-hand side. You may view recent posts, photos or videos, popular content and staff picks, as shown below:

I've heard good things about that series....and it likely is fitting, as member content is now held prisoner to site visitors.

It's a busy day in the Emerald City!  

While this change will likely reduce page views to community content, page views are always down following an update. It takes a few days to settle out. Hopefully it's not a glitch though.

I agree Kat. I think Gather will regret some key aspects of this change.

  UPDATE TIP

When entering interests on the new "My Interests Feed", interests that are comprised of more than one word are treated as separate search terms.

For example, entering "car repair" as an interest will return content containing BOTH words, although they may not appear together.

Sue,

The real-time "People" page is now the "Friends" page, which can be accessed via the main navigation at the top of the page.

This page is now the only access site visitors have to general site content (that I'm aware of).

  UPDATE TIP

If the font size displayed on Gather appears smaller following the update, you should download and install an updated version of your browser. You may also need to install the latest version of your operating system and display driver(s).

Some options for increasing font or page size will affect ALL applications/programs and sites you may visit or use on your computer. Also, activating or deactivating this feature can be cumbersome or inconvenient. Therefore, you may find the method below to be the most efficient and easy to use.

If you are using a Windows-based PC, you can easily increase the font size for any post, comment mail message or other text on Gather by holding down the Ctrl key, and then pressing the + [plus] key. Each time you press the + key, the font size on your screen will be increased.

To reduce the font size, press the - [minus] key instead.

Note: If you are using a MAC (Safari), the commands would be CMD + and CMD -

  UPDATE TIP

You are not able to skip through feeds on the new home ("My Gather") page. Therefore, you are no longer able to skip over content you have already viewed.

To skip over content, or jump to a specific place in your feeds, you will need to switch to the 'classic' view and follow the steps outlined previously.

G'day Magi!

I thought of you when I saw the version name this morning. I knew you'd be thrilled, even though this name won out over 'Vegemite'.

I will be unavailable until approximately 7:30pm ET.

Please leave your question below, and other members will hopefully be able to help out in my absence. If not, I will respond to open inquiries and problems when I return.

Thank You!

  UPDATE TIP

When entering interests on the new "My Interests Feed", pay particular attention to the order in which the interests appear (top to bottom). Interests entered at the top of the list are assigned a greater priority when matching content is displayed.

Use the up and down arrow buttons on the interest edit screen to change the order of your interests.