Suggestion Box

The problem as I see it

Posted By: Rusty Starfish
Date: 22 Dec 03, 11:48 am

In Response To: We'd love to fix it, but first we must find the problem. (Stanford Wong)

I'll try to summarize the problem as viewed from this end:

In response to my most recent question, Chris responded "Click the 'stop' button on your web browser to stop animated images". Please name another website anywhere on the planet where the users must take unusual or extraordinary action so that the routine posting or reading of messages in forums is possible. I doubt that you can. If in fact you can name one, I won't be visiting it, I can assure you. If the problem is animated images, the solution is NOT to tell me to click "Stop" to get around them. The solution is to get rid of the goddamn animated images. If they're causing inconvenience to your customers, yank them off the page. For the life of me, I can't see why that's so difficult to understand. I DON'T have a problem with animated images anywhere else in the known universe. Trust what your customers are telling you: I DON'T HAVE PROBLEMS WITH ANIMATED IMAGES ANYWHERE ELSE. If I did, I would very quickly have identified SSB as just one more place where my browser gives me troubles, and I would have known that the problem is on my end, not yours. The truth is I don't have problems AT ANY OTHER SITE, JUST HERE! I suspect that an overwhelming majority of the other post-ers who've complained of "frame" problems in the past would say the same thing. The problem is NOT which browser we're using; the problem is WHICH SITE we're visiting. (For the record, I too use IE6 and my "favorites" uses one of the links you've suggested).

The entire web-surfing experience for the most part should be seamless and invisible to the user. The tools and technologies now exist for that to be possible virtually everywhere you travel on the Web. If any business is to succeed, it makes sense to me that it must provide easy, "painless" access to the business site. If your customers are having to wrestle with a broken door-knob to get into your store, it doesn't matter a whole heckuva lot if YOU can't replicate the problem. The customers will still be on the outside, trying to get in. The solution therefore is not to seek hints about how to replicate the problem. The solution is to replace the damn door-knob.

Now, I realize such a notion may come off as trite and totally unhelpful. However, I have to remind you that what we're dealing with is an intermittent but frequently recurring problem on this site (and it has been for some months now). On at least two occasions, the problem was solved (albeit temporarily) by (a)dealing with a banner problem on YOUR end, and (b)dealing with the way YOUR software handles new frame-names. The software never had a problem dealing with new frame-names before, did it? When did the problems start? I can nail it down to within a couple of weeks; can you? What happened during that period AT YOUR END? I already know the answer to that one: You changed webmasters, and/or the webmaster made changes ("upgrades") to the software.

Therefore, although I realize that the sample size is much too small to make a definitie assessment, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that what is causing the current problem is ONCE AGAIN AT YOUR END. It wasn't on my end the last two times. I don't have banners and frame-names to contend with at my end; I'm just barreling along just fine and dandy down the Information Super-Highway until I get to this pot-hole here at SSB. Further, if the problem is intermittent, I would suggest that you not try to see what I'M doing differently, but what YOU'RE doing differently.

It's my fervent hope that each and every change to your web-site, no matter how trivial, is being logged on a permanent document (by hand, if necessary) so that when these problems occur, you have a readily available resource for tracking potential problems. If your current web-master can't present to you such a log detailing every specific change to your software (including the addition and deletion of banners), you have a serious problem and it's time to look for a new webmaster. IMO, this is a tool that no webmaster should be without, and as the person paying the bills, you should demand that such a log exists. If necessary, copies should be forwarded to you on a regular basis because webmasters, like the rest of us, do indeed step off curbs into oncoming traffic once in a while.

The log is an invaluable tool when new problems pop up, because it allows you to quickly pinpoint potential causes of the problem. I seriously suspect that you don't have such a log, because when previous problems popped up I got the distinct impression that people on your end were running around with their heads chopped off trying to figure out what the heck just happened.

Messages In This Thread

I'm not entirely sure what that entails -- Rusty Starfish -- 22 Dec 03, 9:53 am

BTW -- Rusty Starfish -- 22 Dec 03, 9:57 am

We'd love to fix it, but first we must find the problem. -- Stanford Wong -- 22 Dec 03, 10:36 am

The problem as I see it -- Rusty Starfish -- 22 Dec 03, 11:48 am

Problems -- Chris Kelly -- 22 Dec 03, 4:40 pm

That won't fly -- Rusty Starfish -- 22 Dec 03, 6:49 pm

Does anyone else experience Rusty Starfish's problem? -- Stanford Wong -- 22 Dec 03, 7:52 pm

No -- Rusty Starfish -- 23 Dec 03, 4:05 am

A couple of ideas -- Rusty Starfish -- 23 Dec 03, 10:06 am

Click the "stop" button on your web browser to stop animated images (nt) -- Chris Kelly -- 22 Dec 03, 10:52 am

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