How To Make Dani Web The Best Forum That Attracts Newbies & Earns Oldbies! - Page 2

I think you misunderstood UI. It was not an apology. It was a genuine sense of wasted time on both our parts. I wish you the best of luck in your other forums.

I think you misunderstood UI

It's not the first time.

The general consensus is that UniqueIdeaMan's ideas are indeed unique. Unfortunately they aren't the good kind of unique.

This hasn't only been established here. Benanaman on codingforums knows the score. And Mittineague on sitepoint's forums goes as far as claiming that he is

missing a basic understanding of how things are.

As the old saying goes, there's no smoke without fire.

The nicest possible thing I can say about UI is that he is clueless timesink.

Hold the phone Chuck. What if we feed the tuna fish mayonnaise before we kill them and put them in the can?

• Bill Blaze - Night Shift [1982]

Pty - those links are priceless! Laughed myself stupid. +1

If you have nothing nice to say ...

I think that's a nice general sentiment but threads like this, while not being constructive for DW, do serve a purpose. When otherwise polite and respectful members get drawn into responding to outrageous claims and accusations, things can get a little less 'patient'. Having a mod or admin hat on can give you the step back space you need and take a DW centric overview. Those of us who do not enjoy those privileges may struggle to not take things personally or to not react in an uncharacteristic way. I'm not saying you're wrong, but UI has been allowed to peddle troll posts ad nauseum without down comments from yourself. As soon as pty steps on the line... Well, enough said. I doubt this post will be popular, but I really do think that trolling should be stopped in its tracks. It has involved hours of pointless moderating and has taken away focus from threads that deserve to populate the forum pages.

When otherwise polite and respectful members get drawn into responding to outrageous claims and accusations

As we keep reiterating in this thread, members all volunteer their time. No one here is forced or required to waste their time responding to outrageous claims and accusations.

As the saying goes, what's good for the goose is good for the gander. You can't, on one hand, keep insisting that you are a volunteer choosing to spend your time how you wish, and on the other hand, be angry and hateful towards someone because you were forced to have to deal with responding to their outrageous suggestions and ideas.

In the case of UI, or anyone else, asking a question across multiple sites, and not cross-referencing them, such that you feel like you wasted your time helping someone who already had the answer ... well, in cases like that, I certainly see why you might be irritated by that.

But with regards to the context of this specific thread ... no one has a right to be angry at the other side for being pulled into a flame war and for having their time wasted as a result of being forced to participate in it.

If you read the initial post of this topic, and didn't agree with UI's ideas, you could have just moved on, or, at the most, commented on what ideas you thought had merit and which ideas you thought were silly. However, you can't blame UI for the time you wasted being forced to tell him what terrible ideas he has and what a horrible person he is.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but UI has been allowed to peddle troll posts ad nauseum without down comments from yourself. As soon as pty steps on the line... Well, enough said.

I can see where you're coming from with that, so sorry pty. It's true that I tend to vote up and down quite often, but it's rare for me to vote with a comment. Typically my comments on posts tend to be more elaborate (such as I'm doing here with you), and aren't conducive to one-liners. In the case of pty's post, I initially began replying as a post, but I realized I was being unnecessarily verbose in that particular instance, and so did a vote down with a comment instead. That being said, reputation is not affected here in the Community Center, so there was no difference from voting down with a comment versus voting down and including a verbose comment, as I'm usually more apt to do.

I also tend to only down vote when I feel like someone is bordering on violating any of our rules ... more of a, "hey! It doesn't make me feel good seeing this kind of content." However, in cases of posts like yours, I'm all for people presenting opposing arguments!! I think that one of the things that makes the voting system work is that everyone can have their own criteria for what is worthy of an upvote or a downvote.

Also, as I've mentioned many times before, I have very little tolerance for any forms of name calling, cyber-bullying, attacking someone's personality, etc. Over the fifteen years I've run DaniWeb, there have been more than a handful of mental abuse cases that I've had to deal with. We need to all be respectful that we're not always aware of the full situation in the context of an online forum ... I can name at least two cases where negative comments that people read about themselves here on DaniWeb (and the comments about them were not really too bad, or anywhere near crossing the line at all!) have led to suicide attempts. Because I'm so aware of this side of things, it's really, really important to me that my website doesn't case this level of harm, even unintentionally. In the case of the two incidents I know about, the offending members were upstanding regular members + mods who did not mean any harm. Unfortunately, the members already had depression or feelings of worthlessness and reading a post about yourself that says something like, "You miss a basic understanding of how things are" or "you're a clueless timesink" was just enough to tip them over the edge. It's actually been my experience that members who troll typically do so for a reason ... same as bullies in the real world ... they're usually the ones hurting the most. You have to realize that for people who don't have thick skin, a computer nerd without any friends, whose only source of friendship or companionship are online forums, might hear "you're not the good kind of unique" from the only person who even bothers to talk to them, and that could be enough to spiral them out of control.

I have very little tolerance for any forms of name calling, cyber-bullying, attacking someone's personality, etc.

Well that's UI, isn't it? He's ATTEMPTING to be a cyber-bully. I don't think it's working, but he's attempting to do it. On this forum alone, he's speculated on peoples' gender, age, and nationality. There's only one reason to do that. To make people angry and defensive. What possible reason could there be? Since UI keeps bringing up other forums and how they don't mind his antics and pty brought up Benanaman as a counter-example, here you go, another one from Benanaman, nd the response...

http://www.codingforums.com/php/384298-what-wrong-number-rows-count-function-2.html

I'm just curious, what does benanamen mean, anyway ? I see that red cross icon of your's. Is it related somehow ? Or, is it "Benan Amen" ? The other day, I thought maybe some hindu name. Now, I'm thinking sounds jewish.

There's no reason other than trying to stir up trouble to speculate on someone's religion. If someone wants to inform others of their religion, that's up to them, but it's a private matter. You don't ask people about it, you don't speculate about it, particularly in a PHP thread where it has ZERO relevance. Give me one possible reason other than an attempt at cyber-bullying and causing discord for UI to publicly speculate whether someone is Hindu or Jewish. Ditto speculating on someone's age or nationality. Or whether they are male or female. Or giving them "cute" nicknames, particularly after they've been told to stop. In a PHP thread. It could potentially be relevant in very rare instances, but not here.

Yes, there's a long-standing cause and effect that has been proven: bullied people try to bully others. Maybe UI has been a victim of bullying. Impossible to say. But there is NO doubt that he started the bullying attempts on THIS forum. Again, I don't think they were successful. Programmers have thick skin. I will admit that he got under MY skin by taunting all of us by telling us about all of the other forums he posts on and how he plans to continue doing so without telling us because it's not against the rules. Yeah, it also bugged me that he speculated on my age, and it bugs me that he did that to others here too that I respect. The idea that UI is a VICTIM of cyber-bullying on this forum? Ridiculous.

I think this is all relevant to THIS thread because this is purportedly a thread about improving Daniweb, the success of which he cares not at all. You are 100% correct that no one can be mad about him dragging us into this thread. We can simply ignore him. I am ignoring him on all his technical threads. I threw out some legitimate questions in THIS thread to see if he chose to address them and if he was serious. It is clear to me, once again, that he is not.

Thanks for the post. I understand your standpoint. But the fact that some do volunteer their time and then get it thrown back at them (not talking about myself here), you can understand how galling that can be. Members do have a right to reply and should be allowed to stand up for themselves. Sometimes that spills over to fire with fire. But this is the point I'm trying to make about trolling. If trolls were dealt with in a timely manner then it wouldn't come to that. Very rarely do you find these otherwise helpful and loyal members start a flame war amongst themselves. It only takes one troll to derail a site. We all remember wojcieck. There have been others. It may be that they're the ones hurting the most but DW isn't a crutch for them to spout their spite. Nobody benefits from these spats, but if somebody calls me a dick, I'll come back with some home truths. I suspect most members would feel the same, but I wouldn't presume to say it's necessarily so. Hence my appeal to deal with these situations promptly. I will shoulder part of the blame for losing my patience with an certain individual, but getting called out for being this and that in long rants will not see me turn into a shrinking violet... I'm all ranted out... I need a break...

Dani,

To prove that I am not wrong but senior php members then please read post 299 here:
https://www.sitepoint.com/community/t/improvements-to-member-registration-site-reg-php/260491/308

And then see how about 6 seniors misunderstand me in that forum.
They claim that I missed the 2nd closing bracket in line 13. Hence the error. But the 2nd closing bracket exists in line 13 which every senior programmers have failed to see. Why did they fail to see it ? Because, ColShrapnel (a member there like Diafol here) is always on my case and have influenced them all to make a grave mistake and make a hasty judgment.
Nevermind. I am the victim.

Because, ColShrapnel (a member there like Diafol here) is always on my case and have influenced them all to make a grave mistake and make a hasty judgment.

You are a fine human being and you have the best ideas. I humbly beg your forgiveness. I was totally wrong for having doubted you.

This is my new touchy, feely side. Xxx

Dani,

This post is regarding post 299 in my thread in this forum:
https://www.sitepoint.com/community/t/improvements-to-member-registration-site-reg-php/260491/299

I refer you to that forum since Diafol has been claiming that a user called Mittineague has a problem with me in that forum. When he actually does not.

Do look at this code:

<?php

include 'config.php';

if (!isset($_GET["email"], $_GET["account_activation_code"]) === true){
    $_SESSION['error'] = "Invalid Email Address! Invalid Account Activation Link! This email is not registered! Try registering an account if you do not already have one! <a href=\"register.php\">Register here!</a>";
    exit();
} 
else 
{   
    $email = htmlspecialchars($_GET['email']);  
    $account_activation_code = htmlspecialchars($_GET['account_activation_code']);  
    if ($stmt_one = mysqli_prepare($conn, "SELECT usernames, accounts_activations FROM users WHERE emails = ? AND accounts_activations_codes = ?")
        echo "mysqli_error($conn)";
        echo 'Success: Mysqli Prepare passed!';
        mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt_one, 'si', $email,  $account_activation_code); 
        mysqli_stmt_bind_result($stmt_one, $username, $userActivationState);    
        var_dump($email, $account_activation_code, $stmt_one, $userActivationState);
    }
    else
    {
        echo "Failure: Mysqli Prepare Failed!";
        exit;
    }   
    if (mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_one)) 
    {
        echo 'Success: Mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_one)';
    }
    else
    {
        echo 'Failure: Mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_one)';
        exit;
    }    
    if( mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)) 
    {
        echo 'Success: Mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)';
    }
    else
    {
        echo 'Failure: Mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)';
        exit;
    }
    if ($userActivationState != 0)
    {   
        echo "Since your account is already activated, why are you trying to activate it again ? Do not do that again and just login from <a href=\"login.php\">this webpage</a> next time! Make a note of that webpage, ok ?";
        exit;
    }
    else
    {
        $userActivationState = 1;
        var_dump($stmt_one);

        $stmt_two = mysqli_prepare($conn, "UPDATE users SET accounts_activations = ? WHERE usernames = ?");
        echo mysqli_error($conn);
        mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt_two, 'is', $userActivationState, $username);       
        var_dump($stmt_two, $userActivationState, $username);       
        if (mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_two))
        {
            echo "<h3 style='text-align:center'>Thank you for your confirming your email and activating your account.<br /> Redirecting you to the login page ...</h3>";
            $_SESSION["user"] = $username;
            header("location:home.php");
            exit;
        }
        else
        {
            echo 'Failure: Mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)';
            exit;
        }
    } 
    else 
    {
        echo "FAILURE to UPDATE db";
        exit;
    }
}

?>

It was showing me this error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected ';' in /home/user/public_html/e-id/activate_account.php on line 13

Why do you think I am getting this error ?
It is because I added a semi colon at the end of line 13, which I never should have.
Line 13 was looking like this:

if ($stmt_one = mysqli_prepare($conn, "SELECT usernames, accounts_activations FROM users WHERE emails = ? AND accounts_activations_codes = ?");

Note the semi colon at the end. It should not be there. That was causing the error. The error report is clearly stating that the semi colon should not exist at the end of line 13.
Anyway, I removed the semi colon and the error regarding line 13 was gone.
So, the code was ok like this:

if ($stmt_one = mysqli_prepare($conn, "SELECT usernames, accounts_activations FROM users WHERE emails = ? AND accounts_activations_codes = ?")

Note: No semi colon at the end of line 13.

Next, I saw this error regarding line 14:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected 'echo' (T_ECHO) in /home/user/public_html/e-id/activate_account.php on line 14

And asked for help in that forum.
Now, what does all this tell you ? Does it tell you that the error regarding line 13 has been fixed when I removed the semi colon from the end of line 13 ?
Yes. Otherwise, I would still be getting the same error regarding line 13. And not line 14, this time.
But guess what ? Everyone in that forum started jumping to the conclusion that the error regarding line 13 was due to me missing the 2nd closing bracket, even though the error clearly stated that the semi colon should not exist at the end of line 13 and mentioned nothing about any closing bracket!!!
What a wrong conclusion! The error regarding line 13 CLEARLY states that there should be no semi colon at the end of line 13. And because the semi colon is there, I was getting the error. The error was not due to me missing a 2nd closing bracket in line 13 (like 6 members including 3 mods were claiming).
Infact, the 2nd closing bracket is not supposed to be there on line 13 as it is already present on line 19. Do check this out!

Now, ask yourself, why 6 senior php programmers, who have been helping me upto 300 posts suddenly jump to the wrong conclusion lastnight that I missed the 2nd closing bracket on line 13 when it is present on line 19 ?
Ask yourself, why the programmers over there cannot clearly see from the error (regarding line 13) that the error is not related to a missing 2nd closing bracket (like they claim) but due to a semi colon present at the end of line 13 ?
Shall I tell you why ? It is because a member called ColShrapnel over there confused them all into thinking that I forget a basic thing (like miss to add the 2nd closing bracket on line 13) and therefore do not deserve to be a programmer and I should quit. Now, ask yourself is his comment fair ? All the members over there have come this far upto post 300 in helping me in my thread but this ColShrapnel (who has never contributed any real help other than whine now and then) was getting jealous of that. He has brain washed them tonight into thinking that I have missed the 2nd closing bracket on line 13 (and has failed to see it exists on line 19) and made everyone think that I have made a very childish mistake over a very basic programming principle and therefore I do not deserve to be a programmer anymore and that others should stop helping me any further.
In that forum, can you see how 6 people altogether, including 3 mods, have joined his rank into thinking that I have missed the 2nd closing bracket in line 13 (even though they do not agree with him that I should quit learning php nor agree I do not deserve to get their help) ?
So you see, the bad guy ColShrapnel has made a bad judgment hastily himself when he thought I have missed the closing bracket on line 13 and he has convinced 6 others to think likewise and agree with him that I am the stupid guy who never learns and keeps forgetting the basics of php programming. When in reality it is them ALL, who have forgotten the basics of php when they:

1. Failed to read the error regarding line 13 (which spells out to them that there is no missing 2nd closing bracket on line 13, like they claim);
2. Failed to see the supposed closing bracket is infact actually present on line 19.

So, the argument in that forum so far is that, according to ColShrapnel, I forgot the 2nd closing bracket on line 13, a very basic principle of php, and therefore do not deserve to be a programmer and I should quit learning any further and others should quit helping me too.
Now please ask yourselves, should they all be laughing on me for making this supposed mistake of missing the 2nd closing bracket liek they are now or should I be the one who should be laughing at them that it is THEY who have missed the point and overlooked some very basic principles in php ?
So, at this moment, 6 senior programmers, who have been teaching me php this far upto 300 posts, are now standing as opposition to my case, on one side. While I, the junior student, are standing on the other side opposite to them ALL, all by myself.
They are now all agreeing to ColShrapnel's claim that I have forgotten the 2nd closing bracket on line 13 and demanding to know when I am going to learn to not make a mistake like that ever again.
When am I going to learn that whatever number of opening brackets exist, the same number of closing brackets should exist too!
Now please tell me, do I really need them to tell me this or do they need to hear from me that it is them who should:

• Read the error first before jumping to conclusion that I have missed the 2nd closing bracket (because if they had read the error then it would have been obvious to them that I have not missed the 2nd closing bracket);

• Not be influenced by my opposition and follow his lead. Because, not only the opposition (ColShrapnel) is making a fool of himself but he is getting the others to make fools of themselves too!

So, currently, we are poised at this position:

6 members (incl. 3 mods) are on one side with a false claim and I am all on my own on the other side with a valid claim.
Who is the winner ? I am. But this argument of mine is not regarding who the winner is. It is about to teach the world not to team-up/group-up against a newbie junior and follow a bullying lead of a jealous senior (in this case ColShrapnel). Else, you make a fool of yourselves in front of the whole world.
So you see, I am not the guy who is:

• the rude guy;
• the bad guy;
• the guy in the wrong;
• the unworthy php student;
• the crazy claimer.

You see the good thing about me is that I don't shoot off my mouth (make wild claims) without proper research. And, I do not quit my claim just because others more experienced are opposing me. I stick to my claims and values and always win. Always win because I know what I am talking about. I don't wear my armour and go out to war, unless I know for sure that I will win.
In that forum, all the members (my oppositions) still think they have won the round. They will soon get a wake-up call and realize it was foolish on their behalf to follow the lead of a jealous programmer (ColShrapnel).
Likewise, anyone who follows Diafol and JamesCherril (my 2 jealous oppositions here) will find themselves embarrased. One day.

@PTY:
PTY, you have said here, just above on your previous post, that:

1. Mittineague, in that forum, has stated that, I am missing a basic understanding of how things are.
   (Is that so ? Or, are they themselves misunderstanding the basics of how things work with php on that thread of mine in that other forum ?)

2. I am clueless.
   (Let us ask ourselves. Is that really so ? In that other forum, am, I the junior php student, clueless or are the 6 senior php masters clueless ? It is my opposition, who are always clueless. And PTY, you too are clueless when you make such wild claims about me. You do NOT know me!).

3. The general consensus is that UniqueIdeaMan's ideas are indeed unique. Unfortunately they aren't the good kind of unique.
   (You want to make a bet ? Since the odds are against me then how-about I pay you nothing if I lose but you pay me everything of your wealth if you lose ? Can you afford to bet like this ? I doubt it! Programmers in other forums have told me my ideas are good enough that they told me to shoot the top 10 sites in the world without talking too much. One even pleaded me to not reveal my ideas to the "clowns in the forum". Therefore, I have stopped).

Anyway, this lengthy post is to teach and prove a point.

• Not all that is gold glitters. (Not all programmers and so-called internet marketing experts are always right).
  • Not all those who wander are lost. (I wander around forums and pickup a thing or 2 and make use of them even though to others I seem lost).

NOTE: sitepoint.com has been the best forum so far, out of the 10 forums including this one, even with ColShrapnel and Ahundiak ganging up on me. This forum has been the worst so far, due to Diafol and JamesCherril ganging up on me.
I still respect all those oppositions in that forum as they have helped me this far upto 300 posts in that thread of mine. I bear no grudges against them even though they have opposed my views currently in that thread of mine in that forum. The only 2 persons I don't respect in that forum are the ones who have been inciting ill feeling towards me like (Diafol and JamesCherril have here).

In short, you grudge bearers will not put me off from learning php. No matter, who you are and from which forum you are. Nor will you put me off from my php business ventures.
I will learn. I will build my ventures. And, I hope you grudge bearers grow in jealousy day by day, until your last breath. (You asked for this).
End of story.

I only stick to this forum to one day share my code that I am completing with the help of other forums. I want future newbies in this forum to learn from my hard work and dedication.

Really UI? THAT is your rebuttal? I see an error in your code in post 299, the same one that was pointed out in post 304. You are missing a closing parentheses and an opening bracket. Try this. You'll still have errors, but THAT error goes away...

    if ($stmt_one = mysqli_prepare($conn, "SELECT usernames, accounts_activations FROM users WHERE emails = ? AND accounts_activations_codes = ?")) // AssertNull -- add second closing parentheses
    { // AssertNull -- add opening bracket
        echo "mysqli_error($conn)";
        echo 'Success: Mysqli Prepare passed!';
        mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt_one, 'si', $email,  $account_activation_code); 
        mysqli_stmt_bind_result($stmt_one, $username, $userActivationState);    
        var_dump($email, $account_activation_code, $stmt_one, $userActivationState);
    }

Now, what does all this tell you ? Does it tell you that the error regarding line 13 has been fixed when I removed the semi colon from the end of line 13 ?
Yes.

Actually, no.

Otherwise, I would still be getting the same error regarding line 13. And not line 14, this time.

Again, no.

To explain why, I'd have to explain how parsers/lexers work. Bottom line up front, the error that the PHP parser/lexer spits out and the corresponding line number it spits out very often isn't the actual error or the actual line number. Every opening parentheses or bracket must have a corresponding closing parentheses or bracket. That's just a fact, which was pointed out to you in post 304.

I will learn. I will build my ventures. And, I hope you grudge bearers grow in jealousy day by day, until your last breath. (You asked for this).

No, you WON'T learn. You refuse to learn. As such, no one will ever be jealous of your programming abilities and you won't build any "ventures".

I only stick to this forum to one day share my code that I am completing with the help of other forums. I want future newbies in this forum to learn from my hard work and dedication.

I've seen a grand total of ZERO code snippets and ZERO posts from you trying to help other coders. Talk is cheap. No one will learn from you if you spend all your time as a "newbie" arguing about how the "oldbies" are wrong when they aren't.

OK, I'm ignoring you now for both technical and non-technical questions. I responded to THIS one only to save others from reading pages of commentary from you proving the exact opposite of what you think it proves.

There's no reason other than trying to stir up trouble to speculate on someone's religion. If someone wants to inform others of their religion, that's up to them, but it's a private matter. You don't ask people about it, you don't speculate about it, particularly in a PHP thread where it has ZERO relevance.

I attend a lot of networking events for tech entrepreneurs and VCs, and are questioned more times than I can count, upon me handing them my business card, "Dani Horowitz ... That's a Jewish name, right? Are you Jewish? Dazah ... is that Hebrew? It sounds like it might be Hebrew." I honestly cannot tell you how many times I've had people speculate and ask me if Dazah is Hebrew simply because I have a Jewish last name ... all in the name of trying to make small talk at these networking events, or perhaps just to strike up a conversation, or learn more about me or Dazah. Or, perhaps, I'm the nutty one and Dazah really is Hebrew-sounding, since everyone else seems to think it is. I don't know as I don't know Hebrew. Either way, it happens across many professional networking events here in Silicon Valley. I can assure you none of the commenters were purposefully trying to stir up trouble. But I can assure you it's something I get a lot.

Give me one possible reason other than an attempt at cyber-bullying and causing discord for UI to publicly speculate whether someone is Hindu or Jewish. Ditto speculating on someone's age or nationality.

One possible reason other than purposefully cyber-bullying? How about simply poor or lacking social skills. An inability in knowing how to make small talk and ultimately failing at it. Not knowing any better. Autism. Autism. Autism. Or perhaps the comments that I hear all the time at networking events simply not translating appropriately into online chat.

Or whether they are male or female.

Something else I get a lot is people emailing or PMing me asking if I'm male or female. I'm not offended ... Dani is short for Danielle. While here in the US, the nickname for Danielle or Daniella is spelled Dani, while the nickname for Daniel is spelled Danny, I've learned this isn't true in many other countries.

Just last night I was at a networking event with VCs and angel investors who specifically look to fund women-owned businesses. I was engaged in a conversation with one of the female angel investors on the panel who was speaking at the event. She kept asking me my name throughout the conversation, and finally she made the comment, "I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time remembering your name because it's a guy's name." I wasn't offended. I simply responded that it's short for Danielle.

We always base our opinions on our own experiences.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

I thought you left! So, you are still here AssetNull ?
Did you not say that, you will leave if I am still here ? Lol!

Anyway, thanks for pointing-out about the opening and closing {} on the IF.
When they were asking for the closing bracket, were they not talking about the

line 13 - if (

as opening and asking for it's closing one that is present on:

line 19 - )
line 20 - else

Nevermind. Yeah, I agree, I did overlook what cpradio meant over there about the 2 opening and closing {}.
I agree they are missing.
I thought he was saying that 2 opening brackets ( in line 13 exist while only one closing bracket ).
My point was, the other bracket ) is at line 19.
Nevermind.
See, I do learn. :)
Anyway, I missed you old man. You did not have to go all beserk on me just because I opened 9 more threads in 9 more forums with the same title as the ones here. People at sitepoint.com know I do this and they had no problem. Just look how far they came with me. 300 posts! Other forums know this too and they had no problem. Anyway, I don't open more than one same thread anymore in different forums as most forums are experiencing drop-outs. Only sitepoint.com is live and kicking.

Anyway, take care!

Well, atleast I can agree that, you're not rude.

EDIT:
I usually open the { that belongs to the IF on the next line. In my case line 14 I should open it and not at the end of line 13. Therefore, got confused what cpradio was on about when he talks about a missing bracket in line 13.
Nevermind.
cpradio is a good person. referred me to codeacademy.com which is a very good tutorial site.

AssertNull,

I get no error anymore.
The code is not finished yet, though:

<?php

include 'config.php';

if (!isset($_GET["email"], $_GET["account_activation_code"]) === true)
{
    $_SESSION['error'] = "Invalid Email Address! Invalid Account Activation Link! This email is not registered! Try registering an account if you do not already have one! <a href=\"register.php\">Register here!</a>";
    exit();
} 
else 
{   
    $email = htmlspecialchars($_GET['email']);  
    $account_activation_code = htmlspecialchars($_GET['account_activation_code']);  
    if ($stmt_one = mysqli_prepare($conn, "SELECT usernames, accounts_activations FROM users WHERE emails = ? AND accounts_activations_codes = ?"))
    {
        echo 'mysqli_error($conn)';
        echo 'Success: Mysqli Prepare passed!';
        mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt_one, 'si', $email,  $account_activation_code); 
        mysqli_stmt_bind_result($stmt_one, $username, $userActivationState);    
        var_dump($email, $account_activation_code, $stmt_one, $userActivationState);
    }
    else
    {
        echo "Failure: Mysqli Prepare Failed!";
        exit;
    }   
    if (mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_one)) 
    {
        echo 'Success: Mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_one)';
    }
    else
    {
        echo 'Failure: Mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_one)';
        exit;
    }    
    if( mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)) 
    {
        echo 'Success: Mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)';
    }
    else
    {
        echo 'Failure: Mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)';
        exit;
    }
    if ($userActivationState != 0)
    {   
        echo "Since your account is already activated, why are you trying to activate it again ? Do not do that again and just login from <a href=\"login.php\">this webpage</a> next time! Make a note of that webpage, ok ?";
        exit;
    }
    else
    {
        $userActivationState = 1;
        var_dump($stmt_one);

        $stmt_two = mysqli_prepare($conn, "UPDATE users SET accounts_activations = ? WHERE usernames = ?");
        echo mysqli_error($conn);
        mysqli_stmt_bind_param($stmt_two, 'is', $userActivationState, $username);       
        var_dump($stmt_two, $userActivationState, $username);       
        if (mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_two))
        {
            echo "<h3 style='text-align:center'>Thank you for your confirming your email and activating your account.<br /> Redirecting you to the login page ...</h3>";
            $_SESSION["user"] = $username;
            header("location:home.php");
            exit;
        }
        else
        {
            echo 'Failure: Mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_two)';
            exit;
        }
    }
}

?>

Result:

mysqli_error($conn)Success: Mysqli Prepare passed!string(23) "EDITED@EDITED.com" string(40) "887309d048beef83ad3eabf2a79a64a389ab1c9f" object(mysqli_stmt)#2 (10) { ["affected_rows"]=> int(0) ["insert_id"]=> int(0) ["num_rows"]=> int(0) ["param_count"]=> int(2) ["field_count"]=> int(2) ["errno"]=> int(0) ["error"]=> string(0) "" ["error_list"]=> array(0) { } ["sqlstate"]=> string(5) "00000" ["id"]=> int(1) } NULL Success: Mysqli_stmt_execute($stmt_one)Failure: Mysqli_stmt_fetch($stmt_one)

I will keep this forum updated in the appropriate thread.

I thought you left! So, you are still here AssetNull ?
Did you not say that, you will leave if I am still here ? Lol!

I did leave. It would be a slight oversimplification to say I left because you are still here. I left because you were tolerated. Thus it was more along the lines of you not being banned than you not leaving. A fine point, but an important one. You didn't chase me outta here. I also didn't and don't make ultimatums like "It's UI or me. Choose." Not my style and it gets peoples' backs up and is counterproductive if you actually want people to listen to your point.

Anyway I always left open the possibility that I'd be back, so I don't feel like a bluffer or hypocrite or anything like that. My opinions and reasons have been considered. That's all one can ask for. They've decided you can stay. Their forum. Their choice. I'm just doing a little experiment in coming back. I'll mainly stick to non-controversial stuff here and see if that scratches an itch.

If you decide to answer my original questions in this thread, I'd be interested. They are actually on track with the original topic. Regardless I'll end here with you.

We always base our opinions on our own experiences.

Indeed we do.

"Dani Horowitz ... That's a Jewish name, right? Are you Jewish? Dazah ... is that Hebrew? It sounds like it might be Hebrew."

They were probably trying to elevate "small talk" to "medium talk"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOVWS7r9ADY

Therefore, got confused what cpradio was on about when he talks about a missing bracket in line 13.

Been there. We all have. When this happens, you have a choice...

1. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not missing a bracket on line 13! You don't know what you're talking about!"
2. "I've looked at my code and I don't see what you are talking about with a missing bracket on line 13. Can you clarify?"

Going with option 2 results generally results in something like, "You're missing a closing PARENTHESES in line 13, not a bracket. You're also missing an OPENING BRACKET to match the closing bracket on line 19."

Option 2 results in you getting your code working. Which is what you want, right?

I'm just saying it happens A LOT. It's always a form of either:

Dazah sounds Hebrew. Is that Hebrew? You're Jewish, right? You have a Jewish-sounding last name.

Dani Horowitz, ay? You're Jewish, right? Any relation to Ben Horowitz??

Dazah? That's Hebrew, right? What does it mean? I just assumed ...

We've already clarified that I'm not, but if you were me, would you be offended?

Dani,

I just read your latest posts in this thread. I missed them last time.
Anyway, it seems you are far wiser and more of a psychology person than me! And I thought I undertood people's psychology more than anyone else here.
You know very well what I mean by 'psychology person' (person who understands people) but short tempered members both here and codingforums.com would assume I am calling you a 'psycho' and then ask for my ban. You see how they misunderstand and then make the first bite which leads us to explain things to them which they don't accept and then keep on attacking until we get fedup and fight back by maybe behaving in the manner that they are.

I have seen the way you have defended me. And, if I still remember every point you showed regarding my so-called behaviour in this forum, then I think you are spot on.
Yes, we give nicknames out of fondness as a sort of a first move towards breaking the formal ice to get informal (to get closer to become a cyber friend and not a cyber bully as AssertNull puts it. It's accusations like that that brings the worst out of us. Creates the Incredible Hulk in you that never really existed before the accusation. The accusation itself is a form of cyber bullying but they are not into psychology and so they won't understand their own mistakes. But you will). My only problem with AssertNull is that he is an accuser. Jumps to conclusions without trying to understand you.

Yes, on codingforums.com and here, I tried to start small conversations in some manners that others have wrongfully found offending. At codingforums.com I gave Benanamen and TangoForce nicknames due to 2 reasons:

1. I couldn't remember "Benanamen". So, found it easier to call him "Bananaman" out of fondness. Was fond of him because he was answering my questions. I did not think he would mind as we were engaging most often and I thought when you engage with someone online then that person becomes your friend automatically or why else would he bother volunteering for a stranger ? He never objected to "Banana man" for many until one day I asked him if he minds if I give him that nickname. He went beserk.

2. Tango Force kept complaining for me not to give them 2 pet names. But what the heck is a pet name ? Did it ever occur to them that I may not be from their same country and not know their local english or better maybe English is not my first language ? Maybe, I'm not caucasian ? Maybe, I do come from their same "English country" but maybe I am not fluent in their local slang because I don't speak English at home ? I never gave them any cats or dogs names! I thought the guy was mad or got the wrong end of the stick thinking I consider them to be my pets.
   Later-on guessed that, "pet name" is a slang of a nickname. Still guessing. Then I stopped giving them any "pet names". But the guy, instead of becoming understanding that I really don't know what a pet name is started unbelieving me and accusing me that I knew what it meant and was doing it deliberate. I was thinking to myself why the heck would I deliberately consider him to by my cat or dog or gerbil or rabbit ? Is he gone mad or is he argumentative by nature or what picking a fight ?
   Anyway, Tango Force, was helpful like AssertNull here. He only stopped responding because he asked me a question and I forgot to reply for a week and he got offended. I forgot his question because I was dealing with 10 forums at once (incl this one) and keeping track of everyone's questions was a mess.
   So now you all know regarding the "pet name" calling issue. They made it into an issue accussing me that I knew what a pet name was and was deliberately giving them one.
   I only gave them nicknames out of fondness and because I found it hard to remember one of their usernames.
   If I like you, I would give you a short cut name or something I can remember out of fondness. For example, I'd call you "girlie". No offense.

Now, why do I ask for peoples' ages ? Well, if you're older than me then I'd address you formally. Like madam. If you're my mother's age then I'll address you as I'll address an aunt. If you're younger then missy or girlie (as a niece/sis) as long as you don't mind.
I was going to call you "Daniella" out of fondness (fond because not that many women-folk are programmers or forum owners) but then the pet name issue came to my thoughts and I quit. Quit so others here cannot jump to chance to prove to you that I am rude when sometimes it is they who are being rude.

I can tell you that, I am surprised the way AssertNull has behaved. I thought he was my friend. Was holding my hand on learning php like you do with a toddler. Got fond of him enough to start pondering a nickname for him but nothing came to mind. I asked him his age and tried guessing his age because as you know if you're into psychology then you try figuring out peoples' behaviour and background in order to approach them the most effective way to get more out of them than a usual person would.
Right now, I'm into figuring people out (without seeing their faces) by the looks of their writing style. Are they male or female ? Are they teens or middle age or pensioner ? If you start developing this knowledge of figuring out peoples' ages, backgrounds, cultures, races, nationality, religion, etc. by looking at their writing style then when you read articles then you would be able to figure-out the writer. Not all articles have writers' pics. And not all writers give-out the correct things about themselves. A male writer could pose as a female and write stuffs on women that could be rubbish and you'd think a women wrote the truth and nothing but the truth about women and start believing that is how women are. You get my point ? A lot of false info roams around the internet regarding controversial issues and it's best you figure-out who wrote them and what was the motive behind it. That way, you're in a position to choose whether you want to believe what you read or ditch it. I thought AssertNull was wise enough to know all this. I guess I was wrong.
Since he does not then I'm now guessing he is not my parent's age. Maybe more around mine. And if he still was my cyber friend I won't be addressing him as I would address uncle Joe but Tommy bro instead.
Why did I have the audacity to ask for AssertNull or Diafol's ages ? Because, AssertNull was always polite. Did not think he would mind. Diafol opposite. Asked him his age out of anger so I can then tell him to go away as I won't take a youngster so seriously until he's gone over 25 and matured a-bit. I assumed former was older and more mature while the latter a teen. Tried figuring their ages to see if I can figure people from the looks of their writing styles. I mean let's face it, if I read an article on something and figure the writer is young then I'd give him/her less credit. If I read a cooking article then if it's a women writing it then I'd give more credit over a male writer. And so on. Science, really. No need to get offended just because I asked you your age range, sex, race, culture, country, religion, etc.
If I know your religion then I'll approach you in a manner that you feel at home with me. I'll greet you in your religious way. So, you open up to me. So, I can befriend you and learn more from you. It is all about learning. Not offending.
A christian, as far as i know, does not give much of a damn if you address him in his religious greeting. But a catholic, Jew, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu does. Therefore, according to me if I greet them in their religious ways then they'll open up more to me. Will drop their guard and then I can have my way with them regarding asking as many questions as I can on php, ofcourse.

Once upon a time, in a programming forum, I got my bot .exe building helpers to figure-out my country. I did not get offended why they failed or tried passing. it was fun. They said from Usa to Canada, From Australia to New Zealand. Could not figure why they never said South Africa or Ireland or even UK. But I was chuckling inside because they came close. I did not go beserk like AssertNull.
let me guess AssertNull's country now. Again, it's psychology. He comes from UK. Why ? Because over there people get offended too often when you ask small things like this. He's definitely not from USA or Canada.

Anyway, it's way past bedtime and I'm tired. I hope I have answered enough to satisfy AssertNull.
And yes, you are right. Maybe, we so-called trolls do not have friends at hand offline and making online friends is the only way to prevent getting depressed. At present I'm away from the "west" and living alone. I hardly have friends here. And so, instead of wasting time befriending any Tom, Dick & Harry online, I prefer to "hang around online" with the programmers. With the likes of AssertNull, TangoForce, Benamen and I like to crack jokes now and then to feel refreshed and lightened-up and not go crazy living all alone. But they all misunderstand us.
Only Danny understands us. Don't worry, I won't commit suicide but yes you are right, we are bored (if not depressed yet) away from family & friends in what you would call foreign territory where the locals piss you off too often with their backward cultures. Spit near you, tread over your toes, brush against your body when passing by, damn waiters expecting tips all the time, etc. So you see, befriending westerners online makes us feel we're home. But then you meet the likes of Diafol. Sarcastic person who never really contributes anything worthy like AssertNull other than ridicule you and your ideas. There is a polite way of telling people why their plans are not worthy (like you have) rather than ridicule them and laught about them or stir-up trouble indirectly inviting others to ridicule you. I am surprised AssertNull does not acknowledge this as cyber bullying. That's my problem with Diafol. I just don't like the guy simply because he does not know when to stop hurting people. Immature and downright rude.
And yes, I did not invite him here to come and attack my ideas. If you don't like them then either politely give reasons why rather than approach us with a wielding knife.
As for Diafol having problems with my wild claims about my ventures to wrestle with google and facebook. Because, I'm into psychology, I know very well what he was driving at in his latest threads. he;s been very clear why he does not like me. Does not like me because I made claims that seem impossible to him. And so, best make me an enemy and ridicule me whenever he gets the chance. That's his mentality. Well, if you live alone and are a php student then you do dream a little that your future php site would defeat the top 10 sites in the world if you reckon you got feature ideas better than them. No harm in all those dreaming and planning. No need for you to sarcastic and rude. Anyway, my dreams are not just mere dreams. I try thinking-up ways to make them come true. That's the difference between me and an ordinary guy. if my plans work. Good. If not, then I've gained brain muscles. One day the muscles would grow enough to defeat the top 10. Hopefully.

We've already clarified that I'm not, but if you were me, would you be offended?

I take it case by case. People generally feel each other out, look at body language, tone, overall atmosphere, and put out feelers to see who is receptive and who isn't. That's sometimes more difficult to do online where we can't detect tone or body language. Culturally in my experience, Americans are less likely to ask questions like that than some other countries and that will go to the intent of the person. Peoples' boundaries differ. And sometimes you guess wrong and go over that line without meaning to. When someone does that with me and digs a little too hard too soon for personal information, I'll generally give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't mean any harm, and I'll politely tell them that's not something I want to divulge and that they're being overly-familiar, with a smile, and in words that are not confrontational. If they accept that, I'm not offended usually. My general view regarding online technical forums is that there is no relevant reason to bring that up in a technical thread like a PHP thread, so it's hard to assume good intent on their part.

If they KEEP doing it and don't respect that boundary after being told, then no thinking is required. I KNOW they're disrespecting that boundary on purpose. That's what I see happening over and over again with UI on this forum and others. Over-familiarity with nicknames and other "humor" which continues AFTER he is told to please stop.

And I'm quite familiar with autistic people. I give them a lot of slack on this stuff. At the same time I don't think autistic people are helped by enabling that behavior. You can, should, and must educate them on that boundary while still being more patient and tolerant. I simply don't see autism being the case here. UI is taking glee in pushing those buttons. Autistic people push the buttons not realizing they are pushing them.

Dani,

Another thing about me. If you ask me politely not to do something then I listen. If at the very beginning you attack me calling me a troll (like happyGeek) then it pisses me off to keep on doing what you don't like. I'll do it even more until you say it politely. Infact, I could not figure what the hell is this "troll"! ANd why Happygeek keeps calling me "You are a troll" as if I'm some kind of an object! Very rude! I checked online an article and found 10 types of trolls. HappyGeek should have told me what kind of trolling I am doing out of ignorance and I would have stopped. Infact, I am still in the dark. Does he mean I write too much ? Stir-up trouble offending others ? Make wild claims about wrestling with the top 10 sites ? Just what is his problem ? You have to explain to me carefully and politely something like this ....

• It is against our TOS so don't write too much off-topic. It is called trolling.
• It is against our TOS so don't brag. It is called trolling.
• It is against our TOS so don't try asking others for their personal details as that would stir trouble. It is called trolling.
• blah blah.

But did he approach me in that manner, politely ? Or, did he call me a troll right at the beginning making me think he is calling me Shrek! Now who won't get offended ? Don;t ssume that, everyone knows the internet terminologies. This was my thinking:
He calls me a brute that looks like Incredible Hulk and then expects me to conform to his ways and be polite to him. That won't happen if he had called a someone else a troll who did not know the internet terminologies. It will backfire on him. So, best he does not do it again to anybody else calling them "trolls"!

If I like you, I would give you a short cut name or something I can remember out of fondness. For example, I'd call you "girlie". No offense.

Uh huh. Tell you what. As an experiment, walk up to 20 random successful businesswomen that you hardly know on the street, women you are "fond of", and call them "Girlie". Keep track of how many are offended and get back to us. If the answer is 20, perhaps consider that YOU are the one misinterpreting, not the one being misinterpreted.

What is trolling? This is trolling. I think UI, whose words these are, knows exactly what a troll is.

I'll make more threads just to watch them sneek-up on my threads like thieves to my garbage can. It's like me pressing the button and watch them drag themselves out of their rat holes and come and smell the cheese in my trash can. In a sense, I sort of get my slaves to come-out from whatever rubbish hole they were in and bother to contribute to my threads rather than see it get no contribution atall. Ha! Ha! What a bunch of low life slaves!

Or how about, again from the person who claims not to know what a troll is and takes such umbrage with, this:

Actually, don't bother replying as I can clearly see you're just another troll who hijacks threads into offtopic discussions!

Or:

And, over there, they always jumped to conclusions misreading things. Fed-up of them. They were too frequent in biting and so I struck back one day going in my teasing mood and teased them Whenever I got the chance and that made them shut-up for good. (I hope I don;t have to behave the same here with the likes if diafol. Frankly, I don't like youngsters. They are downright stupidly short circuit and rude). Now, they're on the defence ignoring me. I don't flame anyone when they bite too often. Metaphorically speaking, I tickle their mouths and make them vomit.

Or:

Where can I start with you ? Can I ask you just one question ? What are you on ? Crack ?

<removes admin hat>

UI constantly accuses others of being intolerant and rude, placing himself on the moral high ground. Yet all too often his true colours, his true intolerance for those he perceives as less worthy than himself, break through while he is throwing his toys out of the pram. For example:

foreign territory where the locals piss you off too often with their backward cultures

Anyway. I'm done with this. No point wasting any more of my valuable time responding to this troll.

<puts admin hat back on>

Yes, come on guys, I've never seen such an orgy of troll-feeding in my life.
We can't take administractive action against trolls, but we can do the next best thing which is to totally ignore any troll posts. Trolls get bored and go away when they get zero response.
STOP FEEDING THE TROLLS!

Diafol has been claiming that a user called Mittineague has a problem

No, wasn't me.

We can't take administractive action against trolls

Strange that. We should hang a big new tagline on DW saying trolls welcome. Less bite than a gummy bear.

Agree. Shame there isn't an equivalent to Block on FB

Been requested many times or at least an ignore list.

Since the odds are against me then how-about I pay you nothing if I lose but you pay me everything of your wealth if you lose ? Can you afford to bet like this ? I doubt it! Programmers in other forums have told me my ideas are good enough that they told me to shoot the top 10 sites in the world without talking too much. One even pleaded me to not reveal my ideas to the "clowns in the forum". Therefore, I have stopped).

You've not had any ideas though, because if you did you wouldn't be wasting your time arguing on here and you'd be building something. How about you point me at the homepage of one of your world beating projects, or to a patent detailing your top ten websites in the world ideas and then I'll apologise and admit that you're not a complete sham?

That sounds like a fair bet to me; and at this point I'd rather send you £100 than admit you have a clue.

So, the challenge has been set, UI has the simple task of pasting a URL to one of his creations, ideas or projects. If he can, all is forgiven and I'll let him continue conquering the world. If he can't, he's a phony.

If you have "world beating" ideas, you don't actually have to reveal them to be successful, at least in the short term. You just have to find enough idiots who believe you. Example "I have a secret plan to defeat ISIS"."

Then again, that same person said in his book, "You can't con people, at least not for long. You can create excitement; you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you don't deliver the goods people will eventually catch on."

Eventually people just learn to ignore you.

Going with option 2 results generally results in something like, "You're missing a closing PARENTHESES in line 13, not a bracket

For the record, I did state parenthesizes and not brackets. ;-)

Also, would not have caught the curly brace as I only looked at the one line you gave us as your code is a constantly moving target.

Side Note: I only created this account to upvote a post and clarify that my reply did mention the correct punction.