Wow. Is the forum actually working again?

No, it's not working again. For whatever reason I had to re-register. So, yes, there's a forum again, but I would not have thought that I couldn't log on again. As far as I know I haven't been banned or anything. ;) 

Anyway good to see you back, Zarch.

   Kirsten 

I could always log on, but it displayed some error message about 20 times and I couldn't create new posts or reply.  I think everyone was in that boat.

I may have stumbled upon a new pen pal by accident.  I'm not sure.  She only wrote me one letter and called me one time.

It looked pretty sketchy there for a week or so. I could see posts but the formatting was all messed up and couldn't reply. It seems to be working pretty well now. It seems kind of 'stripped down' feature wise from what there was before, but I guess in some senses is probably easier to use.

Congrats on the new pp, Zarch.

Yesterday I found one of mine on the "needs mail" list - and I was like: "What?" I mean, we've been writing for a while. But anyway, should he get more mail through this (it is saying "little or no mail", right, not "no mail at all"), I'd be happy for him.

But it seems their DB is still in a mess. Page 2 of the "How rehabilitated" thread is missing (can not be displayed, at least on my screen), plus the 2 threads I had posted a while back on the Illinois forum are completely gone.

So, I guess,  there are still glitches..

Hello 

The forum totally disappeared for me only now I could not even reregister with my old name it came up as error

I am Aliciia but I had to choose another name.Anyway all my private messages are gone oh well

Glad to see you finally Kirsten.

How are you doing ?

Alicia Natascha

Hi Aliciia (I'll have to get accustomed to Natscha, sorry),

I'm doing fine, thanks. New job starting in Sept. My whole PM section is gone, too. I also noticed now that some of my old posts are there and some (on other threads) are not. Plus, it seems like every thread I started is completely gone. We'll see where that new software is going to lead us.

Hope you're ok, too. How's Texas doing?

    Kirsten

No, Alicia is fine. For some reason I wasn’t able to register with Alicia again.

I’m OK was in Florida two weeks 

Oh yeah...don’t know about Texas Right now...maybe it’s only a big scam...I will see if I ever hear from Texas again.

How is AZ ? and everybody else ?

Regards 

Natascha Aliciia 

AZ is on the "needs mail list" now - for whatever reason. Funny thing is, I replied to a letter from him yesterday morning - to find him on the "needs mail" list in the afternoon.  Don't ask me why. Story plot has been growing, number of written pages in letters, too.

IL has been funny and smooth as ever - it just gets better with every letter or email. We're getting friends.

TX (mine, not yours) is just like a half-wild kitten, slowly getting closer. But it's absolutely natural, no pushing, no drama, no miscommunication. Just takes time.  

And Mr. "in the hole" is just that - bein' in solitary confinement. *sigh* Lots of time for long letters. I wish I could make it easier for him, but... things are what they are.

So, no complaints from my part.

Your TX pp bein' a scammer would astonish me. I can not remember anything you told me about him sounding like a red flag. So, either sth. happened or I misunderstood you completely.   But anyway, I hope you can talk it through and sort it out. I mean, you've been writing to each other for quite a while and why should ppl turn into scamming overnight?

Hope you enjoyed your trip, but having no pp in FL meant no prison visit, right?

Take care,

Kirsten

nHey Kirsten,

Yes no prison visit Texas is to far to squeeze it in two weeks especially it’s only on the weekends possible 

Florida was great but short for that long trip 

I’m glad everything is going well with your guys and...

No: If so is in the hole it’s terrible I believe but nothing you can do.

You are right I write to Texas about 10 months and I offered once sending money lately and he declined he doesn’t want any and he doesn’t want me to feel awkward I offered bc he was sending so much artwork one board with 28 stamps on it.

We were getting along very well and then something happened 

I better write a pm if at all possible with this new forum bc it’s kinda weird story 

I think your guys are lucky they found such a great penpal as you

Regards 

Alicia 

nHey,

about the needs mail: I don’t know if the person really has influence on the needs mail alert it might just be the system 

Now I can’t log in without requesting a new password after I logged out. It might just be needs mail alert by error I know this forum is a different set up as the ads but still....it’s only electronic system LOL

Don't infer too much from the fact that an imate appears on the "Needs Mail" list even after you sent letters.  They have no control over that.  Besides, we are all experiencing first hand how glitchy this site's software is.  I found Linda, my favorite penpal, through those listings.  She was still up there after I sent letters, and stayed up there until I E-Mailed the site about it.  The representative from the website said that they determine this by people using the "E-Mail this prisoner feature."  I never use that, because it is stupid.  Also, some states don't even have that enabled, which is stupid because it's not even an E-Mail.  It's a message you send in that WriteAPrisoner reprints and mails for you. 

I did use that email feature, but it was months back. And it really seems that all threadsstarted by myself are gone, plus also most of the other posts. 

I even came acrioss two or three things where ppl were quoting me, but the posting they quoted from is gone. *grin* No, that database is really messed up, I guess.

Speaking of Linda, Zarch, how has it been going? More calzones on the way home from visiting her?  Besides, she'll be preparing for release now, right?

Alicia, thanks for the compliment, but I guess, I'm the lucky one here, too. I'm happy to have found them. As unique as they each are, apart from the one who asked for money in his first letter (who I am not writing to any more and who is NOT on the "needs mail" list), I just got guys with whom I do not see probs to get along with.

IL is really becoming a friend, for as different as we are, there's also a lot of "getting each other", knowing where the other one is coming from. He could be one of my cousins (I do have two of about the same age as him) or sth. like that. Definitely more "pal" than penpal. 

And AZ is  "I just could not resist" (for those who remember the - also gone- thread). He's just pulling a heart string. Absolutely illogical, but who says the world is only consisting of logic? I gave up analyzing that, it is what it is. Sometimes you see someone and the minute you see that person you know you want to get to know him/her. Obviously this can also happen with ads.  And so far it just has been fun and respect and making each other laugh (we share a weird sense of humor, sometimes very self-ironic and dry), so no complaints. But I stay away from other ads, it's enough now.

As for you, Alicia, of course I'd love to know what happened, but I see no way of sending you a PM or giving you my email. I would not want to post it publicly, sorry.

Have a nice Sunday, everyone. (I'll sit on my terrace and write a letter now).

Kirsten 
 

Hey Kirsten 

test

Hey Kirsten 

I still think your pp are lucky but I sure know is mutual otherwise it’s no friendship.

I didn’t look into the matter of writing pms just now I found out it’s not possible anymore...weird...

Oh no I don’t expect you to give out email in public 

I give mine one I have for such occasions but if you don’t feel ok I will modify the story to a public one

I don’t really think COs read on here but in a way I don’t want to write private stuff in public about the person I correspond with it’s like I would not be comfortable if he does that make our conversation partly public  As there is the alert button I thought I somehow might be able to send pm meikemrichter [at] aol.derel="nofollow" 

I came across a Facebook group where they even post conversations with the guys ... I think it’s weird... it’s private to me and not to be published on fb what my pp tells me but still I’m kinda upset about sth with him and it always helps to talk about it in a way...

Regards Alicia 

[quote]Speaking of Linda, Zarch, how has it been going? More calzones on the way home from visiting her?  Besides, she'll be preparing for release now, right?[/quote]

She is doing well.  I went for my 5th visit yesterday,  The drive there is long, but pleasant.  The drive home is kind of rough because it's late and I have to contend with darkness, fatigue, and a lot of construction zones.  Linda got a job as a laundry porter in the prison.  It's middle of the night, which she likes because it is calm and quiet.  She says it's tricky keeping inmates' clothes separate.  I realized this could be difficult since everyone wears the same blue pants and white polo shirts.  She goes out on parole in 2 months (October 17th).  We look forward to spending time together on the outside, although she probably can't come to my place for at least 6 months after that.  On parole, you can't go to another state without a travel permit, and a parole officer is unlikely to grant one quickly after release.  But that's fine.  There's plenty to do in Illinois. 

Of course I got the calzone.  I went with the Pork 'n Mac this time, which is barbecue pulled pork with macaroni and cheese.  It is delicious, but the second time was not as mind blowing as the first.

I tentatively plan to go visit again on September 15th, which will be my last visit since she gets out a month after that and we can just hang out in the regular world.

WAP Admin thought they had fixed things, so I let them know on Twitter that the forum was still broken. Looks like its finally OK now.

Not all and everything, Sunray's Wench. But at least it's possible to post again.

Sounds good, Zarch. Must be a good feeling to spend real quality time together. I'm a bit envious, I admit... but then again, I knew it before I started writing, so, who am I to complain. (I couldn't quote, though I clicked on the reply button with the green +, so, sorry...). 

Alicia, will send you my mailaddy in a minute.

[quote]Sounds good, Zarch. Must be a good feeling to spend real quality time together. I'm a bit envious, I admit... but then again, I knew it before I started writing, so, who am I to complain. (I couldn't quote, though I clicked on the reply button with the green +, so, sorry...). [/quote]

Me neither, but you have to copy and paste the original text, then manually wrap it in ubb quote tags.  <quote> </quote>, but with square brackets (    ][    ) instead of angle brackets.

So you did good old html, ok, can do, too.

Thank you.  
 

Wow, so it seems we're back on air again? Haha I have to say, I really hate the new layout of the site.  Nothing looks professional, it's functionality is still virtually a zero.  I can't even use the search features properly.

The forum still looks like it has been hacked, instead of re-designed Haha

Oh well, shit happens.  First world problems.  I'm sure my penpals have far bigger concerns on the inside! Helps to keep perspective.

Hope you're all doing well!

I do NOT like this forum AT ALL!

There's no search function,
I can not edit my profile,
I can not have a signature,
There are no PM's
Pictures from old topics have disappeared,
There is no easy way to return to the forum when you've replied to a topic other than clicking the prison forum link on top of the page.

And the inmate profiles on the main website are most definately the worst ever! Absolutely no decent overview, and the donation option is totally removed from the profiles. I found that useful information.

Nope, not a happy camper over here. It would have been better if WAP had made sure that everything was working before they changed the whole sh*t. ugh. 

Oh, and I can not edit my posts. 

So, this was a planned action? Gosh! I thought the forum had been hacked and this was just the crutch we'd have to use for a while.

Well, still a lot of work to get it good again.

Good luck...

I'm still convinced the site must have been hacked.  This surely can't be a planned redesign.  It's just so horrifically bad in every possible way. 

For us guys that write to female penpals, it's virtually impossible now.  With no search feature, and no way to separate male from female ads, you'd have to sift through about 50 male profiles for every 1 female profile.  No thanks. WAP used to be by far the best website of this kind.  Now it would struggle to make the top 3.

The search works. You just have to use the "advance search" feature and put all filters "Gender" and whatever you need. You could even put say "Female"+ "needs mail: yes" if you wish

sorry Kirsten, I meant the forum search, not the inmate search

*lol*

Sorry Moon,

I was referring to @ Galapagosdiver, who complained about not being able to seperate male inmate's profiles from female ones.

woops! just a case of miscommunication, lol :D Although it still sucks that the search isn't working :D

I'm pretty sure the 'needs mail' indication is something the inmate has control over by being able to send an update form or something similar to WAP. There is no possible way WAP could actually know because if someone sends regular snail mail letters WAP wouldn't have any way to know that.

Hey Moon. Agree with you totally.

Oh, we're back! I don't like it either, the forum looks basic AF. 

I also thought it had been hacked, i can't believe they want the forum like this haha! 

[QUOTE]I'm pretty sure the 'needs mail' indication is something the inmate has control over by being able to send an update form or something similar to WAP. [/QUOTE]

Yes, I think so, too. I was just astonished because we "clicked" immediately and have been writing for a few months. But then I remembered it says "little or no mail". And "little mail" can of course be the case. "no mail" definitely would not be true. 

[QUOTE] There is no possible way WAP could actually know because if someone sends regular snail mail letters WAP would not have any way to know that.[/QUOTE]

Of course not. But I did use the email option back then to make that dfirst contact.

Then again, my old profile (same username) seems to have been fallen prey to the hacking or whatever happened to the forum. ANY old thread I started is gone. Most (though not every single one) of my about 200 posts I did in threads started by others, are gone as well. The database seems to have been seriously messed up.

And as for my pp: I would not mind him getting more penpals, it would sure be a good thing for him to get different pov and perspectives. I just thought "needs mail" meant "is getting no mail" and that, in his case, isn't true.

We've even started writing a short story plot together, it's fun. 

Not, it obviously is NOT working again, cause if it was, we'd be saved from spammers who send the same text for 12 or 13 times. *grr*

Besides, I consider it to be extremly unfair. There are inmates who PAY for their ads here, ok? And I do not think that an increasing # of ppl should post for others here without paying. Sorry, but this is not the intention of the board - and it's unfair against those who just do "play it by the rules".

[quote]

Not, it obviously is NOT working again, cause if it was, we'd be saved from spammers who send the same text for 12 or 13 times. *grr*

Besides, I consider it to be extremly unfair. There are inmates who PAY for their ads here, ok? And I do not think that an increasing # of ppl should post for others here without paying. Sorry, but this is not the intention of the board - and it's unfair against those who just do "play it by the rules".

[/quote]

Well, it's a work in progress I guess.  Didn't there used to be a "Report Post" function here?  Oh, and a working "quote" function.

I don't understand why they underwent such a major redesign of their website.  They seem to be a small organization that doesn't have the staff to support it.  The design stories during this project should have included stories to remake all the original functionality, such as "quote post" and "report post".  I think message forums are usually cobbled together using some sort of kit rather than designed from scratch, so it should have been easier.