With only one week remaining before Daily Kos switches from the current software to the new DK4 software, time is running out before our beloved home gets replaced by a new, higher-tech residence.
There are always questions when a big change like this occurs. Many of us have tried to answer what we can in various diaries, replies to comments, and so on. I've even gone as far as writing a DK4 FAQ on the dKosopedia, though it is very much a work in progress, with significant omissions yet to be filled.
If you find an omission, or if you just have a question about DK4 and/or the imminent transition, please feel free to ask it below. That's why we're here tonight. Oh, and to give you pointers to some excellent comments from the past 24 hours. We do that every day.
Before I continue with a few FAQs, just to get the ball rolling, I must tip my hat to the founder and proprietor of the original FAQ Forum, dmsilev, who posted 77 such Wednesday diaries of them in 2008 and 2009 (with two fill-ins, from georgia10 and ek hornbeck) before disappearing from the site after posting his final 12/2/2009 forum. Thank you, dmsilev, for setting up a place where people could get answers to Daily Kos's persistent questions.
First, for those of you who are wondering if your username, user id, account password, diaries, comments, recs, HRs, and profile information including bio and sig file are going to disappear, they aren't. They'll all be transferred over as they are when the current site shuts down on Friday, February 4. The exact time this will occur has not yet been announced, though it is expected to be late in the day. Doubtless it will be trumpeted far and wide unless the schedule slips very soon.
As I noted here on Monday, whatever your sig is when the transition begins, that sig will be permanently entered on all your DK3 comments. We've been used to sigs that automatically change on all our old comments when we change our sigs. No more. The sig you have at the end of the day next Friday gets glued to your existing comments, and from then on, whatever your sig is when you post a comment is placed permanently on that comment. You can change your sig as often as you want, but it only affects the comments you write going forward. The past, as they say, is set. In concrete.
Q: What is a Stream, anyway. It says My Stream when I go to My Page, along with My Comments and all that. My this, My that, my my.
A: A stream is just a list of diaries you've expressed an interest in, most recent first. It's just like Subscribing was on DK3, only more powerful and much easier to see.
Whenever you run into a diarist you like, you subscribe by clicking on the "Follow" heart after their name. If you see a tag of interest (like, say, "Top Comments", you subscribe by clicking on the "Follow" heart after the tag in the diary's tag list. If you see a Group you're interested in, you click on the group's name, and then on the group's page you click on the (wait for it...) "Follow" heart in the "See More By" box at the top of the right column.
When a diary is published by that person or group, or with that tag, it automatically appears in your Stream. You can immediately see what the most recent diaries are by those writers and topics you're interested in.
Q: It says I've got 1 New Message. Email on Daily Kos?
A: Well, sort of. Think of it as an internal messaging system. You can only get messages from other Kossacks or Groups, and you don't need to give out your email address to exchange messages. It all stays on Daily Kos.
To pick up your messages, click on where it says "1 New Message"—that could be in the orange bar at the top of your browser window, in your "Welcome Back" box, or even on your My Pages page, where one of the menu items is "Messages", which will have a "(1)" next to it to indicate that yes, you do indeed have one new message awaiting you. (You can click the "Message" menu item if you're there.)
You'll arrive with your Inbox selected, which should show all your messages, with the most recent one first. These include messages sent to you individually, and messages sent to you due to your membership in a group. (The group messages don't currently show up in your total; I'm not sure why.) Click on the new message and read it.
You see an entire message thread at a time, with the starting message first, so if this is a long exchange with someone, the new bit may be down at the bottom. Then there will be a reply box if you want to continue the conversation.
Some messages can't be replied to, in which case the reply box won't be shown. Other messages, like invitations to join a group, are replied to by clicking on the "Accept" or "Decline" links within the message, and then filling out a pop-up "Note" to accompany your acceptance or declension refusal.
Q: How do I join a Group?
A: It depends on what you want to do with that group: read it or write for it.
Do you want to read what the group produces? Then you want subscribe to it by Following it. (I've already described that in the first answer above.)
Do you want to write for the group, or work on collaborations? Then you have to ask the group if you can join it.
Send the group a message by clicking on Send New Message in their home page's "See More By" box. This takes you to a page with a message box that has the name of the group already filled in. Type your message, then click on Send to send it.
They may say yes, or they may say no. Groups are new, and likely people will be feeling their way as they start. If they say yes, you may find out by getting a message from a member of the group containing an invitation to join the group. Be sure to click on the "accept" link in the message; that's what completes the invitation process. If they say no, then accept it. If this is a topic that really interests you, try starting your own group (you need to be a Trusted User to start a group). Otherwise, write your own diaries, tag them appropriately, and some group may find you, and like what they read.
Okay, three questions are enough to prime the pump. Now, it's up to you.
While I'm at it, if there's some part of the DK4 FAQ that isn't clear, do let me know. Ask questions here! Areas that definitely need fleshing out include groups, messages, and searching. Searching is mostly waiting for all of the Search software to become available for exploration, especially comments. This being Top Comments territory, we very much want a robust comment search. Among other things, top mojo depends on it.
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Tonight wasn't exactly Frequently Submitted Comments night, but some did send their nominations to the Top Comments mailbox by the 9:30pm Eastern Time deadline. The address of our mailbox for top comments submissions remains:
TopComments AT gmail DOT com
(change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to ".")
Anyone can send great comments to our address. Be sure to include the direct link to a comment—the URL—which is available from that comment's date/time; we need that to find your choice. Please always include your Daily Kos user name in the body of your message, so we can credit you properly. If you send a writeup with the link, we are able to include that, too, though we reserve the right to edit.
From trashablanca:
This comment in princss6's diary today by 4CasandChlo cracked me up with its snarktastic goodness.
From blueoregon:
Aji found the words to explain both the diarist's and her own point most succinctly. I'd like to nominate her initial comment, and ask everyone to have the patience to read it, regardless of length.
From sardonyx (your frequently questioned Friday diarist):
In today's Egypt liveblog, liberalpragmatist makes two key points. [Note to readers: in this diary, "MB" means "Muslim Brotherhood". I want to avoid mental whiplash in Top Comments; we have an excellent safety record so far.]
Taget thinks it's a mistake to assume we're more than a witness to the events in Egypt.
Please add your own comment finds below! I wish I'd found more this evening, but ran out of time.
~~~~~
Finally, we have today's top mojo using my revision of the cskendrick-devised mojo-to-Excel process.
First, Top Mojo excluding Cheers and Jeers, Mojo Friday, miscellaneous cute animals, search-identifiable tip jars, and first diary comments:
1) The real state of the union by NBBooks — 215
2) Can you cite... by princss6 — 128
3) Thomas' story has been sordid from day 1 by FishOutofWater — 117
4) Glad you wrote this diary by ivorybill — 110
5) No. It already is. It is too late. by The Lighthouse Keeper — 106
6) Write to the Senate by Dallasdoc — 105
7) Thomas should be impeached by LWelsch — 103
8) A FRACKEN MEN... by LiberalCanuck — 100
9) Bwahaha... by princss6 — 99
10) When the SEC caved on charges to Goldman by 4CasandChlo — 95
11) And Sarkozy is supposed to be a by blueoregon — 93
12) And our President is a toady to these thugs by The Lighthouse Keeper — 91
13) Omni-dimensional Fraud. by Jim P — 89
14) It's simple... by Clive all hat no horse Rodeo — 89
15) This line from that article jumped out at me: by KroneckerD — 86
16) I fully support measures to publicly pressure by jayden — 84
17) You have exactly the right username by Seneca Doane — 84
18) Thanks for your concern nt by princss6 — 81
19) Sara R needs your help and mine, too by llbear — 81
20) I am blown away by Sara R — 81
21) He is... It's the US with the fucked up by The Dead Man — 80
22) Where the hell does THAT come from? by Clem Yeobright — 79
23) what the Lighthouse Keeper said by Paolo — 79
24) On Bill Clinton and African-American Support by JekyllnHyde — 77
25) I have never been so angry b/c of health care; by 4CasandChlo — 74
26) It is probably the hospital demanding pre-payment by Sand Hill Crane — 70
27) I can't promise money, not until by Noor B — 69
28) oh no!! the " angry black woman " warning by soothsayer99 — 68
29) Slinker, I've generally been on your side by gustynpip — 68
30) Cough up those 4 bits! by Cali Scribe — 68
Top Mojo with No Exclusions:
1) Tip Jar by bobswern — 472
2) Tip Jar ye gawds these people are by LaFeminista — 408
3) Should he stay or should he go? by GreyHawk — 367
4) Tip Jar by OllieGarkey — 263
5) Tips for helping one of the best of us by it really is that important — 253
6) Tip Jar by princss6 — 252
7) The real state of the union by NBBooks — 215
8) Tip Jar by GlowNZ — 198
9) Tip Jar by Libby Shaw — 185
10) Tip Jar by Jerome a Paris — 174
11) Tip Jar by hissyspit — 167
12) Tip Jar by teacherken — 165
13) This is my weekly series now called eSci by FishOutofWater — 161
14) Tip Jar by weasel — 136
15) Can you cite... by princss6 — 128
16) Thomas' story has been sordid from day 1 by FishOutofWater — 117
17) Glad you wrote this diary by ivorybill — 110
18) Tip Jar by Black Kos — 110
19) tahya Masr!!! by bicycle Hussein paladin — 108
20) No. It already is. It is too late. by The Lighthouse Keeper — 106
21) Write to the Senate by Dallasdoc — 105
22) Thomas should be impeached by LWelsch — 103
23) Tip Jar by Scarce — 102
24) A FRACKEN MEN... by LiberalCanuck — 100
25) Bwahaha... by princss6 — 99
26) When the SEC caved on charges to Goldman by 4CasandChlo — 95
27) And Sarkozy is supposed to be a by blueoregon — 93
28) And our President is a toady to these thugs by The Lighthouse Keeper — 91
29) Omni-dimensional Fraud. by Jim P — 89
30) It's simple... by Clive all hat no horse Rodeo — 89
© sardonyx; all rights reserved
All quotes are the property of the original authors or the websites that held them