# The "Report This Post" Feature



## Morrus (Jul 22, 2004)

OK, folks, I'm going to pose a little puzzler for you. A game, if you will. 

First, please click on the *"Report This Post"* link at the bottom of this, or any other post.  Take a look at what you see.

Now, you'll notice that there are _two_ bits of text on that page, and a text box.  What we're concentrating on here are the two bits of text.

The two bits of text share something in common.  There are only _two_ bits of text, and _both_ of them contain a similar instruction.  There's nothing else to read, just those two bits of text.

Now, having looked at those two bits of text, who can tell me the likely reaction from we moderators when we receive the following message, which reads, in its entirety:



> This thread needs to be closed.



Sometimes the message we receive may have a little more detail:



> This post is political.



So, having received this message, who can tell me, for 100 points, what we moderators say.


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## Crothian (Jul 22, 2004)

I get this from the button neat the reply button:

"Crothian, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system? 
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation. "

Using the one under the name I get that e-mail doesn't finction.


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## haiiro (Jul 22, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> So, having received this message, who can tell me, for 100 points, what we moderators say.




Bupkus, I'm betting, since there's no thread URL included to tell you where to look.

I clicked on the link expecting to see what Crothian saw -- since that's what I've gotten as well for a couple of months -- but it seems to be working again. Well, working when people follow directions, apparently.


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## Morrus (Jul 22, 2004)

You're clicking on "Report this post", Cothian? Bottom right of the post? It's not a button, it's a text link.


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## Morrus (Jul 22, 2004)

haiiro said:
			
		

> Bupkus, I'm betting, since there's no thread URL included to tell you where to look.



Ta-da!  You are the winner! We don't have a friggin' clue what people are talking about!  

This seems to be the case with roughly half of the reported posts we get.  Folks, if you're going to tell us about a bad post, please,_ please_ tell us which post it is!

It's almost as bad as the people who email me about problems with their accounts, but don't tell me who they are.  When you get an email which simply says "Why can't I post?", the response tends to be "Beats me."


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## Crothian (Jul 22, 2004)

Yes, I am clicking the "Report this post" link, still comes up saying I don't have access


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## Kaleon Moonshae (Jul 22, 2004)

maybe those people whoa re just saying this "post is political" or "close this thread" are just being general, lol. Take your pick which one they mean, people who don't read instructions usually aren't choosy about who they cry foul on;P


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## fba827 (Jul 22, 2004)

Morrus said:
			
		

> You're clicking on "Report this post", Cothian? Bottom right of the post? It's not a button, it's a text link.



 The text link of "report this post" does not appear in all style sheets.  The stealth style sheet for instance does not have the text link, it only has the exclaimation-point icon to the bottom left (under the poster's name) of each post.  (when i use that button, i see what Crothian says he sees)

The default, and perhaps most other, style sets, however, do in fact have the "report this post" text link in the bottom right of the posts.  (when i use that link, i see what morrus is describing that we should see)

Just explaining why Crothian may be seeing something different.


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## Crothian (Jul 22, 2004)

Thanks, but I use the default one.  I would wager its more of "I'm an idiot" then anything actaully wrong.


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## fba827 (Jul 22, 2004)

Crothian said:
			
		

> Thanks, but I use the default one.  I would wager its more of "I'm an idiot" then anything actaully wrong.



 Loser.


(i'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooo kidding.  )


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## Crothian (Jul 22, 2004)

That's it, you're off my Christmas Card list!!


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## jgbrowning (Jul 22, 2004)

Crothian said:
			
		

> Thanks, but I use the default one.  I would wager its more of "I'm an idiot" then anything actaully wrong.




Soy me perdido! I get the same message as well.

joe b.


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## Kaleon Moonshae (Jul 22, 2004)

jgbrowning said:
			
		

> Soy me perdido! I get the same message as well.
> 
> joe b.




He's right then, it is the idiot factor ;P

:ucks behind the couch before a drafting table or something flies at him::


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## LightPhoenix (Jul 22, 2004)

To be fair, it's kind of expected that the word "this" already implies the URL is being given to you.

Not knowing the backend of the php code, is there some way to modify it so that it works like the button (which sends the url)?


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## reanjr (Jul 22, 2004)

LightPhoenix said:
			
		

> To be fair, it's kind of expected that the word "this" already implies the URL is being given to you.
> 
> Not knowing the backend of the php code, is there some way to modify it so that it works like the button (which sends the url)?




I guarentee it would be trivial.


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## Kaleon Moonshae (Jul 22, 2004)

LightPhoenix said:
			
		

> To be fair, it's kind of expected that the word "this" already implies the URL is being given to you.
> 
> Not knowing the backend of the php code, is there some way to modify it so that it works like the button (which sends the url)?




in all honesty, I have to agree. The 'this' does make it sound like it is a one stop shopping thing. I tend to talk to a moderator personally anyway if I see a problem in a post, a lot of times I'm just looking at it wrong and I wouldn't auto report.


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## thalmin (Jul 22, 2004)

Crothian said:
			
		

> Thanks, but I use the default one.  I would wager its more of "I'm an idiot" then anything actaully wrong.



Then put me in the idiot catagory, too. Default style.


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## Cheiromancer (Jul 22, 2004)

I am using default style, and I am clicking on the text link to the bottom right of the message.  I am getting the "you do not have permission" message that Crothian mentions.


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## thalmin (Jul 22, 2004)

If it makes a difference, I have an older CS account. Does that have anything to do with why I "do not have permission."


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## Arnwyn (Jul 22, 2004)

LightPhoenix said:
			
		

> To be fair, it's kind of expected that the word "this" already implies the URL is being given to you.



Yep, that's exactly what I thought, too. I'm surprised it doesn't work that way.


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## Gez (Jul 22, 2004)

OK, so "report this post" doesn't report _this_ post. Maybe it is hackable to work more intuitively, or maybe it should be just removed from the page altogether, and be put otherwhere. Like, say, the ENWorld menu. "Report a post."


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## DaveStebbins (Jul 23, 2004)

LightPhoenix said:
			
		

> To be fair, it's kind of expected that the word "this" already implies the URL is being given to you.



I agree. This is especially true if the link takes you somewhere without opening a new window, which prevents you from grabbing the thread's URL unless you think to do it before clicking the link. I'd check to see if that's the case, but I am also getting the "no priveliges" message, so I have no idea what's actually happening when the link is clicked.


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