FAQ
From MemberPlugin
Background
Is it free?
Of course! This is Freegle!
What's a Message Maker and how does this relate to it?
See Message Maker.
What's the difference between the Internet Explorer and the Mozilla Firefox versions?
Functionally, not much - they provide the same function. The differences are:
- How you get updates is different, because Firefox provides a nice mechanism for this.
- Under the covers they're implemented differently.
Which browser versions does it support?
It's been tested with
- Internet Explorer versions 6, 7 and 8 Beta 1.
- Mozilla Firefox versions 2 and 3.
If you have a customised version of Internet Explorer, for example from AT&T, it may not work. See Troubleshooting Internet Explorer.
Which operating systems does it support?
The Mozilla Firefox version supports any system that Firefox can run on, including Windows, Macs, and Linux.
The Internet Explorer version supports:
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
On 64-bit versions of Windows, you must use the 32-bit version of Internet Explorer. If you don't know whether you have a 64-bit version, then you probably have a 32-bit version.
Can I have Safari/Opera/Google Chrome/other browsers?
Between them, Internet Explorer and Firefox cover a pretty high proportion of users - 88% when I last checked here. Safari in particular is a pretty low proportion of web users (and Firefox runs on Macs).
Each browser generally has a different method for doing plugins, so you basically have to write most of the thing again, which is quite a lot work. The spare time I have for Freegle work is limited, and so I can't currently offer support for browsers which are used by relatively few people, I'm afraid.
How does this fit with My Freecycle?
This section is only relevant for Freecyle groups.
My Freecycle is a new website that's being developed for Freecycle. Longer term, the intention is that Freecycle groups can, if they wish, be hosted on My Freecycle rather than on Yahoo!. At the moment, though, all groups are hosted on Yahoo.
For Freecycle groups which use it, My Freecycle provides some extra features for members, but you still need to use Yahoo for many group features.
My Freecycle works in parallel with Yahoo, whereas the plugins make Yahoo look as though it's been customised to work better with Freecycle groups.
Which of these you use is your choice. Broadly speaking, if you're happy with Yahoo but just wish it was a bit more friendly for Freecycle, you should use the plugins. If you don't mind signing up with a new website that feels a bit different, you might like to try My Freecycle.
If you find it confusing that there are so many ways of posting messages, then just pick one and stick to it. Obviously I like the plugins :-)
Installation
How do I get updates?
See here.
Why does Firefox gives me a -228 error when I try to update?
This is a known Firefox problem with extensions, which happens sometimes. See here for some suggestions on how to get round it.
AVG says this is the Sheur Trojan. Are you evil?
No. AVG often gives false positives for the Sheur Trojan. We've reported this to AVG, and they have updated their data files so that the plugin no longer appears to be a virus.
You need to get the latest updates from AVG to stop it objecting to the plugin.Look at Updating AVG Virus Checker to find out how to update your AVG Free 8.0.
Obviously, if you're not comfortable with installing this, then please don't, but it's not a virus!
Why do I get "The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation"?
This can happen on Vista. To install software, you need administrator privileges on your machine. If you see this, then:
- Make sure you're logged in as an administrator.
- Save the installation file to your machine.
- Right click on it and select Run as Administrator.
Ok, I've installed it. Now what do I run?
You don't need to run anything - the plugin changes the way Yahoo's pages appear, so you'll just see some differences when you go to your group. What you'll see explains more.
Why isn't my group opted in?
Your group's not opted in if you see this on the Post page:
That's a decision for the people who run the group. We don't want to force them to use it - for example, if you have questions about how the plugin works and they've never heard of it, it's not fair to them to expect them to deal with those questions.
If you think your group might not be opted in, then you can send a mail to the -owner address you can find at the bottom of the home page for your group (e.g. at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreegleWherever). Remember that there may be good reason why your particular group doesn't use this tool - so don't shout at your moderators :-).
My group is opted in, but I still get the message saying it's not. Why's that?
If you think your group is opted in (for example because the moderators have told you to use the plugin) and you still see the message, move your mouse over it. You'll see a popup window with some debug information which will help your moderators understand why it's not working.
How do I disable/remove it?
See here.
Post Page
Why doesn't it do anything?
It may be that your group hasn't opted to use this function yet. Your group's not opted in if you see this on the Post page:
If you see that, then see here. Otherwise see Troubleshooting.
What's a Fair Offer Policy / that funny "FOP*" thing in the subject line?
See here.
My Posts and Messages pages
Why doesn't it do anything?
See Troubleshooting. It may be that your group hasn't opted to use this function yet.
Why does the screen flash grey?
This is normal - the plugin needs to collect information, and the page isn't ready for you to use until it's finished.
If you disable then enable the plugin, this will take longer, as it will need to collect the last 31 days of information.
Why do some messages not appear, or appear on the screen then disappear?
By default, the plugin hides messages you're probably not interested in - see here for more information and how to change this.
Why don't I see a Mark button to press?
On the My Posts page, there could be two reasons:
- You might already have marked this post - if so, you'll see TAKEN or RECEIVED next to it instead of a button.
- The plugin might not recognise this as an OFFER or a WANTED. That can happen if you didn't use the plugin to post the original message. You should send your TAKEN or RECEIVED manually, and use the plugin to post messages from now on.
On messages or search pages, most likely because it's not your post - you only get the buttons for your own posts.
Why don't I see a Reply button to press?
Probably because the OFFER has already been TAKEN, or the WANTED has already been RECEIVED.
Also, you don't see the button for your own posts.
Why isn't it greying out an OFFER/WANTED when I can see there is a TAKEN/RECEIVED?
Most likely because the subject lines were too different for the plugin to recognise.
When people compose them themselves, they'll often use a subject line which a human can recognise as referring to the same item, but which is too different for the plugin.
If you use the plugin to post your TAKEN or RECEIVED messages, then they'll almost always match up. See Matching for more details.
Why don't older messages get hidden, or show the right buttons?
Basically the plugin focuses on the last 31 days. Go back further than that, and it won't work as well.
In a bit more detail: the plugin pairs up OFFERs with TAKENs and WANTEDs with RECEIVEDs by keeping a local copy of the last 31 days of messages from your group. If you look at messages older than 31 days, it won't have a copy of all of the messages, so it won't be able to work out that an OFFER has been TAKEN. That means you might see:
- Messages not being hidden when you'd expect them to be.
- Buttons to Mark TAKEN or Mark RECEIVED when you wouldn't expect to.
Map
What are the circles?
If you get markers very close together on the map, then it would look very cluttered. The map combines them into a circle with a number which shows the number of markers in that area, like this:
Click on the circle, and the map will zoom in and show you the individual posts.
Can I change what the map shows?
Yes. Scroll and zoom to the view you want, then click Remember this View. Next time you load the page, it'll show the same view (though you can still scroll around and zoom out if you want to).
Why is there no map?
Your group moderators need to enable the map function before it can be used. Drop a mail to the -owner address you can find at the bottom of the home page for your group (e.g. at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreegleWherever) and ask them.
Why is the map wrong or missing items?
Sometimes the plugin has to guess at a location, and sometimes Google Maps doesn't know about locations people have used. So the occasional post is always going to be missing or placed wrongly. Most of them are right, though (up to 95% in some groups).
Can I turn the map off?
Sure - click the Hide Map button.
Other
Why do I see a popup about cookies?
See here.
Why do I see a message about "chrome registration failed"?
Your Firefox has got a bit confused. Try following the instructions here.
How can I manually clear cached information?
See Clearing the Cache. But be very careful - you should only do this when asked to do so.
Why does it crash on Facebook using Internet Explorer?
This probably isn't the plugin's fault, but Flash. Try going to Tools->Manage Add-ons, finding Shockwave Flash Object and clicking the Disable button.
Why don't I see any options?
The plugin intentionally doesn't provide any options to keep it simple for members.
You might see an Options button in Tools->Add-ons which is greyed out. Firefox always shows the Options button, but it's greyed out unless the extension provides any options, which this one doesn't. So this is all normal.
How do I tell which version I have installed?
See What version am I running?.
I have to pay for downloads or am on dialup - will it cost me more?
If you are a regular user of the group and viewing the messages on the Yahoo pages (daily or every other day), then it won't have much of an impact on the pages you download and therefore any charges you might incur.
Initially it will look at quite a few pages in the group messages history, but after that, it will only check as far as it needs to to bring its information up to date.
If you are on dialup, hiding the map on the Messages page (if you see it) it would be a sensible thing to do. The map doesn't use much bandwidth, but makes quite a few small requests, so can slow down the Messages page loading.
If you are an occasional user and only visit the group's web pages once a fortnight or less frequently, then the plugin would increase your download usage by a few pages every time you go to the web page, as it will need to look back through all the previous messages to build up its knowledge base.
If you only use the yahoo pages to post, and don't look at the messages pages at all, then it would be cheaper to never use the Yahoo pages, and instead just post by email.
