dotProject

Sorry everyone - it's been too popular again this month and we've exceeded our bandwith allocation.

We've been in touch with our kind hosters to see if they can give us a little wiggle room this close to the end of the month and we'll be back soon.

Incidentally http://docs.dotproject.net is not affected so this might be the perfect opportunity for you to read the manual )" alt=")" class="middle" width="15" height="15" />

If you have forgotten your password the packages that we use on http://www.dotproject.net all incorporate ways of getting it sent to you automatically.

On the main site (http://www.dotproject.net) in the login box on the extreme right hand side of the screen there is a link "Log In Problems?" Click on that and follow the prompts.

On the forums (http://www.dotproject.net/vbulletin) if you attempt to login and don't get your password right vbulletin comes up with a screen explaining that you've mucked up your password which includes a link you can click on to follow the bouncing ball to a password reset being emailed to you.

On the bug system (http://bugs.dotproject.net) your password should be carried over from the main site - so login there and click on bugs... at the top of the screen. Otherwise there is a send password option on the main login screens for Mantis as well.

Same theory applies with every other package - there is a reset / forgotten my password / HELP link on that package that will automatically allow you to sort it out yourself. You don't need administrator intervention.

If you've forgotten your password on your private dotProject installation - don't send a message to admin at dotproject dot net, ask your internal system admin.

There are some services within the dotProject infrastructure that you can pay for.

• Paid For / Priority Support on the dotProject forums - see http://docs.dotproject.net/index.php/Category: Pay_for_Support if you want details on how it works.
• The Marketplace, where you can hire one of the dotProject developers to perform custom modifications AND/OR sponsor one of the functionality elements planned for a future release - see http://docs.dotproject.net/index.php/Category:Marketplace for details.

Both of these items accept payment via Paypal only. Paypal is the only payment system we can / will support.

On a more external basis to the project:

• Donations are via Sourceforge: http://docs.dotproject.net/index.php/Category:Making a Donation
• And we have Merchandise via CafePress: http://www.cafepress.com/dotproject

They have their own financial methods and arrangements and you'll need to take any issues that you have up with each organisation.

We sometimes get a few problems with processing payments from Paypal. Sometimes it's Paypal has dropped off the air for a short time, sometimes it has to be written off as stuff happens, but there are few things you need to be aware of:

1. We are not running some elaborate scam to rip off your hard-earned. There is no conspiracy going on. Sometimes technology goes out of its way to barf on our collective feet.

2. The account that payments go to is set up as part of the internals of the payment processing system. It can't go to any other account if you are using any of the automated systems that we use for processing payments. It has been used quite a lot so I'm more than just a bit confident that the account set up for receiving payments is, in fact, the right account.

3. I can't be so confident that you're paying into the right account if you are doing it manually, but then I don't know why you'd be doing anything manually unless you're trying to send me all your hard-earned in which case THANKS.

4. If you get an error message could you check your paypal account and make sure that a payment has actually been taken out of your account and sent to payment at saki dot com dot au

5. If you have a problem and there doesn't appear to have been a withdrawal from your account, wait a while and try again. Most likely it's just one of those infrequent glitches that occur.

6. If you are still experiencing problems send me a note at admin at dotproject dot net.

• Please tell me which site / service you are trying to pay for. "your site" could mean anything and we then just waste time playing "which site / what service" question bounce.
• Send me your paypal receipt or at the very least let me know the name that your account is registered under or your email address so I've got a chance of matching your claim to transactions in our paypal account.
• Give me a bit of a hint about what the problem is, ie could login / now can't / never been able to use the system / changed my mind.
• Take pity on me - please be succinct. I get 100's of assorted types of requests for help a week, and I'm finding it increasingly impossible to wade through pages of ancillary information to get to the point where you tell me what the problem is

We'll happily refund your money if you think you've had a raw deal, or you can tell us why you've signed up for the wrong service.

Okay, 'fess up. Who is running the "daft act guaranteed to drive an admin barking mad in 10 seconds" competition? It's got to be organised. There's no other way to explain the way that these acts happen in blocks.

This Week's act of bastardry is all about spam filters.

When you wander off to a forum and join it and the last message you get is that you'll be getting an email from us so that you can validate your account, as I see it you've got two choices.

You could open up your spam filters to email from dotproject.net and, receive the email.

Or you could wait for a few days, then whinge at me about the fact that you can't post. Please, just send me your version of the "WHY DOESN'T MY ACCOUNT EXIST [expletive of your choice]" demand and I'll leap to and send you back my suggestion which is worded something along the lines of:

Have you validated your account via the email that was automatically sent to you?

Of course you have no idea how thrilling it is to realise that, after taking the time to respond to your message in the first place, I then have to dance a dance, whisper the secret password and promise to go to bed early with my teeth and hair nicely brushed just to get my email through your spam filter. (The interesting thing here is that I'm answering your email, which you sent me through no impetus of my own. Doesn't this make your first message spam, in which case asking for me to authorise a response to your spam through your own spam filters, and then sending me spam to say that you've considered my request not to be flagged as a potential spammer.... okay now I feel dizzy).

All in all, it results in:

a) you not being able to post anything.

AND

b) me getting as wild as a cut snake because, I know you all find this hard to believe, but I've got other things I'd like to do with my life. (You can just see the depths of my dilemma, play with your spam filters, write the Files Module documentation.... spam filters.... documentation.... spam filters.... documentation....... neither...... is that the bar fridge I hear opening....).

So my all means ask me to fix the unfixable for you, because at the bottom of all of this idiocy is the fact that I can do nothing about it.

The bulletin board software asks you to verify your account to ensure that you are a real person when you create your account - this is to prevent spammers ironically enough.

You then ask this automated system to confirm it's a real person before you'll receive its email. It's not. It's a bulletin board, or a bug reporting board, or a marketplace or whatever......

Nobody reads bounce back messages to the bulletin board software, because, well, there's paint drying somewhere in this world and frankly that's a show that you could take a date to.

Perhaps you'd like to ask me to respond to your spam filter again this week (I'm up around 50 or so of these sorts of emails in the last few days). You'd better hope like hell you're not the lucky punter who hits the magical number this week and my head spins and I become..... slightly miffed.

As our private blogs often waffle on about totally untechnical things, we're moving out dotProject discussions to here.