Monday, January 16, 2012

Oink Oink ... I'm just not hearing it

If your Email Alert "OINK Sounds" are not working:

1.  Clear your Browser Cache  (if you need to know how, click here!)
2.  Make sure the "Email Sound Alert" is ON.
3.  Make sure your sound is turned ON/UP.  (Hopefully you have speakers and they are plugged in).
4.  Read the following if you are using any of the following browsers:

  • AOL - Upgrade to a real browser.  We do not support AOL at all.  If it works, that's amazing.
  • Internet Explorer V8 and below.  Install or Update FLASH PLAYER to a supported version (see below.
  • Safari V4 and below. Install or Update FLASH PLAYER to a supported version (see below).
  • Firefox V8 and below.  Install or Update FLASH PLAYER to a supported version (see below).
  • Chrome V15 and below.  Apply Chrome Maintenance to upgrade to a HTML5 supported version. If you cannot upgrade Chrome for some reason, follow the FLASH instructions below
  • Opera V10 and below.  Apply Opera Maintenance to go upgrade to a HTML5 supported supported version.  If you cannot upgrade Opera for some reason, follow the FLASH instructions below.
This is necessary because Java Sound Events that produce the OINK sounds have taken on a life of their own.   With the advancement of HTML5 in new browsers (Firefox V9, Safari V5, Internet Explorer V9, Opera V11 and Chrome V16, the older releases of browsers have been kicked to the curb.

As a result, EVERYONE not running a current browser (one of the above listed versions) must now install and keep up to date FLASH Player from Adobe. 

This is especially true for Internet Explorer users stuck on Windows XP because Microsoft offers no option for WinXP users to upgrade to IE9 (WinXP users can always go to Firefox, Safari, Opera or Chrome.. but that is for another day).

If you not sure if you have FLASH PLAYER installed, goto:

    http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/

You can verify the installed version of FLASH and upgrade to a supported release if necessary.

Keeping FLASH Player current if you must use an older browser is important.

Hopefully buy following these suggestions, you can resolve 99% of the Email Alert "OINK Sound" issues you may be having.

PigMaster.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Oink Oink!!

If you have the "Email Sound Alert" turned on, you will hear an "Oink Oink" whenever you receive new mail. Recent updates to the Chrome and Opera browsers broke this feature. What we found is that these browsers have stopped building in support for Flash. This seems to be the way that the industry is headed, so we needed to find an alternative.
We've just made a change to the site that should have this fixed. The oink sound is now played using HTML5, with the ability to play sound using flash on older browsers that don't support HTML5 yet.

Please let us know if you run across any odd behavior with the "Oink" alerts.

PigMaster

Happy New Year

With the new year comes new challenges.  We have had quite a few hardware upgrades (and unfortunately issues to go with them) over the last few weeks.  Yesterday we had a hardware hiccup that impacted the SECURE Site, the STORE and Billing.  For the most part, those hardware upgrades are done and we can get back to focusing on features for the site.

One recent change in a feature was the OINK message that was rolled out with the code upgrade in November.  The OINK is now available only on the Profile Page. This was done to encourage people to open a profile before dropping an OINK on someone.  As before, when an OINK is sent, the button will turn from orange to grey and cannot be used again until the OINK is over 30 days old. You may need to clear your cache to get this to function correctly, though.  You can review your OINKS by going to WHO OINKED WHO.  Keep in mind, once you send an OINK, you cannot unsend it.  (Well, you can unsend the email, but the other member still gets the OINK!).

Stay tuned to the blog for more info!

PigMaster