Technical Support

Q. I'm having technical trouble (can't get into forum, lost my password, can't listen to sound files); who do I contact?

A. Please do not email me, because I cannot help you with technical problems or lost passwords. Here is what you need know to get your problem resolved.

Known Issues

Newsletter - Accents: If you see many "typos" in my newsletter due to missing or corrupted accents (e.g., très displayed as tres, trhs, tris, tr?s, or trs), you might be able to resolve this by upgrading to the latest versions of your email program and internet browser and/or trying a different email service (e.g., Yahoo). If you use Windows, you might also download the latest patches from Windows Update.

Newsletter - Subscription Interruption: If after subscribing you have never received or you no longer receive my newsletter(s), there are several possibilities:

	1.	You or someone you know asked for your address to be unsubscribed.
	2.	Your email address is invalid (after three failed attempts, invalid addresses are automatically unsubscribed).
	3.	Your email program does not accept email with attachments.
	4.	Your email program processes bulk mail by automatically deleting it or transfering it to a bulk email folder (very common issue for AOL and Earthlink users).

Make sure that your email program is set to accept attachments (including javascript). If your email program deletes or hides bulk email, add @aboutguide.com to the "safe" list. Then try resubscribing your address. If you still don't receive it, I'd recommend that you subscribe with an online account like Yahoo.

Printing lessons: I do not have "print-friendly" versions of all of my lessons, but what you can do is copy/paste the lessons into a program like Microsoft Word, delete what you don't want, and then print it. That will greatly cut down on how many pages each lesson takes up.

(Re)finding lessons: To find information about a particular grammar point, or to find a lesson that you've already seen but can no longer find, take a look at my find it! page. It has links to a complete site map; a search engine; a categorized list of all of the lessons, articles, and features on my site; and other tools to help you find everything you need.

Links: If the links in my newsletters or on my site don't work, find out whether your computer has some kind of "pop up killer" software installed. If so, this may be what is not allowing you to click on the links - when you click on some links, a new window is launched, which your software may consider a pop up. There is probably a workaround for your program, such as holding down the shift or ctrl button as you click on the link. Check your software's operating manual. If you are certain that is not the problem, please fill out the form at http://french.about.com/gi/pages/pform.htm.

Mot du jour: Wondering why you don't receive the Mot du jour anymore? No longer a newsletter, it's only available online.

Other issues

• Lost/forgotten password
• Difficulty getting into forum (e.g., "bad password" message)
• Issues in receiving newsletters (e.g., blank page, script errors)
• Inability to listen to sound files

Only Customer Care can help you with these issues. If you run into technical problems like these or others which are not mentioned here, or find that the above solutions do not resolve your problem, please visit Customer Care at http://french.about.com/gi/pages/pform.htm. If you write to me, I'll simply respond by telling you to write to Customer Care, so please save your time and mine by contacting them directly. Thanks!

When writing to Customer Care, be sure to give them a detailed explanation of the problem, as well as the version numbers of your computer's operating system, browser, and email program.

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