Frequently Asked Questions

On this page you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about B&P.  If you think of something else I should include here, please send me an email.

How can I contact the webmaster?
Click on this link to open your email program and send me an email:  jonco@bitsandpieces.us

If I want to send you something to post, how do I do that?
You can send me things you think other readers might enjoy by sending an email to jonco@bitsandpieces.us. You can send photos, links, jokes almost anything.   Images work best when they’re no wider than 600 pixels wide.  If you don’t know how to resize them just send them and I can do it if I use the image.  Sometimes someone will send me a video that I like but can’t use because I can’t embed certain kinds.  I’ll normally try to find a version of the video on YouTube or another site that allows me to embed the video into a post.
Please don’t be offended if I don’t use your submission. I get a lot of submissions.  Many of which I’ve posted already.

Why don’t you credit the original source of an item you post?
Many times I have no idea where the item originated.  I normally credit where I found the item.  If you want to inform us of the original source, feel free to do so in a comment.  If you want to find the original source of an item you’re welcome to try and trace it back using the link to my source.

How can I make a donation to support B&P?
You can find the Donation box on the upper right side of the home page of the site.

Why are the pictures in the posts covered by the content on the side?
This is caused by the fact that the sidebars are both fixed in width size (so many pixels wide on each sidebar).  The center panel is variable.  In other words whatever is left after the sidebars are used up is the size of the center or main panel.  I could make all the graphics smaller in size, but I like having larger pictures.  This is not something I can fix without eliminating one of the sidebars and I’d rather not do that.

My suggestions:

• Make sure the browser window is full screen.
• Close any sidebars that you have opened allowing B&P to use the full window.
• Right-click on any graphic and select ‘View image’ and it should open in a separate window so you could see it all.  (Windows PC)
• Mess with ‘CTRL +‘ or ‘CTRL – ‘ and see if those help any.
• Change the resolution of your screen to a higher resolution.
• A larger (wider) monitor should solve the problem.

Comments

Are there comment rules?
Some general comment etiquette  guidelines can be found here.   I don’t mind discussions that have opposing views. They can be enlightening.   I just expect commenters to be somewhat respectful of others.  I generally won’t allow direct name-calling and have been known to delete comments entirely.

Why can’t I see my comment after I submit it?
There could be one of several reasons why your comment didn’t show up immediately:
1. All first-time commenters have to be approved by the webmaster.  One your first comment is approved your subsequent posts should post immediately unless it falls under any of the following scenarios.
2. Comments with certain words (dirty) will be held for moderation and must be approved.
3. Comments with several links might appear as spam and will be held for moderation.
4. Known spam will be put into a separate spam folder that I will skim and delete.
5. Once in a while a good, clean, normal post is just held for moderation for no apparent reason.  I almost always catch these and approve them.  It just might take a short while.

It keeps saying my comment is too short.  I see other short comments posted.  What can I do to make it work with short comments?
The anti-spam filtering is the culprit.  Comments need to contain a minimum of 15 characters in order to be accepted.  There are two ways to make your short comment accepted.
1) Add enough space plus another character to your comment to make at least 15 characters.  It will only display one of the spaces plus the last character you enter.  Extra spaces cannot be placed at the beginning or end of a comment.  There has to be at least one character before or after the spaces.
2) You can add any text to your comment to make it at least 15 characters long and then after submitting it, you go back and edit it to remove the extra characters.

How do I put my own photo next to each of my comments?
Readers can have their photo of choice show up on each of their comments.  Go to http://en.gravatar.com/ . Set up a free acct, and follow the directions to upload your picture. When you get one all set up, and you come back here to see how it looks, it can take a few minutes to appear the first time, so don’t panic, just keep refreshing your page until you see it. You’ll learn real quick how to use either pics from the web or your own photos, and you can stockpile them on their site and change or add more as often as you want.

How do I post an image with my comment?
1. Click on http://imgur.com/ (or any other free photo hosting site)
2. Click on the Browse button to find the photo you want to upload.
3. Once your photo is selected click the Continue button.  The image is uploaded and a window opens.
4. Copy the Direct Link (email & IM) code (second one on the list) (you can triple-click it fast to copy the whole line) and paste it into the comment area of the post you want to use.  Paste the link on a new line.
Note: The URL must be between [img] and [/img] tags like below:

That should work.
Note: It’s wise not to use pictures that are too large because the right side of the image won’t be visible if it’s too large.   You can find online image resizers here.

Can someone be banned from the site?
Yes.  It has happened only a couple of times, but it can happen again  at my discretion.  Once banned that person will not be allowed to view the site from their current internet provider.

Advertising

How do you cover your expenses and keep the websites going?
I have advertisements that generate income and receive donations from the readers.

Do you get paid to post things?
On rare occasions I receive money to place links in a post. That’s only happened once or twice.  I also get paid to post some infographics…  some of which I would probably post anyway.

I’d like to advertise on your site.  What do I have to do?
body { border-style: none; background: Window; color: WindowText; } #ljcutbegin { width: 100%; height: 1px; border: 1px dashed black; } #ljcutend { width: 100%; height: 1px; border: 1px dashed gray; } blockquote { border-left: 3px solid silver; padding-left: 10px; margin-left: 10px; } .bjspell { border-bottom: 1px dotted red; } }Information on advertising can be found on the Advertising Page or you can send an email to jonco@bitsandpieces.us.