Hi Rod, It's great that you're feeling in a generous helpful mood, so here are some things you could think about:
* For offering general tech support, reading the gw-info list is about the best. GW support does a great job, but there are *a lot* of people seeking help there, so why not try to help them. If you find someone asking general questions about browsers, you could work your info about T-bird into your answer. I think this is a good place for a beginning scripter to be. * For tutorials which will stay around for the long term and be available to everyone (such as one on installing T-bird with WE), there's the GW wiki. You sign up for an account, learn how to use the wiki (it's easy to use, but a little difficult to find the info you need to get started), and then you write articles. There is no provision for audio tutorials, however, if you have a web site where you can host the audio files, then you could link to them from within a wiki article on the topic. I am not sure if this is mis-use of the wiki or not (I mean if your article was only a sentence or two and a link to an audio tutorial), so you might check with GW on this point. However, if you did make an effort to write an article, and then chose to supplement it with a link to an audio tutorial, then I don't think anyone would mind that. You should have a moderately thick skin for writing wiki pieces; they are a community effort, and anyone could possibly come along and correct or edit your piece (there are places for discussing such edits if you feel they weren't helpful, but I'm just saying, don't get too much of your own personality tied up in a piece so that you don't like anyone touching it). You can read the wiki and sign up for an account at: http://gwmicro.com/wiki * And the last idea I have is to watch the info list, or just ask, and see if you can offer to write an app for someone to give them an ability that they need. It's very good practice to write apps which you get to design (where you decide what it will do), but it's a different world when you are writing for someone else who is creating the specifications for what they need an app to do. Also, I find that most of us develop our scripting technical knowledge, and then start looking around and find it difficult to come up with an idea for a reasonably difficult, reasonably useful, app to write. We often end up writing an app which really isn't all that useful to anyone, and these apps get added to app central and never get removed (even when the author has moved on to write much more useful apps). They tend to clutter-up app central so that newbies have a difficult time finding the useful apps from the sea of all the others. It's better if you know the app will be useful to your or someone else before you write it. Well, hopefully one of these ideas will catch your interest and inspire you to keep on developing your skills. Good luck, Chip -----Original Message----- From: Rod Hutton [mailto:rhst...@sympatico.ca] Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 4:39 PM To: gw-scripting@gwmicro.com Subject: Re: E-mail client accessibility Hi again, Chip, Great idea about sharing my insights about Thunderbird. It occurred to me that I could even do an audio tutorial on installing and configuring Mozilla's browser as well as the e-mail client. But where would I post them, and would they need approval by someone? I mean I don't have your reputation. Smile. Taking it a step further, I would like to offer some tech support in a more verbal way than through e-mail. Any thoughts? I'm sure you have...you always have good ones. Smile. Yes, I do feel I'm missing out by not being able to use your apps, and it did influence me in my deliberations about possibly goingto Outlook, well, to the MS Office suite, as you say, since the vba development environment is available in any of the individual components of the suite. I would certainly be interested in any further tutorials you would produce, although I haven't heard all of those you have already made in the 30 plus introductory set. I'm still wetting my feet in writing apps. I'm trying to strike a balance between offering help with the expertise I have, on the one hand, and learning more about scripting, on the other. And, yes, Chip, I completely agree that we are all certainly doing heavy-duty open-source work by helping each other out whenever we do it. We'll talk soon, Rod On 4/25/13 10:43 AM, Chip Orange wrote: > Enjoy Rod, and perhaps you'd like to publish your observations on the > GW-info list; many there I'm sure would find them interesting, and perhaps > you could save someone who is a little short of money, both money and > effort. > > Yes, of course I have a lot of respect for the open source community as well > (that's why we're all here I'd say). > > One small advantage to buying the Office suite is that you could then use > the MS Word VBA development environment for writing WE VBScript apps. Using > an app I've written called Office VBA and VBScript Editor, this environment > is half way between VBScript done in Notepad, and VB.net done in Visual > Studio. It gives you Intelli-Sense, and type declarations for all of your > variables, functions, parameters, etc., along with syntax checking of all > your code, and an object browser and the ability to work with objects from > third-party programs. > > If there's any real interest here on the list from those who own MS Word and > are VBScript developers, I'll update my tutorial I once did on this app > (because it has had a lot of features added since I created the audio > tutorial years ago). > > (also, for anyone who is developing using the VBA of the Office suite, the > app also provides access to the Intelli-Sense feature of the VBA environment > in any Office product). > > Ttyl, > > Chip > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Rod Hutton [mailto:rhst...@sympatico.ca] > Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 12:06 AM > To: gw-scripting@gwmicro.com > Subject: Re: E-mail client accessibility > > Hi Chip, > > This Outlook appears to be a very powerful tool for time-management, and > it's great that you can really access all its features. Honestly, I've > always wanted to own the complete MSOffice suite, simply to be in the > upgrade cycle, and be free of the worry about being able to migrate my > data as the years go by. However, I am developing more and more respect > for open source solutions, and I'm realizing that there is > cross-pollenization going on between all of the software players. This > is even true across platforms, i.e., Windows, Apple, Linux. Specifically > in Thunderbird, I had to install an add-on to enable me to import my > years of e-mail messages, which is why I mentioned to you that it's kind > of hobbiest, but at least it was doable. I figure it goes back to what > time and effort people are willing to give PC studies. This problem with > e-mail has even made me question how much I'm willing to put up with. I > expected Microsoft to offer a free e-mail client, and I put up with > years of disappointment because I figured I shouldn't have to pay for > what had been free in Windows XP, namely, Outlook Express. Funny thing > was, though, I trusted Microsoft more than the open source community, > even though both were offering free solutions. I see now that Mozilla is > just as good, and perhaps better. It was simply a change of attitude > that I needed. > > I'll let you go for now, Chip. :) > > TTYL, > > Rod :) > On 4/24/13 8:56 PM, Chip Orange wrote: >> Thanks for the T-bird info; I'll keep it around for anyone who doesn't > care >> to spend the money for Outlook. >> >> BTW, one option you have for the Outlook calendar is to have it show your >> appointments in a list (just like a list of emails), and this is my >> preferred way of doing things; I do know WE users who have it show in a >> traditional calendar display, but the list works for me, and Outlook does >> all the tricky stuff of telling you if you're trying to schedule a > conflict, >> etc. Outlook will even tell you, given parameters such as what days of > week >> and what time, and what people are involved, and how long, it will come > back >> with a list of times when everyone can get together. In corporate >> environments it will also keep track of conference rooms, projectors, and >> other shared resources. >> >> Anyway, glad you got what you want for email. >> >> Ttyl, >> >> Chip >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Rod Hutton [mailto:rhst...@sympatico.ca] >> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 12:57 AM >> To: gw-scripting@gwmicro.com >> Subject: Re: E-mail client accessibility >> >> Hi Chip, >> >> Thanks for your insight into Outlook, your preferring 2010 to the >> current, and your idea to just get this app alone rather than the whole >> Office suite. >> >> Actually, I just went through the nasty rapids of installing and >> configuring MozillaThunderbird, and I'm pretty cool with it. Just to let >> you know, what is new to me about this app over Windows Live Mail is >> it's numerous options of replying to messages, and things of this >> nature. It really seems to be the hobbiest's choice in an e-mail app, >> which I guess is open source in a nutshell. It's worth installing and >> checking it out, if for no other reason than curiosity and knowledge >> gain. What I love the most over WLM is it's traditional pull-down menu >> system, both in the main app window as well as in the message window. >> Configuring the e-mail is a cinch, once you trust the app to do the job >> for you. I'm glad Outlook works for you and your wife; I would have to >> see the calendar-type functions of Outlook for myself before I believe >> it, but I know GW Micro has done a lot of work with it to make it >> accessible. For me for now, I'm just happy to be able to write an e-mail >> without having to use Notepad and do cut and paste. :) >> >> Anyway, Chip, thanks again, and take care, >> >> Rod :) >> >> >> On 4/23/13 9:30 PM, Chip Orange wrote: >>> Hi again Rod, >>> >>> >>> >>> Well, already answered most of this as I'm reading messages out of order. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Any accessibility issues for Outlook 2010 have been dealt with by a GW > app >>> called Outlook Enhance, which I highly recommend (I'm not sure if it's >> being >>> included with the WE distribution or not). >>> >>> >>> >>> One point: I think you can buy Outlook alone, you don't have to buy an >>> Office suite I don't think; and, my own opinion, I'd buy 2010 if you > still >>> can (just because it probably has more of its issues worked-out with WE >> than >>> 2013 does yet). I don't know this however, so maybe you could check with >> GW >>> support to see what they think of 2013. >>> >>> >>> >>> Hth, >>> >>> >>> >>> Chip >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> From: Rod Hutton [mailto:rhst...@sympatico.ca] >>> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2013 9:38 PM >>> To: gw-scripting@gwmicro.com >>> Subject: E-mail client accessibility >>> >>> >>> >>> Hi Chip, >>> >>> >>> >>> On an unrelated matter, I'm using Windows Live Mail for my e-mail client >>> (mainly, for the moment, because it's free). However, for literally >> months, >>> I've had tracking issues in my message window and I'm about a step and a >>> half away from getting some cash together to buy the MS Office Suite and >> so >>> be able to use Outlook. I noticed you are using Outlook (from viewing >> your >>> message details ), and I was wondering how you like it, and do you >>> have any accessibility issues? >>> >>> >>> >>> Also, anyone reading this: what's the best e-mail client from the point >> of >>> view of accessibility? Bruce, I see you are using the reliable old >> Outlook >>> Express, but, unfortunately, Windows 7 barred the use of it...too bad for >>> me! :) >>> >>> >>> >>> Thanks, Chip, and everyone, >>> >>> >>> >>> Rod Smile >>> >> > >
