Some questions lately about how to post to Orchid via email etc

Site Feedback and Questions
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Hi everyone! There’s been a little bit of confusion going back and forth about how the “new” Orchid works with regards to email especially. This is totally understandable since it’s a new software system (well, a year old at this point but you catch my drift).

Here’s some hopefully helpful answers:

What are my options in terms of receiving Orchid posts by email?

  1. You can receive every single post as an individual email.

  2. You can receive a daily email summaries - which is a single email every day with every single post from the day before

  3. You can opt to just get a weekly activity summary of the most popular posts

How do I post to Orchid via email?

If you are starting a brand new topic, you can send an email to orchid@ganoksin.com and the title of your email becomes the title of the new topic.

If you opt to receive every single post as an individual email, then you can reply to one of those individual posts and that reply will appear in Orchid as part of the topic thread.

Those are the only two ways to interact with Orchid via email. So, if you decide to receive the daily or weekly summary, you can’t just reply to those emails to participate in a topic because the software has can’t tell what topic you are trying to participate in. In this situation, you have to click on the link for a topic, come to the forum, and then reply.

(If you are having any problems logging into the forum, to participate in the thread, contact us at support@ganoksin.com and we’ll get it sorted out for you right away.)

(a mention to @shiftingmetal here since she was asking in particular about this)

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I think for most full-time metalsmiths, it is much easier and more efficient to receive an email daily digest as opposed to having to go to the site every day–both in terms of reading as well as in terms of replying. The digest enables to see all the posts at a glance (not just the title of the post), and in all other forums I get digests for, each post has “Reply to Group” and “Reply to Poster” buttons, making it very quick and easy to respond. I believe old time Orchidians miss this. I know the Administration is mostly concerned with increasing visits to the site, but I find the site to be set up in a way that simply takes too much time, so I find I don’t go…:-(… It’s much quicker to glance over the Daily Digest as opposed to going to Jewelry Discussion and having to click on each topic to see the latest post–going back and forth between the Jewelry Discussion ‘home page’ and each topic just to see if there is something you want to read.

Another point which perhaps warrants looking into is the format on the website whereby Replies to specific posts appear both collapsed under the post as well as being repeated at the bottom in line with new posts to the topic. Such posts often make no sense when not viewed in conjunction with the post which is being replied to, and is especially problematic when going to the topic to see the latest posts (because you only see them out of context at the bottom). I would strongly recommend having replies appear only under the replied-to post, and having these replies open–not collapsed–by default.

Judging by comments from others over the past year, I think quite a few Orchidians would agree with the above comments…including ones who have stopped frequenting Orchid.… Just my two cents…

Janet in Jerusalem

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Hi Janet,
Ive my email program set so any post to Ganoksin comes through, if I want to follow it up I go to the link to the threa and read from there.
simple.
If not interested, I press delete before opening it, so all Ive in my in box are the ones I read then follow up.
Ted.

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I am going to continue putting my email address on my posts so people can email me privately. Why would someone invite me to their studio on my travels if everyone can see?

Esta Jo
shiftingmetal@gmail.com

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Ted,
I get the daily Digest, so it already has all the posts of the day for the given thread–so I just read the desired posts/threads in the email without having to go to the site… Only problem is I don’t get the pics in the email, so to see those, I have to click on a tiny blue square which serves as a placeholder for the pic. It opens just the picture (a jpg) which is much faster than going to the site. Once in the blue moon, I actually do get a photo included in the text of the email. I have no way of knowing why some do show up, and the Admin apparently have not been able to figure it out. Do you get photos in your Orchid emails? It may be different for you anyway since you get each post separately whereas I get the Digest.

Janet in Jerusalem

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Compliments Janet this Yule tide from here in the UK.
No, I dont get the pics, have to, like you click on the topic button to see them.
My son is an IT guru and his opinion is that this new? forum format is crap .
Were unfortunately stuck with it. We use here no M/soft products, too insecure, all Linux mint. Never a problem.
Ever get back to the UK? would love to meet up., with others too, like Peter former moderator of
Rec crafts jewelry, Jim Grahl , Ron Meixner etc.
Ted.

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Hi Ted,
As I wrote I don’t have to click on the topic button to see the pics–I can open the pics directly from the email without having to go to the site…

image.png780×448 30.3 KB

I have no travel plans at the moment, but if I do get to the UK, I will be certain to come and visit you!

Janet in Jerusalem

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Thanks for the feedback @janetb and @vladimirfrater. I think some of it might be possible to do like “Reply to Group” and “Reply to Poster” buttons. I’ll pore over this feedback in more detail after the Christmas break.

@vladimirfrater, so are you saying you also don’t see pictures in your emails from Orchid? If so, can you tell me the name of the email program you use? You can private message via the forum me or email me support@ganoksin.com.

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P.S. I moved this into the Site Feedback category.

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Absolutely agree. The new system is not only time-consuming, but extremely user-unfriendly.

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Surprising, is that I have absolutely no problems with this newer format!!! All it takes is a “learning curve” please don’t get irritated over this. Try it a few times and experiment with it. I’ve seen worse web-forums and this is a “piece of cake!”.:wink:

Gerry! On my Teaching iPhone!

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It is frustrating how computer software is constantly evolving. We are comfortable with what we already know, and what we know seems to be faster and efficient, but it is not.

If you do not regularly use the website, you will never benefit from how fast and efficient it is compared to the email digest. And the following is how I can prove it:

Save this link: Jewelry Discussion - Ganoksin Orchid Jewelry Forum Community for Jewelers and Metalsmiths in your favorites.

Put the link where you don’t need to search for it; (I put a couple of frequently used links in the header of my browser).

For maximum time-savings, stay logged-in to the website. And when you save that link, be sure it is to your logged-in page.

What is so efficient and time-saving about this page is that it tells you what is new since your last visit, but these “new post indicators” are based on having done all your reading on the website as opposed to reading the email, so you would need to do it this way for awhile for the “new post indicators” to function to your advantage.

It will initially take more time to determine which posts you have not read. So, maybe it would be helpful to start on a certain date like Jan. 1, so that you can ignore all posts that were created before Jan 1.

But once you get in sync with the new post indicators, there is no faster or more efficient way to read the new posts.

When you are in sync with the “new post indicators”, you open the link and see the page divided. The top part of the page shows every thread to which there was added a new post since your last visit.

You simply click on a thread and you are immediately taken to the post that is new to you. You don’t have to look through the posts you already read in a thread in order to see what’s new. This system is seriously fast and efficient when used as intended on the website.

If you miss checking the new posts for a number of days, the website’s “new post indicators” make reading the new posts way more efficient than reading several days of the digest.

I’ve used both the old and the new websites, the email digest and individual emails, and I know for a fact that understanding how efficient this new website can be, has a direct relationship with how much time you invest in learning and actually using the website. Your usage does not include any of the time you spent reading emails and digests.

For me, looking at the photos on the website is vastly superior to looking at them in my email client. You might toy around with this on the next photo that interests you and compare the difference. Sometimes my email client cuts off part of the photo, so looking at the photo on the website often shows a much more interesting photo than how it looks in the email client.

This other link: https://orchid.ganoksin.com/ is another web page in my favorites, which I use in order to keep up with the posts to other categories. When pressed for time, I let those other categories wait until another day.

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Using the web site isn’t hard, it’s just onerous. The number of clicks it takes to winnow threads based on narrow criteria makes me question whether it’s worth the effort to persist in trying to keep up. Remembering to go online, plow through a swath of slow-loading visuals and click through content I’m not interested in ain’t gonna happen very often. The digest lets me scan an entire day’s worth of information quickly (I am a fast reader). If I have to wait for pages to load, I’m outta here, I just don’t have time.

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Mary
Don’t go…things will improve, Seth and his gang are on a great learning
curve. Present your problems and they will read your letter. Don’t give up
on Ganoksin. we have so much to offer you, I know this for a fact…!!! (I
have a large 1,800 worded essay to post tomorrow)

*Gerry Lewy *
Toronto.

  • (905) 886-5961 *
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@Makena

How quickly I have forgotten about the frustrations of a slow internet. When I created my post, I didn’t think about how we all would be using different speeds of service. Thanks for the reminder. Of course slower internet service would make the digest a faster way to read the new posts.

I have the opposite problem because my email client is slow and tedious, but my internet speed is fast.

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Gerry,
Your input to the site is invaluable. I have been thinking about quitting and maybe won’t, but I miss a lot of the posters who used to be here. There were so many points of view expressed that I learned about all kinds of solutions to problems. I wish there was a lower cost, especially for old-timers on the digest.

ej

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Hi Esta Jo.
So many thanks for your great letter to me. At a very young age of “74, turning 50” it’s my dedication to the next generation to teach them the “correct way to set stones”.
I abhor “short-cuts”, as they have no place in our illustrious profession! As I tell my students… “ I can teach you stone setting, but I can’t teach you or anyone ‘experience’.
Try to relax… L’Shonah Tova!..:wink:
BTW, I have now about 15 more essays to write. I have no time to slow down…OY!
Gerry! On my Teaching iPhone!

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Mozal tov. It is such a blessing to be active at our ages. I am just a few years under you but am going on 18. I love to learn and wish my life permitted me to teach. That is the best way for me to learn.

ej

Esta Jo Schifter
Shifting Metal
www.shiftingmetal.com
215-806-1184

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I am still so very confused about how to use the site and reply to the
emails and follow threads. Sorry but I am an old Luddite.
This is why I have not been participating as much as I used to.
It’s so much easier for me to just go on facebook to the various jewelry
pages there.
-Jo

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Jo
If you leave ‘us’, you’re missing out on interesting essays that are being
posted. I’m sending out another one again today!

*Gerry Lewy *
Toronto.

  • (905) 886-5961 *