Tami, the odd symbols have been appearing off & on in some of the posts for some time now.

Whatever is causing the problem, I will be glad when it gets straightened out!

Rusty

If you go to your options, and Tools, click on Encoding.
If you've got Unicode checked, try checking Western.

It seems that I have to go back and forth between these, but they fix the problem.

Yes, I'm getting them too and I don't even have "options" on my bar and if I click tools there are no options.

Annie

Yes for quite some time now. This forum is just so antiquated. I just wish they'd get up with the times! This is like a forum style from back 10 years ago!

I like this style of forum. I don't like the symbols that have been appearing for quiet some time now.

I use FireFox and get the symbols too. In FF you go to View then select Character Encoding and then flip between Unicode and Western.

Annie, did you get it fixed?
As lsr2002 said, if you use FF, go to View then Encoding
IE, go to Tools, then View, then encoding
Chrome click on the wrench, then Tools, then Encoding

I love the clean look and ease of use with the GW forums. I've been on others where they are not user-friendly at all.

It's not easy to use for searching at all. I can't even find my own posts when I'm looking for something I asked about. Their search feature is just about useless! Then there's no ability to go back and edit or remove a post if you've messed up and end up looking like an illiterate fool...HAHAHA! Yes it is simple enough to read and look at the posts but that's where the good part ends.

I just searched my user-name; Arkansas and I came up with 83 hits. Sounds about right.

I still say this forum is better than a lot of them out there.

Can you tell me how to fix it in Windows 7? I'll try it in xp when I get on the old computer, but I can' find a way to change it here.

I love the ease of reading and such here, but wish they would fix and keep fixed all the problems. The other boards I've tried are too confusing to use. I usually don't have a problem with the search feature, either.

Tami

AG, there are TWO search boxes, and they seem to give different results. The one that has word "SEARCH" in white letters on a green background gave me 364 hits for "arkansas_girl"--it probably found either the word "Arkansas" or the word "girl" (but not necessarily both words together). However, there is also a string of blue links (Other Forums, Instructions, Search, FAQ, and PostAMessage). If you click on the blue link "Search" and put in the same search term, you get 71 hits. I could see many threads that were posted by you in the past few months. In others, your response to someone else's post might be farther down in the thread, but I didn't check to verify this.

I was not as successful when I tried to follow Jasdip's instructions for IE. I got as far as "Encoding," but then the only selection was "None," so I couldn't change the setting. It's easy to understand the "garbage" characters that represent an apostrophe, but, unfortunately, I see them for common fractions, too, so many lists of ingredients in recipes are unintelligible. Sigh!

Sue

I hate the search function here, I get a zillion hits, but can't ever find the one I actually want.

jasdip, there is no "view" under "tools". I'm using IE with Vista. And I just hate Vista too. That's why I don't do any other forums, any blogs, etc. I can't stand the inconvenience/annoyance long enough!

Annie

Be sure to use the Search button at the Bottom of the page, not the top!

Annie, is there a "Page" tab somewhere with Vista?
Look around, Tools, View, something, then look for Page.

You should be able to find (and change) text encoding from there.

It's like annie said "I get a zillion hits".

I've never noticed one on the bottom so I'll look. At most forums there are different searching options but here there's just search and that's it.

Arkansas Girl, there is a simple way to edit your post before you post it. Write up your post. Look toward the bottom where it says "Preview Message." You can edit there and preview and re-edit and preview as many times as you like before you post it.

Along with the odd symbols it seems like the 'cookie' function is acting up.
I keep having to login, many times yesterday...I used to be able to go for months...

beverlyal, yes I know you can edit BEFORE you post but what if you don't see that mistake and post it and then realize you spelled something wrong, then there's nothing you can do about it. At other forums, you can edit after you've posted something.

Concerning the odd symbols, the way to fix it is in your browser toolbars. If the âÂÂnormalâ tool bar of File Edit View does not show up, try hit the Alt key. Now look up and you should temporarily have the âÂÂnormalâ bar. Go to View, Encoding, and click on Unicode and see if that makes the symbols go away. If that doesnâÂÂt work, click on Western European. If neither of those work for you. This is not a permanent fix. You will have to do it each time - at least I do.

Hope this helps.

It is interesting to note that there are symbols in my above message. When I typed it and reviewed, those symbols were not in my message. What were in my message were quote marks.

I'm still seeing them and haven't figured out how to fix it in Windows 7.

OK, that worked! I went to "view", then "encoding". I had to go to "more" and then found the "uni-code" at the very bottom.

Presto, the symbols above were gone.

Tami, I'm running Windows 2000 at work, I'll check there and see if I can find it. (Hey, we're a small county, and have no money for updating computers!)

Annie

This is not a Windows problem. You have to use your web brower to fix it.

Annie, thank you! I just followed your instructions & the funny characters are gone from my screen also! Yeah!

/tricia

Tricia, I'm glad that worked, I sure didn't know what the heck I was doing.

Tami, here at work I have the same procedure. Go to "view", then "encoding", then find "unicode" or "Western European Windows).

At home it's Unicode, here at work it's the Western European Windows that fixes the problem. Go figure, it's from the people who bring you the "start" button to shut down the computer. (grin)

Annie

Well, I'm not going to try to fix it on the new computer. I tried on the old one and have it screwed up! Now I keep getting a message when I open my email about encoding. So, I'll just try to read around them. As long as the amounts are correct, I'll just not worry about it!

Tami

I find they show up when people copy and paste recipes. For some reason they don't take well to being posted that way.

Most of the recipes I post, I type out, and they turn out right that way.

Tami, I'm running Windows 7. Here is how I got rid of the symbols:

At the right top of your moniter,you'll see Page with a drop down menu. (it's near the email, tools, safety, etc.)

Click Page, Encoding, MORE, Unicode (UTF-8)

That's it. Symbols gone.

If you want to undo it, just put it back to Western European.

Shaun, I tried that but it didn't work. But thanks for trying!

Tami

Worked for me Shaun. Thanks!

Beverly

Tami I wonder why it didnt work for you? Just me Capatain Obvious, but you refreshed, right? (dont hit me!, I had to ask~)

Bev good, glad it worked for you!

Well, Capatain Obvious, I won't hit you. And NO I didn't refresh! Maybe I will try it. I'm scared to death to mess things up. Especially on this new one. Thanks.

Tami

Tami hahah!!!