Unable to post an epinion

Grouch · #1 12-02-2004, 06:30 PM

For the past five days, I've been unable to post a new epinion. I get all the way through the first two screens (entering the text of the review, the pros/cons, and then the rating and the bottom line), but when it comes to viewing the review in draft form, I get a screen which says, "We're sorry, but there's been a problem. Please try again later."

Has anyone else had this problem?

nc10 · #2 12-02-2004, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Grouch said

For the past five days, I've been unable to post a new epinion. I get all the way through the first two screens (entering the text of the review, the pros/cons, and then the rating and the bottom line), but when it comes to viewing the review in draft form, I get a screen which says, "We're sorry, but there's been a problem. Please try again later."

Has anyone else had this problem?

Not sure if your problem is the same, but there are a few similar complaints in the forums on the epinions site (http://www.epinions.com/msg/show_~topics/cat_id_~121/id_~443 ), that seem to be caused by using MS word, and how some punctuation is carried over to the epinions form when you cut and paste. Most of the complaints have been about nonsense characters in reviews, but a few have complained about posting problems.

The potential fixes seem to be

1. Type up your review in the Epinions web form.

2. Type up your review in word, but don't put parentheses, apostrophe's, (and some other characters) in your review with word, use the html character codes instead (ie, http://www.csgnetwork.com/htmlchrset.html), or paste your review from word into the Epinions form, then go through and retype the apostrophe's, parentheses, etc.

3. Try to type up your review in another text editor.

**pippadaisy**[$] · #3 12-02-2004, 08:26 PM

I've either been using Notepad or typing right in the form and then saving to Word before I publish just in case.

**Joubert**[$] · #4 12-02-2004, 08:58 PM

Hey there, guy, your post is probably saved in draft mode. (Maybe not, but worth a shot). Try uploading it again, even with the garbage characters. Then go through and pick them off one at a time. Apostrophes, quotes, anything like that sets it off.

ivplay · #5 12-02-2004, 09:26 PM

Quote:

pippadaisy said

I've either been using Notepad or typing right in the form and then saving to Word before I publish just in case.

I have been using OpenOffice.org and saving as Word (.doc) format and the apostrophe's, etc. go through fine. Seems it is only when you save in Word format that it really screws up. Don't know what it is with Eps, but it has been that way for a few weeks. If you don't already have OpenOffice.org, you can download it for free here:

http://www.openoffice.org/

Hope this helps!

Grouch · #6 12-03-2004, 09:47 AM

Thanks to everyone who responded so quickly! I knew I could count on EA to help solve my dilemma.

I have always composed my reviews in Word, then cut and pasted them into Epinions. To the best of my knowledge, in the last 5 years, it's never given me a problem. However, this time, MS Word seemed to be the culprit. It was indeed the special characters which were giving me problems. I successfully submitted two reviews--one last night and one just a few minutes ago. In the first review, I cut and pasted, then went through and replaced all the quotation marks, apostrophes, commas, question marks and parentheses. It was a successful post. In the second review, I went through and changed only the quotation marks and apostrophes. It was also a successful post. So, if my theory is correct, we need only worry about quotes and apostrophes.

Thanks again for your collective community assistance.