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Forum Functions & Functionality: Technical Problems & Known Issues

Although this is an HTTPS website, I notice that many pages say 'not secure'.
It's probably not a problem, but I thought I should point it out.

Yes, this has been pointed out.

We don't believe it is a concern.

This board is more secure than any of its previous incarnations, but your browser wasn't programmed to nag you about them as it now is.
 
Did you know...

that if you click the automatically hyperlinked location on a member's profile, a Google map will open up in a new tab revealing where that member is posting from?

I didn't know that.



<-- try it.



I think that is interesting.

If you don't want the world to know where you actually live, leave the LOCATION option blank.
 
Did you know...
that if you click the automatically hyperlinked location on a member's profile, a Google map will open up in a new tab revealing where that member is posting from? ...

Yes / no / sorta ...

The hyperlink generates a Google Maps search on the name of any place listed in the Location entry. If a unique or probable name match is found, a Google Map opens up to display the named place.

For example, Ringo lists his location as Stockholm. This will cause a map of the greater Stockholm area to appear.

Yithian lists his location as "East of Suez." Clicking on the link produces a listing of restaurants and other enterprises that use the name "East of Suez." The same sort of thing happens when clicking on my "Out of Bounds."

A Location entry that's just a random allusion without any geographical correlations (e.g., Mytho's "In a spaceship ...") will get an error message because Google Maps doesn't recognize the Location entry as an actual place name.

Bottom Line: A recognized Location entry will trigger a Google Map for the named locale - regardless of that named locale's size / extent. It does not provide a map pinpointing the exact location (e.g., street address) at which the member is located or from which he / she is connecting to the forum.
 
Well. My location entry is not a location name and clicking on the phrase still brings up map of my area. Is this necessary? Do we have to just leave it blank for anonymity? Who cares about the map anyway?
 
Well. My location entry is not a location name and clicking on the phrase still brings up map of my area. Is this necessary? Do we have to just leave it blank for anonymity? Who cares about the map anyway?
I think that could be just Google Maps guessing where you yourself live. And it knows that from your router or whatever. That is to say, if I click on my own location, it knows, and shows my nearest town. But if you click on my location I doubt you'd see where I live... give it a try with mine, who knows? So I think your geo-anonymity is safe.
 
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I think that could be just Google Maps guessing where you yourself live. And it knows that from your router or whatever. That is to say, if I click on my own location, it knows, and shows my nearest town. But if you click on my location I doubt you'd see where I live... give it a try with mine, who knows? So I think your geo-anonymity is safe.

I think you're safe - all the link does is search Google Maps for that named location, taken from the text. I clicked on yours and the link it generated was https://www.google.com/maps?q=generally+on+the+fringes

Which obviously returns nothing.

1599578700503.png
 
I think you're safe - all the link does is search Google Maps for that named location, taken from the text. I clicked on yours and the link it generated was https://www.google.com/maps?q=generally+on+the+fringes

Which obviously returns nothing.

View attachment 29579
Right now I blanked out location, so nowhere to click. It used to be EST on the vague assumption that it might be of use to know what time zone I'm in. If I licked on it I saw a map of my general area. Google certainly does know where my IP address is, but my question is why on this board do we care about a link to Maps at all. If someone lists that he's in Moscow, that's interesting, but it's all I need to know. I don't need to see a specific map.
 
The hot-linking of Location entries that permitted calling up a Google Map for locations of record has been disabled.

If you'd not entered anything in the Location field of your member record there was no link and hence no such invocation of a Google Map.
 
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You'd be surprised where any website thinks I am at any time. You'd have to be really good at playing "Where's Waldo" to even getting close. It always gives me a good chuckle. Even FB isn't close.
 
I like people knowing where I am. Maybe i'll get some visitors?
Doubt it though. Mostly the people that knock on MY door are the sort of bible-bashers that are looking for a punch in the throat.
 
You'd be surprised where any website thinks I am at any time. You'd have to be really good at playing "Where's Waldo" to even getting close. It always gives me a good chuckle. Even FB isn't close.
Well, the fact that you call him "Waldo" suggests that you're more likely to be in North America than in Europe... :)
 
I couldn't get in for a while. Did the server go down?
 
I couldn't get in for a while. Did the server go down?

Yes. The server experienced a series of fatal error conditions at 1035 EDT and went offline. Everything seems to be working OK now.
 
1. Uncurl from foetal position.

2. Stop screaming, "Why, God; why?"

3. Leave corner of room.

;)

maximus otter
Let's just hope we don't get a coronal mass ejection, for this one reason only.
 
Is the signature size fixed? I don't think my sig is particularly long, and I wanted to add a one liner, but it exceeds the limit.
 
Is the signature size fixed? I don't think my sig is particularly long, and I wanted to add a one liner, but it exceeds the limit.

There's a character limit, but the font size can be changed.

It might be 160 characters; I'd have to check.
 
Is the signature size fixed? I don't think my sig is particularly long, and I wanted to add a one liner, but it exceeds the limit.

The limit on member signatures' text is 150 printable characters.
 
There used to be an animated 'laughing' smiley as well as the rofl one. I liked that.
 
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