AskMe: field descriptions slightly misleading

February 22, 2005 3:50 PM

Minor issue with Ask Mefi posting page: the blurb under the field for your main question (the part that posts to Ask Mefi's front page) says that it will be part of the "more inside".
posted by tracicle to Bugs at 3:50 PM (6 comments total)

Nu uh.

The question area says this:

This will show up on the front page, so try to ask your entire question while keeping it to a paragraph or so (if you must go on longer, use the optional extended area)

The extended or "more inside" section (with a darker background) is not shown on the front page and says this:

This will be the "more inside" area where you explain additional details about the question if necessary. If you use this space, don't write "more inside" to the question area, it will automatically be added for you

posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:59 PM on February 22, 2005

Huh. Is it different on the posting preview page? I can't look again now because I've posted my question, but I could swear it has two different blurbs saying that the above field is the "more inside" field, one under the main question and one under the actual "more inside" box. The second quote you have above is what I saw under the field for the main question.
posted by tracicle at 4:18 PM on February 22, 2005

Of course, I could just be losing my mind. That's quite feasible.
posted by tracicle at 4:18 PM on February 22, 2005

You're not losing your mind. On the preview page, this text appears below the question area:

This will be the "more inside" area where you explain additional details about the question if necessary. If you use this space, don't write "more inside" to the question area, it will automatically be added for you.

And below the "more inside" area, there's this:

This will be the "more inside" area where you explain the question fully if necessary and remember there is no need to write "more inside" (example: "I just bought a new Jetta, and I have a third generation 10Gb iPod that I'd like to use. I've tried out the iTrip but the FM stations are too strong in my area. What are my other options?)

posted by punishinglemur at 5:07 PM on February 22, 2005

Phew!
posted by tracicle at 5:38 PM on February 22, 2005

Confirmed. On the preview page both text input box descriptions reference the more inside.

Sort of related matt the actual more inside input box on the preview page is only 4 lines high. My question in progress has a few long links in it and such a short text box makes it difficult to see where you are as each long link takes up two of the four visible lines. A 8 line input box like that given for the main question would be better.
posted by Mitheral at 10:31 AM on February 23, 2005