Tried another reply and got the database error . >:(
A.
Ahoy Adrian II! I believe I may have just stumbled onto the cause of your "database errors" whilst trying to cut-n-paste the text of an email I received from a countrywoman of yours concerning Haynes Manuals shown here (https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?action=profile;area=showposts;sa=messages;u=15872). It's your baroque British apostrophes. I'd figured it had something to do with your posh keyboards, all reeking of Marmite and Lemon Curd instead of orange Cheez-Doodle dust as the Good Lord intended. Seems I'm right.
Remember how I mentioned in some other threads like this one (https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php/topic,26507.msg303910.html#msg303910) how the new Forum system's character handling defaults to the ultra-primitivo Windows US Character Set ca. 1999, and anything else will give it indigestion? Well, the apostrophe you're using is what they call a "Typographic" or "Curly" one, whilst we here in the Colonies and in basic ASCII typefaces use the "Typewriter" or "Straight" one, which combined both the apostrophe as such and the single closing quotation mark on the keyboard. There's more than you ever wanted to know on the matter beginning here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostrophe#Typographic_form) in the Wikipedia article on the Apostrophe, as if this Forum hasn't already had enough discussion about them.
Suffice it to say that if you try respond to this posting with a simple "It's...", and it chokes, then we've maybe found your database fouling culprit. If so, then look around on the keyboard and see if there isn't some other workaround option for you. Or, perhaps I should just cross-post this into the Forum Improvements (https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php/board,14.0.html) section, assuming anyone who can do anything about it is even paying attention there.
(https://i.imgur.com/FKOP7F3.gif)
...maybe time the database manager joined the 21st Century!
I too also get the "database error" message, both when I try to start a new thread, or attempt to reply to an existing thread. My observation is that it seems to happen whenever I use the "cut and paste" feature, whether the text is cut from another forum or cut from something that I typed first on my word processor. However, I do not get the "error" if I type my message or reply from "scratch". ???
I imagine there may be some other "indigestible" character, symbol or perhaps some non-visible formatting code like a variant of "Carriage Return" (similar but yet different to [Enter]) lurking in your copied text and shitting the bed.
I cut and pasted that British email from MS-Outlook (ver. 10.6x, Enterprise Edition) into Notepad (ver. 5.1) and then into the Forum's text editing window. When I tried to [Post], the database error occurred. Once I had replaced all its apostrophes manually with those on my keyboard (PS/2 101/102 key, U.S. English), it accepted and posted it. I only noticed the difference in apostrophes after I had changed the font to Times New Roman. In whatever default sans serif font the Forum uses, the two different "apostrophes", Curly and Straight (sounds like a description of Moe's conflicted sexual orientation...though the hair was always a clue to those who really knew him), have an identical appearance.
The fact remains that the Forum is using an unnecessarily outmoded and primitive character-handling configuration...Not that I necessarily have anything against the "outmoded and primitive". After all, I ride an "Iron Belly" Enfield. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I always say. But it IS clearly broke when folks cannot post. My hunch is that re-configuring this Forum to accept some flavor of Unicode would repair its woes, and also give me back my umlauts, accents and cent symbols, so I don't have to type like a troglodyte. I'm willing to shoot them another 5 buck donation if they'll use it towards fixing this problem.
(http://i.imgur.com/odw5SyG.gif)
"Are you saying?..."
(Moe comes to terms with his true feelings)