Blotanical Overhaul
Like most projects, once you get going with them you find that things need to be added, updated and constantly maintained. While Blotanical has enjoyed some great growth over the past few months the sides are starting to split a little and an overhaul has been on the cards for some time.
Obviously this is going to be a gradual process but hopefully one that shouldn't be onerous on our Blotanists.
The first 'cab off the rank' is the updating of usernames - or Alias' as we have referred to them. Initially, Blotanical gave members the choice to use their own name or display an alias. While this has been a nice feature it's resulted in some Blotanists using the same name as others or no name at all.
You may have noticed names like "No Alias Added" or even expected to see Blotanists names show up alongside your post picks. These are some of the errors that this problem has accentuated.
So, as of today, you will be shown a form when accessing your Plot that requests a Blotanical Username. This username must be longer than 3 characters and no more than 16. It will only take alphanumeric characters and the underscore "_". You can use capital letters. Symbols such as "@#*&%", spaces, punctuation and others are no longer accepted.
The form also asks if you would like to add your Twitter username. For those who don't know, Twitter is a popular micro-blogging service that adds another dimension to your online presence. We are adding a new feature, as part of Picks, that enables you to vote for Tweets - you can see it here. It's not quite finished yet so please hold the "It's not working" comments but I am keen to know what you think of this feature.
The only required part of the form is to complete the Blotanical Username and once you have done this you will be able to access your Plot as normal. This is Stage 1 of the process and I'm expecting that it will take a few weeks to update all users depending on when they log in.
Thanks for your patience and I hope that this update shall make life on Blotanical that little bit easier.
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Comments
Thank you! sounds awesome!
Posted by: Anna | December 14, 2008 12:38 PM
Hi Stuart - I suspect you'll find lots of non-users (or no longer users) of Blotanical as part of this process. Will their feeds still be appearing in Blotanical in the future?
Posted by: VP | December 14, 2008 4:01 PM
Me again - I've just tried to update. It says it's been successful, but there also appears to be a SQL error and the link doesn't take me to My Plot. The error message was:
Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/gardenin/public_html/blotanical/php/update_details.php on line 203
Here's hoping I can get in soon - although it will no longer be as VP :(
Posted by: VP | December 14, 2008 4:05 PM
Not sure if it working from my end, as when I put in a user name it takes me to the updated letter and does this over and over again. Maybe too early in the update process?
Posted by: tina | December 14, 2008 5:59 PM
I figured it out after a few tries. Thanks.
Posted by: tina | December 14, 2008 6:17 PM
Good work, Stuart, No alias was so mysterious though, he/she/it will be missed. :-)
Frances
Posted by: Frances | December 14, 2008 6:45 PM
Bit miffed that I have to misspell my real name to conform.
Zoë (spelt correctly with an umlaut)
Posted by: Zoë | December 14, 2008 7:00 PM
Actually it is worse than that!! I can no longer use my real name at all!
Zoë is only 3 characters long, so even if I remove the umlaut and missspell it as Zoe to try to conform with the new rules I can't use it. Your rules state it must be 4 - 16 characters long.
EVERYONE knows me as Zoë, now I have to try and think of a name which is totally meaningless to me and all the other Blotanists that know me.
Great!
Zoë
Posted by: Zoë | December 14, 2008 7:13 PM
@VP - Let me know if you come across that error again. The code actually checks to see if you have a profile (which you do) and then creates one if you don't or edits it if you do. Sorry about the extra letters...
@Tina - let me know if any more errors with it.
@Frances - they said to say hi but their vacation awaits. They too will miss you all.
@Zoë - I shall continue to look into the tildes umlauts etc to offer them as a choice. They can't manipulate code like @$^& symbols can so they shouldn't be too problematic. However, even if we can fix this for you, Zoë won't be an option because it's one character too short!
Posted by: Stuart | December 14, 2008 7:23 PM
Ha! It worked fine for this Luddite. Thanks, Stuart!
Posted by: our friend Ben | December 14, 2008 8:58 PM
Hi Stuart - I still have the same problem and error message. I'm wondering if others are having the same issues - there's a distinct lack of comments on my post today, even by Sunday's standards...
Posted by: VP | December 14, 2008 10:26 PM
Getting nowhere when I enter a name in the update details screen. Just takes me to this screen. Can't get to my plot... or anywhere else.
Posted by: Daniel (cityslipper) | December 14, 2008 10:30 PM
Thanks Stuart. :)
Posted by: Melissa | December 14, 2008 10:32 PM
Hi, I am getting the same problem as VP, when I put a username eg Gary or garysgarden in it takes me to the news page, if i then try my ploy it goes back to the update page. Sorry Gary
Posted by: Gary | December 15, 2008 1:57 AM
When I put in a user name and click on UPDATE it justs takes me to the Blotanical News page....can't get into Blotanical at all.
Posted by: Connie | December 15, 2008 5:26 AM
Stuart, |I still can't get past the overview. I have been trying to enter a usernamr, I tried Gary and Garysgarden, it takes me to the overview. if I then try to get to my plot, I go straight back to the firstpage. What am I doing wrong. Gary
Posted by: Gary | December 15, 2008 6:04 AM
My apologies all. There was a syntax error in the link code which I have since rectified. This should be working properly now.
Posted by: Stuart
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December 15, 2008 6:41 AM
Hi Stuart,
I'm in! However, I was originally trying to get to Blotanical via my sidebar link and was still getting the same error after your latest fix. As soon as I typed in the URL and went from there it went OK. Perhaps some of the others with a problem tried the same way as I did originally?
Also I noticed via the URL method that VP was already in the name line; with the error method it was blank.
Posted by: VP | December 15, 2008 3:59 PM
VP, that's very interesting but I'm not sure why that would have happened. Odd!
Posted by: Stuart
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December 16, 2008 5:15 AM
Stuart,
I think all is well since I entered my DYHGarden Twitter name.
My DefiningYourHome name on Blotanical barely met your 16 character limit.
Thanks for all that you do. I gave you a link at the top of my blog post today (above the post on Garden Awards).
Cameron
Posted by: Cameron (Defining Your Home Garden) | December 16, 2008 5:37 AM
This is a funny post as I am the queen of blog issues. I can relate to everyones aches and pains. Just wanted to rub it in that I have no problems right now, nope, narry a one. Laughed out loud at both Frances and Zoe, with three letters. It must be a lot of fun to be Stuart.
Posted by: Anna/Flowergardengirl | December 16, 2008 12:37 PM
Hi Stuart, a bit of a problem has come up. I have done the update and wrot in my username and everything was fine until I got the message once again and filled in my name an then it says it is already taken choose an other one!!??
What to do?
Tyra
Posted by: Tyra | December 16, 2008 3:41 PM
I've not been able to get on for several days. Every time I try I get the error message too.
Posted by: Robin | December 17, 2008 12:18 AM
I just tried again and this time "Robin" was already in the box. I just entered that and it worked. I had been trying to do a shortened version of my blog name.
Glad to be back!
Posted by: Robin | December 17, 2008 12:24 AM
Zoe, could you use a double Z? Either Zzoe, or, ZZoe. We would know who you are
Posted by: Barbee' | December 17, 2008 6:11 AM
Zoë ~ What if you used the first letter of your last name at the end of your name? I don't know what your last name is, but here is an example:
ZoeZ
Too bad you can't use the 'e' with the umlaut!
Posted by: Kylee | December 21, 2008 1:25 AM