We understand that a new website involves a bit of a learning curve. We ***DO*** appreciate your moving forward with Chiriqui.Life.

Please keep at it, and we will be happy to help you if issues or concerns come up. Just let us know.

FYI, there is a Questions and Answers forum for specific questions related to functionality of this website, as well as a Problems, Feedback and Suggestions for more general issues -- or suggestions for changes.

Hi Bonnie,

Yes, you may see a listing of the topics and replies, actually everything that a member has posted, including photos, blogs, etc., by one of two methods. The basic answer is by going to their profile.

And that leads to the question: how does one go to the profile of someone else? Simple -- just click on their Display Name, or hover over their Display Name if you are using a device that has a mouse.

If you go to their profile, then their content is automatically shown in the right side of the screen.

If you do the "hover over their name approach" (the easiest), then you will see a link for "Find Content".

Great question!

Check out the Questions and Answers forum for the answer to this question: http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/57-how-do-we-edit-our-own-postings/

Dottie,

I don't know what device(s) you are using. Most desktop and laptop computers have the ability to paste only the text part. It may be called something other than "Paste Special". Try looking around in the "Edit" menu of the application that you are using. Get adventuresome and do some exploring, which is something we know you do because of living in Panama. That is an adventure in itself.

Dottie,

At your suggestion that your posting was in an inappropriate forum, which we concurred with, you suggested that your message be moved to the correct forum. That was done. Here is a link to your posting: http://www.chiriqui.life/topic/105-thoughts-about-another-forum/

You were notified of this new posting location and new title.

Further, be advised that all members have the ability in their profile to locate ALL of their topics and postings. Just go to your profile and look. There it will be.You can also see the "Content Count", which is how many items you have posted. On the right side of that screen you will see a snapshot of those posted items.

To access your profile, look in the upper right of the window and you will find your display name. Click on your display name. The first item in the pull down menu is a link to your profile.

For the record, Chiriqui.Life has deleted no postings as of this point in time.

Let me know if you need more help.

JoJo,

Happy that you found the notification "switch" in the bottom left.

Members are not able to "delete" a thread. If you really mean to mark it as already read, or "ignore", then note that there is a little icon to the left of each forum -- when you are on the forum index page (the main page). That icon will be very dark or not dark. The dark color indicates that there is unread content inside that forum. A "not dark" icon indicates you have reviewed everything in that forum.

If you know that you do NOT wish to read anything in that forum, simply click that dark icon, wait about 2 to 3 seconds, and it will turn "not dark". The time delay is allowing the software to go through all postings in that forum and marking them as having been read by you.

Give that a try and let me know how it works for you.

Dottie,

I have tried copying and pasting using various techniques and cannot get it to fail. Might I suggest that you use the "clipboard paste" option that pastes only the content, but without images or fancy formatting? That option is called different things on different computers and different operating systems. A fairly common name in a Windows OS, for example, would be the "Paste Special" rather than "Paste".

Please try this and let me know how this works for you.

Dottie, you are posting your messages in the Problems, Feedback and Suggestions forum. You are there.

You are not giving me much to work with, but in guessing between the words it appears that this may be the problem.

I suspect you are using a large screen display device (desktop or laptop, etc.), rather than a mobile or tablet device. If you "hover" the mouse over the title of a posting, then a preview screen pops up to show the beginning of the message. Just click on the message to see it all.

If that doesn't solve the problem, then tell me more about the device that you are using.

Trying to help, but really shooting in the dark here.

Dear Twin Wolf, et al,

Please re-read my post responding to your questions. There is no skulduggery or behind the curtain shenanigans going on here.

Note my delineation of the administrator accounts (and please ignore my spelling errors) as they exist as of late yesterday afternoon:

• Admin (this is a special admin account, see below); not used for routine administration of this website
• Admin_01
• Admin_02
• Admin_03
• Admin_04
• Admin_05
• Moderator_01
• Moderator_02
• Moderator_03
• Moderator_04
• Moderator_05

You will see five administrator accounts plus one special administrator account. You will also see five moderator accounts. 'Admin' is a different account from 'Admin_01.' I, Bud Huber, am Admin_01. No other admin accounts and no moderator accounts have been assigned. For the moment, I am it.

The 'Admin' account is a special admin account used only by the software vendor, and only when I authorize its use. That special admin account is used for system diagnostic purposes only by the software vendor, not administration of the content or membership database. The 'Admin' account has only been used once since activating this website several weeks ago; that use was from Friday of last week through Monday afternoon (yesterday), and was related to the fact that I was unable to create management level accounts,(meaning admin and moderator accounts). Fortunately that software glitch has now been fixed. The delay in configuring this website for more management accounts was a real thorn in my side.

I ask that you look at the Admin_01 profile again and you will see that nothing has changed. My name is still there as it has been from the beginning. There are no names for the other management accounts because there are no people filling those responsibilities.

Given the sensitivities around anonymity, and referring to your comment ("Openness and transparency are the one key feature everyone is searching for."), I see a problem coming for the future admins and moderators. Several candidates have told me that they would volunteer only if able to do so anonymously. Their reluctance is based on experiences by other moderators and administrators and volunteers being maligned, abused, and so forth by other websites and user groups. So far I have not been able to find anyone willing to volunteer as a moderator and to do so with name identification. My current (hopefully temporary) policy is that volunteers will be allowed to work anonymously, with the exception of myself as Admin_01.

As an aside, I must have one backup administrator in case something happens to me or we are traveling (which is frequently), and  two would be better. I would like to have three or four moderators that rotate around. The future issue for me is getting competent volunteers (everything is on an unpaid voluntary basis), properly vetted, who do not object to public visibility. Not an easy task.

I appreciate your continued interest and inquiries. The word 'transparency' is overused in today's world, but that is basically what we are seeking and trying to provide in this website.

If I can be of further assistance, please ask.

Dottie,

We have looked at every single posting that you have made since you joined this website. We see all (repeat all) of the content without a problem.

Can you provide more details so that we can help you resolve this problem. For instance, is it all of your postings, or only one or two, etc.? Is there some other commonality that could help point toward the source of the problem?

Let us hear back from you and we will do what we can to help.

Dear Twin Wolf, et al,

1. The owners of Chiriqui Life (CL) are Bud Huber and wife.
2. My name was not removed from the Real Name field in my profile. I note that you viewed my profile about 9 hours ago (as have others). It clearly shows my name (Bud Huber) as the real name for Admin_01. Please check again and advise if you see something other than Bud Huber.
3. In other communications I noted that we were having software problems and that I was unable to create any other admin or moderator accounts. I opened a trouble ticket with the software vendor (IPS). That problem was resolved yesterday afternoon, resulting in my ability finally to create additional admin and moderator accounts. That is precisely what was done. We now have five admin account (plus a special admin used by the software vendor), and five moderator accounts. There are no names associated with these new accounts because those positions have not yet been allocated. That will take time because training is necessary with this fairly sophisticated software.
4. There is no linking of CL with any other site. CL is a standalone service not associated with, linked to, or dependent upon anyone else or any other system.

You did not ask, but CL was initiated as a project several months ago at the urging of many expats in this area because they wanted alternative information resources. You might wish to view Significant Milestones.

Glad that you asked those question publicly so that all can see what the truth really is.

Let me know if you have additional questions or concerns.

Thanks again, have a great day!

Bud Huber, Admin_01

This posting is being done by the staff to relocate a blog posting and its replies to a more appropriate place on this website. For technical reasons we do not have the ability to relocate a blog into the bulletin board forums. (We have the tools to relocate topics and postings within the forums, but just not between different "channels" of this website.)

So as not to be accused of deleting any content, the blog that was begun by Jaime Daniel and containing one posting and six comments is captured as a PDF file and attached herewith. See the link at the very bottom of this posting.

The sole reason (read these words carefully) that the blog was locked and relocated is that its content does not belong in a blog. The content is discussing some rumors and personal thoughts. That kind of content properly belongs in the bulletin board forums. The blog was not locked because of displeasure with the content. Jaime and others have not violated any of this website's Governance Documents, other than posting in the wrong forum.

Unfortunately, the only technical means for relocating a blog results in an awkward situation for everyone. If you wish to continue responding to the content of the blog, please do so here in this forum as a reply to this posting. Further, I cannot put Jaime's name as the originator of this posting (for several reasons, and it would be inappropriate to credit him since he did not write what I am writing). I hope everyone can understand.

Click the below link to see the four page PDF containing the transplanted content from Jaime Daniel's blog:

New Ning forum by Jaime Daniel - Is this the forum Ambreen described.pdf

Funding for Chiriqui.Life is from personal resources.

If you will allow me to expound upon your "...unfamiliar..." thought for a bit, I respect that you added that phrase to the concept of a less friendly user interface. And so, here I go....

I am not a user of the other website that you mention, but based on a quick glance there appears to be a fundamental difference in how things are structured. The other site appears to be a "blog" structure with the principal dynamic information in a single "feed" (but in fairness, there are additional tabs and sections for categories of dedicated information, etc.). Chiriqui Life is principally a community bulletin board (forum) structure, but then also includes the blogging functionality, calendaring, etc.

One big difference between a blog and a bulletin board is that the information categories are pre-established (but expandable) in the bulletin board approach; that makes it somewhat easier (in the opinion of many) to target the information of interest. In a blog, one must sort through everything. Blogs typically file and display information in reverse chronological order; a bulletin board categorizes (segregates) the information and displays it in ascending chronological order, but within each category.

Neither web style is perfect and each has advantages and disadvantages. Chiriqui Life chose the bulletin board approach, but being appreciative of the benefits of a blogging structure resulted in the selection of a software application that accommodates both.

It is everyone's right to choose to use or not use the information resources that work best for them. We only ask that our targeted community of interest try Chiriqui Life's bulletin board structure (with additional functionality) for a while and then make an informed decision.

It has also been suggested that there are some fundamental differences in website administration policies and practices between the site that you mention versus Chiriqui Life. That is a different topic that I choose not to engage in.

In closing, it is obvious that our community needs, uses, and will support information resources that help them in their journey. Part of the reason for that prior sentence is based on the overwhelming interest and support that has bubbled up, and we are less than a week into this project. Support for some websites means paying money as a subscriber or perhaps as an advertiser. Chiriqui Life's perspective is that support means nothing more than using the resource, but in compliance with our Governance Documents -- and nothing more. There is no money involved in the use of Chiriqui Life, but there is a time commitment, which is an even more precious resource.

News Boquete - What It Is and How to Subscribe

The software detects what kind of platform is being used and adjusts its display based on the available "real estate". There are three categories of platforms that it recognizes: full screen capable (desktop and laptop devices, etc.) type devices, tablets (e.g., an iPad, etc.), and mobile devices (e.g., an iPhone or Android, etc.). The software pares down on what it is trying to display based on the capabilities of the device receiving the information.

The above offered as an explanation, not an excuse.

Dear Chica de Chiriqui,

You are correct in that the five minute grace period before locking a posting does NOT permit the complete deletion of the posting. I apologize for my mistake. I have also updated the Terms & Rules to clarify this fact. Refer to Global Rule #17.

I will also repost my original answer so that the correct and complete wording is available for all to see.

This topic is being relocated to a more appropriate forum because it is not directly related to life in Chiriqui Province. This topic is NOT being deleted, and others may continue to respond as they desire.

Thank you.

The thing that will make this the success that we hope it achieve is for the members to use it, and use it, and use it, ....

Good question that has come up a few times so far.

Once a member has posted something on this website, they have a five (5) minute grace period in which to review and potentially (1) do nothing, or (2) to edit, or (3) to delete their posting. Once that five minute grace period has expired, then the posting is locked.

Administrators and moderators can edit any content on the website at any time, but a request by a member for such an edit would have to be justified per our Terms & Rules.

Thanks for using Chiriqui Life (CL).

We suggest that you place an event entry on the calendar here in CL. At the very top are some tabs, e.g., Forums, Blogs, Calendar, etc. Click on the calendar tab, then the Create an Event button, and then enter the name of the event and other details.

Note that we currently have two calendars configured on CL. One is a community calendar and the second is a crime report calendar. Obviously your event should go on the community calendar.

If you do put your event on the calendar, you probably will NOT be able to put the location in the location field. The way that field is currently programmed does not allow for locations that do not fit a US standard address. I have ticket with the service provider to fix that issue. Just leave that field blank and put all of the pertinent information in the description field.

Next, if you would like a dedicated calendar for your group, just send an email to support@chiriqui.life requesting such. There is no cost for a dedicated calendar. (There is no cost for anything associated with CL. This is a free community information sharing resource.)

And finally, please "talk up" Chiriqui Life with your friends and group members. The more the merrier.

It is a judgment call by the management based on prior website experience.

Keith, regular members cannot edit or delete content that has been posted after a five (5) minute grace period expires. In other words, from the time a posting is submitted, the originator has five minutes to rethink what they have posted, and either edit the content or delete it entirely. After the five minute grace period has expired, no regular member can do anything with their posting other than be responsible for what they have posted. Administrators and moderators, on the other hand, have a full tool chest of editing, deletion, hiding, moderating, locking, etc., tools available to them.

I repeat from my earlier post: "For the record, Chiriqui.Life has removed no posts" (as of this message). Not exactly sure what happened in your case, but know for a fact that regular members cannot edit or delete anything after the five minute grace period has expired.

As long as the website's Guidelines and Terms & Rules are complied with, then the content will remain untouched and it will not be deleted. At the risk of being repetitive, CL has not deleted anything.