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SmugMug needs a "definitions" page

gbeargbear Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
edited August 24, 2013 in SmugMug Feature Requests
I think you will find that the support people waste a lot of time with questions which are basically a matter of communication - and if there existed a "Definitions of words used in SmugMug" page somewhere it would make life a lot easier for new users - and for the support folks.

A lot of the problems users have is because - like programmers, medical laboratory workers, or artists, or mechanics - all specialists use a separate language, where ordinary english words have a meaning not understood by the stranger.

To a programmer "argument" has a meaning which is a mystery to a nonprogrammer.

To a British race car mechanic the word "big end bearing" has a very specific meaning.

To a medical lab person "hand washing" has a very specialized meaning - you will actually be taught how to do it and how to think about it. It can be a matter of life and death.

For example in dgrin forum it was suggested I "use Wufoo". - Now, I had never heard or even imagined such a word - in fact, is it a word, or what ? Has it a meaning? I googled it - but there are lots of words in SmugMug where googling wont help, because they are ordinary words with a specialized-to- SmugMug meaning.


Thanks for listening. Bill Wilson gbear.

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    zacHer0zacHer0 Registered Users Posts: 655 Major grins
    edited August 20, 2013
    Zac Williams
    Support Hero
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    AllenAllen Registered Users Posts: 10,011 Major grins
    edited August 20, 2013
    "widget" a dragable content block in the "Flyout Drawer"
    "Flyout Drawer" where the content widgets can be found
    Al - Just a volunteer here having fun
    My Website index | My Blog
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    RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,919 moderator
    edited August 20, 2013
    Yeah. Just off the top of my head, unveil, publish and migrate could use some clarification, especially regarding visibility in new and legacy sites.
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    beardedgitbeardedgit Registered Users Posts: 854 Major grins
    edited August 20, 2013
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    gbeargbear Registered Users Posts: 59 Big grins
    edited August 20, 2013
    Yup. So I withdraw my suggestion. The use of "definitions" on my part rather than the existing "nomenclature" is a good example of the problem.

    The fact is, as far as I can tell, nobody has ever totally solved the difficulties of communication between computer experts and those people trying to use a specific program as a tool. I have encountered it in many different programs, and there simply is no really good solution. When SmugMug is able to catch up so the support Heros can answer within a couple of hours - that is about the BEST solution I have ever encountered. The new SmugMug is a great improvement, and a great site. Thanks for all your hard work.

    Btw - where we will find out when the help system is able to return to the old level ?

    Thanks, Bill Wilson (gbear).
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    einateinat Registered Users Posts: 193 Major grins
    edited August 22, 2013
    zacHer0 wrote: »

    This is a good start but I don’t think it's enough, for 2 reasons.
    1. Accessibility – when bumping into some vague term – the page you pointed to is not in hand. I did come across this page when searching for something, but when you need it, it’s not there for you. AFAIR, in old SM there tooltips for almost everything, which is what made customization real easy when I first signed on. Now many settings\features are not so clear – figuring out what they do took some trial & error (e.g. “container width”, “info style”, “splash image”, “pagination”).
    2. The page lists surprisingly few definitions.
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    southeasternphotographysoutheasternphotography Registered Users Posts: 647 Major grins
    edited August 22, 2013
    quote:Are you suggesting we add to this page? http://help.smugmug.com/customer/por...w-nomenclature
    __________________
    Zac Williams
    Support Hero EndQuote

    Would be better to make suggestion to a nomenclature page that worked. Just went there and cannot add any word in the search box.
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    zacHer0zacHer0 Registered Users Posts: 655 Major grins
    edited August 22, 2013
    quote:Are you suggesting we add to this page? http://help.smugmug.com/customer/por...w-nomenclature
    __________________
    Zac Williams
    Support Hero EndQuote

    Would be better to make suggestion to a nomenclature page that worked. Just went there and cannot add any word in the search box.

    Sorry about that - the service we use to host our help pages seems to be having issues at the moment. I see the same problem you do - the search box won't accept any text. Hopefully they get that fixed soon.
    Zac Williams
    Support Hero
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    phaserbeamphaserbeam Registered Users Posts: 452 Major grins
    edited August 23, 2013
    zacHer0 wrote: »

    Nice to see that there exists such a page... but looks like SM was caught by its own mistakes: The case sensitive URLs.

    Quote from the page:
    /Browse: Special page that lets you and your visitors see all your Folders and Galleries

    If you add /Browse to your URL it will end up in a 404 :D
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    zacHer0zacHer0 Registered Users Posts: 655 Major grins
    edited August 23, 2013
    phaserbeam wrote: »
    Nice to see that there exists such a page... but looks like SM was caught by its own mistakes: The case sensitive URLs.

    Quote from the page:


    If you add /Browse to your URL it will end up in a 404 :D

    11doh.gif I will have someone fix that asap. Nice catch!


    Edit: Fixed
    Zac Williams
    Support Hero
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    zacHer0zacHer0 Registered Users Posts: 655 Major grins
    edited August 23, 2013
    zacHer0 wrote: »
    Sorry about that - the service we use to host our help pages seems to be having issues at the moment. I see the same problem you do - the search box won't accept any text. Hopefully they get that fixed soon.

    This is now fixed
    Zac Williams
    Support Hero
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    southeasternphotographysoutheasternphotography Registered Users Posts: 647 Major grins
    edited August 24, 2013
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