Freegle Tech Report 19-05-31

Freegle Tech Report May 2019
Messages 27094-27180
Members 113

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General.

Things are quiet this month as Edward is on his charity walk for Freegle. He was asked if he could speed up modtools but the problem was found to be interaction with Waterfox (a Firefox variant) . It will be later in the year before he can look at this so if anyone else is seeing slowness and they're using Firefox, try Chrome.
The Yahoo groups had not posts for 10 days or so. It is understood some members are having lots of problems getting posts through, though it may also have been quiet because Edward is not around to break stuff.

Direct.

Q. A member can’t find all his posts in his My Posts today. He has not had a problem previously.
A. Often this is because they have logged in with a different email address. Has a look for the posts and see if there is anything different. I think we have this second one sorted. He says he thinks he must have accidentally added an r when confirming his email on the site But that he signed in with the Freegle button as usual.
Q If the email is editable when posting, maybe an 'are you sure' pop up on changing it would be a good idea?

Servers
This is an automated list of the changes to the client code in May If you have any questions about them, please reply to this mail.
Here are the more important ones which would affect members:

• Speed up My Posts page for people with many old posts .
  
• Make clicking on thumbs up/down cancel current rating.
  
• Notification ugly for comment on noticeboard post .
  
• Clarify that ADMIN mails are always sent even if you've paused mails
  
• Clarify text about chat mail in Settings .
  
• Messages not showing who sent them.
  

...and here are the ones which are minor, or only affect volunteers in ModTools, or are internal changes that you wouldn't notice:
Fix to notifications for chitchat unfollow thread.
Remove log .
Restructure the code which shows/hides the details and reply box in messages. This has always been a bit flaky, e.g. on user profiles.
Remove log.
Add page to show all posters.
Tweak noticeboard text
Add edit link for noticeboard.
Add page to edit a noticeboard.
Messages with multiple photos displaying count in the wrong place on My Posts..
Back out unsubscribe changes as they generate too many mails .
Tweak donation text.
Dates wrong in council stats output.
Make notification code a bit more resilient.
Change unsubscribe page to make leaving easier.
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/master.
Change donation appeal to stroll .
Increase blackness of "Looking to leave" link.
Fixes for noticeboard notifications .
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/master' ..
Record donations from the popup as mile sponsors
Plot heatmap on a logarithmic scale.

This is an automated list of the changes to the server code in May.. If you have any questions about them, please reply to this mail. Here are the more important ones which would affect members:
...and here are the ones which are minor, or only affect volunteers in ModTools, or are internal changes that you wouldn't notice:
Add better donate request into chat notifications.
Give a best guess sponsorship total .
Strip signatures on OFFER/WANTED posts .
Ensure TN replies get matched with the correct message that the TN user is replying to..
Tweak comment.
Include Facebook donations in tally for stroll.
Record source of donation more carefully.
Paging on Old Posts broken if you have drafts.
Fix up bad fromaddr addresses.
Creating our own email addresses starting with.
Noticeboard notification bug.
Admin editing info is wrong.
Noticeboard notifications look silly.
Travis fixes.
Add another OOF message.
Speed-up: change a while back to spot spam members slowed things down.
Switch remaining email donation requests to use PPGF.
Dashboard stats broken by change to allow councils to select stats date.
Allow manual merging of users even if they are set not to automerge.
Put autoreposts at bottom of email digests.
Nit...o
More fixes to notifications and unfollow.
Messages omitted when paging.
When a user is purged from the platform, delete their messages entirely.
Sending thanks when noticeboard probably not valid.
UT fixes .
Allow removal of rating.
Generating duplicate chitchat items for new posters.
Update schema.
Send thank you mail for noticeboards.
Tweak order items returned in chitchat so that there is something more interesting near the top.

Mobile

I've just released a new version of the Freegle and ModTools apps for Android - and submitted them for review for release on iOS - which usually takes about a day.
This catches up with all improvements made by Ed on the website but also asks people to review the Freegle app as one of the options after marking a message as taken. The please-review option is also on the help page. This will hopefully help improve our rating, especially at the iOS App Store. Give it a go - please!
Note that some people will not be able to leave a rating or review at the Google Play Store if their Google account is in a Google Apps domain account.
Chris
Apps hat

Modtools

It’s been pointed out that the buttons to put Freegle publicity on to group Facebook pages appear intermittently at the moment.
We should have buttons for the groups we mod, and they appear sometimes, s for three groups which someone else mods which never do.
They only show up if you're set to active rather than back up - does that help? Also someone else may be putting them on for you.
So if they arrive without being clicked, that’s fine.They also won’t show up if the page has become unlinked though so you need to relink it in the group settings.

Tech Chat

Maggie S i reported a few days ago about harold hill (my area) coming up under brentwood, now today a member mentioned about her postcode coming up under upminster and not hornchurch, like it normally does (next town along), i looked at the mapping again and it was saying the wrong area (as it did with the brentwood/harold hill cliche), i clicked save and it reverted back to the correct hornchurch town, its got to be a cliche, anyone else see anything funny with the postcode/towns??
Dee I can't see any problem with Upminster/Hornchurch, though it is possible that one postcode could cross the boundary between the two. There is a big Brentwood polygon which surrounds several small areas, and I suspect that it might be causing a problem, even though it does not overlap Harold Hill. Assuming it arrived by itself, that you did not put it there, I would delete it, and see if that cures the problem.
If you would like any help with mapping, just ask Support. Wanda There was a time when some huge big polygons appeared out of the blue covering all the smaller local ones. I always delete those when I spot one because ti's obvious they are an error popped in at some point by the system .. I had one that persisted on coming back on one of my groups until it left after the 3rd and final deletion ;)
Maggie S @dee, the hornchurch postcode was well inside the hornchurch area and not near the upminster boundary, the brentwood polygon surrounding the smaller brentwood areas don't cause a problem for me, i put it there ,
Wanda Maggs the big 'Brentwood' polygon covers loads of smaller local area ones and may not cause you a problem but confuses the system as it will randomly select any of the ones it encompass or, selects that larger one. You either need to delete the smaller ones underneath it or remove the big one. That way the system will work better when selecting an area.
Maggie S its not the postcode problem, it was a mapping problem, the mapping was showing her postcode, clearly in the hornchurch section, as upminster, not hornchurch, (shows at the bottom right on mapping, postcode tester)next time it happens, ill take a screenshoot, like i did on the brentwood when it did it there and posted here

Wanda I used the postcode tester this morning and it came up correctly.. however sometimes trying to get something to show inside a polygon can be quite difficult even if it is dead centre... something to do with the first 3 or 4 alpha numerics I think which may cross over local area boundaries... maybe you could resolve it by deleting the 2 distinct polygons to make just one and name it Hornchurch/Upminster 

.Just tell her if it comes up with the wrong one again she can edit it as there isn't anything else you can do.
Saira If I send a member a message via modtools but then ban them from the group - will they be able to see the message? Maybe I'm better off emailing?
A.David I seem to remember they do but couldn't be 100% and general hold off on banning until I have contacted members etc
Jo A member says she can't find her way round to leave and wants all her info deleted, should I use 'Purge from DB' to do this?
Wanda @Jo yes use purge in support tools
Elaine I'd be inclined to go into Approved Members, find the members details, and then just "Delete" them, if they really can't do it after pointing them at Settings on ILF and scrolling down. That way they control things, but you can remove them if they are not wanting to do it. I'd personally not Purge ANYTHING without being told specifically to do it by Ed!!
A.Wanda @Elaine Only those of use with support tools access can fully purge so if you get a member asking for all info to be removed pop a note to support and we'll sort it for you :Doing a full purge is what we have to do in line with GDPR if a member asks to be completely removed from our records. Removing from the group does not remove them from the site and we still hold residual info on them
Elaine Wanda, is that an option that we mortals cannot see, and which is only for Support team Experts?
Wanda WE hold that in case they want to rejoin but if they specifically request all info be removed we have to purge from the database. .once we do that if they do rejoin no old info will be available to them or us.
@Elaine. .Yup it's support tools access only. .Because it removes absolutely everything and could be accidentally used to remove from other groups you are not a mod on..
Wanda When we get queries directly to support we ask them to confirm if they want all info purged if they haven't said that. Some just want to leave a group and we tell them how to do that, others want all info removed under GDPR and that's when we use the purge. We do clarify first to make sure if it isn't clear. We are obliged to remove everything if they ask us to.
Q. Jo I’ve seen a few people over the last few days put random stuff in the item field; I’ve had a full name, a possible post code and ‘just browse’. I’ve not noticed this before, not sure if somethings changed to confuse them or their brains are just addled with the bank holiday.
Edward Hibbert Are they posting via the platform or TN?
Jo Wasn't really paying attention, sorry, hadn't realised it might be a thing initially. Will pay better attention to any future ones.
Q.@edward, do you know that your map doesn’t show up when members close a post? In chrome on an ipad
Edward Hibbert Odd. I've uploaded the image again.
Saira OK - I'll another one to do later I'll see if it tries to show me again
Maggie S i had same grey squares this morning with photos on a post, i was about to message her to redo the photos, but they ended up loading ok while i was doing other post, it was just slow to upload. so dont know if thats anything to do with it
Edward Hibbert Could be that.
Q.Liz Hi folks I received an email chat message from a member that had photographs of all her recent posted items I contacted her as there was no message. She's just replied saying she has no idea she was in an ambulance at the time and her ipad was in her bag and switched off - not sure if its a problem?
Edward Hibbert You sometimes see that if someone replies - or auto-replies - to a What's New digest. Because that reply includes the original mail, you end up with a bunch of photos in chat from the digest. What's relevant is what you see right at the top
Q.Elaine Can I edit incoming publicity from Freegle? There is a misspelling I'd like to correct. 2nd word after address reads HASE, not HAS! If I can't correct it, can it be corrected and resent; it screams at me, and I'm sure I'm not alone!!
Claire Don't know if you can do it here, but upload it to facebook and edit the post on the page, using the three dots & edit at the top right of the post
Q.Liz This just in - I've just asked what he's using to access the group phone etc. - "hi when i open a post i cant seem to close it again not sure if its my computer or the site ? I suggested he refresh the page it was the same as when he logged out and in again. - "I've logged out and back in closed it and reopened it but when i click on the title it wont shut - Liz
Elaine What does he want to open and close? Are these offers, or wants, chats, or notifications? For the most part, things DON'T seem to Close, but they are replaced by the next thing you open. If he gives you a "blow by blow" example of what he sees, and does, and what is happening, it may just be that he misunderstood the way the site works! You don't need to close down everything before logging off.
Dee It may be similar to this enquiry to Support today which said "Tapping on an item opens the description tapping again will not close". It is a temporary fix made in response to another problem. Not ideal, but will be staying like that for the time being.
Edward Hibbert I'm going to be away walking shortly. Please can you send anything I need to look at to me by mail? I won't be checking this chat regularly.
a) You can track sponsors via https://sponsoramile. ilovefreegle.org/, 89 so far
b) Raised rougly £500 so far
c) He has sent mails to everyone nearby, and there will be more admins.
d) There's a Facebook page/blog that the sponsors get encouraged to follow.
e) Hate T-shirts but have something attached to my rucksack.
f) Love walking so whatever it raises is a bonus.
I've made his page, NEW STEPS FOR FREEGLE, open up when I log on, alongside my emails, and Modtools. That way I won't forget to look in
Q. HI! Has anyone else had difficulties posting on FreegleRockCafe recently? I tried yesterday, and today, with no success. Have I missed a change of Location, or moderating policy on there? Have I been banned unexpectedly??? I'd appreciate some help!!
David Not sure who asked the question but noone has ever been banned from Rock Cafe and everyone should be unmodded although some folks have reported YAhoo not working as it should

I'll try entering it on Yahpoo and see if that works...

Seemingly Not. Oh well, I will just have to not share it. Pity, It brought a real smile to my fact!!
Jeni Just for info - I never joined the Freegle Rock Cafe but thought I would take a look (being nosy). When i put the address you have given into my browser I got a Security Warning, I think from Yahoo, on the lines of do you really want to go there. When I clicked yes, it just took me to a general Groups page. I then tried to search for FRC - nothing found.
Wanda I have been trying to post to tech or Mod tools Yahoo groups for a week. .all mail has been returned as unable to deliver now. .Only one that seems to be working is Central. .All the others are just not posting new messages at all .Got one thru to tech by doing a test post via the web page and manage do reply to it via mail and that went thru so thought ok I'll post my query now and same thing as before, it went into Yahoo's black hole..
Yahoo groups are sucking badly currently .For now if there is a tech query post in here and us support peeps will try to sort it out or we'll contact geeks if it's urgent as Chris may be able to do something.
David, I am Flummoxed! I have sent my post several times more. NONE have gone through! In have rejigged it to remove the photo, and sent it in plain text, but STILL it won't appear, Although I can reply to yours, and it appeared, and and send mine with a BCC which arrives safely, I just can not send MY amusing message!! Could I send it to YOU, if you know about these things, and see if you can see what I have done wrong?
Wanda Elaine the only way I have managed to get a message thru to most of the yahoo groups is to post from the web page. If it doesn't work for David you could try that. Can't promise that if people reply by email those will get thru tho, both Tech and Mod Tools groups not receiving messages, same as a few others. Been going on for over a week.. Central seems to be getting messages showing. For now if anyone has a freegle or Mod tools tech query probably best to send to support@ilovefreele.org.. We need to get those other groups shifted, best to move them to groups.io for now as everything can be imported over directly with no hassle.. . seems Yahoo Groups are well and truly foobarred.. Discourse isn't ready to be used and won't be for a good while... [is pleased. .sorry Ed lol ] I tried posting from the page too, with no success. It's just a post from a member that I thought would amuse, but obviously Yahoo disagrees! Thankfully we are no longer on that system for members - can you imagine the chaos if all of our members posts were vanishing like this?! It just shows how wise Ed et al were to develop this independent system, and everyone who was reluctant to move must now see the value of it. Of course, because they HAVE moved, they are probably not aware of the potential for chaos, but anyone on here must be! We bow down before the wisdom of the Tech Elves, and are grateful for their protection from the Evil that is Yahpoo!!Elaine xx
1Wanda I think our own system creates it's own problems and has far too much going but yes Yahoo is very bad now altho Sheila managed to get hold of someone in support via a pop up she saw and they are aware of the problem and are trying to fix it. .maybe this time next year it will work again.. Groups.io is so much easier, no bells and whistles and messages get thru... which ultimately is the most important part lol
Ed will kill me so lucky he's not checking in these chats while on his walk. .He knows I prefer the does what it says on the tin approach with no need for extras.. lol *hides*
Q. HELP! Anyone on here know what the national CO2 saved in 2018 was, please? I have been looking for the stat everywhere, but I can't find it!! Wanda I know you can see individual group ones by clicking more info on the group page but can't recall if there is anything for the national figure. It's not glaringly obvious anywhere that I've looked.
Elaine I KNOW I saw it somewhere, but where t was eludes me. I need the tonnage of CO2 saved,
Dee https://www.ilovefreegle.org/stats
Elaine Thanks so much, Dee!Any chance it could be made more obvious? I'm sure others have looked and given up!
Dee Well, I googled Freegle stats. It's the equivalent of the stats you have on your own groups, but Freegle wide.

Trash Nothing

I just posted something using Trashnothing... and found that my post got broken on its journey from TN to Freegle. I attached multiple photos - only one (the least relevant of the lot!) made it to Freegle (they're all there in TN)And the text formatting got broken too, with line breaks in odd places:
It is showing fine on Chrome. I have tested with Firefox and, and it's interpreting the CSS which breaks the words differently from Chrome. I can fix that, so it will stop breaking in the middle of the word. There will still be some long and short lines because the text has explicit line-breaks in the paragraph.
I think if you try clicking on the photo rather than the count, you'll see it work. That's a bug, though, it should also do it if you click on the count itself. I'll fix that.

Jean
Freegle Tech Repo;rt
May 2019