Window on Wildlife

OK...HELP :bigsmile:

This started happening to me in the last couple of days and I have not changed my software.  I don't see that button.

ETA: This is not where I intended to post this, but the program kicked me off to "not signed in", then refused to let me post without a topic!!!

Doralyn, I have only just seen this message, sorry. Are you using Internet Explorer 8? Were you able to resolve the problem?

Well, I'm still in the same software, but I saw a suggestion from Chris/CLC in one of the posts about compatibility and I hunted around for a similar item in my program (Windows XP) and found that word and whatever I did, it corrected the problem. Who knows why I suddently became incompatible, but I did. Thanks for your response :bigsmile:  

All right, I'm glad you somehow resolved it. In IE there is a very small icon on the right of the URL bar where you type the website address and it is shaped like a small rectangle, it represents a piece of paper torn in half. Clicking this makes IE compatible with certain Forum software, like the SM Forum we use. Be careful when using it though, if you have typed out a post, copy the text of the post before clicking on the "compatible" icon as the screen will refresh and you will lose what you have written so far. If you copy first, then you will be able to paste into your post and continue. Many of us have learned the hard way..  :crying: :lollol:

I have recently realized that everytime I upload pictures to Photobucket ... it gets posted on Facebook.  Does anyone know how to turn that off??  (That has the potential to get me in trouble!)   :rolleyes2:

Question:

My post count is way off...like way too low.  :puzzled2:

No idea if you can fix this situation.  Never hurts to ask.  Thanks!  :bigsmile:

(Example: stats list this post as #226.  HUH?  November 2012 I was at #225.  what's up?)

A thought:  changed my location last fall.  Would this put my count back to zero, like I was a new member?

I somehow also linked my FB account to my Photobucket account but managed to "turn it off". I don't remember how.. if you can possibly go into your personal settings and see if there is an option there to do so. If not.. I will try to find out tomorrow. Let us know how you get on - all far too intrusive!!

MaryG - yes, it refers to your post count - that is how many posts you have made on this Forum. Remember that it updates itself in every single post you have ever made.. so if you go back to the first post you ever made it will still show that you have now made 226.. or whatever is your latest count. It does not mean that your first ever post will show "Post No. 1" if that makes sense. Hope this helps. Go back to previous posts and you will see they will all say the same number, which is currently 226, I think.  When you make another post, then ALL your posts will show that you have posted 227 times.

I understand what you're saying, Laurad, about the number sequence of the posts.  Thank you.

I know what you mean. I don't like the new method either. I name all my pictures sequentially, and when I have uploaded a batch, I copy the URL/name of the file into the post and then just copy and paste however many times I need to and just manually change the name in the post.

Photobucket have used the filename in the URL, but they have added a whole lot of random letters and numbers to the URL which means each and every image needs to have the URL copied and pasted individually.

You don't need to move them to an album once uploaded, the secret is to click on Upload, THEN open the album you want to upload to, THEN drag and drop the images, or browse for them. The order they will be in will be the order you select in your personal settings, i.e., mine are in order of date with the most recent at the top.

This is my list of albums and I will be in the Main Album, I want to upload to Wildlife2, so click on UPLOAD, top right.

(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k158/laurad100/A%20Wildlife2/Photobucket1_zpscc4355de.jpg)

Then click on "Library", this will show you your Albums.

(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k158/laurad100/A%20Wildlife2/Photobucket2_zps3a7729ce.jpg)

Once you have opened your "Library" to where you wish to save the images, drag and drop or browse.

(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k158/laurad100/A%20Wildlife2/Photobucket3_zpsa3e55814.jpg)

Then when they are uploaded you need to click on each image individually and on the right you will see the option to copy the image link. You need to do this for each image.

To put them in the right order go to where you name is at the top right and then to User Settings, click on the Albums tab and select the order you wish them to be in.

Hope this helps, but I agree.. it's not a useful or helpful way of image naming. The old version worked fine.. why do people keep changing things to the point that they are just cumbersome and confusing?

JudyB.....adding a bit more to Laura's description above.
I didn't switch over till the last minute (night of 3/17  :lollol:) so I don't have that much
experience with it but I had the same questions you did as to where are the URL's etc.
I don't do the drag and drop method....I browse for my pictures and I have all of my nests in separate albums.
That way all I do is name the picture with the date and time I took it.

Anyway, as Laura said........click UPLOAD when you are on your home page and you should get this.
I then go to "Library" and scroll down to the album I want.  
After I have selected my album, I click on BROWSE FILES and select my picture(s).

(http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/Sherd43/Eagles-Maine%20II%202013/0322130615Photobucket.jpg)

This is where it got tricky for me and I couldn't see the URL's......I found that I had to click on the album name
above the picture to view.

(http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/Sherd43/Eagles-Maine%20II%202013/Photobucket2.jpg)

Once you are back on your album page, you can see the various URL's below the picture. If you don't see them below,
that is an option in your settings.  You just click on IMG CODE and it will highlight the URL.  You then have to copy. (It used to automatically copy but I have lost that in the shuffle somewhere :rolleyes2:)

(http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o223/Sherd43/Eagles-Maine%20II%202013/Photobucket3.jpg)

Hope I didn't confuse you more.........I'm not the best 'teacher'. :lollol:

Thanks, Laura and Sherri!  I'll try this again on the weekend.  I was trying to stay awake until the cam went off for the night at Turtle Bay, and trying the new PhotoBucket was one of those things I'd been planning to do eventually, so I foolishly thought this would be a good time to play with that.   :whistle:  I think I should have waited until I was less sleepy and less stressed.  :nod2:

08-14-14 Carried forward from the Woods Hole Osprey nest thread


I can't seem to find the instructions that I gave (thought in a PM) ...... all I can find is this reference of what to copy and that is on the thread. :puzzled2:

Anyway, bonbon, if you are reading here, the above instructions were posted in 2013 by Laura and myself.  They
should be of help to you.  The first thing you have to do is get yourself a host account.  Most of us use Photobucket.
You can get a free account which will limit the amount you can store there but, if I remember correctly, it is quite a bit of space.  I have had a Pro account for several years so I don't know if it has changed.
After you get the account, you can follow the above instructions. :bigsmile:

Sherri is right, Photobucket will give more space than you're ever likely to need, for free. I don't pay and I've got hundreds of pictures stored on there. Start a free account and see how you get on.

The way it works is that if you have a photo saved on your computer, you can "upload" it to Photobucket who then gives you a link so that you can then copy that link into a post on the Forum. There is a little icon above the box where you type your message on the Forum that looks like a picture in a frame - it's under the Bold letter B on the left. That puts a tag around the link which looks like this [ url] (without the space and ends with [ /url] (without the space). Once you've done that, preview to check if your image shows in your post.

The Forum itself does not store images, it only allows us to link to them - where they are stored somewhere else.

There are more detailed instructions, but if you need help many of us are willing to do so.

Thanks Laura.....but you don't even have to go thru the above exercise.  All you have to do is copy the link in Photobucket that looks like this and paste it into your post.  :bigsmile:

http://www.window-on-wildlife.com/index.php?topic=86.msg89389#msg89389

THANK YOU guys so much!!! The problem is (I think) I don't have the background computer knowledge yet.... I've read and watched youtube videos (opened a photobucket account several weeks ago - after joining this forum... and followed the tutorials... and just don't understand  ....)(and I'm not stupid - Honest!) -
I've put several pictures on "Paint" - and I :rolleyes2:   can look at them (but no one else can!!) - even have several pics that may help with ID, i.e., first suspicions of an intruder on WH...

Anyway - I'm going to have to hire a (VERY patient) computer nerd to explain this to me in "first grade vocabulary"  (i.e., "Cut and Paste"  HUH???) - (My niece has tried... no luck... she is patient and she adores me!)  Also - I get Very frustrated when I don't "get it" - (bec. like I said, I'm not stupid!  ... well, maybe a little dense?!)

I'm gonna reread everything (again) and take notes (again) and see if I can figure it out  - again...
THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! :bliss

(Sherri - I have print-outs (?) of explanations from you and Judy... it's worse than reading Russian (and I CAN read Russian!!!)...

bonbon... :huggie
I just realized why I thought I gave you instructions.  It is because you told me that you printed out the tech threads etc. .....then I gave you a picture of what the IMG code would look like in Photobucket.
Believe me, there aren't many more people more dense than I am when it comes to computers. 
You can do it, trust me.  :bigsmile:

You are a doll, Sherri!!!
Thanks - will try again!!! :lollol:

So true, Sherri - thank you. I should have remembered, Photobucket have made it so that when you copy the link, the tags copy with it and all you have to do is paste it into your post.  :love:

Good luck bonbon - you do need to learn some of the basics and the terminology, it's important. If you do manage to capture and save an image on your computer, then that image is visible only to anyone who can look at your own monitor. If you want to share that image, it needs to be sent/copied to another computer or holding area that allows the sharing of images, i.e., Photobucket. You "upload" or copy your image to Photobucket (the original remains on your computer). Once it is uploaded, you then need to let the world know how to view this image and the way to do this is to "copy" the link that Photobucket provides (it's sort of like giving you the full address of where the image is located) and then that link needs to be "pasted" (copied) into this thread. It usually looks something like "http: //www .photobucket.com/myimage.jpg" without any spaces.

To make a slideshow in Photobucket
(if there are instructions elsewhere, they could be outdated as Photobucket made changes a while back).

* Pull up the album you want slideshow to appear in.... I have mine sorted as to nests.
* Make a sub album (if you don't, all the pictures in your album will be in your slideshow!)
* Load your pictures
* Find your slideshow in your album list and pull it up
* You will see a box upper left of pictures saying "Organize".  Turn it to "ON"
* You will then see an option for "Order By: with a drop down menu.   Choose how you want your pictures
to appear in your slideshow.
Some people have had difficulty with the sequential appearance of the pictures.  I name my photos by date, time taken
and if there are more than one photo at same time, I add 1,2, 3 etc.
Example:
021315944   or 0213159441  etc.
That works for me but I guess it will depend on how you name your pictures as to how they appears.

* Then, to the right, copy the "Slideshow" link and post.

Hi everyone... Thanks for all of your help in figuring out how to post pictures...(I still have to hold my breath - but I don't have to "follow written directions" anymore).
Question: If I "upgrade" to "Pro" will that stop all of the blinking/scrolling ads?  Will that affect what I already have on there, i.e., will everything (anything?) disappear?
Thanks!

 :mhihi: I honestly think of you every time I post a picture!

Pro does get rid of the annoying ads, Bonnie (and reduces the chance for a virus to ride in on an annoying ad) - and it was a long time ago that I upgraded, but I'm pretty sure it didn't interfere with anything I'd already uploaded.  I can't imagine they'd let it do that - they want people to pay them, and I think people would be reluctant to do that if they needed to change settings or anything on pictures they've already uploaded.

Thanks, JudyB - I'm signing up right now!
(I definitely don't need any more wrinkle cream - I could open my own drugstore now!   :8))

I just discovered something interesting....

If you look at the header for our forum:
(http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x103/JudyB_eagles/2015/zz_misc/20151201_025.jpg)

At the far right, past the date, there's a little line in a box that I'd never noticed.

Until I apparently accidentally clicked it (way to easy for me to do with a touch screen) - and wondered where the "Show unread posts since last visit" link had gone.  :shock:

(http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x103/JudyB_eagles/2015/zz_misc/20151201_026.jpg)

After consulting with laurad - and learning that her header was fine - I looked again, and noticed the + at the far right of my very minimalist header, and clicked it - and all was again right in the forum world.  :flower

Hi everyone!  We had some technical difficulties and were offline for a while, but hopefully all is again OK.

I was about to post on the Peregrine Thread when I received an error message:

8: Array to string conversion
File: /home8/windowon/public_html/Sources/Subs.php
Line: 2411

I tried several times without success. I can get into other threads fine as far as I can tell....

 :shrug:

8: Array to string conversion
File: /home8/windowon/public_html/Sources/Subs.php
Line: 2411

Yup, as seen above,I got the same message as Chris...

Yesterday I was getting another different "word and address salad" like the above when I tried to get to the forum index page.

Thanks, Chris and Doralyn - and  :pull

Here's a workaround that might help until we get this sorted out.

So far, clicking the link for the last post should get you to that thread, and once you have the thread open, you should be able to post.  So, under Peregrine Falcon Cams, over in the right column, it says in the middle line "in Re: Buffalo Peregrine Fa..." - if you click that, the Buffalo Falcon thread should open.  (Or use link http://www.window-on-wildlife.com/index.php?topic=111.msg2299#msg2299 (http://www.window-on-wildlife.com/index.php?topic=111.msg2299#msg2299), which I got by clicking the last post link, then going to page 1 and copying the link to the beginning of the thread.)

If you want to check another peregrine thread, and you've posted to it recently, you can find your recent posts by clicking the PROFILE link in the blue bar under the header on the page (where the HOME button/link is), and under Profile Info in the column on the left, click Show Posts, which will show all your posts, starting with the most recent.  Once you find a post to the thread you want to open, click the name of the thread in the line above the post - and the thread should open.  I have found occasionally that when I'm trying to go to the next page of posts, I get the funny message - but can usually go back to the page I was on before, then skip to the following page (so if I'm on page 5 and page 6 won't open, I'll try page 7 - and for the few threads I've tried that, it seems to work.

IMPORTANT - Most threads are opening normally.  And I have no clue why there are some forum areas that are not working properly.  Laura knows more about the forum software than I do, and hopefully she'll be able to take a look soon, but she's quite busy for the next few days, so it won't be right away.

I might be able to make new forums and move the threads that are most active there and can't be reached conventionally - but I might also make a mess if I try that.  

I'm more willing to try making a new area where you can make new threads that we'll join with the existing threads once we get this sorted out - that seems safer to me - so please let me know if you'd like any new temporary threads.

The issue seems to be an incompatibility between the PHP scripting language and the Simple Machines forum software - and we'll need to update the forum software at some point to fix that - but won't be able to think about that for a week or two.

If you'd like screenshots to make this clearer, please let me know.  Thanks!


Added -
Yesterday's message was because our hosting company BlueHost upgraded everyone's version of PHP to something that's probably more secure, but is not compatible with our forum software.  I contacted them to find out what happened, and the switched us to an older version of PHP, which is much more compatible, but there do seem to be some lingering issues - as you have both discovered.

Thank you Judy.  I am not making any requests at this time, I just wanted to give you the feedback because I knew you were having difficulty and I had those two instances to put into your hopper of things to think about and address.  

I am sorry I did not copy the message I was getting yesterday.  I just didn't have the time and patience at that moment.  It did indicate that something was corrupted or altered that needed to be made right and even gave something to retype or replace to make a fix, but it made no sense to me and I didn't want to tamper with the "fix" and make it worse.  Also, I did get to the SW Florida and the Announcement threads in a round about way, something like you suggested above, but that just made me spend more time than I had and gave me no assurance I was going to be able to use the rest of the forum in the normal way.

I'm sorry everyone is having issues. I don't quite understand what the problem is yet, as Judy may have explained, they upgraded something on their system which has probably made the Forum software incompatible. It might mean an upgrade of the Forum software, but this is going to take some time to work out because it is not a simple upgrade, of which we have already done several a few over the years, but I think we may end up with quite a lot of changes as this current version is now quite old.

I am away from home for a few days, if I get a chance to research I will, but once home, I will try to spend some time reading up on what needs to be done. We have resisted upgrading to V2 of the Simple Machines software because it is likely to be different from what we are used to.

In the meantime, I hope everyone can find ways to work around the issues.  :flower

Judy and Laura, I didn't know whether you had done the following or not but I just took a few minutes to go through all the topics.
Hope it is helpful and might save you a bit of time if you haven't done it yet.

These are the only ones I could not get through by way of the index title page.
I then tried to access by clicking last post of the topic and could for all of them except Delta as noted below.

Conanicut Creek RI Osprey Cam

Peregrine Falcon Cams

Other Birds

Delta BC Eagle Cams
Cant get thru by last post

World Wide Eagle Cams

Thanks Doralyn, JudyB , Laura and Sherri for the replies  :bigsmile:

I tried the work-a-round and got in fine (thank you JudyB and Sherri!). Once I wrote my post and clicked on post, I received the same error message. I brought up the forum again in second tab, got in with the work-a-round and saw that my post did actually post  :puzzled2:

The Buffalo peregrine news is not that exciting at the moment, so no great issue ... just posting an update ... not a big deal  :bigsmile:

Thanks, Sherri and Chris!  Sherri, I had not checked everything - thanks for doing that.   :flower  I've made a temporary thread for Delta 2 under Hancock Wildlife Bald Eagle Cams - British Columbia - link is http://www.window-on-wildlife.com/index.php?topic=355.msg108579#msg108579; and you can get to a lot of the older posts for Delta 2 using this link - http://www.window-on-wildlife.com/index.php?topic=30.msg74#msg74 - though you can't post on the old thread, and I think some pages are inaccessible.

Had an issue posting to the Panda thread just now ... clicked 'Post' ... after 6 minutes ... nothing.... clicked again and received a #405 Error notice.

I had copied my narrative ... got out of the forum. Brought it back up ready to paste in the narrative again to see that it in fact did post  :shrug:

... still getting an error notice when trying to access the Peregrine Thread from the Main Menu ...

8: Array to string conversion
File: /home8/windowon/public_html/Sources/Subs.php
Line: 2411

... can get in with work-a-round.

8: Array to string conversion
File: /home8/windowon/public_html/Sources/Subs.php
Line: 2411

The above is what I get when trying to click on Chris's Peregrine post....

 :puzzled2:

Hi Chris and Doralyn, Could you possibly try to replicate the problem again and let us know if it still persists.
Thanks,
Laura

OK Laura,
I clicked on the same link, #533 on: May 21, 2016, 05:25:29 PM (it was still in the daily line up at the bottom of the index page) and I got into the post with no problem today.  Also got there by clicking on another link at the Peregrine listing in the index, the "last post".

Thank you Doralyn, maybe I've solved he problem. I did some repairs in the Admin area - wasn't sure if it would work. Fingers crossed.

Laura, all of the issues that I had previously tested above, now seem to be resoloved.
Thanks!  :flower

The Peregrine Thread works today! Just in time to post a pic of the 1st hatchling at the Statler City nest ... a Happy Day! ....
 (http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z199/nightengale14072/GIF%203/SmileyHappyDanceGirl_zps6bc2071b.gif) (http://s190.photobucket.com/user/nightengale14072/media/GIF%203/SmileyHappyDanceGirl_zps6bc2071b.gif.html)
Thank you Laura! (http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z199/nightengale14072/GIF%203/SmileyThankyousmflower_zpsbeb9e0fd.gif) (http://s190.photobucket.com/user/nightengale14072/media/GIF%203/SmileyThankyousmflower_zpsbeb9e0fd.gif.html)

 :rolleyes2: :pray2 I do just hope it is resolved. Thank you Chris.

Judyb and I know that it's a matter of time before we will have to bite the bullet and upgrade to the latest SM Forum software. Currently we are on V1.1.21 and we have the latest updates for this version. However, Version 2 came out a long time ago and we have resisted upgrading to it because the changes are significant - it's not just a case of updating, but upgrading. We have to be sure we know what we are doing with ensuring that the upgrade to the new version carries all the modifications, configurations and ehancements we so carefully built into this Forum and it all takes research, practice and time.

Please do let us know if there are any other issues.

The forum has been offline for several days - and thanks to the tech team at our hosting partners Bluehost - it's back!

If you find anything acting strangely, please let me know.

There explanation of the problem is "There were unwanted codes in the htaccess and I removed them." - and I don't completely understand what means - but I'm noting it here in case we need to mention that in the future.

As mentioned in previous posts in this thread, I have been getting the same error message:

8: Array to string conversion
File: /home8/windowon/public_html/Sources/Subs.php
Line: 2411

When trying to access various topics and threads here. I thought I was going to have to find a way to modify PHP files, but don't have the information I need in order to do so. Having read above that I did something which corrected the issue previously, I did some Forum Admin maintenance and I think the issue is resolved again, for now. I wonder if anyone else has been having the same error message?

I don't seem to be getting the error message, Laurad, though I'm not completely sure what I was trying to do when I did get it before - things just don't seem to stay in my brain like they once did.  :nope:  Though I still remember a whole lot about far too many eagle nests!  :mhihi: