Featured Forums » NatureScapes.Net Help

Why can't I post from iPad?

Moderator: Greg Downing

All times are UTC-05:00

« Previous topic | Next topic »

0 people like this post

First unread post

| 25 posts |

Page 1 of 2

1 2 »

by pdschu on Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:46 am

pdschu
Forum Contributor

Posts: 175
Joined: 23 Mar 2009
Location: Orlando, Florida

When I try to post to NatureScapes I always get the message that there are "too few characters". Does anyone have a solution. I have downloaded the latest OS 7.1.

Paul Schumacher
Schumacher Photography

0 people like this post

by nclements on Sun Mar 23, 2014 2:46 pm

nclements
Development Team

Posts: 218
Joined: 16 May 2006
Location: Chicago, IL
Member #:99999

View portfolio

There's an inconsistent bug that's been going around for a long time. Many people using iPads have this problem but not everyone and there seems to be no pattern which makes debugging very difficult. (I've used 3 different iPad generations with several versions of iOS with no problems, but other people have seen issues similar to what you've seen.) One possibility is to try using a different browser on your iPad.

0 people like this post

by pdschu on Sun Mar 23, 2014 6:46 pm

pdschu
Forum Contributor

Posts: 175
Joined: 23 Mar 2009
Location: Orlando, Florida

Thanks, I will try that.

Paul Schumacher
Schumacher Photography

0 people like this post

by pdschu on Sun Mar 23, 2014 6:52 pm

pdschu
Forum Contributor

Posts: 175
Joined: 23 Mar 2009
Location: Orlando, Florida

Same result with Chrome.

Paul Schumacher
Schumacher Photography

0 people like this post

by nclements on Mon Mar 24, 2014 5:35 am

nclements
Development Team

Posts: 218
Joined: 16 May 2006
Location: Chicago, IL
Member #:99999

View portfolio

Perhaps more details are in order. Are you trying to post in the galleries or the forums? Are you posting a reply or an original message? If a reply are you using the quick reply box or the full editor?

Can you take screenshots of the page immediately before and after hitting the post button and attach it to a PM to Greg Downing and myself?

(This reply was posted from an iPad.)

0 people like this post

by pdschu on Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:45 am

pdschu
Forum Contributor

Posts: 175
Joined: 23 Mar 2009
Location: Orlando, Florida

Test send from wife's iPad air

Paul Schumacher
Schumacher Photography

0 people like this post

by pdschu on Mon Mar 24, 2014 10:09 am

pdschu
Forum Contributor

Posts: 175
Joined: 23 Mar 2009
Location: Orlando, Florida

OK. I have new info. Obviously my wife's iPad works OK. Mine does not work in forum replies either in quick reply or in full editor. Mine does work in posting a quick reply to the bird gallery.

When I copied the entire page (do not know how to do a screen grab on the iPad)and then pasted into an email to send to myself, the pasted message box containing the quick reply is empty of the typed message. This goes along with the message I always get on the iPad when trying to submit, i.e. "Your message contains too few characters." So even though I can see my typed message the program sees the text box as empty, thus the error. This happens whether I type the message or paste it into the text (message) box. Will PM you the pasted email.

Sent from my desktop.

Thanks

Paul Schumacher
Schumacher Photography

0 people like this post

by E.J. Peiker on Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:37 am

E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor

Posts: 86776
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002

View portfolio

Nicholas, with all due respect, you and Greg are the ONLY people out of several hundred that I know that don't have the problem (never tried it with an iPad Air though). Therefore I believe it is a permissions thing or something along those lines where you two, who have the deepest access into NSN don't have the problem but everyone else does. Every single day there are literally dozens of blank posts when posted as a reply with quotes in the forums.

E.J. Peiker http://www.EJPhoto.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/EJ-Peiker-Nature-Photographer/

0 people like this post

by SantaFeJoe on Mon Mar 31, 2014 8:18 am

SantaFeJoe
Forum Contributor

Posts: 8622
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Location: Somewhere Out In The Wilds

Hey Paul,
To do a screen shot on an iPad, press the button on the face of the iPad at the same time as you press the off button on the side of the iPad. It will send a screenshot to your camera roll. Then in can be sent like a regular photo.

Joe

Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. -Pablo Picasso

0 people like this post

by pdschu on Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:58 am

pdschu
Forum Contributor

Posts: 175
Joined: 23 Mar 2009
Location: Orlando, Florida

Thanks Joe. I will try it.

Nicholas, Have you had time to look further into the problem posted above? The fact that they typed and visible text is not really entering the place it should to be sent or copied should point to the cause of the problem. Thanks.

Paul Schumacher
Schumacher Photography

0 people like this post

by nclements on Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:01 pm

nclements
Development Team

Posts: 218
Joined: 16 May 2006
Location: Chicago, IL
Member #:99999

View portfolio

pdschu wrote:Thanks Joe. I will try it.

Nicholas, Have you had time to look further into the problem posted above? The fact that they typed and visible text is not really entering the place it should to be sent or copied should point to the cause of the problem. Thanks.

Unfortunately it doesn't really point to the cause of the problem as it's only a problem for some users. (E.J. says that Greg and I "are the ONLY people out of several hundred", although I'd argue that if you're not having problems then you're not going to say anything.)

I'm looking into some completely different approaches to a solution.

0 people like this post

by SantaFeJoe on Mon Mar 31, 2014 12:41 pm

SantaFeJoe
Forum Contributor

Posts: 8622
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
Location: Somewhere Out In The Wilds

[quote="nclements Unfortunately it doesn't really point to the cause of the problem as it's only a problem for some users. (E.J. says that Greg and I "are the ONLY people out of several hundred", although I'd argue that if you're not having problems then you're not going to say anything.)"]

I'm looking into some completely different approaches to a solution. [/quote]

I guess we need to say something then!!!! I can't post replies with quotes from an iPad, I can't reply to or send PMs from an iPad, the emoticons seldom work even though they are enabled and re-enabled and space is left around them, even from a desktop. Down this forum are many of the same stories since long ago. I guess we have just been waiting for them to get fixed, not realizing they weren't being investigated. I'm not trying to be rude, just trying to make a point! Also, the way a reply comes out when replying to a posting that includes a quote, (this one for example) you can see how your name and the quote notation (wrote) come out in different places and not together.

Joe

Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. -Pablo Picasso

0 people like this post

by Royce Howland on Mon Mar 31, 2014 1:54 pm

Royce Howland
Forum Contributor

Posts: 11719
Joined: 12 Jan 2005
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Member #:00460

View portfolio

For what it's worth, I have seen this issue occur even with current Firefox on Windows 7. It is a particular issue for the iPad, but I'm guessing whatever the underlying problem is has some side effects or related issues that are more cross-platform in nature.

For example, my most recent image post was in the Landscapes forum. I went through quite a few minutes of hell trying to get the forum system to submit the post, with many attempts blocked with the infamous "too few characters" complaint. Or other issues that required multiple edits to clean up the post even once the forum took it. What I finally ended up with is here, though there's likely nothing diagnostic left in it:
http://www.naturescapes.net/forums/view ... 4&t=243112

This was not a case of trying to do something bizarre. Though at one point I was trying to copy & past some text into the post; I'm pretty sure that triggered something. Still, after 30 years in software and IT I have a pretty good read on whether I'm pushing a system beyond the limits of what it should be reasonably expected to handle, and what I was encountering was nowhere near the outer edge of reasonable user behavior.

Anyway, my belief is the WYSIWYG message editor has some significant issues, and they're not just related to the iOS platform. Though perhaps getting to the bottom of them, since given the volume I have to believe they'd be the most reproducible, would clear up a host of issues...

Royce Howland

0 people like this post

by MND on Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:40 pm

MND
Forum Contributor

Posts: 584
Joined: 1 Jan 2007
Location: Pennsylvania

nclements wrote:
pdschu wrote:Thanks Joe. I will try it.

Nicholas, Have you had time to look further into the problem posted above? The fact that they typed and visible text is not really entering the place it should to be sent or copied should point to the cause of the problem. Thanks.
Unfortunately it doesn't really point to the cause of the problem as it's only a problem for some users. (E.J. says that Greg and I "are the ONLY people out of several hundred", although I'd argue that if you're not having problems then you're not going to say anything.)

I'm looking into some completely different approaches to a solution.

Mike

http://mikes-photographs.blogspot.com

0 people like this post

by MND on Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:42 pm

MND
Forum Contributor

Posts: 584
Joined: 1 Jan 2007
Location: Pennsylvania

That was a me too!

Mike

http://mikes-photographs.blogspot.com

0 people like this post

by MND on Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:46 pm

MND
Forum Contributor

Posts: 584
Joined: 1 Jan 2007
Location: Pennsylvania

A Quick Reply worked. When I tried to edit my Quick Reply it failed.

This is another Quick Reply.

I can't speak for anybody else but I use my iPad mostly for browsing Forums and NSN is the only one that gives me problems.

Mike

http://mikes-photographs.blogspot.com

0 people like this post

by Eia on Wed May 07, 2014 1:41 pm

Eia
Forum Contributor

Posts: 789
Joined: 9 Dec 2009
Location: Southwest

Too few character sinwhat I get while on iPad Air and my older iPad while replying or fresh.

~AnnaMaria~

0 people like this post

by Gary Briney on Fri May 09, 2014 8:15 pm

Gary Briney
Lifetime Member

Posts: 18291
Joined: 25 Jul 2004
Location: USA
Member #:00336

View portfolio

Royce Howland wrote:For what it's worth, I have seen this issue occur even with current Firefox on Windows 7....
Anyway, my belief is the WYSIWYG message editor has some significant issues, and they're not just related to the iOS platform. Though perhaps getting to the bottom of them, since given the volume I have to believe they'd be the most reproducible, would clear up a host of issues...

I agree that the WSYIWIG editor has always been rather quirky. One issue is that sometimes when formatted text is pasted into the text box, nothing seems to happen though in fact the paste does actually occur. The text is just not visible unless the "View Source" icon is clicked to toggle out of the graphic mode. Formatted text which is copied seems to be a special problem --- after a paste, and clicking "View Source" all the HTML tags are visible along with the copied text. The result is variable and dependent on the state when the paste occurred and whether preview was used. The appearance of the message often appears different in the editor than from the final message, which displays the tags rather than formatted text (examples below.)

Message subject: Re: your opinion?
From: E.J. Peiker
Sent: Fri May 09, 2014 1:40 am
To: Gary Briney

[table][tr][td]Message subject:[/td]
[td]Re: your opinion?[/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]From:[/td]
[td]E.J. Peiker[/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]Sent:[/td]
[td]Fri May 09, 2014 1:40 am[/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]To:[/td]
[td]Gary Briney [/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

G. Briney

0 people like this post

by nclements on Sat May 10, 2014 9:02 am

nclements
Development Team

Posts: 218
Joined: 16 May 2006
Location: Chicago, IL
Member #:99999

View portfolio

Gary Briney wrote:
Royce Howland wrote:For what it's worth, I have seen this issue occur even with current Firefox on Windows 7....
Anyway, my belief is the WYSIWYG message editor has some significant issues, and they're not just related to the iOS platform. Though perhaps getting to the bottom of them, since given the volume I have to believe they'd be the most reproducible, would clear up a host of issues...
I agree that the WSYIWIG editor has always been rather quirky. One issue is that sometimes when formatted text is pasted into the text box, nothing seems to happen though in fact the paste does actually occur. The text is just not visible unless the "View Source" icon is clicked to toggle out of the graphic mode. Formatted text which is copied seems to be a special problem --- after a paste, and clicking "View Source" all the HTML tags are visible along with the copied text. The result is variable and dependent on the state when the paste occurred and whether preview was used. The appearance of the message often appears different in the editor than from the final message, which displays the tags rather than formatted text (examples below.)

Message subject: Re: your opinion?
From: E.J. Peiker
Sent: Fri May 09, 2014 1:40 am
To: Gary Briney

[table][tr][td]Message subject:[/td]
[td]Re: your opinion?[/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]From:[/td]
[td]E.J. Peiker[/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]Sent:[/td]
[td]Fri May 09, 2014 1:40 am[/td]
[/tr]
[tr][td]To:[/td]
[td]Gary Briney [/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Perhaps a tad on the unfair side to use a table for the example. The editor supports a table, but the forums software being used (latest version of phpBB3) has never supported it by default. So the WYSIWYG editor will show it correctly in the edit space but the forum software -- which does not use the same parser for its display of the message won't. This is the reason why the table structure was removed from the toolbar of the editor, as were several other items.

Also there has always been an issue with cutting and pasting text from other sources, even when the default edit box was being used. (I still have the e-mails to prove it, from several years ago.) The main culprit, Word for Windows. The reason is a cut-and-paste function, although different depending on the operating system, usually brings the hidden artifacts of the document formatting which is generally incompatible with most browser software. Companies (facebook, for example) spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get this sort of detail sorted out. Other companies don't even bother with having a MWYSIWYG editor ('M' for 'Mostly'). I suppose we could go back to the default editor but then the number of comments about that would increase. That's a decision for Greg.

0 people like this post

by Gary Briney on Sat May 10, 2014 10:00 am

Gary Briney
Lifetime Member

Posts: 18291
Joined: 25 Jul 2004
Location: USA
Member #:00336

View portfolio

Nicholas,

Actually the table is the result of a conversion which occurs after the paste operation and the message is previewed. The example is an address header copied from an NSN PM, and it looks perfectly normal like a quote box after pasting into the editor box. However when the message is previewed, the preview displays the tags, and the formatted text in the editor box is magically converted to the table, which was a bit of a surprise to me! So the table example was the choice of the NSN software rather than mine. [edit -- By the way, the table does display properly within the editor, even though it's converted back to tags in Preview and the final submission. It's ironic that with this WSIWYG editor, what you see is not what you get.]

Gary

G. Briney

0 people like this post

25 posts |

Page 1 of 2

1 2 »

Return to NatureScapes.Net Help

Why can't I post from iPad?

The Resource for Nature Photographers

Sign up for our newsletter

Community

Forums, Galleries, Portfolios

Membership

Editorial & Advertising

NatureScapes.net is the trusted source for nature, wildlife, and outdoor photography gear at the best prices!

Categories

Why can't I post from iPad?

The Resource for Nature Photographers

Sign up for our newsletter

Community

Forums, Galleries, Portfolios

Membership

Editorial & Advertising

NatureScapes.net is the trusted source for nature, wildlife, and outdoor photography gear at the best prices!