When I tried registering with a hotmail address, I not only got no success, but I never got so much as notified that I needed to use another type of address. Actually, I’m still not sure that was what I did wrong; I had assumed (and still assume) that a “valid” e-mail address means “an e-mail address that works,” which was why I thought my hotmail address would work just fine.
It’s kinda rude, IMO, to leave someone hanging for weeks (especially when I kept seeing all these interesting threads I wanted to chime in on), but far more puzzling why, when I sent inquiries to the webmaster here (with my real e-mail address, the one I finally decided to use, and which worked just fine) I never got any response at all. Is anyone checking those things?
I didjn’t use my real address, btw, because of all the warnings about registering twice; I did it after a couple of months because I had little to lose. Obviously the hotmail address, and the many, many, many polite inquiries to the webmaster were getting me nowhere at all.
Anyway, I’m glad to be here at last, and am offering my experience as a way to make things easier for others in the future to register. If the hotmail thing is a problem, don’t you agree that you (we?) should make that clear?
Lynn Bodini has a Hotmail address, so there’s no stigma there. It’s probably the most popular address besides AOL, since MicroSoft runs it, so it’s included in every new computer’s setup icons.
So what do you think was going on? I’m not so much talking about my failure to get registered properly (though I am curious as to what went wrong) but the failure of the webmaster to get back to my many requests for help. If this were happening on a larger scale, I’d think there would be some cause for concern here.
Who were you emailing as the webmaster? Generally, the people you want to contact are TubaDiva and/or Lynn Bodoni. You could also contact any of the other forum moderators/administrators if you have problems reaching one of those two.
As for why you couldn’t register, I will point out that for the last couple weeks there were some major glitches with the board, so that could have affected your ability to register.
Anyway, welcome, and I hope you can now get that posting going.
I’m not sure if you are saying that you tried to register before under a different user name and address; if you did, then I would strongly recommend emailing TubaDiva and/or Lynn Bodoni to explain so that they can ‘tidy up’ any loose ends.
I’m sure I’m right in saying that this would all be dealt with very amicably at this stage; however if you didin’t sort it out and at some future point it transpires you are registered under multiple identities, it could be <ahem>problematic (for you).
I can say with great confidence that the Admins wouldn’t ignore emails, especially distress calls - it’s certain to be some sort of technical thing.
Thanks. I will e-mail the mods you suggest. I had sent mail to “Webmaster@straightdope.com” because I would just get a message telling me that I was not allowed to use the SDMB system when I tried e-mailing any admin or mod directly.