Info concerning BookBalloon.com

1. It will probably take a little while to work its way through, but I am in the process of disconnecting the BookBalloon.com domain from the forum. You will still be able to access the forum until the end of November at https://bookballoontalk.forums.net, though you may or may not be able to log in. Most of the forum's content is still available even if you can't log in, and if you have a problem let me know. All of the threads are read-only.

2. The forum archives are now up at the blog site. (http://book-balloon.blogspot.com). I'm still working on the recipes, but they should be up sometime next week. Once bookballoon.com is disconnected from the forum, I'm going to use that domain name for the blog site. It will exist primarily to host the archives, and to send visitors (if any) or former members to the LT group.

Questions? Ask here or message me through my profile.

UPDATE: OK, that was fast. Bookballoon.com is no longer functioning. You can still access the forum and log in at the URL I linked above.

Do you need help moving or archiving content, SP?

I've pretty much finished everything, except for recipes. Thanks, though!

Last update: http://www.bookballoon.com is starting to point to the blog site. If you want to visit the original forum, use https://bookballoontalk.forums.net.

SP, when I try to go to the .com site, it says it doesn't exist. The blogspot site redirects there, so doesn't exist. Where can we find the archives? The forum site still works to see the defunct forum.

Try this link, Julie:

https://bookballoontalk.forums.net/forum

ETA: whoops, nevermind, I see you're asking about the 1.0 archives. I have a feeling bookballoon.com is in the middle of a dns migration.

The 1.0 archives are still available at the forum link I posted until the end of November, but you need to log in there--with your same info. I have archived most of BB 2.0 on the blog site plus it's all still readable on the forum site. I set up the A name records so just BookBalloon.com should go to the blog site but I don't think it's working yet. You need to add the www part. And you might need to empty your browser cache.

As I said above, I'm not putting the 1.0 archives on the blog site since those posts were made under different privacy settings. After the end of the month if you want them, just let me know and I can send you a link to the docs. They have been available at BB 2.0 for more than a year so hopefully everyone has had plenty of time to copy what they wanted.

Again, if you want access to the forum, follow the links I've posted above and log in like normal. If you're reading this after the end of November 2016 and need access to the posts on the new forum they are archived at the blog--http://www.bookballon.com. For posts from BB 1, let me know and I'll share the link with you.

This is a link to the archived BB 1 posts. You have to log in to see the page.

https://bookballoontalk.forums.net/page/archive

OK, the URL redirect on the blog site seems to have stopped working so I removed it. To go to the blog site, go here:

http://book-balloon.blogspot.com

Thanks, SP! I copied some of the stuff I wanted, but just wanted to double check before it goes away. I really appreciate you making all the archives available...no matter how slow I am! ;)

Jeez, I don't know if I like this name-tagging in the main Thread of Contents. It's making me look like a serial poster.

SHUT. UP.

I was going to say that we've all serial posted, but decided that I should speak for myself. I've serial posted a number of times -- I think its the nature of the beast (plus, don't shut up!)

Well, people are just going to have to overlook my serial posting, because that's how I "schedule" my computer time. I'm not always by the computer and try to consolidate my posts.

Serial Posters Unite! (Im the same way, and I've never known anyone to complain so there we are)

Two things:

Am I missing an easier way to get back to the forum TOC after reading the last post in a thread (rather than scrolling back up and clicking "Bookballoon")?

Why is there a dark colored bar next to my nick on all my posts and no one else's? Did I do something wrong? Is this like being put in the Librarything timeout or wearing a virtual rulebreaker badge?

Actually, three things.

I really, really like this place (not as aesthetically pleasing as SP's, of course), but boy-oh-boy do I miss easy Amazon linking.

Why is there a dark colored bar next to my nick on all my posts and no one else's?

Just a mark to identify visually your own posts in a thread. Everybody sees it on their posts.

Oh, well. For a minute there I thought I was special.

Thanks, Lola.

>15 Pat_D: the up arrow on the left of every post header is a "return to top" link. The "your posts" link on the left will show only the topics you've contributed to. the "your groups" link will show all the conversations in the groups you belong to, whether you've posted or not.

And while linking to amazon requires putting in a URL, linking to a book's page on LT only requires putting the title between square brackets, and being a little careful to pick the correct book from the options that come up.

I don't like LT's book page. I'm too used to the Amazon layout. There's no information on LT unless I scroll through the comments, but I'm afraid I'll hit a spoiler.

>19 AprilAdamson: The folks in this group might feel differently, having been used to amazon on the old site, but, many LTers aren't big amazon fans and would rather not have links to them scattered around Talk threads, and find touchstones very useful, not to mention they're useful for someone going to a book page later and looking for discussions about it.

Plus, what is called a "book page" is often actually a "work" page -- a compilation of the shared attributes of many different editions of a book. I don't know if it was ever explicitly stated when the group moved here, but the philosophy behind LT is what Tim the founder calls "the cocktail party test" -- that is, can two people, with two different copies of Pride and Prejudice, have a conversation and feel like they are talking about the same book? If the answer is yes -- if the person who has the Everyman Classics edition and the person who has the Penguin edition have both read essentially the same book, then those two editions are both part of the "work" Pride and Prejudice.

I actually love that. It was the thing that first drew me to LT, its ability to not be limited by an ISBN search.

It's an extra click, but all LT book pages will take you right to the book's Amazon page (as well as a listing for your local bookstore and library) from the Quick Links menu in the upper right hand corner.

>15 Pat_D: Pat, I also star topics in groups that interest me, then click on the 'starred' link for a list of them with new posts.

I like the touchstones, tho they don't always work right. I like the reviews and feel they are more accurate than many on Amazon.

>23 cindydavid4: You need to click on "(others)" and then choose the correct one. The way they work is... irksome and many of us have been pleading for a fix, but, usually you can find the work you are looking for under others.

Thanks for all the tips. I'm sure it's just like everywhere else. Once I use it enough, I'll be fine.

I mean, after all the forums we've migrated to in the past what? 15-20 yrs. ? it's really no big thing.

>22 lisapeet: Oh, thanks, Lisa. There are still many things to figure out around here.

I love this no time limit EDIT feature. I hope they never change it.