Vista Tutorial - Passport failure, but message posts.

When changing newsgroups, back and forth, to look for responces and reply (in
WLM and Windows Mail) I will often see my post go up, but I get the "Rate a
Post" offer in my own message. This means my passport logon has suddenly
failed. I have to restart WLM to get this to work again. I do see the correct
passport info in the indicator box in the WLM window, it just decides to not
work. I have learned that when I have trouble getting the button for "Reply
to Group" to highlight, I know it's time to restart.
This seems to be some problem with the passport verification when changing
newsgroups. This was happening in Windows Mail, so I changed to Live, but
after a month of using each one, I am getting the same passport failure. I
don't think this is anything to do with the passport site, but something in
the apps themselves.
Since I have lost over 10% of my posts that were rated as an 'answer' to
this posting failure (he said without a trace of rancor :/), I would like to
hear from anyone else seeing this, and if any better fix is available than my
'highlight failure' indicator.
--
(Hello, Winston O', nice tio see you)
Mark L. Ferguson

I cannot for the life of me work out what your problem is. You are clearly
using communities support features (which I rarely do, because I haven't yet
found out what advantage they might give). You see your post "go up" - up
where? Then you get the "Rate this post" (whatever that may mean) offer. Why
should this not appear in your own messages? As far as I can see, it's there
in all messages. How is the server to know which are your posts and which
not? Admittedly, I've only seen this apparatus in MS newsgroups - does it
work outside them as well? I'm not obliged to log in to msnews, so how does
it know who I am? There is no connection as far as I can see between the
Live ID (what you call 'passport', I suppose) I'm signed in with and any
intercourse I might have with msnews groups. You say you see the "correct
passport info in the indicator box ... it just decides not to work." What do
you expect it to do when it does work?

And what do you mean by "I've lost 10% of my posts"? They're no longer on
the NNTP server? Join the club! The oldest post I can see at the moment is
dated 26 January this year, yet I've been posting more or less regularly in
this group since mid 2006. Soon after last Christmas, there were more than
5000 messages in this group; before this latest flurry, the count was down
to 3300.

Would you care to explain the problem a bit more clearly?
--
Noel

"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson@xxxxxx> wrote in
message newsEE5C2BD-6461-4115-B640-95F8C587C928@xxxxxx

I understand your confusion. I will leave my normal sig link below to
explain it a bit better, but basically, this is it. You log onto
"Communities" with your Passport. This allows the "Communities" interface
for the newsgroup to show icons for 'questions', or 'comments' and so on.
Anyone offering a post that (in the opinion of the "Original Poster"(OP) )
is the 'answer', they can click a ratings icon, and say 'this was helpful'
and causing a checkmark icon to appear on the post.
These are tracked, and if you click on the authors name (in the upper left
corner of the reply, using "Communities web interface") you see the number
of posts I have authored that have been rated as 'answer' by the OP.
In WLM, there is a checkbox in the Options to 'use the communities
interface'. I participate, mostly because it's a new 'game', and since the
MVP world was getting a little boring. (I value the opinion of the
questioner much more than the opinion of MS.)
This participation yields an icon, a 'medal' for gathering 'answer' credits.
It shows in the Communities interface next to he posters name,and
theoretically tells the OP they are hearing for an 'accredited' responder.
The MVPs have their own 'medal' and are pretty much recognized as
authorities on what they address.
You can see some of my work here.
Windows Vista Community Discussion Groups:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/com...b-a63e791bbc79
(link will break in newsreaders, paste it into run)
--
Was this helpful? Then click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web
interface.
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...eAPostAsAnswer
Mark L. Ferguson
..

"Ildhund" <jnllb@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news8B2B715-C082-4751-A21D-062DBA27A94D@xxxxxx

I've heard quite a few people complain that the 'Communities'
features are quite buggy. For that reason I do not use them.
Also, I have tried the web interface but find it maddingly clumsy and
restrictive compared to the cleaner and snappier NNTP interface.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (WLMail)


"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson@xxxxxx> wrote in message
newsEE5C2BD-6461-4115-B640-95F8C587C928@xxxxxx

Hello marfer,
Nice to see you too. As always appreciate the time you've spent to share
your knowledge with all of us. Still plucking away on a tablet ?

Most of my efforts are via the nntp interface with an occasional forary into
the web interface. The latter can occasionally test one's patience This
response is from the web ui.

I see the same 'Rate a post' in my own messages when using WLM whether
posted via WLM or the Web UI. I've also noticed that WLM doesn't always
consistently handshake with the web ui even when using the same community
Live ID to sign-on in WLM. e.g. Counter(number of posts), Rank(mvp tag) and
Rating fields.

I've tried quite a few different scenarios(same id, same modified id in both
WLM and my community profile) without consistent success. In fact, some items
change on later subsequent openings of WLM.

Wish I could provide a solution.

Mark,
By the way...a few old friends asked me to pass along best wishes(James S.,
Peter F.)
Fyi....that original 1995 msn.com addy is still valid, still a pop3 and the
most spam free of all. The throw away gmail used for this post is also valid.
Email if you wish to catch up.
--
...winston
ms-mvp mail



"Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:

The Communities 'rating' system is the best MS idea in a while. I am really
behind seeing it work as it should. A 'peer rating' seems to me far superior
to any other. I know, as an MVP, I'm 'preaching to the choir' with you, but
I couldn't resist this chance for a little 'public advocacy' for my project.
1. Almost all 'nubie questions' posted here carry the 'question' icon
visible when using the communities interface. This means they are using it,
and not the other newsreaders a veteran of the groups might prefer.
2. "Answered" questions do Not 'age off' on the web interface, as they do on
the newsreader download set.
3. Moderation is possible, and effective when using Communities (thought
limited to a 100 or so of the total by MS )
4. The 'scorecard' (profile) is a motivator for helpers and the 'medal' is
an ego boost as well as a guide.
5. Searching the web interface includes 'age old' answers. (a point I think
it may take an MVP to appreciate
Other arguments are in the link in my sig.
<email to your MSN account follows>
--
Was this helpful? Then click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web
interface.
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...eAPostAsAnswer
Mark L. Ferguson
..

"...winston" <winstonmvp@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:38AA90ED-9A93-4B86-A10E-CAC4AF32DA07@xxxxxx

Thanks for your earlier explanation of the system. You didn't elaborate on
how the 'passport failure' affects it, though - and I suspect that a lot of
readers won't know what you mean by passport, either. I suppose you're
referring to the Live ID you sign in with.

I still don't understand what the 'Rate this post' button is supposed to do.
I would have expected it to give me an opportunity to express an opinion of
the post's value by giving it a rating, say from one to five stars, where
one meant worthless and five meant a complete solution or an extremely
helpful comment. But it doesn't, so what does it do?

Some comments, if I may, on this post inline...

"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson@xxxxxx> wrote in
message news:30FBB009-143E-4C6E-B04C-2537D9078B4C@xxxxxxNot necessarily, I think. If communities support features are enabled, a new
post compose window contains radio buttons to categorize the post, with
'question' as the default. You can tell whether a poster is using the web
interface by checking the headers. They carry message IDs like
GUID@xxxxxx, and irritatingly fail to disclose the poster's IP
address. A newsreader post often contains clues to the poster's OS, as well,
so you don't have to go through the 'which OS' round of questions and
answers.
I'd noticed that it was pretty random which ones were still available on the
web of those that had disappeared from the NNTP server. I cannot understand
why they can't all remain on that server, apart from offensive ones. Adobe
seem to be able to to that, for example.
That sounds pretty childish to me. It might apply in some fora, but I can
hardly see that regular posters in serious technical newsgroups would be
more motivated by getting stars in their attendance books than by a desire
to be helpful.

(Incidentally, having been an intermittent user of MS newsgroups for ten
years or more, I thought it would be interesting to see what my profile
said. Despite having posted more than 1500 times since November 2006 (when I
got the machine I'm using now), and having got lots of green ticks for being
a good boy, it said "No information available". So much for the rating
system!)
I've almost given up on searching there, because it's so disappointing.
Google is much better at finding posts on MS newsgroups. My ideal would be
to have all the posts I've downloaded to remain on my machine, where they
can be indexed and searched in a fraction of the time it takes to conduct a
search elsewhere. I do try and remember to copy older posts to another
folder from time to time, but when I forget, they're gone. If anyone knows
how to prevent them from being deleted, I'd be delighted to hear.
.... where it says i.a. "In the message pane, do one of the following:
+ If the post answers your question, click Yes next to Did this post answer
the question?
+ If the message was not helpful to you, click No next to Did this post
answer the question?
The post you rated is now marked as an answer..."
....whether it was helpful or not. Bizarre!

Incidentally, WLMail will for some reason not recognize the bookmark '#' in
links. It doesn't help to escape it, either, unless I'm doing something
wrong.
--
Noel

"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:30FBB009-143E-4C6E-B04C-2537D9078B4C@xxxxxxThat's a detriment rather than a plus.
In the microsoft.public.windows.vista.mail newsgroup (where I am much more
active), we routinely come across users who are in trouble because they
used a 10 month old 'fix' that is now deprecated and superseded by a better
fix. This is a dynamic field where change is the order of the day.
--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (WLMail)

"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:30FBB009-143E-4C6E-B04C-2537D9078B4C@xxxxxxMostly because they are using the web interface though,
not because they are using WLMail or WM with

Use newsgroup Community support features

checked.


Ditto for Threads with helpful posts at a certain threshhold.
But the problem with that is that many users vote on the
OP (question) not the reply (comment). Hence, we see
scads of obsolete threads retained which contain nothing
but Me too! posts while real answers (probably given scores
of times) have been aged off, only to be found in Google Groups
searches (if they are lucky.)

More expectation from MS that they can leverage
an MVP's "unpaid employee" role? ; }


If only...

If WLMail didn't make it such a PITA to be Working Offline
I might be more inclined to stay connectable. I *still* don't
like headers dribbling in when I use newsgroups while
Working Online (even though I am finally using broadband). ; )


Robert
---

I can't help commenting on this rating system again. I switched on the
communities support features just to check on how it works, and I find that
maffysdad's rant at news:216E5D4D-0A14-4351-83C7-1FD00E90CCF8@xxxxxx
is now marked as an answered question, with the 'answers' being two
subsequent rants by Liviu and orygunguy. These will now presumably be
archived for evermore as useful posts, while many deserving ones are
ditched. I'm sorry, but I can't attach any credibility to a system so
clearly open to abuse and, sadly, abused.
--
Noel

"Mark L. Ferguson" <MarkLFerguson@xxxxxx> wrote in
message news:30FBB009-143E-4C6E-B04C-2537D9078B4C@xxxxxx