Doodle Kisses Site Upgrade...

[Adina P]

I've mentioned in an email announcement that this was coming...so..

This Wednesday, August 21st, the DK site is slated for its long awaited upgrade.  By the time you log on Wednesday morning (unless you are super early risers) we should all be moved over to the new site and (crossing fingers) you won't even notice a difference except for it will look different and things will seem a little out-of-place.  

And from there we will arrange things so they look more familiar (but they won't be exactly the same).  The best part is that everyone will be able to access DK, in its full glory, from mobile devices!  But it will also function more smoothly overall.

Feel free to post questions now and when we have moved I'll start another discussion where you can post new questions, complaints, and "where did this go"? confusions.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Exciting!

Is the discussion board functionality going to stay the same?  One thing that I've always found a bit cumbersome is that after a few strings of "replies" you can no longer reply and have to go back to whoever replied last and use that "reply" button.. which is sometimes on a previous page.  It's just a very minor annoyance, really it's quite amazing that this site works so well with the amount of information that is stored and accessed on it.

Thank you Adina for continuing to provide this amazing place for all of us to connect and share ideas and information.  

[Adina P]

There are pros and cons to both.  We will keep things the same with discussions.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

As one who hates change and never uses a mobile device, I'm very worried, lol. 

[Adina P]

You'll probably be annoyed for a bit, but it won't make it HARDER to use on a computer, only EASIER on mobile.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I hope so.

Can we still use things like italics and bold face, or will it be like FB, where emphasis and clarification of expression is nonexistent? 

[Adina P]

Yes same ability to use various or fonts.  Although on FB you capitalize for shouting and use *asterisks* around a word for emphasis.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I do capitalize for emphasis on FB, even though it looks like shouting. Hate that, it looks so loud and rude.

As for using asterisks for emphasis, I was a rhetoric major who proficiencied the full year of freshman rhetoric for full credit. Even my friend who got a perfect 800 in English on her SAT couldn't do that. Punctuation has meaning, and asterisks are not for emphasis. Technology is not going to rewrite the rules of the English language as long as I have breath in my body. :)

[Adina P]

Well sure for SATs, but SATs don't use emojis either.  I'm okay using different rules for casual social media interactions without eschewing more formal writing rules for writing scientific papers, novels, or English essays ;-)  Although I can't seem to give up the double space after a period.  I can't.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Why would expressing oneself in writing on social media be any different from say, writing a letter to a friend? And why would writing a letter to a friend be any different from writing an essay in terms of grammar and punctuation? The tone may be more or less formal, but the rules of grammar are the rules of grammar, and if you know them and use them, you do that all the time, regardless of how "formal" or "casual' the situation may be. Do people automatically become stupid or senile because they're on FB?
(Hmmm....that would explain a lot, lol)
Double space after a period was a typewriter rule that has to do with spacing. It didn't apply to writing longhand. And apparently, it hasn't applied at all since word processing replaced typewriters. You're showing your age, kid. LOL
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/two-spaces-after-period/

[Adina P]

Double spacing was required throughout my schooling.  

Sure the rules of grammar don't necessarily change.  But it totes offers simpler ways to chat & text without all the presh ;-)   

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There's no pressure if correct grammar comes naturally to you. It's not complicated. You don't even have to think about it. 

This is interesting to me, the idea that some people "speak" differently depending on the audience and the occasion. I am always me, lol. 

Double spacing was required on typed work. For me too. Because there is no way to measure a "space" in longhand. :)

[Adina P]

True. Most writing assignments I had were typed or required to be typed high school and on.

Also i turned off autocorrect, but I'm not sure which is the lesser of the evils. If you see a lower case i it's because autocorrect is off and i don't want to go back on my mobile device.