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HELP! I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP...

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Ishtaria
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HELP! I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP...

Post by Ishtaria »

We occasionally find people submitting requests for help in the craziest of places, such as in our News Submission section. Often, the messages look something like this:
NAME: Anonymous

SUBMISSION: Hi. I've been trying to register a couple of times, but it just isn't working. Could someone please fix it? Thanks!
We'll, we will be happy to help, the only thing is when someone contacts us this way, there is no guarentee we will see the request in a timely fashion when submissed through a portion of our service not traditionally setup for member help.

In the case of the above request, there is nothing we can do because there's no return email address, no phone number, not even the approximate location of a bar stool. :(

For what it is worth, if you can't register, you are still able to post a "request for help" message in our help forum. And we will reply to your message right here.


With regards to registration, the problem people have is often to one of two things:

The AOL Browser:
  • I do not know why, but AOL has always provided a browser which doesn't quite get along with the rest of the world. I've even heard AOL users say things like,

    "It works everywhere except on YOUR site!!!"

    But. the community management system that we use, is currently in use by over 40,000 web sites across the internet. There is nothing unique about us, and we have verified that it works with all versions of Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera, Firefox, and even ole' Mozilla.

    We have found that when people who are using the AOL browser switch to one of the others, that their problems completely disappear.
Many Simply Do Not Follow Directions:
  • Sometimes, people do not read everything, and that is why some people never successfully complete their registration.
  • Some fill in the registration form, and press the "New User" button, and then go off do something else assuming that they already know what is on the second screen and that they do not need to read it. And as a result they never completed the registration.
  • That second screen is there to confirm that the information you've entered is correct. If you don't press the "Finish" button on that screen, your information is never sent and we never receive it.

    So, I can say with 100% confidence that if you do not interact directly with the second screen we will never receive your registration. :D

    Review the information that you've entered, and then press the "Finish" button so that your registration will be sent to us.
  • OK, so you've filled in your information, went to the conformation and clicked "Finish." But you still can't login?!!!

    Ummm... have you checked your email? You still need to complete your registration by clicking on the personalized link, which is just for you alone, that is included in the email we send you. You must click on the link within that email within 24 hours, otherwise your registration expires (and you will need to start over again).

    Our system automatically sends them out as soon as you press the "Finish" button on the conformation screen. So you should receive your email within a few minutes (depending on how quickly your ISP updates email boxes - services like Hotmail.com can sometimes take up to one half hour or longer).
But I never received the email!!!
  • If after a couple of hours you haven't received your email from us, then something is wrong. Either you typo'ed your email address, or your ISP is blocking email and we were mistaken for SPAM.

    If your ISP/email service provides a special place for "Junk Email" did you check there? Lots of valid emails are intercepted by junk email filters, and without checking in there you will never know you received it.
  • The first thing to do is to try to register again, and make sure that the email address you are entering is correct. And if on your second try, you get an error message from us, saying that you are using an email address that has already been used, you can be certain that you did not typo your email address.
  • At this point you should post a message in our help forum, explaining what has occurred. If you do this quickly, we will be able to trace through our server logs and help identify the cause of the problem.

    Remember that you do not need to login to post a help message in our help forum. But it is important for you to tell us everything that has occurred. Very often, people will say things like, "It didn't work." There isn't anything we can do to help unless we know the details.

    So, let us know everything that occurred so we will be able to assist you.
I did everything, but I still can't get in!!!
  • I have encountered instances (not here, but on another service) where someone will complete the registration process, successfully receive their email, click on the link, and then find they are "not in."

    Then after spending an a whole evening looking through reams of server log files, I discovered that they had simply never logged in! It is times like that, when I think we should start charge for user support. :?

    Granted, not everyone is a computer expert, and nobody is expecting you to be a computer expert here. But it is also the year 2004, and if someone can not understand the idea of logging into a service, then they quite frankly have no business being on the internet.
  • Our service and our member support is provided by unpaid volunteers who are sacrificing their personal time to assist you. We don't mind doing this, but we need your help to help us work efficently. So we ask that you please provide the following:
    1. A complete description of your problem:

      Terse statements such as, "It doesn't work" tell us nothing, and force us to interview you with questions like, "What didn't work?" "Where didn't it work?" "What were you doing when it did't work?" "What was the exact error message on the screen" and so on.

      We can't read minds and none of our crystal balls work. So we need you to be a part of the solution.
    2. Take ownership of the help you've asked for:

      Sometimes people will email or post a request for help, and later do not reply to us when we respond. If you are going to ask for help, please "be there" when help is provided.
    3. Be willing to do some of the leg work:

      There are times when the problem is due to your ISP. If there is such a problem, it will be necessary for you to contact them to have it resolved. We can provide you with any documentation needed to resolve it, but you must deal with your internet service provider.
Many people successfully register and use our service everyday. If you are experiencing a problem, then we need to determine what is unique in your case. The more you help us to help you, the faster we can solve your problem.


Just to reiterate, to register you must:
  1. Fill in the registration form (with your correct email address), and press the "New User" button.
  2. Click on the "Finish" button on the conformation screen.
  3. Get the email that we send you (and check you JUNK EMAIL box in case it ended up there)
  4. Click on the link (or copy the full address into the internet address field of your browser), and go to that page
  5. Login
  6. Done!
A guaranteed way to produce a failed registration is to skip just one of those steps! :D

Best of luck, and welcome to the Doll Forum!

Ish

"HELP! I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP..." ?!!!

For those of you not in the US (and who do not get US Infomercials), the thread title is from a commercial for a product called "LIFE ALERT®" which is an emergency button for old people who live alone. The product is a good idea. But the commercials are so cheap looking that they appear as a parody of themselves!

The line "HELP! I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP..." is from a segment where an older woman is lying on the floor, and says the line with the same sense of urgency as a McDonalds worker asking if you'd like cheese on your hamberger. :D

The LIFE ALERT® commercials have aired so many times on television here in the US, that they have become a part of American culture.

And, on top of it, you've missed hearing Ms. Rosalie Rosen prove that reading from a teleprompter can be a bad thing:

Image

Rosalie Rosen:

"My life was on the line...
and they saved it!...
Thank God for...
...
Life Alert...
...
I...
owe...
...
my life...
...
to it..."


:lol:

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Bill
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Post by Bill »

This is a very informative post, Ishtaria. I deal with this stuff almost daily and can solve the member's problem in one email because I've seen it all before. The tough ones I send to you.

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Inkling
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Post by Inkling »

Great job, Ishtaria!
One last thing: you have to have Cookies enabled. In Internet Explorer, this is Tools>Internet Options>Privacy
On the Privacy page, right-click Edit button.
In the text box, enter:
www.dollforum.com
Right-click OK.
Right-click OK. (two screens)
<div>So long, and thanks for all the fish!<br>- Douglas Adams</div>

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GordonGriggs
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Post by GordonGriggs »

Hi, I remember that commercial! I laughed my ass of the first time I saw it. Does anyone know where I can download it? I have looked everywhere but I guess I was one of the few that thougtht it was really funny.

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mahtek
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Post by mahtek »

Ishtaria,

Had I not aready been registered, a tutorial like that would have been a Godsend. I'm not totaly computer illiterate, just enough to do some real damage. :lol: The if/then flowchart structure of your tutorial is the best way to get someone where they want to go when they don't know where they're going. Since most who use this post to register won't say it, I will.

Thanks.

Mahtek

P.S. A friend of mine who worked as an EMS tech hated the Lifecall. Lonely old people would use it to get some company :( . He felt bad for them, but people who realy needed help died because no EMS was available when they needed it. Another friend who was a cop was involved in a police chase on foot. An officer he was following lost his balance climbing a fence and fell, knocking the wind out of him. When he could finaly use his radio he told them "I've fallen, and I can't get up." Ever sympathetic to the feelings of their comrade, once they found out he was OK, they sat at the end of the alley screaming into their bullhorns "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" :twisted:
All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here, in my arms. Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm.

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dave7311
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Post by dave7311 »

I was concerned that you had a misfortune (fell and needed help).
:cry:

Awesome post Ish! :)

Thank You 4 this most valued info!

dave7311 :wink:

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Inkling
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Post by Inkling »

This thread has a Sticky, so I'm of the opinion it should only have posts that actually contain help in accessing TDF.

My post included info. not in the original post. It's hard for one person to think of everything.

Also, Doll Album and toy store have to have their separate cookies to their sites enabled in order to use them.
<div>So long, and thanks for all the fish!<br>- Douglas Adams</div>

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mahtek
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Post by mahtek »

Inkling,

Would you prefer that I delete just my P.S., or my whole post. This is a good tutorial, keeping it concise is a good thing.

Mahtek
All I ever wanted, all I ever needed is here, in my arms. Words are very unnecessary, they can only do harm.

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mytime
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Post by mytime »

Hi Ish,

Good post :!:
I've same experience with it, sometimes you get the most foolish descriptions when people ask help, or ask for extention of a program.
One has to do much work then to get to know wat they really need then, work that sometimes could better be spend on serious things, but anyway sometimes such problem with such vague desription is sometimes caused by a bigger problem in a computer system like e.g. wrong user rights so I have to handle them always serious.

Mytime & Helen
Image
One dream, one mission...

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Re: HELP! I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP...

Post by Wahoo1 »

Hehe I remember Will Smith saying that line in The fresh Prince! What a programme! Tres Bien
I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.

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