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How to Post to RealTalk

Created by:

Ashley Ruble-English, Writing/Editing , San Diego, CA

Date: October 16, 2008, Number of Replies: 7

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Hello everyone

Here at RealTown we've been seeing a lot of buzz about the community platform, and there seems to be a little confusion about posting, and the difference between the web-based platform vs e-mail. Well, I'm going to try and clear all that up ;)

Let me start by saying we did change the look of RealTown.com recently, but we really didn't change the community platform at all, so if you weren't confused three weeks ago, then you probably don't need to be confused now… just keep doing what you've been doing and you'll be just fine!

If you ever browse the web platform, it's a good idea to go to http://RealTown.com and make sure the site remembers you. You can accomplish this by clicking the 'Remember Me' checkbox from the login screen before submitting.

There are two ways to participate. You can choose to use just one method (just the web interface OR just e-mail) or a combination of both.

Via E-Mail…

Most people who have been RealTalkers for years and years prefer this method simply because it is how they are used to participating on RealTalk. If you ever want to send a message to RealTalk, simply send an e-mail to RealTalk@RealTown.com. Fill out an appropriate subject line, type out your message and hit 'Send'. It's that easy.

If you are reading a message you received from RealTalk, and you'd like to reply to it, simply click the 'Reply to Community' link at the bottom of that message. This will open up a preaddressed e-mail, with the subject line already filled in. Don't mess with the subject line unless you want to start a brand new thread. That subject line is important to keep the conversation threaded together. Just type out your response and hit 'Send'.

Keep in mind that if you send an e-mail to the community it won't be posted immediately, it will be moderated. Moderating is something we do MOSTLY to keep spam, auto-responders, and undeliverable messages from finding their way into your inbox. If we didn't moderate our communities, about half the messages you receive would be junk, and no one wants that ;)

Via the Web…

If you are subscribed to receive e-mails from any of our communities, you can click the subject line of any one of these messages to be automatically brought to that thread on the web. A thread is the ENTIRE conversation-everything with that one subject line. These threads are ordered chronologically.

From your inbox, you can simply click the 'View/Reply on the Web' link to be taken to the threaded conversation you are reading (this is why it is helpful to click the Remember Me box upon initial login, so you don't have to keep logging in). Once you are viewing that thread on the RealTown web site, simply click the 'Reply' link when you are ready to post. Type in your message and click 'Submit'. Since you posted from the web, your post will display immediately. We post things from the web immediately because we know you aren't spam.

If you don't have a RealTalk e-mail in front of you, and you want to post to the community (or start a new thread), just go to http://RealTown.com and login (if this is your personal computer, it's probably a good idea to check the 'Remember me' box on the login screen). Once logged in, click the 'Community' button at the top of the screen. Select the community you wish to post to from the 'Select a Community' drop down menu, then click 'Create New Discussion'. Fill out your subject line and select a category. If you aren't sure which category to choose, leave it blank and our moderators will take care of that for you. Fill out your message and click 'Submit'. You are all done ;)

I hope this clears up at least a little confusion, but if you have questions, please reply to this post, or even contact me directly. I'll be posting more tips shortly. Thanks guys, have fun!

Thank you,

Ashley English
InternetCrusade
Customer Service Representative
Toll Free: 866.377.0627 x615
AshleyEnglish@InternetCrusade.com

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Lindy Hall Licensed Real Estate Agent, Houston, TX

Date: October 17, 2008

Thanks Ashley,
But I think the issue you didn't cover was why some web responses go out as emails, and why some are left languishing on the web-site..... very few of us have have time to go "looking" for messages to see if we missed something. Especially when we thought all posted messages went out as emails, but it turns out that the moderator-du-jour chooses which go out as emails.

If that is to be the continued policy, okay, but I find it disturbing. I presume none of us take the time and effort to write a response without wanting it to go out as an email.
Yes, I/we want them all postings to go out as emails. Any that don't, pls speak up?

OTOH, I do support all the efforts put forth by Saul, et al, as I'm quite sure keeping RealTalk/RealTown/IC humming is a staggering and monumental amt of work.

Thanks, Lindy in Houston
ps... am still getting an error msg when I click on Spellcheck... is is just me?

Editor's Note
Our present policy is to approve web postings so they are sent via e-mail as well. Sometimes we keep a post on the web but do not send it out via e-mail (an example is an excessively long post that quotes another's copyrighted article; or a spam commercial). And, in some cases we click the wrong button (ever see one of those "we're on vacation until the end of the month" messages?) -- I hate it when I goof but sometimes handling 3,000 messages per month on this list alone gets me a bit dingy ;-)Sorry, we're still having an issue with the web interface's spell check. John

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Malcolm Waring Information Technology, Stroudsburg, PA

Date: October 20, 2008

OK, I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong. I read the email digest.

If you respond to a post using the mailto link, It will post to the website and email after review by Los Tres Amigos.

If you respond by going to the website, it will also post to the website and email (with a few exceptions having to do with copyright issues).

Website postings will show up (and get emailled right away) because the user has authenticated by logging in.

Email submissions take longer because of the need to review and weed out the spam. I fully support this because I have seen a couple of support forums that are completely useless due to spam.

Now, here is the problem. I responded to Pauls ACORN post of 10/19 using the link to the web (below) but I can't find any postings there later than 10/14. I would think that if his post was sent out in the email digest, it would certainly be on the web.

http://www.realtown.com/community/RealTalk/view/00D66R

Thanks,

Malcolm Waring

REALTOR e-PRO

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John Reilly Real Estate Educator , San Diego, CA

Date: October 20, 2008

Malcolm said:

<<
Hopefully this addresses your comment, Malcolm. When I clicked on the link (making sure I was still logged into realtown.com), I went to the first of 10 pages of postings. At the bottom of the first page, there is a clickable page index. Incidentally, in the time it took me to research this, I think prolific Paul Silver posted another dozen or so to this lengthy thread;-)

We will make the index more visible and easy to navigate. We want to take further steps to enhance both the e-mail and the web delivery of the community conversations. Thanks for your input.

John

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Larry Rogers

Date: October 21, 2008

Malcolm

I keep saying the same types of things that you have said... only I say it in a much more 'crude' way .... "It's Screwed Up!!"

Then I get trashed by responders that start out by saying "That Rogers, what an ass for putting down such a wonderful forum.... But, oh yeah, I'm having the same problem."

Yes, the forum is wonderful.... a great way to exchange ideas and information (after this election). It's the implementation that I have problems with. In trying to be too many different things to too many different people with too many different levels of ability, Saul and Company have tried to "Dumb It Down" too much. And it causes the types of problems that you are experiencing.

I still say that one uniform "Face" to the community would solve these aggravations. And the wonderful ePro course should be able to teach their users how to interface with it. Everybody keeps chanting the mantra "KISS... Keep It Simple, Stupid." The only problem is that Stupid people don't know how to Keep It Simple. They just keep adding little bits and pieces that keep making the whole thing more complicated and unable to work with its self (aka The IRS Tax Code... how many pages?)

If your statement is true.... "Website postings will show up (and get emailed right away) because the user has authenticated by logging in. Email submissions take longer because of the need to review and weed out the spam." .... then perhaps all responses should be posted via the web site. That would free up all of the time the moderators spend reading the email crap.. eh, spam (present political discussions excepted, of course).

As for those wonderfully IQ gifted responders who say "Just hit Delete... Or Unsubscribe" I would simply point out "That Is Not The Objective." The objective is to bring about constructive changes to a situation that needs fixing. And construction involves some demolition. Everyone here is in the housing business, they should know that. No building has ever been built without moving some dirt. And sometimes even the Big Oak Tree, that has stood for years, has to be uprooted and replaced with something new. How many times have you been to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new playground and you hear comments about how beautiful the new facility is and how it used to be "Just A Vacant Lot." How quickly they forget about the big oak tree that used to be there.

Same thing with this site. It's not the same as it was years ago (thank goodness). But the playground is not finished yet. When you slide down the slide, you land in a mud hole. Some of the climbing bars are broken and rusty. The merry-go-round is surrounded by boulders. There is still some cleaning up to do. I'm just trying to prod the ground crew into moving a little faster. And believe me, Saul and Crew are at Ground Zero on this one. But I am still not going to cut them any slack.

Larry Rogers

Avon Park FL

Editor's Note
Larry,Our intention goes beyond the simple bulletin board you propose and we have spent time and money to create our vision of online community and the ability to work with community created content. Sorry if it does not match yours. It is independent of e-PRO and NAR. Yes, we are making programming changes all the time. This is way beyond ground zero, and it is much more than a "site" as there is a very strong e-mail component.Thanks for your input.Saul

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Malcolm Waring Information Technology, Stroudsburg, PA

Date: October 22, 2008

OK, now that I found the wee page index, I think I really do have it figured out.

I don't agree with Larry that ability to respond by email should be removed. If one doesn't mind waiting for the post to be reviewed, and the moderators don't mind doing all that reviewing, then that's fine.

I do agree that more improvements need to be made. For example, I am responding on the web and once I click on the reply button I no longer see any of the text that I am replying to, unless I go back and right click the reply link and open it in a new tab or window.

There is also no way to reply to a specific message either, all posts go to the end of the thread. However this is not unusual for many forums, and since we have the listserv delivery then this is the best way to handle it.

That said, when you reply to a specific message then perhaps an option (also seen on many forums) to quote the message you are replying to should be available. This would solve both problems, as well as help set somewhat of a standard for quoting text.

I don't want to start an old usenet war about topposting but it's really hard to figure out who is saying what sometimes in any forum. It is even more challenging here sometimes so I know I could use some help.

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Larry Rogers

Date: October 22, 2008

Saul writes.... " Our intention goes beyond the simple bulletin board you propose and we have spent time and money to create our vision of online community and the ability to work with community created content. Sorry if it does not match yours. It is independent of e-Pro and NAR. Yes, we are making programming changes all the time. This is way beyond ground zero, and it is much more than a "site" as there is a very strong e-mail component."

A couple of points.... One, thank heavens it is independent of NAR!! If it were closely associated with NAR, I dare say that a lot of these folks wouldn't be here. Two, I'm not saying a "Simple Bulletin Board" but rather the implementation of some of the better aspects of both types of communication. You say "...it is much more than a 'site' as there is a very strong e-mail component." My point is "Your e-Mail Component is Splintered, Fragmented, Disjointed." Others have said the same thing... "I didn't know when I sent an e-mail via e-mail that it might not show up anywhere but if I send e-mail via web site it might show up on the web site but not on the e-mail and it might show up on both but nobody is sure??!?"

If ePro is supposed to be about teaching how to use a computer in today's electronic age, how can it be independent from the internet, email, or this site? It would seem that if you are teaching someone how to navigate the internet, this site would be where you would start. Show them how to get around a web page, what to click, how the links work. If you are teaching them how to use e-mail, if would seem that posting on RealTalk would be the place to start. I don't understand your comment, Saul, when you say that ePro is independent from this site.

And Malcolm, I am not saying that the ability to respond by e-mail should be removed. I am saying that responding by either method should be consistent across both platforms. In fact, if the current set-up of responding via e-mail takes you to a different place, then perhaps dropping that method should be considered.... What if, when you hit "Reply", you are taken directly to the web site, you enter your response, it's posted, and then sent out on the e-mail listserv. That way everybody sees all of the responses. The spam is filtered because, as you said, the responder has been authenticated by logging in. What if...??

Your other points, ... when you hit 'Reply' you are isolated from the thread you are replying to, .. Yeah, that is a pain. And not being able to reply to a specific post, that is a pain also. And having all of the posts in a non-sequential list makes it hard to follow a thought. "....it's really hard to figure out who is saying what sometimes.... it is even more challenging here..." You're right, you should be able to reply to a specific post in the proper order.

And it would be nice to be able to click a check box that sends an email notification to you if someone responded to one of your posts or comments....as an example.... ".. 'paulhodson' has replied to a FM Forum topic you subscribed to. Please use this link to read the topic: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/677166/0 ..." When I click that link, it takes me back to the conversation thread on that board and I can read what the responder, in this case Paul Hodson, has written.

But, be careful. Every time any improvements like this have been brought up, Saul seems to get all defensive about it and points out that his stuff is much more than a "..Simple Bulletin Board...." You might be seen as I am, a disgruntled pain in the ass that doesn't have the best interest of the community at heart. Bah, Humbug!!

Larry Rogers

Avon Park FL

Editor's Note
E-PRO has no connection with RealTalk, other than IC runs both separate enterprises. With e-PRO, we use RealTalk as a learning tool.We are working on improvements daily. We have developers work on it everyday. We work weekdays and weekends on the application. It is much more complex than you realize. It is not about being defensive, it is about saying the same thing over and over. We are working on it, we have been for years, we have a bigger picture than you realize, and we hope you benefit..Thanks for your interest.Saul

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Lisa Rosenfield Licensed Real Estate Broker, West Hartford, CT

Date: October 24, 2008

Saul,

I guess I am still confused. I have been a member of Realtalk for so many years that I don't remember how long., sometimes posting and sometime lurking.I do remember a bunch of us in New England meeting for the ocasional lunch in Sturbridge MA and outside of Worecestor, remember Al and Ron. I submitted 2 replies via email last night and neither of them have appeared in the emails. I did hear from someone directly so I went to the website and both were posted there. I definitely sent them via email and didn't post them via the web. I thought that if you posted via email that what you wrote would appear in the emails.

After reading the discussion here I thought I understood how it worked. This post is coming from the web. We'll see what happens to it. Just think, I am reasonably computer,email and technology literate, what about those who aren't?

Editor's Note
All is OK, Lisa. I checked and you had several posts you sent by e-mail that were released today and appeared in e-mail form (one on Websites). ..about 3 I believe. There has been a heavy amount of posting activity lately as we get closer to the election. Al is still posting though we haven't heard from our friend Ron Rothenberg for a long time. Ron helped us with the original RealTalk way back in the days when people were sending their e-mails by candlelight ;-)John

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