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The MacOSXHints FAQ - Jan/Feb 2003 Edition Site News
The MacOSXHints Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

These are the official FAQ's for the site, and I make them the "Featured Article" every few months for a couple of days to help new users get acquainted with the site. [Last updated: 1/31/2003]

Newly added questions: (based on email inquiries and general feedback)
  • Are you ever going to get the site upgrade done?
The answer to this question is "Yes!" After much hard work the last couple of months, the upgrade is nearly ready to go. However, it will take most of a weekend, and as such, I need to schedule it a bit in advance given upcoming commitments. So please note that we'll be offline most of the weekend of February 15th and 16th for the site conversion. macosxhints.com will go offline early on the 15th, and will come back online when everything is ready to go. All existing usernames and passwords will continue to work, of course, and there are a few nice new features (as well as some changes in content organization) that you'll notice immediately.

Previously posted questions: [date of last changed noted in brackets]
  • Why are some of the hints way too easy? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Why are some of the hints way too hard? [Oct 11 2002]
  • If I subscribe, will you pester me with emails and such? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Can you make the site narrow enough to fit on my iBook's 800x600 screen? [Jan 31 2003]
  • I submitted a Press Release for publication, and it never showed up (or it showed up much later). What happened to it? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Why do the forum site and the main site require me to register separately? [Oct 11 2002]
  • I submitted a hint with my signature attached. When the hint was published, the signature was gone. What happened to it? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Why are some of the tips so stupid, or sometimes just totally wrong? Don't you test stuff first? [Oct 11 2002]
  • How come there are times when "No new hints" appear in a 24 hour period?" [Oct 11 2002]
  • How many hours a week do you work on the site? [Oct 11 2002]
  • When are you going to update the OS X Solutions Guidebook? [Jan 31 '03]
  • Is the "Pick of the Week" an advertisement? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Are there sections of the site reserved for "subscribers only"? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Will some sections of the site eventually become reserved for "subscribers only"? [Oct 11 2002]
  • What is the purpose of the MacOSXHints website? [Oct 11 2002]
  • What software do I need to make these hints work? [Oct 11 2002]
  • I submitted a Help Request, and it never appeared. Where did it go? [Oct 11 2002]
  • I submitted a hint, and it was never published. Where did it go? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Can I submit tips and comments without registering? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Why haven't you responded to my email? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Why can't I get the registration/login to work? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Will the site work without cookies? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Can't you change the site to fully function without cookies? [Oct 11 2002]
  • What will you do with my information if I register? [Oct 11 2002]
  • How many people work for MacOSXHints? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Is this your full-time job? [Oct 11 2002]
  • Why aren't there any banner ads? [Oct 11 2002]
  • How can I help support MacOSXHints? [Oct 11 2002]
  • How long will MacOSXHints be online? [Oct 11 2002]
If you have additional questions that are not addressed in the above list, please email me directly and I'll add the most popular questions to the next FAQ ... and now, the answers!

New Questions - January 31 2003

Are you ever going to get the site upgrade done?
Answer posted in main body text...

---------------------

Previously posted questions:

Why are some of the hints way too easy?
Because the macosxhints readership encompasses a wide variety of skill sets, so a given group may find a given hint ridiculously easy. If this applies to you, then just skip that hint and read the next one. Please try to remember that the primary motivation of the site is to help all users of OS X, not just the really advanced ones.

Why are some of the hints way too hard?
Because the macosxhints readership encompasses a wide variety of skill sets, so a given group may find a given hint incredibly complicated. If this applies to you, then just skip that hint and read the next one. Please try to remember that the primary motivation of the site is to help all users of OS X, not just those who are just starting out.

If I subscribe, will you pester me with emails and such?
Absolutely not. You will receive exactly one email from me (maybe, see below) when your annual subscription is about to expire. That's it. The exception to this is if you use Amazon to make your contribution. Amazon does not share names or email addresses of those who donate, so I can't send you a reminder.

Can you make the site narrow enough to fit on my iBook's 800x600 screen?
The site upgrade will allow macosxhints.com to fit reasonably well on an 800x600 display, thought the experience will still not be ideal, the full width of stories does now easily fit with no horizontal scrolling.

I submitted a Press Release for publication, and it never showed up (or it showed up much later). What happened to it?
The primary purpose of macosxhints.com is on hints regarding everything OS X - the system, applications, utilities, etc. Press releases are not the site's forte, as there are any number of other Mac sites which track Press Releases much better and in a more timely manner than I do. If you absolutely, positively need your PR bit published, and published in a timely manner, macosxhints.com is not the site to look to for your solution! I accumulate the PR bits I get over time, and occasionally release a batch of them as a combined hint. But the primary focus of the site will always be (as long as I'm involved with it) hints related to using OS X on a daily basis.

Why do the forum site and the main site require me to register separately?
I decided that the difficulty level involved in trying to tie together my outdated Geeklog engine with the new vBulletin engine on the forum site wasn't worth the trouble. The Geeklog engine will be updated shortly, and I would have then had to recreate all the connection code from scratch (the new Geeklog is a substantial rewrite over my current version). So, once I have the main site upgraded to the newest Geeklog, the next project will be to tie together the two registration databases. For now, though, you'll need to register separately on each site. Sorry!

I submitted a hint with my signature attached. When the hint was published, the signature was gone. What happened to it?
As a general rule, I strip all signature lines from postings. The "From" line in each post's header links to an author information page which can contain the author's URL as well as a bio, so I keep the story itself clean of any signature information.

Why are some of the tips so stupid, or sometimes just totally wrong? Don't you test stuff first?
Although I try to test every tip, sometimes it's just not possible. Sometimes I make typos in hints when formatting them for publication. Sometimes I make a bad judgement call on what to publish or not publish. Sometimes I just make stupid mistakes and overlook something obvious. In short, this happens because I'm just one person, I don't know even close to everything about OS X, and I'm human. Hopefully the readers will help identify my boneheaded errors and I'll do my best to correct them in a timely manner ... but there's no way I can guarantee that everything published here will be 100% correct and 100% useful 100% of the time. All I can promise is that I'll do my best to keep the content level on the site extremely high, and work to quickly correct mistakes when they do occur.

How come there are days when "No new hints" appear in a 24 hour period?
Primarily because I run the site myself. I'm sure I could find volunteers to help publish hints, but I'm more interested in the quality of the information presented than the quantity of information. I personally review and edit (if necessary) every submitted hint for clarity and formatting, try to test them myself where possible, search the site to insure they haven't been previously published, and contact the tip submitters if there are clarifying questions to be asked. This all takes time, and sometimes, there just isn't enough time between my 'real job' and my 'real life' to update the site every single day. It's also possible that there just aren't any hints of interest on a given day. Rather than publish press releases or other filler, I choose to simply not update the site. Weekend updates should not be relied upon; there may or may not be stories published across any given Saturday and Sunday.

How many hours a week do you work on the site?
This is a hard question to answer, as there really isn't a typical week. I usually spend anywhere from two to four hours a day either directly working on the site, posting answers in the forums, managing the various databases and software packages that run the site and the forums, trying things out in OS X to find new hints to publish, adding new site features, and corresponding with readers. Some days it's less, occasionally it's more, and I often spend more time on the weekends on the behind the scenes stuff. Typically, though, I'd guesstimate that it takes 20 to 30 hours a week to keep the site running when I consider all of the things I spend time on that are macosxhints related.

When are you going to update the OS X Solutions Guidebook?
There's something in the works which is taking up a great amount of my free time and should reach completion in the near future. Stay tuned! :-)

Is the "Pick of the Week" an advertisement?
Absolutely not. It's simply a piece of software that I've found interesting and/or useful. I receive no compensation for the software items listed there, and the authors of the packages are not informed if their package will be listed. The first time they'll know they've been chosen is when they see the listing on Monday morning with everyone else. The only income I earn on the site comes from readers who choose to subscribe.

Are there sections of the site reserved for "subscribers only"?
Absolutely not. 100% of the site is fully accessible to anyone who wishes to use it. The full database of 2,000+ hints is searchable, all site features are fully accessible, and all stories and comments in all topics from the launching of the site in November of 2000 onward are still available. The primary benefit of subscribing is simply to help keep macosxhints online. If you find the information useful and informative, consider a $10 subscription. It's a very low-key subscription; there are no reminders when your subscription expires, and you are not added to any mailing list. There are, unfortunately, no subscriber benefits since I have no ads to disable nor features to enable for subscribers ... but you'll feel good knowing that you're helping me keep macosxhints going :-).

Will some sections of the site become reserved for "subscribers only"?
Absolutely not, as long as I'm in charge of macosxhints. Subscribing should be something you do because you want to do it and feel the site has value to you, not because you're forced to do it. I cannot, however, control what happens if/when I am no longer involved with the site, of course. There may be some features added in the future which are subscription-only, but the core content that exists today (hints, searching, commments, etc.) will remain accessible to everyone as long as it is possible for me to do so.

What software do I need to make these hints work?
Unless otherwise specified, all hints will work on a standard installation of OS X that includes the BSD Subsystem. UNIX tips will refer to the 'tcsh' shell (the default) unless otherwise specified. Some tips will require additional software (such as the Developer Tools), but they should always be clearly marked. Please keep in mind that you are respnsible for anything which happens to your machine, and the hints on macosxhints.com do not come with a guarantee! It's possible that a hint may cause damage to your system, or that you may damage your system while attempting to implement an otherwise functional hint. You should always have a backup before you try anything that you think may cause problems on your machine.

What is the purpose of the MacOSXHints website?
To provide as many answers about using OS X as possible in one location. I launched the site in November of 2000 due to my frustrations in finding online information about the then-new OS X Public Beta. Since that time, it's turned into a very large database (1,500+) of OS X related hints and how-to's. We publish very few press releases; almost all the news here is news you can use!

I submitted a Help Request, and it never appeared. Where did it go?
Help Requests are no longer published on macosxhints.com. The macosxhints forum site now handles all Help Requests. The category has been left in place to handle previously published stories. Please do not submit new Help Requests to the main macosxhints.com site!. On the forums, your help request will be published immediately, and the site format is more conducive to conversations over questions.

I submitted a hint, and it was never published. Where did it go?
There are a couple of possibilities here. The most likely is that an identical or similar tip has already been published. In those cases, I don't generally publish a duplicate unless there's substantially new information included. Try searching on a keyword or two from your tip before submitting to see if it's already published. In general, I try to send you an email letting you know this has happened, but sometimes I get quite busy and don't have the time to do this.

The second possibility is that I have a question regarding your hint, and I can't get in touch with you to answer the question. This only applies to those users who submit a story as an unregistered user. All I can ask is that you include your email address in your submission, in case I have a question that I'd like to ask you about the story. Your email address won't be shared with anyone else, but it will make it possible for me to resolve any questions I may have. It will also be removed before the story is published, so you should have no confidentiality fears.

Finally, it's possible that I simply did something stupid -- very occasionally, while working through the submissions, I have accidentally deleted a tip submission before publishing it. If you think this may have happened to your submission, please drop me an email. Once I've deleted a submission, I have no record of who submitted it, so I can't contact you to ask you to resubmit the tip. So again, please include your email in your submission if you are not a registered user!

Can I submit tips and comments without registering?
Tips can be submitted anonymously, however, I request that you include an email address in the body of your submission, in case I have questions regarding the post. This email address will be removed before the tip is published. Anonymous comments are not allowed; only registered users may post comments.

Why haven't you responded to my email?
I get many emails through the site, and although I try my best, I may not be able to respond to everyone instantly. I do, however, respond to every email that I receive. It just may take a few days or a week or so, depending on my workload at work and on the site. I will try to keep this policy in place as long as I can handle the volume of email received.

Why can't I get the registration/login to work?
The MacOSXHints site runs on an engine known as geeklog, and geeklog requires cookies to work properly.

Will the site work without cookies?
The site will work fine without cookies, but you cannot login (which means you cannot post comments) without enabling cookies.

Can't you change the site to fully function without cookies?
No, unfortunately, I cannot. I have enough to do just keeping up with the site. Future versions of Geeklog may address this problem, but then again, they may not.

What will you do with my information if I register?
Absolutely nothing other than contact you if necessary.

How many people work for MacOSXHints?
Just me.

Is this your full-time job?
No, this started as a hobby and my way of trying to give something back to the Mac community. It's turned into a bit more than that, but it's still essentially a hobby. I wish I could devote more time to the site, but I do have to maintain a full-time job and try to have some semblance of a life outside the computer room. So if it seems I'm ignoring your email or submission or that the site isn't being updated as regularly as you may like, it's probably because I'm busy with something else at that point in time.

Why aren't there any banner ads?
I don't want the hassle of managing banner rotation, hit counts, click-through counts, monthly reporting, etc. I also don't want to farm this responsibility out to a third-party to manage. Finally, I like the fact that I can visit my own site and find just what I want - information - without wading through the banners. In short, I just find it much easier to use and manage the site when I don't have to deal with advertisers. I also like the look of the site without banners.

As long as I can make the economics work reasonably well without ads, MacOSXHints will remain advertising free. Do I expect to get rich off the site? Absolutely not. Do I hope to make a positive income from the site? If I do, I don't think that's a bad thing in exchange for the time I devote to providing solid information on using Mac OS X. Of course, it's up to you (via your choice to subscribe) to tell me whether you find the site valuable or not; there is no "subscriber only" restricted content anywhere on the site.

How can I help support MacOSXHints?
There are subscription links for checks, PayPal, Amazon and Kagi on each page - choose which one suits your needs the best. If you donate by check, 100% of your donations go to the site fund (since I'm the overhead!), PayPal takes about 5%, Amazon takes about 16%, and Kagi varies between 10% and 15%. A contribution of as little as $5 or $10 for a year of reading helps me tremendously. I fund the full costs of the site through my own pocket and subscriptions (see "no banner ads", above), and I put in about 20 hours a week working on the site.

Another way to contribute is through sharing knowledge. If you find something unique, interesting, and/or useful for OS X, please submit it as a hint. Only by getting the whole community involved can we make this the best source of OS X information on the net.

How long will MacOSXHints be online?
As long as I have the energy to keep it going, the economics make reasonable sense, and there's a need for OS X information.

-rob griffiths
robg@macosxhints.com
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