Not the Perkiest of Perks

I’m feeling pretty crampy and pissy today, and I think I’ve reached that point in every Diarylander’s illustrious career where I have to post a rant about the site administrators. I just submitted the following to the tech support queue:

I see that you still haven’t gotten to my tech support request from a couple of weeks ago, which I’m finding pretty troubling as I gear up to pay yet again to renew my SuperGold membership, with such perks as the following, quoted from your gold membership info area:

You also get a faster turnaround speed with your tech. support inquiries. Right now, most tech support emails do not get answered super-fast, because we’re pretty busy, but Gold members will get theirs answered as soon as we see them.

I wrote an entry on 6/11/04 and posted it at 3:56pm. It’s http://loriebug.diaryland.com/phyllisnrod.html. It disappeared, prompting my original unanswered tech support request (and I know I’m not the only supergold member to have experienced this disappearing entry phenomenon.). Then it briefly reappeared when navigating back and forth, but did not show up in the archives or in my edit/delete entries area.

Now, it’s not even in the navigation, but if I type the address into my browser, it shows up. Will you please take a moment to try to fix this, or at least to explain what has happened? I’d appreciate it so much.

I’m getting pretty annoyed about paying nearly eighty dollars a year for the special perks that supergold membership offers (I pay every three months because I never have enough to spare at a time to sign up for the year), and yet when I have one simple tech support problem, it goes unanswered for weeks.

I’ve had the supergold membership for a year now. In that time I have submitted exactly five tech support requests, including two on the same problem (the disappearing entry). Only one of them has been a request for help fixing a mistake I made – the others are about problems on their end that affect me.

Two of the problems were fixed immediately. I won’t count the most recent request since I submitted it only a little while ago. But the other two requests are “still in the queue.” One of them was submitted 15 days ago. The other? 264 days ago. That’s bullshit.

I’ve been wanting to go to an actual .com or .net web site, but don’t know enough about the process to even know how to begin. But I’m thinking maybe I’d better start learning already.

14 Replies to “Not the Perkiest of Perks”

  1. i've never had to complain about diary-x. i'm just sayin'.

    livejournal has been wonky lately, but i knew going in it was a flawed product (like diaryland!).

  2. have you considered using blogger? it's been pretty great since google took the helm. if you join blogger, then maybe your site will be stored in the server next to mine in the google server warehouse. and then our templates can give each other sensual massages. just an idea.

    chicago tomorrow.

  3. the one thing i really like about diaryland that i have not seen on blogger or mu.nu (not that it isn't possible, just haven't seen it) is the one-entry-per-page format. my essays tend to be long, which doesn't lend itself well to a blog-style layout. and is distracting.

    i need a setup like dooce or tomato nation but don't have enough web know-how to get it done.

  4. someone told me there's a single-post option now on blogger. i've never checked into it, but that's what i've heard. maybe. once.

  5. It's definitely possible in Blogger — I have a friend who set her's up that way (the single post on a page format).

    Also, if you're thinking of registering your own domain name, I would highly recommend http://www.godaddy.com to get the URL — they have really great deals, I bought one for $9/year. Also, as far as web hosting is concerned, I have an account with http://www.wiredhub.net, and their basic account is $9.95/month. Way cheap! :) If you have any questions regarding any of this, feel free to hit me up with an email…

  6. Thats why I left, dland is too slow with too many problems now for too much money. The servers can't handle the traffic.

  7. I know I'm almost a stranger here now (or completely now, since I've been removed from the link list), but if you ever need any html help on starting your diary on a .com, just hit me up.Everything that you do with your Diaryland site, from single entries on a page to individual pages per post, is now possible with Blogger. And because Google own it, there's a ton of server space, so you wouldn't even need a webhost… you could simply get a something like loriestories.com and have it redirect to your blogger space.I promise it's easy, but you don't have to take my advice about it… I realize I'm not really a cool person anymore. Whatev.

  8. “I've been wanting to go to an actual .com or .net web site, but don't know enough about the process to even know how to begin.” …It's funny you should say that. I've been working on this for a little while now, and so far I've managed to create my own server for about 13 bucks (the cost of a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and cords at goodwill). As soon as I get back to college next august, I'll have a static ip address – and my very own server that wondermart.cjb.net will point to – FREE! Its super easy, anyone with a decent amount of computer experience can do it. I'd be glad to help if you're serious.

  9. go with typepad – at 4.95 a month the price can't be beat (less if you sign up for a full year) – also easy to convert to a real.com if you eventually want that. lots of awesome features that others don't have AND a free 30-day trials. d-land is way overpriced if it's 80$ a month for gold. damn!

  10. Yeah, no response to my request on that one, either. I'd be happy with an explanation in the DiaryLand news. As for getting your own domain, godaddy.com is cheap and seems to be reliable. Their FAQ and general instructions need work, but I figured it out eventually.

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