Computer problems and/or advice 2012

[annew]

At Last! While my husband was talking to the Mac people on the phone, it performed beautifully, despite it refusing stubbornly to work beforehand. Now he knows how I feel when it suddenly starts to work OK as soon as he walks into the room. Mac is now fine after installing Mountain Lion and re-installing all the software from scratch (several days).

[David Nicholson]

As I understand it Word in the newer versions of Microsoft Office produces docx files whereas in the older versions it produces doc files. My version is Office 2000 (that produces doc files) but an SRGC advertising client has sent me an advert on a docx file and I am not able to open it. I did a bit of research and it seems Msoft produces a compatibility pack which I have downloaded but I haven't a clue how to use it. Can anyone help please (in words of little more than one syllable!)

[Maggi Young]

Message sent, David!

[David Nicholson]

Many thanks Maggi.

[mark smyth]

Hidden words to boost Google rankings.

I'm almost ready to launch a new web site to promote my bat survey work and need to make sure when someone in N Ireland Googles for a bat survey I come up tops or nearly. I was told years ago, possibly by Fred, that I can hide key words that are visible to search engines. Does anyone know how to do this or is it down to how I descrice myself?

What really annoys me is I'm very often the third or fourth point of call for a survey quote. Architect A needs a bat suvey for his clients turbine application so he asks his architect friend B. He then asks his survey friend for a quote but he is busy and asks me. I give the quote and everyone adds on to make some money. By the time it gets to the client the survey quote has tripled or quadrupled.

[David Pilling]

Mark - the trigger phrase is "SEO", search engine optimisation. Google it for advice.

A black art, do you not want to rise to the top of the Google ranking by fair means. It is a battle people work out clever ways to get up Google, and Google spots what they're doing and sends them back down to the bottom.

Go to the SRGC home page, right click, select view page source, and we see:

<meta name="KEYWORDS"
 CONTENT="rare plants,himalayan

...

">

add your own tags, Britney Spears, whatever you think will get peoples attention.

Getting people to link to you, getting happy Googlers (people go to your web site and don't come back), unique content, I guess all help.

[Paddy Tobin]

http://www.irishgardenplantsociety.com/

This is the website of the Irish Garden Plant Society and its care is being passed into my hands. To date, any updates were done by a person who used html but I have absolutely no experience with this.

It is my hope that you can recommend an easy to use website editing programme for me. I don't mind paying for one - the society will pick up the tab.

Adobe Dreamweaver was recommended. Frontpage was mentioned also. I don't know which might better suit my needs.

My little background reading to date indicates that it would be a help to know what programme was used originally to create the website. I don't even know who made it never mind what programme was used. I realise that people experienced in web design might be able to identify the programme used.

My intention is to add material to the site - descriptions of plants with photographs, book reviews, notes on garden visits with photographs, photo albums of events.

The hope is that the site might attract new people to the organisation as well as inform present members though, and I don't think I will hurt any feelings by saying this, the age profile of present members is certainly on the old side and they might not be the most regular users of websites. Also, it is fair to say that little material has been added to the site since it was first made.

Any help/comments/advice would be most welcome - I can already hear a "I'd scrap what you have and start again" coming but that would simply pose another set of problems for me. So, if you don't mind, advice on making the most of what I have for the moment.

My thanks if you have had the patience to read this far and I look forward to your comments.

[David Pilling]

Paddy - I've had a look at your web site. Looks good to me. I'd guess it is hand crafted html and javascript. It is nice and simple.

Personally I'd carry on with it, both the design and the format.

I'm a programmer (so well capable of writing html), yet I ended up using a web page creator, and it was harder to understand than html. I don't think html is a big deal, you want a word in italics, you write:

<i>italics</i>

what's hard about that.

You have more of a problem with the javascript, because that is a real programming language - I'm not sure what any web page editor software will make of it, probably it will leave it for you to sort out.

As ever with learning to program, change something small and see what the effect is.

Over to the dream weavers to say how easy that is...

(someone had done a good site using it and mentioned it here a few weeks back).

As regards efficiency and being able to do absolutely anything you will never beat hand code.

[Palustris]

Photobucket....................Again
Over the last week or so, I have been trying to use the PB Bulk uploader. I know I can use the single upload facility and with Ctlr whatever can choose as many pics as I want. BUT that presupposes that the pictures are in the right place and order in a File. With the Bulk option one can choose the pictures. (I mention this as every one immediately tells me how to upload using the simple method).
The Bulk one goes to Loading, then to Initialising and that's it. Zilch. The really annoying thing is that now Firefox has crashed and the Computer has to be restarted to get out of the problem. Strangely this also happens in Chrome. IE though asks for a  version of Java which went out of use a long time back.(Java 10).
If I allow Java to display what it is doing, it seems to get half way through the 'program' then hang fire.
I have asked on Firefox and PJ and neither of them has responded.
Anyone any suggestions as to what I can try to do? Simple answers for a simple man please.

[ashley]

Just read your eloquent introduction in the IGPS Newsletter Paddy. 
Congratulations on taking over the Chair and very best of luck with it.
Sorry I can't help with the website.

[mark smyth]

I believe I'm guilty for irishgardenplantsociety.com and did it using Front Page

[Paddy Tobin]

Many thanks for your kind comments, Ashley. I had feared you might never talk to me again !!!

My taking on the chair came after a trawl of potentially suitable people for the position drew a blank, I believe. It was a case that the position had to be filled and I was pushed forward/cajoled/coerced/bribed with false promises etc  but I accepted gracefully, felt honoured to be honest.

The society has been on the downslide for a few years but the committee is very hard working and there is hope for the future. So! Hope to see you attending in Cork over the winter.

[Paddy Tobin]

Mark, the website was designed by Ian Campbell whose mother was on the national committee for many years. Paddy

[ashley]

I had feared you might never talk to me again !!!

 

... the committee is very hard working and there is hope for the future. So! Hope to see you attending in Cork over the winter.

I hope so too Paddy.  The programme looks excellent and great credit is due to those responsible.
Unfortunately over the last couple of years I took on too many other things so lapsed from IGPS meetings through negligence and tiredness rather than lack of interest

[David Nicholson]

Something most odd has happened and I don't seem to be able to find a way to correct it! In Outlook Express whenever I try to spell check a message I'm writing I'm getting a choice of words in French. This started to happen last evening and has never happened before. I've gone into Tools-Options-Spelling and the Language is given there as French and I can't see a way to change this. HELP please.