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I am still completely baffled by Citizendium. I had duly signed in with biography and all that, and now I have something to post. However, I can't sign in because it refuses to recognize my user name. Could anyone suggest why
But the biggest problem is learning how, once having signed in, one contributes. The site contains page after page--tens of thousands of words--of introduction; perfatory; explaining everything in minute detail, how to edit; when to link; style requirements, even when to use caps vs lower-case. However, it is not at all apparent how one goes about contributing an article
I'm sure it's in there somewhere, but to find it would require two weeks trudging through the boilerplate. Thus, anyone who has actually done it: Can you explain in 25 words or less how, once having signed in, one goes about contributing an article--thanks all
dalehileman
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Carpal Tunnel
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Um--on the Main Page, they have a link to "How to get started as an author", here: Main Page
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Jackie: Thank you for that link. For others with the same problem, from the main page, click again on "How to get...", then "Sandbox" I've been at it for what seems like several hours already In "Sandbox", click on "edit". If it doesn't let you in, that may be because it doesn't accept your usual password, but you must get one from Cit's Admin. You're on your own for this Once having acquired a new password, you will have to go back to "Main" and start over. Please note, however, that if your new password doesn't work, it may be because it contains two successive uppercase V's, which made them look like a W When you reach "edit" for the second time you will get an error message indicating that you haven't signed in using your new password, whereupon you must again return to "Main", where you will find "user preferences" You return to Main only to find that there is no "user preferences" link. But there is a "my preferences," which you click on. Here you will have to re-enter your real name and your new password (which by now you had forgotten, and so I hope you had saved it somewhere). Don't forget to click on "Save" Whereupon you are returned with an error message to the effect that you still gave the wrong password. Going back to the source you magnify it and learn to your dismay that it actually was a W, whereupon you enter it again. Now however, you still get the same error message. Baffled, you once more have to consult Admin to learn why, whereupon you're advised that using "my preferences" link you can change your password to anything you want, which you then proceed to do, entering the value you use at other sites and which thus are much easier to remember But now you get an error message requesting your new email address. But you don't have a new one, it's the same as it always was. But nonetheless in the space provided you delete your email address and retype it Now, though, you get another error message indicating that still you've entered the wrong password, even though it's the one provided by Cit and you copied it exactly as it was given. So again you go back to Admin for further instructions Whereupon your contact gives up in despair, entirely understandable, providing a link to his site troubleshooter constables@citizendium.org, who we trust will have all the ultimate answers You're beginning to feel like the Orlando pastor who was lost at the airport for two days http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-languish1807aug18,0,200915.story Hang in there, more coming soon
Last edited by dalehileman; 08/18/07 03:44 PM.
dalehileman
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I am happy to report that after many unsuccessful trials over a period of several days I was finally able to sign in, confirm my email address, and open the Sandbox edit page with no further error messages
For reasons I don’t understand, the page contained a number of undecipherable messages giving the impression of boilerplate. I assumed I was supposed to delete them, which I did, whereupon I got somebody else’s article, something about politics in the Middle East. So I deleted this also, but then successfully (?) copied my article, Health insurance and the copayment
However, my article had undergone some sort of strange transformation. In this process, two of the lines of the story were enclosed in separate boxes, perhaps due to some sort of incompatibility between Cit's algorithms and those of Microsoft Word, from whence I had procured my article. Nonetheless I was very pleased with myself as in all other respects my article seemed perfectly readable
But alas, when I now click on the link to my article, I find it has been replaced by another error message:
Your user name or IP address has been blocked
I am wondering if anyone else at AWAD has had similar experiences with Citizendium, or is it only me, an old codger apparently on the brink of Alzheimer's and unable to cope with the complexities of modern technology
Hang in there, more coming soon
dalehileman
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Your "article" is at http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/CZ:Sandbox(until someone else writes over it). You haven't saved it as a article yet. If you are intending to post that text as a reply on a discussion page, that's fine. But if you're actually trying to make it an article, I don't think it fits Citizendium's definition of an article either in content or style. Encyclopedias generally aren't made up of personal opinions and anecdotes.
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Myr: So I have been advised. As one of the country's most resoundingly unpublished writers, I hardly consider myself an encyclopedist
But please, tell me again, what's the difference between Citizendium and Wikipedia
dalehileman
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Dale--put Citizendium into the Search page above (just be sure it's the one for this board, not the top one for A.W.A.D.); the first listing by me gives a link to an article that explains it. (I believe it was less than 6 months ago, but you might Search "less than one year" just to be on the safe side.)
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dalehileman
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Tsu: Isn't that a link to the same post
Anyhow it still isn't entirely clear what's the difference
dalehileman
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