# Different message board views **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 23, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-message-board-views/62956 "2001-04-23T03:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jcgmoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@jcgmoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcgmoi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-message-board-views/62956/1 "2001-04-23T03:25:44Z")
At least 95% of the time I visit the message boards this is how the salutation appears: [ul] Welcome back jcgmoi. You last visited: 04-22-2001 07:26 PM. The time now is 11:09 PM. View new posts [/ul] This is convenient for my screen set-up, since the tab for GQ is nicely positioned at the bottom of the screen. On rare occasions however I see this:[ul] Welcome back jcgmoi. You last visited: 04-22-2001 07:26 PM. The time now is 10:48 PM. View new posts [/ul] Now the GQ tab is partially obscured by the bar on my screen. Not a big problem since I learned how to use the roll-keys a long time ago, but the question remains, why is this happening? Anyone else getting the time wrapped? ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-message-board-views/62956/2 "2001-04-23T09:08:21Z")
Well, I think the reason is the length of the text “MM-DD-YYYY HR:MN A/PM”. In most cases, it fits your screen, and in some cases (I dunno. 08-08-2001 08:38 PM? Buncha broad characters, I suppose) it’s just a bit too wide, and the time tag appears on a second line. I suppose the time tag is a coded entity that won’t break up, so it moves in its entirety. ---
**Author:** ![jcgmoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@jcgmoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcgmoi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-message-board-views/62956/3 "2001-04-23T11:35:56Z")
**Coldfire,** what you say is reasonable, but it doesn’t fit the facts. The examples I gave are cut-and-pasted from last night. At 10:48 line 1 wraps. At 11:09 I hit refresh and it doesn’t wrap. The text of line 1 is the same in each case. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-message-board-views/62956/4 "2001-04-23T12:18:59Z")
I give up. Your computer is obviously broken. Smash it with a sledgehammer. NOW. Anyone else wanna give it a go? ---
**Author:** ![jcgmoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@jcgmoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcgmoi)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2001, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-message-board-views/62956/5 "2001-04-23T20:09:02Z")
I think I’ll pass on the sledgehammer solution for now. I’ll post again the next time this occurs. ---
**Author:** ![jcgmoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@jcgmoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcgmoi)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/different-message-board-views/62956/6 "2001-04-28T18:29:05Z")
Coldfire or any other interested party: Today I saw this salutation: Welcome back jcgmoi. You last visited: 04-28-2001 01:18 PM. The time now is 02:17 PM. View new posts Note the wrapped “PM.” Is it possible SD software is using a parsing algorithm that goes moderately whackadoo periodically? Or should I reconsider the sledgehammer solution?