The Sinclair QL Forum

stevepoole wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 11:36 pm Hi Folks,
Looking down through the list of sections, there seems to be a major design problem with the forum setup. Some sections have not been accessed since 1921, whereas other ones, such as hardware or Software get snowed under with postings in less than a day... So unless we scroll through and across each section's postings, we can easily miss out on something new!
Would it not be more helpfull to keep all one day's section's postings listed on the main page, so as to be able to hit on them with just one click ? New software, posted say, just one week ago may therefore go unnoticed.... It is not everyone that keeps regularly up to date ? Steve.
________________

Steve, you want to have a look at the top left of your screen: The "Quick Links" button allows you to find new, unread, or your own posts - so everything you're asking for.

OK, here goes a fourth attempt at replying to Steve, the Forum lost both previous attempts, saving in Drafts doesn't work (I keep getting some message saying "Resource Limit Is Reached. The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later.") so I've started copying my messages to Notepad to be able to recover when it fails.

Apologies for again hijacking this thread.

Bear in mind that with what tofro said, the extra options in the Quick Links Forum menu only appear if you're logged in, for obvious reasons.

Steve may like to consider using the Blogtrottr service. It takes a feed of new posts and replies from the Forum and delivers them as emails to your inbox. Making spotting new posts and replies as easy as spotting any other new emails. Especially useful on phones, where I don't have to suffer the tiny Forum display on the phone screen.

Go to www.blogtrottr.com
Create yourself a free account
Setup whatever needs to be set up (it's quite easy)
Tell it to take its feed from feed.php (I think that's the Forum RSS feed or something similar if not)
EDIT: that should be https: //theqlforum.com/feed.php bloody Forum won't let me edit it to display correctly, I've even had t o insert a space to get it to display in full without just gettng shortened to "feed.php", probably some auto-correction.

Sit back and wait for new posts and replies to start appearing in your email inbox!

I've used it for years and find it useful and convenient. It's not instant, but usually messages arrive within minutes. If you need to reply to something or look back through the thread, click on the thread title heading above the message and it acts as a link taking ypou traight to that thread on the Forum.

One thing to be aware of is CODE listings of BASIC in a message - these appear as one continuous paragraph without end of line braks, unreadable. So again you just click on the heading to take you to the Forum thread to read it there. Some issue with end of lne characters. (sorry for the messy email, after retyping it so many times each time the Foum lost the message I can't be bloody arsed to correct things yet again, especially as I need a new keyboard, this one is only months old, the key legends are already wearing off and the legs are already broken and it keeps missing characters as I type, especially the letter e).

Hi Administrators,
Thanks for the 'quick-link' info.
Quite often, the QL Forum seems to be inaccessible, (especially from my smartphone).

I posted a 3D HoverBall_bas program a few days ago under the software section, but it is no longer listed, except via quick-links.... Strange ! No wonder it only got 3 views...

(The game is a Quidditch-like animation in perspective, and takes skill to play). It is not fast, as you have to navigate in x,y,and z planes, so you get enough time to interact.

Perhaps it deserves to be put back in the software section ? Steve.
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Hi again,
Just tried a QDOS version, which is still too slow, (needing more simplification).

Yet this version is much faster and smoother, tested ok on QPC2.

Instructions are on lines 130 to 170. Beeps mean you reached the Ball...

dilwyn wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:27 am OK, here goes a fourth attempt at replying to Steve, the Forum lost both previous attempts, saving in Drafts doesn't work <>

Nowadays, for the same reasons you give, I mainly write my responses offline in a text editor and save them on my computer before copying them over. Saves so much grief!

I keep getting some message saying "Resource Limit Is Reached. The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later."

Did anyone ping the admins on this? I have never seen it, or seen anyone complaining of it until now?

I sent Rob a message this morning.

Cheers,
Norm.

XorA wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:29 pm

I keep getting some message saying "Resource Limit Is Reached. The website is temporarily unable to service your request as it exceeded resource limit. Please try again later."

Did anyone ping the admins on this? I have never seen it, or seen anyone complaining of it until now?

Sorry, XorA, I completely forgot to. As it was middle of the night and I was unable to sleep (my insomnia's got much worse after being ill with flu most of December), I thought I'd wait until daylight hours to see if the issue was still there, in case there was an update or backup going on which caused it overnight, before reporting. I then had to go for the Covid-19 vaccination before 9am and by the time I got back I was so knackered because of lack of sleep I fell asleep for three hours, forgetting to report it. Thanks for doing so Norman.

pjw wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 12:08 pm

dilwyn wrote: Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:27 am OK, here goes a fourth attempt at replying to Steve, the Forum lost both previous attempts, saving in Drafts doesn't work <>

Nowadays, for the same reasons you give, I mainly write my responses offline in a text editor and save them on my computer before copying them over. Saves so much grief!

Yeah, lesson learned with long (-ish) posts to the Forum.

A wee continuation to my rant list..

pjw wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2024 6:47 pm <>
1) Dont mess with my windows. Open your own!

2) Let me ESCape if I want to, without being punished

3) Let me know when your program has finished, or give some sign of life if
its long-running.

4) Why, in this day and age, presume everyone uses 512x256a0x0 mode 4/8
without any particular reason?

5) Why indeed, presume the screen is always at 131072?
<>

6) When the user quits your program why ask him: "Do you really want to
quit?" when no data has changed?
<>

7) Its nice that you want to make programs for the QL but:

a) first learn the basics of programming! (Dont try to run before you
can walk!)

b) learn about the QL specifically. Understand that Qdos/SMSQ is
not just a mickymouse variant of Unix, Amiga, STOS or whatever, but
its rather the other way round. <>

c) dont poke around unless youre supposed to; use system calls

d) the screen may not always be at 131072. So why poke around
there?

e) if the QL is not fast enough,capable enough, sexy enough, etc to
host your game, go elsewhere, friend. There are plenty of other
platforms more suited to that kind of thing.

8) Programs without an author name (or nom de plume at least,) a version
number or a date risk growing increasingly useless as they age!
It is not vanity to add this vital information to the code or associated
documentation; its necessary!