Coming up: A new Subscriber Status widget

[woodyDa Boss]

Slowly, over the next few weeks, I’ll be rolling out a widget. It’ll sit over on the right hand side, where you now see the Plus Membership block. The
[See the full post at: Coming up: A new Subscriber Status widget]

14 users thanked author for this post.

DaveA, abbodi86, AlexEiffel, Pepsiboy, Myst, F A Kramer, LHiggins, SueW, ScotchJohn, jburk07, Seff, Zathras, Alex5723, CADesertRat

[SeffAskWoody Plus]

Sounds like a good improvement for everyone Woody, thanks.

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[OscarCPAskWoody Plus]

Woody: Thanks for the reminder. I contribute using PayPal. After pressing on the blue “Donate” button, would I still be able to use PayPal? If not, I could simply skip using the widget and go, instead, to my PayPal account. So I would like to know, beforehand, what would happen if I pressed that button. (This is also meant to help get the “deluge of inquiries” rolling)

Also, while on the topic of forthcoming helpful things to be offered at this site, I wonder how is it going with one that you announced, some time ago, was being worked out in advance of the Windows 7 EOL, to help us remainers figure out how to keep it safely patched (or micropatched) for ever afterwards (if I understood this correctly)?

 

 

Windows 7 Professional, SP1, x64 Group B & macOS + Linux (Mint) => Win7 Group W + Mac&Lx

[woodyDa Boss]

Yep, you’ll be able to continue to use PayPal to extend your subscription — or donate, should you be so inclined.

We’ll be covering Win7 for years to come. I don’t have a magic bullet, but there are many alternatives, and we’ll be exploring all of them.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Pierre77, Nathan Parker, OscarCP

[Nathan ParkerAskWoody_MVP]

Can those of us still submit a donation even if our AskWoody membership hasn’t expired yet? I’d like to periodically donate to help with AskWoody’s funds.

Nathan Parker

2 users thanked author for this post.

Myst, Bluetrix

[OscarCPAskWoody Plus]

Nathan, From Woody’s replay a bit further up and my own experience, I am reasonably sure the answer is: yes, one can donate whenever and however often and in whichever amounts one may wish to do it, quite separately from the renewal of one’s subscription. Just don’t get carried away, that’s all.

Windows 7 Professional, SP1, x64 Group B & macOS + Linux (Mint) => Win7 Group W + Mac&Lx

1 user thanked author for this post.

Nathan Parker

[woodyDa Boss]

Ab-so-lute-ly.

If you click Extend your Subscription, then your Membership is extended by a year.

Click on Donation, and your Membership (if you have one) stays the same.

We aren’t yet breaking even, so every bit in the tip jar goes a long way.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Pierre77, Nathan Parker

[Nathan ParkerAskWoody_MVP]

Sounds good. I won’t go overboard, but occasionally when I know I can work in a donation here and there, I’ll work in contributing. I want to ensure my favorite tech site stays online.

Nathan Parker

[SueWAskWoody Plus]

Wow!!  I just refreshed a page, and guess what I saw??  The new widget.  Looks great (and is less filling 🙂 )  It certainly makes it easier to renew, and/or to donate.  Thanks, Woody!

Win 7 SP1 Home Premium 64-bit; Office 2010; Group B; Former 'Tech Weenie'

2 users thanked author for this post.

Nathan Parker, Myst

[CADesertRatAskWoody Plus]

SueW wrote:

Wow!!  I just refreshed a page, and guess what I saw??  The new widget.  Looks great (and is less filling )  It certainly makes it easier to renew, and/or to donate.  Thanks, Woody!

+1, Just refreshed and there it was. Great addition to the site.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
4 Win 10 Pro all 1903 (3 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

3 users thanked author for this post.

Nathan Parker, Myst, SueW

[Nathan ParkerAskWoody_MVP]

Looks great!

Nathan Parker

2 users thanked author for this post.

Myst, SueW

[WildBillAskWoody Plus]

For a few weeks prior to yesterday, I saw a ‘baby’ widget. It just had my username, Gravatar & a ‘Log Out’ button, surrounded in white. Yesterday, I saw the full widget for the first time… Cool! This morning, however, I’m back to the ‘baby’ widget. I refreshed once & got the same thing. Is the full widget rolling out & rolling back in? I’ll periodically check it this weekend & report back Monday. I may attempt to log out & log back in, since the site tends to remember username & password, & puts them up when I’m logged out. Back Monday…

Windows 8.1, 64-bit, back in Group A... & leaning toward Windows 10 V2004. As long as it's a Lot Less Buggy!
Wild Bill Rides Again...

[woodyDa Boss]

Once you see the new widget, you should always see the new widget (when logged in).

Should….

Let me know what you find. And, yep, you need to either log out and log back in, or refresh.

[WildBillAskWoody Plus]

When I completed the original post, I got the full widget. Through the weekend it changed back & forth, but usually stayed as the full widget. This morning, it briefly went to the baby widget, then back to the full. Pretty sure I didn’t logout & log back in this weekend, but did it this morning. If it occasionally jumps back to the baby widget, I won’t panic.

Windows 8.1, 64-bit, back in Group A... & leaning toward Windows 10 V2004. As long as it's a Lot Less Buggy!
Wild Bill Rides Again...

• This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by  WildBill.

[PKCanoDa Boss]

I get the small widget on first login also. Once logged in and refresh the new widget shows up.

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1 user thanked author for this post.

WildBill

[woodyDa Boss]

That’s the way it’s supposed to work. Not sure why, but I can replicate it. If you log in, you get the new widget.

[rexrAskWoody Plus]

+1

Logged in and got the new support widget. I tried out both buttons, ‘extend membership’ and ‘donate’, and the options listed several credit cards, check, and my preferred method via Paypal. Looks nice.

I might have hosed it though, because after presenting in English the first time, it now comes up in French, and the donation keeps multiplying (x2, then x3, x4) so the amount now reads $100. I don’t see a way to clear the amount and start over with $25 and in English. What did i miss?

 

 

Win10H v1909 18363.592
2 parrots and a cat

[NightOwlAskWoody Plus]

@ rexr

rexr wrote:

I don’t see a way to clear the amount and start over with $25 and in English.

Could try logging out, and logging back in to see if that clears the data, and resets the donation/update subscription information.

NightOwl

No question is stupid ... but, possibly the answers are 😉 !

[rexrAskWoody Plus]

NightOwl, i did that no joy. Then logged out, closed and reopened Firefox, signed back in to Woody’s and hit the ‘donate’ button again. It is still in French (i think) and now reads ‘x6’ for $150. I have Windows geo-location turned off, but it was in English before, so… I don’t know what’s up.

Win10H v1909 18363.592
2 parrots and a cat

[woodyDa Boss]

Definitely a bug.

Try using a different browser – and if the ” x 6″ but appears, at the bottom, set the box to 1. (That, too, is a bug, which the devs already have on their plate.)

1 user thanked author for this post.

WildBill

[Paul TAskWoody MVP]

I’m seeing the additional amounts when you go in repeatedly and there is no option to remove them, so a mistake is irredeemable.

cheers, Paul

[SeffAskWoody Plus]

I’ve seen the new full widget once, then when I revisited the site (via a bookmark on Chrome which I had closed down and later reopened) it showed just the small one again. It looked great, when it was there, although I didn’t test the two options.

[SeffAskWoody Plus]

It’s back again.

[Alex5723AskWoody Plus]

I got the new widget. Looks good.

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[Rick CorbettAskWoody_MVP]

How do we suppress this new widget? Not asked for nor wanted. Tell us how to turn it off. (So, so surprised and disappointed that you’ve done an arbitrary MS-like move… SMH)

[woodyDa Boss]

Sorry. There’s no way to suppress the widget. It takes up less space than the old one, and offers some worthwhile info….

4 users thanked author for this post.

JohnW, WildBill, Myst, SueW

[KWGuyAskWoody Plus]

Wow!!!  That was slick!  Just extended my membership for one year using credit card.  Worked great.  Received instant confirmation and widget now reflects new expiration date.  What’s not to like?!

3 users thanked author for this post.

JohnW, woody, Kirsty

[rexrAskWoody Plus]

woody wrote:

Definitely a bug.

Try using a different browser – and if the ” x 6″ but appears, at the bottom, set the box to 1. (That, too, is a bug, which the devs already have on their plate.)

Rgr a bug, y’all will get it smoothed out. The counter at the bottom of the first page has always been a ‘1’. Then I tick the amount, hit ‘donate’, takes me to the second page to choose a payment method but the amount has incremented up to now a ‘x 7’.

I cleared the browser cache and tried again, again with a ‘x 1’ on the donate page but on the second page it incremented up again, to ‘x 8’ $200, still in French. The rest of the website is still English like normal. I’ll stick with this browser, it will work out.

(I won’t underpay, was a lifetime member with WS and added a donation when i re-signed here at AskWoody.) I appreciate the help with keeping safe from windows foibles (some that i create myself.))

Win10H v1909 18363.592
2 parrots and a cat

• This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by  rexr.

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[woodyDa Boss]

Thanks for bearing with me.

What browser are you using?

[rexrAskWoody Plus]

woody wrote:

Thanks for bearing with me.

What browser are you using?

The latest Firefox, v70.0.1.  Though i see other members with similar probs use Chrome and Waterfox. I cleared browser cache. No problem ‘bearing with you’, building a big website is difficult and all sorts of weird things pop up.

For me, once signed in it always displays the new widget, like in the first image. Then I click either donation method, pick the amount, and it always shows ‘x 1’, like the second image. But the next page (third image), showing the total donation amount and billing method, has always incremented up +1 each time, to currently ‘x 9’ for $225 with no way to clear it or switch back to ‘x 1’.

Oh, the language i’m seeing is Latin, not French, sheesh. I should have known that since i failed Latin in 9th grade.

Y’all are good and will figure it out.

 

Win10H v1909 18363.592
2 parrots and a cat

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[woodyDa Boss]

ARRRRGH.

I’ll get the devs on it… Sorry about that!

[The Surfing PensionerAskWoody Plus]

Oh no! My widget’s gone – it was there, a little while ago, looking very official, but now it’s diminished – all I’ve got is the attached! Will it come back?

• This reply was modified 3 months, 1 week ago by  The Surfing Pensioner.

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[DrBonzoAskWoody Plus]

Same here. It was fine last night but it’s back to pre-new widget now after just logging in.

[CADesertRatAskWoody Plus]

Yup, mines gone also. Must be working on it. Still not ready for prime time.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does 🙂
4 Win 10 Pro all 1903 (3 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

[EspressoWillieAskWoody Plus]

Ok, I’m going to play the devil’s advocate.  I did see the extended widget yesterday, then today it’s back to the small one.  I actually like the small one as now I have to scroll “way down” the page to find sections like Search for Topics or Recent Topics.  Plus once I have paid, I shouldn’t have to see all that information.

I would rather see an easier method for finding these sections from a selection or menu at the top.  Even better would be something that would remember my settings.  I’m a big fan of the user experience and we work hard to make our software as user friendly and efficient.

I do realize that there are limitations in what can be done using WordPress.  Plus I’m not experienced in WordPress either.  Keep up the good work.

 

Cheers!!
Willie McClure
www.datarim.com
Talk's cheap, takes money to buy whiskey.

[OscarCPAskWoody Plus]

After accessing this site I logged in, first thing as usual. No widget. Then I reloaded the page (is that what “refresh means”?) still, no widget. As you can see for yourselves in the attached screenshot taken a few minutes ago (and, in real life, the twice reloaded browser screen still shows no widget, as I write this…)

In case it means something: I am logged in using my Mac (Mojave) and Waterfox as the browser.

Windows 7 Professional, SP1, x64 Group B & macOS + Linux (Mint) => Win7 Group W + Mac&Lx

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[KirstyDa Boss]

I’m not seeing it for mine at the moment, either. For me, it has come and gone a few times since it was introduced a few days ago – it was there when I logged in a few hours ago…
🙂

[OscarCPAskWoody Plus]

It’s baaack!!!!

(At least for now…)

I imagine that my email, listed in the widget, is only seen by me (*), right???

(*) Unless someone else is watching (**).

(**) A perfect stranger ***).

(***) Sneakily, over my shoulder (****).

(****) Quite unnoticed.

Windows 7 Professional, SP1, x64 Group B & macOS + Linux (Mint) => Win7 Group W + Mac&Lx

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[The Surfing PensionerAskWoody Plus]

Mine’s back, too. We shall have to christen it the peek-a-boo widget.

2 users thanked author for this post.

SueW, Myst

[DrBonzoAskWoody Plus]

Yep, mines back as well.

[woodyDa Boss]

Devs say they fixed The Case of The Disappearing Widget.

And they say they’ve fixed the 9x multiplier, too.

[anonymous]

That is so UGLY and WAY TOO BIG!  I was one of the “lucky” ones and saw it on Nov 7 and was appalled.

I used to never logout but I just tried logging out and I got the smaller, neater, NON EYESORE in that area.  I guess I’ll just stay logged out from now on most of the time…unless the recaptcha is too time consuming.

This should be in a drop down menu so it could be hidden if that is what one wants.  Besides being too big and ugly it is too in your face ALL THE TIME.  That does not lend itself to creating goodwill and for those not members to want to join.

Hmpf.  I decided to write the above last paragraph AFTER I did the captcha.  While writing it (a minute or so) I got a verfication expired for the captcha.  I gotta do it again??

[The Surfing PensionerAskWoody Plus]

Oh, I rather like mine. Creates the illusion that I’m part of the furnishings…………………………

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[OscarCPAskWoody Plus]

I don’t really mind, but would like to observe that the part about the Newsletter is rather redundant. I think that this part is seen only by those of us who have a Plus Membership. But, if one has paid for a Plus Membership, that includes a subscription to the Newsletter, and got the golden cockade, then one also knows about the Newsletter being delivered to one’s email address and how to change that email address. Without that rather large area in the widget dedicated to the Newsletter, the widget would be reduced in size almost by half and, therefore, look more fetching, elegant, streamlined, and so on and so forth, maybe also making some people happier.

Windows 7 Professional, SP1, x64 Group B & macOS + Linux (Mint) => Win7 Group W + Mac&Lx

[woodyDa Boss]

The problem is that I’m juggling three databases – and they don’t necessarily line up. Some people will have Plus Memberships, but their Newsletter email addresses don’t match.

[barcudAskWoody Plus]

Wow, I’m getting LATIN on the ‘Donate’ button:

“Id audire appareat est, tota aliquid ne vix. Ne vim viderer deterruisset. Nec nominati torquatos pertinacia no. Probo luptatum delicatissimi eu eam, ex pri ludus senserit, pro an dicam placerat democritum. Ea eius tacimates vel.”

Doesn’t even make sense!

[woodyDa Boss]

Paenitet…

Looks like we got a retrograde bug there. Devs to the rescue…

1 user thanked author for this post.

barcud

[The Surfing PensionerAskWoody Plus]

According to Google: “This may appear to hear is to say, the whole thing is at least rarely. Do not force seem to be deterred. Nor is curling but no resolution. Luptatum delicatissimi football approve it in the first game felt, or whether to call for a real estate democritum. She and her Tacimates.”  Sounds reminiscent of some Anonymous posts we’ve had recently?

• This reply was modified 3 months ago by  The Surfing Pensioner.
• This reply was modified 3 months ago by  woody.

[F A KramerAskWoody Plus]

I like the new widget. Yes, it is a bit large and the text could perhaps be condensed a bit both in size and content. But the widget applies only when logged in so it is of no consequence otherwise. I appreciate that the widget is informative and provides a direct way to periodically donate (as my membership does not expire until 2200!) which did not exist before. This widget beats having to access a separate membership menu and trying to guess which item to select to made a donation which was the case before.

Was it Abe Lincoln who said that you can satisfy all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t satisfy all the people all of the time?

[JohnWAskWoody Plus]

+1 for the new widget, Woody! Thanks!

I just noticed that there seems to be a lot of OCD going on around here. 🙂

I’m sure that Woody will take the constructive criticism, and do what he can within the confines of WordPress!

4 users thanked author for this post.

Microfix, Bluetrix, Nathan Parker, woody

[OscarCPAskWoody Plus]

I just logged in a few minutes ago and first thing I noticed was thet THE WIDGET HAS SHRUNK! (As shown with the attached screenshot).

I am favorably impressed, as the information eliminated, about the delivery of the Newsletter to Premium members, was something I had commented earlier as being really redundant. If you are ‘Premium’ you’ve already noticed the Newsletter is being delivered to your email address days ahead of anyone who is not Premium. Woody explained that the part about the Newsletter, particularly the inclusion of the user’s email in it, had something to do with juggling different data bases with users information, sometimes containing different addresses. That being so, I do wonder if he and his team have managed to handle that problem differently, or if the shrinking is caused by a bug I just discovered.

I am also somewhat surprised that others have not commented yet on this very unmissable change to the widget. People were rather keen on doing that only a few days ago.

 

Windows 7 Professional, SP1, x64 Group B & macOS + Linux (Mint) => Win7 Group W + Mac&Lx

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woody

[woodyDa Boss]

We aim to please. 🙂

3 users thanked author for this post.

Nathan Parker, JohnW, OscarCP

[JohnWAskWoody Plus]

@woody

And also thanks for the change to the color of the text in the side bar. The blue text is much easier on the eyes than the old red-ish text color against the wood panel background.

I realize it has been this way for a while, but I thought it deserved a shout out. Pardon me if I missed a discussion when it happened, but it’s one of the many little things (and a few big things) that adds up to a general improvement to the User eXperience around here!!! 🙂

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[The Surfing PensionerAskWoody Plus]

Yes, mine’s been trimmed as well. I admit I hadn’t noticed before. Maybe the widget is losing its novelty?

1 user thanked author for this post.

woody

[woodyDa Boss]

Naw, I paid to have the devs go in and change it. I think it’s better this way, too.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Nathan Parker, JohnW

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