HCL topic not listing right

This is my post:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/sh...p?product=3467

I goto HCL and click "I/O Controller Devices" then I see that the first category is "3ware" and I can see under the "Last Product" column my nickname, LzW-x!

I can click my name there and see my topic but if I click the 3ware category, my topic is not shown under the "products" column but 3 other topics are!

Is my topic waiting to be moderated? Am I navigating the HCL wrong? Did an error occur in the posting?

I think you'll find it's just waiting for approval.

Baldrick

Well, I was about to complain about the same thing: My post can be reached via the "last post" at
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/sh...p/product/3473
but does not list under
LinuxQuestions.org > HCL > Hardware Compatibility List > Cameras > Casio Reload this Page

All in all, I've probably spent an hour trying to find out what is wrong, maybe I posted in wrong
category, maybe there is a "hide own postings in HCL" setting ... It should say "waiting for
approval somewhere" ... and if it's not approved, why show as "last post" ? That does not make sense.

Also, my post has been waiting for approval for 7 days now. Not cool.

hey, give the mods a break! They have lives too, you know. (I know! shock! )

It's a little weird- the HCL clearly tells you that you have submitted an entry, but you can't get to it, and nobody else can see it...

perhaps, jeremy, a feature change could be to have all new reviews list (and have pages), but have a "this is awaiting approval, thank you for waiting" it could encourage people to post to the HCL more because they'd visibly see lots of people contributing to it often, even if the reviews do need approval.

titanium_geek

The problem with the long wait times now is that there was a *huge* backlog of pending requests. We now have someone very diligently working on that backlog, but until things are caught up the wait times are going to be higher than we'd all like. Once things are caught up and only new items are being dealt with, I expect times to be extremely acceptable. Thanks for the patience.

--jeremy

As one of the HCL mods, I'd like to address this issue.

When I started helping with this on December 11, 2005, there were well over 400 entries waiting approval, iirc. As of this post there are 173.

My goal is to approve them first in, first out. That means that the OPs post made on 06-09-2006 is post #11, which would put it as the 162nd in line. Would you prefer that it comes before the last one in line, posted on 09-06-2004? Other than that one, and another from 08-26-2005, the next oldest was posted on 01-12-2006.

Since I build and repair computers, and have quite a preoccupation with them (6 in my LAN atm), there is nothing I like better than hardware. That also means that along with my admiration and respect for LinuxQuestions.org, my desire is to have good, reliable posts in the HCL. Because of that, at first my criteria was too restrictive. With a little time, I've lightened up somewhat; but still won't let invaluable lack of information replace a good posting.

When I look to the HCL there are a few things that I want to see:
1 - the "lspci" output so the chipset is clearly seen
2 - either the main features of the product or a link to the manufacturer's website
3 - something pertinent to the product's usability, but not distro specific

Some posts are great, such as these:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/sh...p?product=3176
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/sh...p?product=3126
http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl/sh...p?product=3129

But there are some posts such as this one:

Presario V4000 (V4407TU) Brilliant With Testing (Debian Proper) Description: Was a little worried when installing. Is bollocks with Stable xfree86, but kicks anus with xorg. To explain, set up with Deb disk and used the net install option. Point is, i810 graphics chip is shithouse with xfree86, but is brilliant, once upgraded to xorg, Very Happy now, that I know this will work straight up with Deb Testing, I refuse to use Ubuntu, because, an aussie without a root is no good. Debian Core is best. Right Now, Debian Testing will always shaft Ubuntu. Keywords: Compaq Presario V4000 Intel i810

If you were looking to purchase a laptop, would that post help you to choose or eliminate this one? There is not one shred of techinical information about the laptop; nor anything useful.

With posts like that one, my policy has been to email the OP and ask for a link to the manufacturer's website, while telling him a little of what we're looking for in a Product Post. Also asking that he post a review of his experience after I've edited the post. Some people have replied, most have not. Some were nice, some were downright mean.

When I'm waiting on a reply, they are added to my 'Watch List' -- presently 28. Of those, I've only received 5 replies.

What we're looking for in the Description field is "only contain factual information that would be considered a product description. The subjective part should be contained within the review, not the description."

During this time period, there have been problems for me. Part of the time I was in another country, not having the usual tools, links, etc. at my disposal -- and busy constantly with travel. At one point I couldn't even get to LQ without a proxy server -- the Great Chinese Firewall seemed to be blocking me. My ISP denied it being blocked, and there was no response from someone else in China to my LQ thread. Soon afterwards while installing a computer and router and setting up a network for a customer, I checked these sites, since he has a different ISP. They weren't blocked for him. With several very tense calls to my ISP, and a couple visits to my office by their engineers, it became apparent that my static IP was being targeted for the blocks. Just today I finalized the move back to a dynamic IP. And over the weekend I totally rebuilt and updated my main PC. Everything seems to be working okay atm -- just pray it stays that way.

Something that I need to constantly consider in my life is what I was told as a Native American (Cheyenne) proverb: "Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins." If I'm correct, that's about 56 days.

You're welcomed to email me with any specific suggestions or gripes, and I'll do my best to reply. I can certainly use all the feedback you can give.

Tomorrow I'll knock off a bunch more, and maybe even approve the OPs post.

Speaking of which, maybe you could tell me what driver you use for that SATA Raid card? Jeff Garzik has this in his Serial ATA (SATA) Linux status report.

Since the backlog issue was not known (at least to me), a big thanks to
Chinaman and his comrades for taking the effort to work on things.
Of course first-in first-out is only fair.

One thing I mentioned earlier: If the HCL is moderated, it makes no sense to have
the articles which are not approved yet shown/accessible in that "last post"
thing. This is clearly a bug in the HCL software.

Also, since I submitted something for a digital camera, I didn't quite know
what to write about the technical stuff. lspci does not quite apply here. ;-)
I did not want to include any quantity of technical information about the
specific camera, anybody can google that or find out from the manufactureres
home page. The main thing is that it connects well with Linux, and the hint that
it connect better after changing a setting in the cameras menu.
Such a thing is only a 3-line entry, but still very valuable for someone who
sees a good offer in the shop. I looked before buying, but it wasn't there, so
I thought I'd do the next guy the favour and add the 3-line entry.
It probably wouldn't even require moderation. Maybe there is a difference between
PC hardware and accessoires like Cameras, Phones, USB pheripherals, ...

Cheers to everybody!

Same "problem" for me so I'll tack onto this thread. I appreciate Chinaman's response, it explains alot. Bravo zulu, reducing the backlog from 400 to 173 in six months is no mean task. Anyway, I have a few suggestions/questions after my first HCL experience:

1. Is there some way we can get Chinaman's response or something similar as a sticky in the HCL area? Before I submitted, I went looking for the directions, style manual, etc. for the HCL and couldn't find anything.

2. Can we make the products pending approval available in the search? The one I posted doesn't show up when I search, so I am presuming that until Chinaman approves it, it will remain unavailable. This could result in duplicate entries and more work for Chinaman. Maybe not allow reviews be posted against items pending approval so things don't get out of control.

3. Should the OP have a price, product rating, and recommendation field like the reviewers? The answer to my next question may make this a moot point, but having it adds an additional data point. (Hey, I'm a statistician.)

4. This is probably sticky-bait, but I was a tad uncertain whether I should submit the product with "just the facts ma'am" and follow up with a review or include my comments when I submit the product. After reading Chinaman's post, I suspect following up with a review is the right answer.

Well, those are my feeble-minded suggestions to make the world a better place.