Archived Support Community

inserts bookmark

boredinsomniac — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 02:06:49 GMT

I just updated the memories for this community up to this entry.

LJLogin

soph — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 17:20:58 GMT

I think I figured out the annoying LJLogin bug, where users' site schemes keep switching to Horizon. :D

Apparently there's a cookie that LJLogin doesn't update permanently when you log in/out, which the Web interface *does*. This cookie includes the site scheme information. What this means is that if you ever use the Web interface to log out of LiveJournal, your site scheme will be set to the default and LJLogin won't update it when you log in.

So, to fix it, log *in* with the Web interface. The site will send you a new permanent site scheme cookie and you'll then be able to use LJLogin without a problem.

The moral of the story: if you use LJLogin, make sure you use it for everything - logging in and out, and switching accounts. Don't use the Web interface, and if you do, use the Web interface again to fix it.

Note: I'm not a supporthelp or admin, so can't say whether this answer should be given to users or whether we should continue giving the standard NOP replies. I'd be interested in getting confirmation on that. :)

I3s: Priv Playing, the Next Generation

christine — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:33:02 GMT

This post is intended to discuss the changes made to the "Priv Playing" phase of training, specifically, the privs supportviewstocks and supportchangesummary

For information on the actual practice of priv playing, please see this post, and the posts which Cadenza links from there.

In the past, advanced-level I2s were asked to enter a phase of training called "priv playing", in which they would leave ICs on a request detailing how they would handle the request, were they a supporthelp. This, of course, is still true. Recently however, admins began awarding two new privs to complement the practice of priv playing. These two privs are supportviewstocks and supportchangesummary. Because privs are now granted as part of priv playing, we now refer to this phase of training as "I3s".

I3s?!?!? That's crazy talk! How are they similar to other levels of privs? How are they different?

Well, you get privs! You'll also get a post in privchange (if your friendly neighborhood admin doesn't forget, heh).

However, unlike the Supporthelp, I1 and I2 privs, I3 and priv playing are considered an active phase of training. Therefore, it is expected that you'll maintain some amount of consistancy in your activity while you're priv playing. This doesn't mean that you can't take breaks, however! It simply means that, because we have found over time that priv playing works best when volunteers are actively engaged in the activity (rather than just "picking at it" from time to time), that you should reserve priv playing for a time when you'll be able to dedicate more time and energy to it. If you're at all concerned about priv playing, your activity, or taking an absence, please consult your friendly category admins.

Cool. So what are these privs anyway? How do I use them?

Supportchangesummary

People that have priv played in the past may be familiar with the phrase "I would also change the summary to..." Your days of this are no longer. In the text field above the answer/comment field you're familiar with, simply change the summary (if you're browsing with JS enabled, the ticky box will automatically ticky), and you're all set. We recommend that you change the summary when you see the opportunity, so that we can see this part of your priv playing in action.

Supportviewstocks

You may have used your own canned answers before to answer common requests on the board. You may also have used some of the shared stocks that are written to address sudden or recurring problems on the site. So you're probably familiar with stocks in the general sense. But before we give you the approval wand for real, we would like to give you the opportunity to become comfortable with our stock dropdown menu, now available for your convenience.

The number one rule of using the stocks? Tailor when needed.
The number two rule of using the stocks? Tailor when needed.

To use a stock, click on the dropdown menu, scroll down to the title of the the stock you'd like to use, and click. Voila! An answer now appears in the answer/comment field. Read the answer over, tailor as necessary, and you're ready to go. If you decide that wasn't the right stock to use, you can delete the text and select another stock from the menu.

If you'd like to use a stock on a request which already has the automatically inserted validation nag, the stock will be inserted after the vali-nag. You will need to manually edit the answer to appear in the correct order (see commentversation below).

Some stocks abolutely need tailoring (i.e., they're missing a piece of information that varies by request). You'll see an asterisk (*) in the title of these stocks.

Oh! And if you see something in a stock that needs to be updated/changed/modified/gutted entirely, please do email support@ and a category admin will update that. In fact, we'd greatly appreciate it :)

Please note, that the stocks will only automatically appear in you answer/comment field if you are using the support area with JavaScript enabled. If you do not use JS, or if you'd like to view the stocks without using a support request, you can view the stocks here.

Okay, but I'm too good for these stocks. Do I have to use them?

Nobody is going to force you to use stocks. Some people just don't like stocks, or end up tailoring them to the point where it would have been easier to start from scratch. We suggest that you play with the feature though, so that you can get used to it, and see what's available. Most supporthelps do find the stocks useful, even if they don't rely on them heavily.

But I have more questions!

Ask them below!

Bug filing protocol?

decadence1 — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 18:07:11 GMT

Hi,

Can someone give me a heads-up of preferred protocol for filing livejournal bugs, that although unrelated to "security", might concievably relate to areas the LJ.com abuse team deal with?

Should they be filed publically, in private-category 'security', or handled another way?

Thanks.

Odd Request in G/Unk

androshd — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 09:34:29 GMT

If something that seems quite out of the ordinary comes in to G/Unk, such as this post [http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=569410], how should volunteers go about responding? Or should we? I guess my question includes the best method for determining what we refer to supporthelps/admins and how to do so.

Thanks for your insight!

Quick Reminder

christine — Fri, 24 Mar 2006 23:37:59 GMT

This is a quick reminder that any requests in which the user requests transferance/refund of their paid account should be moved to Account Payments. Yes the TOS says that there is none of either. However, employees may exercise discretion over certain sitiation. To ensure that these requests are handled in the best way possible, please move them to Accounts. Arie might move them back, but at least they'll have had the benefit of an employee review.

Love,
Me

Who has Safari?

wyntarvox — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 05:04:31 GMT

Any of you reading this who have Safari, please listen up.

I need to find out what's going with "The Boxer" and replying to comments from EntryPage pages (http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=550340 and http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=544704) and whether it's something we can fix. I don't have access to Safari (or even a Mac, for that matter), so I need some help from you guys.

Could you please load this public entry (it has the s2id of my "The Boxer" style) and see if you can reply to my entry. Let me know whether or not you can, and also let me know which version of Safari you're using. We'll go from there once I find out who can and can't.

Edit: Sorry, I should have been more specific. The problem, as shown in the two support requests I linked, is that some people using Safari can't click on the reply button when replying to the top level post on the EntryPage. Therefore, I only need to know whether you can click that link successfully. You don't need to actually leave a comment. :)

Additionally, if anyone has any ideas about what the problem might be, please also let me know about those. :)

Thank you!

Edit 2: The issue has been resolved. Thanks very much to norinel and bridgetester! <3

Dearest Lovelies

christine — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 01:55:17 GMT

This is a small thing that I've seen alot lately. However, I don't think that it is actually happening more than usual- I think that it's just because we've had more priv players than lately.

And this is no particular priv player- In fact, I think that this is something that I witnessed from a lot of priv players, maybe most priv players, and it kinda makes me go o.O.

Scenerio:

User asks question. Priv player submits answer which is basically approvable. Priv player writes his/her priv play stating listing all of the things that are needed to make the answer approvable (all are present in said priv players screened answer). So far, so good, right? Right. Priv player goes on to list "extras" or "shinies" that would make the answer better. Still good- except that not all of the shiny elements are included in the priv players screened answer.

Hmm..

Please remember that priv players are like super i2s. They're expected to answer with all of their i2ly ability (within reason- obviously all of us have some days where our answers are better than others), plus they're being asked to participate in this new level of training. And if you priv play on a request saying that you know that XYZ element would make the answer better, then it should probably be in your answer. Otherwise, it will reflect poorly on your answer writing (which of course, is still being assessed as you priv play).

Disclaimer: This is a statement of Chrissy's opinion as someone that is responsible for looking over priv players, not a statement of policy or anything from The Powers That Be

determining if an entry is backdated...

fyre — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 09:33:13 GMT

I know I saw how to do this, somewhere, relatively recently... but I can't track it down.

Is there any way to quickly and easily determine if a user's latest entry is backdated? (Alternatively, is there any way to determine it, even if the method is not quick/easy?)

how to use supportviewscreened?

jai_dit — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 12:24:28 GMT

Okay, so, as a new I1 (hi everybody), I was going through all the memories and stuff, and realized I had a question. If I'm looking at a request with screened answers that I think are missing some stuff, am I allowed to write my own response that includes some of the ideas from the previous responses, as well as what I think is missing? I did come across Leora's comment on something somewhat similar to this, but it was not exactly the same, and also a few years old (and I'm not sure how policies have changed etc.) Maybe what I'm looking for is more along the lines of "how is it acceptable to use screened responses in your own answer, if it is." I hope it's evident that I don't mean I'm planning on copying/plagiarizing. I'm just not sure I understand where the boundary between "us[ing] the resources at your disposal to learn and to improve your answers" and copying is.

(sorry if this is rambly; it's 5am)

Edit. Oh. An example might be helpful. Here, I thought the person was wanting info on just a regular image in the userinfo. Some of the screeneds mentioned another interpretation. Would it be wrong for me to incorporate that into my answer and then post a new screened?

google blogsearch

burr86 — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 17:43:39 GMT

Feel free to use this answer, tailored as appropriate.

The "Block Robots/Spiders" option enters HTML <meta> tags into your journal's code to indicate that the content should not be archived or cached. Google's new Blog Search feature uses RSS feeds, not direct site crawling, to archive and index posts for searchability. Unfortunately, data feeds such as your journal's RSS feed do not have similar tags that instruct spiders not to archive the data. As such, the feature in question has no bearing on other sites' ability to read your RSS feed.

While it is not possible to entirely disable your RSS feed, you can limit its output strictly to the subject lines of your entries. To do this, you can go to http://www.livejournal.com/admin/console and execute the following command:

set synlevel title

Your syndicated feed will only display public entries to logged-out users, along with anyone not on your Friends list. If your protected content has been archived on Google's Blog Search, then it was archived at a time when the entry was public. Unfortunately, there is no way for LiveJournal to require the removal of the material in question; you, as the content owner, will need to speak with Google about this matter. You may also wish to consult legal counsel if you believe your copyrighted material has been archived without your consent, to discuss what recourse you have in this situation.

scoober — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 03:48:26 GMT

Hi guys, does anyone have a list of all the things you can't do before you validate your email address? I mean, other than posting comments and receiving notification emails.

Thought I'd post this to support_interim because I don't think I've made a post here yet (hiiii). :P

I was going to wait until 200 points until I posted, but I've been on 198 for ages, and no luck. Sigh.

Let's talk jitemid...

kevin — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 10:35:59 GMT

This is more for my knowledge than anything, but can someone either explain in plain English (with examples, please!) or point me to a post explaining how jitemid works?

(FWIW, this might be of interest to Webby people, and I posted here because I don't want to confuse the newbies in learn_support with this.)

Thanks, Kevin.

There I was, minding my own business and tagging old entries, when...

pauamma — Sun, 19 Jun 2005 12:24:58 GMT

... I was hit by what most likely is http://zilla.livejournal.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2354.

Demonstration: http://www.livejournal.com/users/pauamma/26947.html ~~doesn't work~~works now, but http://www.livejournal.com/users/pauamma/26743.html works.

Didn't see it mentioned in the BYB or in http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=support_web. (I looked in General: Current issues and a few other places. I found http://www.livejournal.com/community/web_ui/1268.html, which would be useful if still applicable, but still requires spr0t action.)

Anyone knows when that fix will go live, and or whether it deserves its BYB entry?

Oh, and I'm not sure this should have gone here, but I can't post to support_web, helpscreening is for specific requests I touched, and it seems kinda silly to post to support_testers about something for which there's a committed fix.

EDIT 2005-07-03: Fix was pushed, or something else happened to make it work.

Instead of having to work it out by trial and error

bekijane — Thu, 19 May 2005 20:07:11 GMT

Can I have a full reference of the HTML tags that are not allowed in various places in LiveJournal please? I feel this should be explicit knowedge, even if restricted by priv level, rather than all shoved under the heading of "things you learn as you go along".

g/unk question

pennyroyalist — Thu, 05 May 2005 17:39:59 GMT

not sure if i should have posted this here or at learn_support but anyway, i have a quick question.

i know that i know longer have access to this request, but i was wondering if i handled it in the right way. did i answer it correctly? when i see answers like this in the future, should i just pass over them, or should i attempt to answer them?

(http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=451528)

thanks.

Not exactly a question

redbird — Wed, 04 May 2005 13:03:07 GMT

I hope this is the right place to post this. I have I2's in G/unk (and I think I1's in UPI), and have been asked to priv play. All well and good, except that I'm not feeling at 100% mentally of late, perhaps because I'm not at 100% physically either (bronchitis, mostly).

So I'm being careful of what I answer, and wondering whether it makes sense to take a break from priv playing, or just keep going. I sent in a review yesterday, with a note saying more or less the same thing; that implies a break at least until I hear back on this review, so I'll just be writing answers, and trying to be especially careful to make up for how I'm feeling.

What I'm worried about isn't that someone will look at my priv-play answers and say "she needs more practice." I could even, I think, cope with "why did we ask this woman to priv play?" What I'm worried about is that someone will decide "these look good" and hand me privs at a moment when I'm not functioning at my usual level, and then wonder why I'm not using them.

troubleshooting

camomiletea — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 06:02:55 GMT

Sometimes in requests I see ICs referring to jitemid, and I feel that I should know this. As far as I understood from ICs jitemid is a number that's sequential for each entry, so that if you know jitemids of two entries you can tell how far apart they were posted.

Can I find out the jitemids to help with troubleshooting in certain situations or is that just for web supporthelps or something? If I can, how?

Edit: Thanks for comments. :)

ICs on answered requests? (Styles example)

magic_beans — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 13:51:26 GMT

I spent ages poking the user's overrides to find out what was wrong, found the problems, composed an IC, refreshed to check no one had got there first and someone had. Thought the additional info might be useful so left an IC, okay? Or clutter?

http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=426817

gunk question

bekijane — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 02:39:31 GMT

http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=423532 going around on the deleted / purged journal rename merry-go-round what is policy? I've noticed this happen a couple of times. Do we tell the user they can rename or not? In this case the requestor specifically mentions a username. I check, it's purged. Clarification please?

[g/unk] What is the answer?

skywhisperer — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 21:58:42 GMT

I see a more then a few of posts like http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=418855.

I understand that 95% of them are a "see the FAQ - you can always see your posts when you're logged in, and don't forget to clear your cache" answer, but some, like this one, contain enough info to rule that out. Sometimes I see unscreened answers asking for more info.

So this brings up two questions...

The specific: What is the right response? Should I post a screened answer just asking for more info, and, if so, besides the obvious (friends involved, was it always private or was it friends-only first), is there something else we could ask that would help? Is the reason I never seem to see approved real answers to this sort of thing that they get moved off to someplace to be quietly investigated? Should a lowly L1 just leave them alone?

The general: How do things go from "a few people reported this, and it looks sort of weird, but it's not really reproducible" to "known issue"? I'm guessing this involves Bugzilla in some way, and I've seen references to looking things up in it - is there a FAQ/memory somewhere that tells us how to use it?

Membership Cleanup

burr86 — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 17:32:16 GMT

I've just cleaned up the membership list and removed anyone who no longer has privs in Support (interim privs or supporthelp, in any category). If you've got interim privs or supporthelp and you aren't a member of the community, just click the join link and request membership, and one of us will approve your request.

[moving requests] Kindergarten Bloggers

decadence1 — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 02:34:00 GMT

Should I2s still be moving the requests asking about credit card verification to Support@? I moved one this morning since I hadn't heard anything had changed but then further down the board I saw one that'd been moved out of Support@.

Should we still move them and if not what should non admins/SHs do with them - if anything?

:D

Spyware - what do we use as a definition?

ladydiana — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 10:34:12 GMT

Since we started saying "hey, get that ad crap off your pea see", I've seen varying things addressed as spyware. I know that FunWebProducts and the like are some more obvious things, but in some requests, you have a less recognizable string of characters which may, or may not, be spyware.

In at least one instance I know that we've (volunteers, admins and employees) been telling people to remove spyware when it was a legitimate update to their legitimate software.

I assumed that we were going with that because chances are HIGH that people have spyware anyway, but in the last week or so I've seen such answers rejected.

Also, rahaeli made a request for a spyware tutorial in lj_userdoc not too long ago, and I was wondering if anyone had taken the reins on that. (I'd asked elsewhere before but hadn't heard anything).

general: dual purpose posts

foalstory — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 15:20:13 GMT

I've a question that I've been pondering as of late

How do you handle requests when the user posts two completely different questions in two completely different categories? Do you leave them in G/Unk? Or how do you decide which cat to move them two?

One I saw the other day (and of course cannot find now) included questions about a background image and something else that was specifically embedding (IM profile). Now, me being the style failure that I am, it made sense to me to put it into Styles since nearly anyone hopefully knows the IM profile FAQ and could put that into any answer they used.

Or another example is one that came in where the user added to the original request with a second completely off-topic question - http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=391949

I'd love any suggestions on what the proper 'protocol' is for requests like these. thanks!