gmail and banging one's head.

[Loose rivets]

I wouldn't bother with it, but I was lucky and got my initials and name without any dumb numbers to add. Lucky until now.


I was kind of getting used to it, but now they've totally changed the way the COMPOSE screen is shown. Just a small box bottom right. To open it even a little requires more moves than I'm willing to make.

They did ask, by the way.


YES! (to would I like to say something) AND YES I'M SHOUTING. FOR PETE'S SAKE LEAVE IT AS IT WAS. THAT STUPID LITTLE BOX IN THE CORNER CAN NOT BE MOVED, AND I SURE AS @$#^ DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH A PROCEDURE TO GET SOME MADMAN'S IDEA OF A DYNAMIC BOX.

My rant will no doubt achieve nothing.

The reply or compose screens were fine. Like a modest word processor. Why would they make it into a silly little box?

It's been an unproductive day.:ugh:

[darkroomsource]

Are you talking about the box that has "New Message" on the bar at the top of it? If so, follow that bar across to the right and there are three little 'icons'.

An underscore, an arrow, and an X.

the first is an underscore, it minimizes the box.

the next is an arrow pointing up and to the right, it 'pops' the box out and up into a new window, which can then be expanding to full size like any other windoze window.

the next is an X which closes the box.

[Loose rivets]

But why would I want to go through such a procedure simply to get back to a 'normal' screen?


For many, many years I've simply pressed a button and started writing. "New", or "Compose", I don't care what it's called, I simply want it to work.

Sheeeesh, next we'll be issued with a software kit and have to write code before we start writing.

[darkroomsource]

I'm not saying it's better, I just thought you didn't know how.
Let's go back to WordStar and Lotus 123.
(I actually liked them better anyway)
Or better yet, edlin.
Things are changing, constantly, and people seem to think they know better than us old fogeys.

[ExSp33db1rd]

If it ain't broke don't fix it. I agree entirely with your hatred of the recent G-mail changes. Leave the bloody thing alone.

I've actually found - and re-installed - a copy of Word 97, and kicked the Word 2007 that was installed into Cyberspace. Much easier to use, and contains all the tools I'll ever need.

It's like spending a lot of money buying an f.1.4 zoom lens, then photographing everything at f.16 widest angle, OK to have all the bells and whistles if you need them, but most times one doesn't.

Like my (almost ) new car. I don't need to know that I'm using 8.9 litres per 100 Km today, and only 7.3 yesterday, I need to use whatever fuel I need to get to the Supermarket and if I feel a touch of the "greenies" coming on I'll ease my foot off the accelerator a little - but not so much that I don't reach my destination. I HAVE to use what I have to use. Tough.

World's Gone Mad.

And why does Windows Mail - on my Vista O.S. - deliver three e-mails from the same address in one day, with the same text in the subject, i.e. no change to the title, and mark two of them as 'phishing scams' - especially as I have long since marked this friend as a "safe sender " Does nobody EVER listen?

I can only assume that the 'subject' may well indicate a possible scam, but as this was identical in all three cases - we were answering each others' comments back and forth - then 'someone' is considering some part of the text of the e-mail to be suspicious, which means that 'someone' is reading all e-mails, or at the very least passing everything through a filter ? Bif Brother is watching you.

I blame Bill Gates for most of todays' trials and tribulations.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[green granite]

LR, try setting G-Mail to 'basic HTML view', that's how I run it and it opens the 'send E-Mail' window normally for me.

[vulcanised]

I have had several 'funnies' from GMail recently.

Most annoying one is opening a mail (Opera) and clicking on the scroll bar, whereupon it scrolls down a notch and then scrolls down another notch! If I try to scroll back up too quickly it then goes sideways instead and the horizontal scroll bar doesn't work :ugh:.

[Capetonian]

I've never liked the Gmail interface, but this is even worse.

I wonder if anyone can help with a related problem - Google search. Whether I sign in to my gmail a/c or not, the Google search will always default to the Google domain of the country I am in at the time obviously based on IP address and there no longer seems to be a way to keep it to .com, .co.uk, or co.za which I prefer.

[marianoberna]

I love it :D

[Milo Minderbinder]

Capetonian

Google appears to choose its search location based on the domicile of the DNS server you use.
For instance if I switch to OpenDNS my search defaults switch to the USA not UK
Presumably you have a South African ISP at home? Hard code their DNS servers as defaults into the internet connection on the PC and you should get what you want

[MG23]

Think of the google programmers! If they didn't keep changing the interface every few days, they might get laid off.

Not sure about gmail as I only use my account there for low-security email on business trips, but most of the awful changes to web sites recently seem to be due to a desperate desire to make everything all 'mobile' for tablets and phones, and a complete lack of interest in anyone using a real computer any more.

[Capetonian]

Presumably you have a South African ISP at home?

Yes, but I'm not at home most of the time and that is the problem. I seem to remember trying to hard code DNS addresses into my laptop before and I couldn't for some reason. It's all too complicated and I yearn for the days when life was simpler, when radios had knobs that you turned instead of tiny electronic buttons.

I am used to cooking with good old-fashioned gas. Last night I had to cook dinner for 30 people, obviously not at home, on one of those new-fangled induction things. It kept bleeping and peeping, switching itself off, flashing warning lights. I nearly put my fist through it. Computers get me the same way, you just get used to something and it all changes.

I thought we'd made some progress when I kept hearing about 'tablets'. If one believes the fairy tale, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments on a tablet. I thought we were going back to that!

[Loose rivets]

I love it :D

When I was 21 and in a nest, I loved it too, but we're talking about serious issues here. :p


try setting G-Mail to 'basic HTML view',


30 minutes of feeling like software houses write modified programs just for me. Nowhere can I find how to do that.

They're all conspiring against me I tell you! :{

[vulcanised]

Last time I looked for that link (was bottom right) it didn't appear to be on offer any more.

[KBPsen]

Change, something to be feared and thus despised.

To get the "old" compose interface back takes 3 clicks. With the compose window open click the triangle in the lower right corner. 2 more clicks and the comfort blanket is retrieved.

To get the basic HTML view click in the lower right corner when the "loading [email protected]" is in view.

[Loose rivets]

Noooooooooo!

Shown during one of those steps.


"The old compose will be going away soon"

[Loose rivets]

To get the basic HTML view click in the lower right corner when the "loading [email protected]" is in view.


Blimy, you must be quick on the trigger. After three goes I caught it and got to the main screen. COMPOSE took me to the silly box.

Still, if the old COMPOSE will be going away, I suppose only an organized march will change their minds.

[Keef]

Have I missed something? Here's mine this evening, much the same as last week. Not that I use it a lot...

http://jillings.org/gmailtop.jpg

[Loose rivets]

Keef, what do you get when you press the COMPOSE button?

[Load Toad]

You can change it back to the 'Classic' compose if you wish. (Temporarily)

If you go to the delete bin button, bottom right of the new compose box you can click the line icon next to it for the menu & change back.

[ExSp33db1rd]

You can change it back to the 'Classic' compose if you wish.

But why the f*** should we have to ?

I'm with MG23, new hires/graduates etc have to change something to prove that they need their salary, but they can all go and play on the beach for all I care - leave well alone.

If It Ain't Broke DON'T Fix It.

How many times do we have to say it.

[green granite]

This is what I get LR


http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i11/orangeherald/605e5550-bdd7-4572-ab2e-2b4b6a5b3855_zps3c2baa9a.jpg

[Loose rivets]

Mine is nothing like that.

I posted a snipping of what I got, but I realized because the box was small, I was showing a lot of my screen - including the first line of messages, some to a Ppruner. So it'll have to be just a description.


Box is in lower right of screen, taking up about 1/3 of total space. The whole thing is spartan, not much better than a sticky notepad. Tools are hidden unless you open them.

Such a shame.

[Loose rivets]

I sent this to Help Send Feedback. Not holding my breath.


Re: COMPOSE new screen.

My rant the other day it seems echoes the feelings of a lot of people. Here is a link from the Pilot's forum , Pprune. Computer section.

http://www.pprune.org/computer-internet-issues-troubleshooting/511426-gmail-banging-ones-head.html

Some of these are from full time IT guys.

We DO NOT want to go through several processes simply to get to a professional looking composing screen. i.e. a simple word processor. What's more, you tell us the old COMPOSE screen "will be going away soon"

This is bad news.













.

[green granite]

I get the box in the lower right corner in the 'Standard' mode, that shot is in the HTML mode.

[Loose rivets]

Right- as mentioned, I've just had another look and still can not figure out how to change to HTML mode.

Ah, just seen:

Basic HTML view is what you’ll see when you sign in to Gmail using a browser that is not supported. For a preview, see basic HTML view. This view is compatible with almost any browser but does not support the following features:

Chat
Spell checker:uhoh:
Keyboard shortcuts
Ability to manage filters
Adding, editing, importing, or deleting contacts
Custom 'From:' addresses
Rich formatting


That's me out then. You'd not know what language I was writing, let alone what I was saying, without a spell checker.

[green granite]

LR, Firefox/pale moon own spell-checker works fine in g-mail HTML version.

[OverRun]

I wonder if anyone can help with a related problem - Google search. Whether I sign in to my gmail a/c or not, the Google search will always default to the Google domain of the country I am in at the time obviously based on IP address and there no longer seems to be a way to keep it to .com, .co.uk, or co.za which I prefer.

Yes - a recent change means that when you're in another country, Google.com usually redirects to a local version of the Google page—like Google.fr for France, or Google.de for Germany, and it is very hard to stop it from doing so. To easily visit the regular Google.com in another country, all you need to do is to go to www.google.com/ncr (http://www.google.com/ncr). The NCR stands for "No Country Redirect", and it'll take you to the regular, English-speaking Google.com without all the local results. Note that it will redirect to Google.com, so if you don't see the /ncr after you press Enter, that's normal.

[Loose rivets]

LR, Firefox/pale moon own spell-checker works fine in g-mail HTML version.


Rite. Set. O looke its werking. ;)

[Capetonian]

OverRun

Thank you! Let's see if that works next time I change country.

Much appreciated.

[Keef]

Keef, what do you get when you press the COMPOSE button?

Ah! I rarely do.

I just did. I got a screenfull of shadows and instructions, then a daft little black box down the right hand corner. I guess "rarely" is about to become "never".

As long as Thunderbird continues to work - I hear rumours now that that may be the next decent bit of software on the tracks to erewhon.

Edit -
It looks like this:
http://jillings.org/newgmail.jpg

[Milo Minderbinder]

"I hear rumours now that that may be the next decent bit of software on the tracks to erewhon."

Care & maintenance bugfixes only now. No new features. Mozilla have more or less killed of the development team and any update are due to "community support" - of which there is very little
It'll die through lack of development

[axefurabz]

Care & maintenance bugfixes only now. No new features. Mozilla have more or less killed of the development team and any update are due to "community support" - of which there is very little<sigh> OK, any suggestions for a Thunderbird replacement?

[vulcanised]

Just checked and my Thunderbird is v2.008. as is my usual way.

Latest v. is 17.nn !

[occasional]

Youre worried about Gmail - wait till you see the new version of Hotmail !

What a mess !

[ExSp33db1rd]

Ackcherly..... I don't get a little box, but an adequate sized one that almost goes edge to edge, and I've worked out how to find all the options of changing size and colour ( should you want to ) but ........... I notice now that gmail now only "sends" what I write in the space provided, and not all the previous e-mails in the string, which one had to remember to delete, otherwise a million messages came in a jumbled order.

So ..... maybe It Was Broke, and They've Fixed It ??

Still new to me so I reserve judgement for the moment.

But..... in recent days, when I close down the Chrome Browser page, i.e. when finishing with PPRuNe for instance, it is replaced by a full screen advert for something, Codec for one ( whatever that is ) or PC Performer that is supposed to enhance my viewing pleasure, and I'm presented with a large Download Now button, and no, I don't respond to these blandishments, just click them out and return to my desktop picture. Bl**dy annoying it is.

Are Google now involved on subliminal ( actually not subliminal at all, more In Your Face ) advertising on their Chrome Brower ?

[Milo Minderbinder]

make life easier for yourself
use Firefox when accessing Google mail. Don't use Chrome.
Harder for them to hook into what you're doing

[Loose rivets]

I notice now that gmail now only "sends" what I write in the space provided, and not all the previous e-mails in the string, which one had to remember to delete, otherwise a million messages came in a jumbled order.




This stacking of e-mails drove me crazy at first. Now I start new ones if I want to lessen that pile of stuff being resent.

However, I notice they fold up into lines at the top now, so the advantages are outweighing the disadvantages. Also, there is an option to stop that happening at all.


The daft little box, I haven't beaten yet. I'll wait to see if they hold a board meeting because of my complaint. You never know.;)

[jimtherev]

make life easier for yourself
use Firefox when accessing Google mail. Don't use Chrome.
Harder for them to hook into what you're doing
Anyone know what's happening to Iron these days? Still ok?

[reynoldsno1]

Youre worried about Gmail - wait till you see the new version of Hotmail !
You beat me to it - I subscribe to both, and h*tmail is awful. Thankfully I rarely send messages on it, just for receipt mainly.

[Milo Minderbinder]

"Anyone know what's happening to Iron these days? Still ok? "

I've never used it, but presumably like Chrome and Safari its based on the "Webkit" browser engine - which is a damn great security liability which no-one publicly mentions.

[jimtherev]

Ok, thanks. Wondered why no-one seems to be pushing it these days; time was when the world & his wife claimed it was the dogs danglies...

[JRMA]

Quote:
Youre worried about Gmail - wait till you see the new version of Hotmail !
You beat me to it - I subscribe to both, and h*tmail is awful. Thankfully I rarely send messages on it, just for receipt mainly.
And it's so bad for that, I'm thinking of viewing them in gmail :eek:

[ExSp33db1rd]

I was an ardent fan of those who demanded that when replying to a Gmail e-mail, one should write the reply and then delete all the previous answers in the 'string' - which appeared below your new message, and it was easy to highlight them all and hit delete.

Gmail has now " improved " ( ha ha ) the service, so that when I hit reply I now get the aforementioned "box" into which to write my reply, but all the previous messages now appear above this - and I can't delete them ? Or can I ? WTFIGO ?

Grrrr!

[Gomrath]

If you don't like the Web based Gmail interface, you can always install a desktop client such as Outlook or Thunderbird...

[Loose rivets]

Ex, I mentioned earlier I'd found a setting to stop that happening.


Settings:

Conversation View:
(sets whether emails of the same topic are grouped together)

[ExSp33db1rd]

Ex, I mentioned earlier I'd found a setting to stop that happening.

Thanks, ( when in doubt - read the instructions ! )

[subyroo]

I could not get used to Gmail even though I have a Gmail email address.

I use Mailwasher Pro (http://www.firetrust.com/en/products/mailwasher-pro) to sort and delete unwanted - duplicate emails, spam etc from my ISP's Server, the program then downloads all my email (3 accounts) via Windows Live mail, makes life so much easier for me as all emails are in the one location.