Problems with The Band Guestbook?
The guestbook at The Band web site is a totally open forum, anyone can post whatever they want. This is of course very nice, but it only works as long as people behave, follow a few simple rules, and have a basic idea about what they actually do when they post an entry.As the maintainer of the site I get a lot of e-mail from people that have problems reading or posting in the guestbook, or have complaints about the content. To save both myself and the visitors valuable time, I have compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions about the guestbook on this page. Please read through this if you have problems, most likely the answer you are looking for is here. If not, then send us an e-mail and we will try to help you.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
- Why are people screaming at each other and posting insults instead of talking about the music and The Band?
- Why is the guestbook closed today?
- Why do I have to scroll horizontally to read the guestbook? The text "runs" off to the right, and it's a real hassle.
- Why does the guestbook look like a total mess today?
- Why does it take so long to load the guestbook?
- I just posted a guestbook entry, but I can't see it. Why?
- I just posted two (or more) copies of my entry. What do I do now?
- I just posted an entry, and some of the content in the guestbook seems to have disappeared. What happened?
- How do I create paragraphs in my guestbook entry?
- How do I create line-breaks in my guestbook entry?
- I use Linux, is that causing my problems?
- I use another browser than Microsoft-IE, is that causing my problems?
1. Why are people screaming at each other and posting insults instead of talking about the music and The Band?
This is a phenomenon known as "flaming" or "flame-wars", that occurs in practically every open discussion forum on the
Internet. It is caused by the distance and relative anonymity that the users feel when they are "safe behind
the keyboard" and lower the treshold for insulting others. My advice is not to get involved in
arguments on the net, you'll never win anyway. Also, you
are kindly asked to follow these simple rules when posting in the guestbook:
- Do not use the guestbook for personal messages.
- Think before you post. Don't post anything you would not dare to say to someone face to face.
- Do not post serious insults, personal attacks or too many four-letter words.
- Respect that this is a web site in honour of The Band and their music.
2. Why is the guestbook closed today?
Over the years, the guestbook has been closed several times to calm things down when the
flame-wars (see above) become too nasty. It usually re-opens again after a few days. But don't
count on it. There's a limit to what our server providers will tolerate.
3. Why do I have to scroll horizontally to read the
guestbook? The text "runs" off to the right, and it's a real hassle.
The Band web site uses variable-width pages, i.e. the text adjusts to
use the width of your browser window. That means that you in most
cases never should have to scroll horizontally. There are three
possible things that can cause the text to "run off" the screen:
- You use a very narrow browser window that hardly has horizontal
space even for the left "navigation border" on the pages. The
solution is to maximize your browser to use the entire screen.
- You use a very coarse screen resolution. Adjust to something like
1600 x 1200 pixels.
- The text on the page contains a veeery long word that can't be broken over two lines. The width of the page will then be the same as this word, and may be wider than your screen or browser window. This can only happen in the guestbook, e.g. when people write really long words like "hehehe" repeated 500 times, or a URL (web address) that has over 200 characters in it. I normally detect these things and correct them the next day. You'll just have to wait until then. If it lasts longer than a day, then I'm probably dead or on holiday.
4. Why does the guestbook look like a total mess today?
Some times people manage to post HTML formatting codes, animated images, and such things that can make the guestbook page look very chaotic. It'll be corrected as soon as it is detected, but this may take a while because this site is in Europe, and most of you visitors are from the US. The site is not monitored every day, either. Be patient. We have installed a little "filter" that should remove HTML and other possible "nasties" from guestbook entries.5. Why does it take so long to load the guestbook?
Slow access to the guestbook is normally caused by one of these things:- The net is currently congested or very slow. It's probably a very long way from where you are
located, to Norway, where the site is located, and failing routers or broken lines can cause
halts or delays. Nothing to do except curse and have another brew / coffee / whatever.
- Someone posted a very large image in the guestbook, that may be located at some slow, remote
server. It'll be removed when we detect it.
- The guestbook itself has grown to huge file, that takes a long time to load. This happens at times when the traffic here is heavy. The guestbook is normally reduced in size 2-3 times a week, by moving older entries to separate files.
6. I just posted a guestbook entry, but I can't see it. Why?
This may be caused by a full disc or a script failure at the web site host, but the most likely reason is that your web browser has cached the guestbook page on your machine. That means that when you go back to the guestbook to see your own entry, you'll just see the guestbook as it was before you posted. You need to hit the RELOAD button on your web browser to force it to read the guestbook page again from the web server. Do not re-submit your entry one or more times. (see below).7. I just posted two (or more) copies of my entry. What do I do now?
What happened was that you hit the "Submit" button twice or more, probably because you couldn't see your entry in the guestbook the first time (see above). There's nothing you can do, except wait until we see your multiple entries and remove the copies for you. If you feel very embarassed by having done this, you may send us an e-mail and ask if we can clean up your mess right away.8. I just posted an entry, and some of the content in the guestbook seems to have disappeared. What happened?
This may occur (and has occured) when two users post a guestbook entry at the same time. It's a bug in the guestbook script that will be fixed sooner or later. Please notify us if this happens.9. How do I create paragraphs in my guestbook entry?
To create a paragraph you need to insert a code for paragraphs in your text. Just hitting the "Enter" key a couple of times will not do the trick, as all consecutive "whitespace" are treated as just one "Space" by web browsers. In previous versions of the guestbook, the HTML-tag <p> could be used, but this has been disabled due to some people posting damaging HTML-code. The current guestbook script instead uses the code "\n" as the "paragraph marker."Just insert the text \n (i.e. a "backslash" character and an "n") at the point where you want the paragraph to appear. E.g. entering the text:
will cause the following to be displayed in the guestbook:Here is one paragraph. I want it to end here. So I guess it's time to insert the code for it. \n And here starts a new paragraph. Works like a charm.
Here is one paragraph. I want it to end here. So I guess it's time to insert the code for it.And here starts a new paragraph. Works like a charm.
10. How do I create line-breaks in my guestbook entry?
To make a line-break, without the space before a paragraph, you may use the code "\b" (backslash-b), like this:will cause the following to be displayed in the guestbook:I am writing lyrics here: \n I pulled into Nazareth \b Was feelin' 'bout half past dead \b I just need to find a place \b Where I can lay my head \n Nice, isn't it?
I am writing lyrics here:I pulled into Nazareth
Was feelin' 'bout half past dead
I just need to find a place
Where I can lay my headNice, isn't it?
11. I use Linux, is that causing my problems?
No, consider yourself lucky to be a Linux user. Linux and other Unix-like operating systems are a blessing when you get used to them, unlike M$ systems that develop into a curse when you try to do more complicated things.12. I use another browser than Microsoft's Internet Explorer, is that causing my problems?
Maybe. The site and the guestbook should look OK also with the Firefox, Safari, Mozilla, Lynx and Opera browsers, but I haven't tested it with more esoteric programs like Chrome and Cello and such.