Help, Suggestions, Future of The D-Word

No, it's not the right place, Hashin; as it says at the top of this page, this Topic is for queries about the D-Word itself. Your post would be better suited to the Mentoring Room .

Having said that, D-Word Members are working professionals and the majority are freelancers at that, so given the extremely broad nature of your survey (you could write a whole book on Q6 alone!) it's asking quite a lot of busy people to sit down and fill in a questionnaire like this. Practically, you may get a bit more feedback if you can get people on the phone for a few minutes.

Finally, it would be good to know a bit more about your background and what your own interest is in all of this; The D-Word operates as a community of filmmakers, so there has to be a bit of give and take.

PS Note on spelling: Q6 should be "principles" not "principals".

Thanks for your feedback. I'll try and keep the questions down.

Whenever there is a routine update to the site, I'd like to put in a vote for moving the
"Back to Topics" button at a slightly greater distance away from the
"Hide 'This Topic' From Now On" button at the bottom of the page.

It's very easy to unintentionally hide topics when all you wanted to do was go back to the Topics page. Especially when using D-word on a hand-held device like an iPhone where it can be easy to click the wrong link. I wind up periodically going into my settings page to Un-hide all the missing topics. I know it sounds silly – but I also know I'm not the only one having this [minor design] issue.

It's true. I do this all the time when checking D-Word from my iPhone.

this may be a little greedy, but what about a d-word app?

D-word is actually working okay on the iPhone as-is, but there are a few little things that could make it smoother.

On the other hand, it would definitely be cool to be able to post photos and videos taken with the iPhone, or to be able to "opt-in" to a d-word network that would tell you when other d-worders were nearby, so you could organize an impromtu f2f. Or something.

I'm sure I can move that button. Any other small screen issues? I can't imagine there's enough demand for a full-blown iPhone app. How many D-Worders use the iPhone? A mobile browser enhanced version may be more useful.

Sure – like Google has a special version of their site that pops up when you're using a iPhone/blackberry/etc – that would be cool. And it's clearly something for which there will be an ever-increasing need.

I use the iPhone, though not for the D-Word, but mostly because it doesn't have a small-screen-specific site (although as is, it's nice & low-bandwith & nice spare design). Making an iPhone or mobile version would be very cool, probably fairly straightforward, and I bet it would help if you're ever interested in licensing this whole system out to other groups...

However, given that we're all only supposed to be checking this thing once a day (right?), is minute-by-minute mobile access really a direction that should be encouraged?

I actually read The D-Word on my iphone, but using the email digests that I get each morning in my inbox. I've got some other updates to work on soon, so will look at the feasibility of using the email layout for users with mobile browsers... I can't promise a release date though!

D-Word on your iPhone? That's like watching Avatar on your iPhone.

I tried to post with embeded video in the topic 'funding (europe or elsewhere)' with the help of attach file option. But that didn't work. It says 'done with error on page' . Is there any restriction on video attachment? my file size is 87 MB and its .dat file.

I think embedding video's is restricted to certain topics, but the techno guys better answer that.

I'll wait for Peter to confirm, but I think the limit is much lower, probably about 10% of what you were trying to upload. Secondly .dat can be just about anything, a text or graphic file. There are more useful video formats – best of all is to upload to your own website or Youtube/Vimeo and paste a link – we don't have the resources right now to host large video files on our server.

I have a friend who is looking to hire a local cameraperson in Nairobi. I am new to d-word and wanted to know the best place to post a message for this. Classifieds? Can anyone lead me to the right place? Thanks

Classifieds is exactly the right place, Christopher. We have both a member's only and public classifieds, and you could post in both. The Classifieds are actually the only place where we encourage double posting.

Thanks Doug.

Hello,

I was previously an enthusiast at the D-word. I posted a doc proposal document file on the forum on Sat 1 Aug 2009. The document contains personal information and is showing up in google searches as well as other sites that are hosting it and making it downloadable to the public. Please please remove this post and the document from your site. My name is Michael Birnberg and the document is In Good We Trust. Please let me know when this has been done. Thanks

Best,
Michael

Michael – As explained across the site, Enthusiasts can only access our clearly labelled Public Topics. These may be indexed by search engines.

If your producer applied for this, she would qualify for full Member status. Our Members-Only Topics for documentary professionals are private and you can't find a word from them outside The D-Word.

We usually don't delete anything here, as every post is part of a continuous conversation. So we urge everyone to think twice about what they're saying online.

I have made an exception in your case, as the document attached to the post contained potentially sensitive financial information. It's all gone now.

However, search engines only re-index sites every now and then. So the information may remain in their cache for a little while and show up in results.

Do you use The D-Word on your mobile phone? Would you like to?

We are considering developing a mobile-optimized version of The D-Word, but would like your input. Please fill in our survey now:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/733WYJK

Hello, I am new to D word. I can not figure out how to post a question. The help place says to go to the end of category of posts and there should be a space to post a new question, but when i do fhat for the Research/archival section, I do not see the post area. Thank you so much, Delaney

Should be able to post there the same way you did to post your question in this topic, Delaney.

Make sure you're on the last page of the topic you want to post in. The page numbers at the top or bottom of each topic will get you there. You'll find the text box in the same spot as in this topic.

There was a great article link on this board which I came across but then I cannot seem to find again. It was called something like, "The 8 best ways to open a documentary". I think it was written by a documentary production site. It was a great piece and I was wondering if anyone recalls the link if the could please repost.

Thanks,
Dino

This Topic is primarily for questions related to D-Word, but a google search came up with this link

I would like to change my d-word password. How do I do it?

In the upper right hand corner click "My Profile".
enter the new password twice and go way down for SAVE.

Excellent Marth! Thank you.

Thanks John, I believe that's the text from the article I read.

Cheers,
Dino

Doug:
Do you knwo about the court ruling re Berlinger and "Cride"? They have ordered that he give all footage to CHEVRON to help their case?
There is a letter from the IDA with filmmakers signing up in support. Can you/should you/ will you post? Not sure where to put it on the site...
see you soon in NYC I hope.

I simply cannot type. I have typing ADD. CRUDE, is what I meant.....

I'll be sending out an email about it soon, Deirdre!

Deirdre, a number of well-known doc filmmakers have signed the letter but The D-Word is hanging back and letting the IDA take the lead in terms of getting mass signatures. We've told them we're ready to put out a mailing containing the letter to our membership at a moments notice.

The Berlinger case is also being discussed in our Legal Corner .

Can anyone tell me why the "New Post" box at the bottom of the list of messages doesn't show up on my screen?

Vicki, if that's the case then how did you put up your last post?

Yeah, that's what's bizarre about it. The "New Post" box appears in this topic (thankfully), but not in the FCP topic or Directing, for example. Go figure.I'm at a loss...

You need to make sure you're on the last page of posts to continue the conversation.

Right you are, Ben... I'm in the middle of editing, and in my haste I obviously overlooked this simple fact. I blame it on the full moon...

Is it possible to delete old posts? I couldn't find an option to do so. I posted in the public classified section recently (it was a success – I filled the position) but I'm getting some weird spam as a result.

The basic rule is not to include your email address in any postings in our public topics, as these could be harvested by "robots". Registered users will always be able to find your email address in your profile, which the robots don't get to see.

I just introduced myself as an Enthusiast and tried to stick a picture in the little box to the left. I went back to check and the picture has wound up in the body of post and it's giant. Or is that just the way I see it?
Can we move the picture to the side or make it go away altogether? Thank you.

Hi Ann. You can click on "My Profile" at the top of a page, then My Pictures, near the top of that page. From there you can upload an image to your profile. It will then appear in the little box to the left. If you upload multiple images, the one you Make Primary will appear.

Ann, I guess we'll just have to change your status from Enthusiast to Narcisist.

Kidding ;-)

where are the files located that people posted sample proposals etc? Dan was hosting them – did they go away?

I've designated a different photo as the primary one, but it doesn't seem to be changing in my profile or posts. Is anyone else having this issue?

Never mind. It took about 20 mins to take effect, but now it seems to be working.

Which one is you?

It's my most successful production, to date!

That's a beautiful kid you have there, Ethan, even if he does look like he's about to throw a punch at the paparazzo.