Site FAQ

A series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), with answers :-), to help you use this site. Please note, this FAQ list addresses issues with the site and not Watershed in general. Information about Watershed and its activities can be found in the Info section of the site.

General Site Questions

1. Can I buy tickets online?
2. Where is your address and contact information?
3. I've noticed that some information that used to be on your old site is no longer available. Why has it been removed?
4. Anyway, what was wrong with the old site?

Accessibility

1. The text is a bit small for me. Can I change it?
2. Why isn't there a high legibility, text only version of the site?

Registration & Login

1. Do I have to register?
2. Why should l register?
3. Won't I receive lots of emails if I give you my email address?
4. Can more than one person register using our computer?

Accessing What's On information

1. I use a calendar application and it would be really cool if I didn't have to copy and paste in film screenings all the time. Is this possible?
2. Can I do the above with Microsoft Outlook or Exchange?
3. Is there a quicker way to find out what is showing today, rather than going to the website?
4. Is there a mailing list for jobs available at Watershed?
5. I use the RSS feed to see what films are showing but I'm not interested in jobs. Can I remove them?
6. Can I view your site on my mobile phone?

Software & Hardware

1. I'm using Netscape 1.1N but your site does not display correctly. Is this right?
2. l'm using the latest version of Internet Explorer and it doesn't appear as if your are using all the features those hard working engineers at Microsoft have included?
3. I'm using IE for Macintosh and some features such as the quick search preview do not appear to work. Is this correct?
4. It would have been nice to see animated Flash graphics in the site. I guess they are just being finished and will be inserted later?
5. Why do you use content that requires plug-ins on your site?
6. Video clips just show a white box but I have QuickTime installed. What am I doing wrong?
7. I've noticed your site leaves cookies on my computer. Should I be concerned about my privacy?

The answers are listed below

General Site Questions

Can I buy tickets online?

Yes, most events can now be booked in advance, online. Pages detailing event information will also display green Book Tickets buttons if online tickets are available. A list of all events that can be booked online is also available.

Where is your address and contact information?

The address is listed at the bottom of every page in the site and on some pages in the Booking Tickets Info Window on the left of the page.

I've noticed that some information that used to be on your old site is no longer available. Why has it been removed?

When the site was redesigned, some content, such as general information, was given a more prominent position down the left side of the page. As part of the process of the redesign, we looked at the logs of visitors to the site and what those visitors looked at. Content that was requested infrequently was removed.

If you feel that something is missing then please use the feedback forms.

Anyway, what was wrong with the old site?

How long have you got? The old (blue) site became difficult to maintain and increasingly difficult for users to navigate and find information as Watershed's programme has grown and diversified over the years. The site made no concessions towards accessibility and was difficult to print. Anybody missing the site can find a picture here.

Accessibility

The text is a bit small for me. Can I change it?

Yes, you can. Most browsers have a pair of menu items to increase or decrease the size of the text. The site has been designed so that it adjusts its layout accordingly as the font size changes.

Why isn't there a high legibility, text only version of the site?

We're working on it as you read this and it should be ready soon. Registered users will be able to change the display of the site.

Registration & Login

Do I have to register?

No. You do not have to register to use the site. Unregistered users can view the same information as registered users.

Why should l register?

Registering as a user of the site allows you to personalise the way information is displayed and make your visit to the site more efficient. For example, registered users can adjust the number of search results returned per page or turn off the search result previews. Another example that illustrates efficiency happens when a registered user adjusts the filtering pop-up menus above the calendar. Whenever the calendar is next displayed, the filter settings are still there. There are many refinements, similar to the previous two examples, throughout the site that only work for registered users.

As new 'features' are added to the site, such as alerts, online job applications, discussion forums... etc. these would be developed for registered users.

Won't I receive lots of emails if I give you my email address?

No. Your email address is only used as a unique identifier when you log into the site, so the site can personalise what you see. You will only ever receive emails when you need a new password sent to you or when you change your password. Watershed operates separate mailing lists for users wishing to keep up to date with events at Watershed through email.

Can more than one person register using our computer?

Yes, but for this to work efficiently, you should not opt to Save the Settings on your computer when you register. If you have already registered and are logged in, then you can turn off this by using the Login Settings page, located in the My Preferences section.

Accessing What's On information

I use a calendar application and it would be really cool if I didn't have to copy and paste in film screenings all the time. Is this possible?

Are you going to be glad! Some calendar applications, such as iCal from Apple and the Mozilla Calendar Projects can subscribe to online calendars. Further information about subscribing to the calendar can be found in the Calendar Access page. So much faster than copy and paste.

Can I do the above with Microsoft Outlook or Exchange?

Currently no, but send feedback using the Feature Request form and if there is enough interest, we can look into the technical details and see if it would be possible to add it.

Is there a quicker way to find out what is showing today, rather than going to the website?

Watershed provides an RSS feed that lists the film screening times and event times, amongst other information. The RSS feed will automatically update itself so it is quick and easy to use. Use the small orange RSS icon at the base of every page to subscribe to the link. Find out more about Watershed's RSS Feed.

Is there a mailing list for jobs available at Watershed?

No, there isn't a mailing list just for jobs available at Watershed but the current jobs available are listed in the RSS feeds.

I use the RSS feed to see what films are showing but I'm not interested in jobs. Can I remove them?

Yes, registered users can customise the feed they receive and can remove certain types of information, including jobs, from the feed.

Can I view your site on my mobile phone?

Yes, use your phone's built in browser and go to the address wap.watershed.co.uk. Essential information, such as events and film screenings can be viewed on your phone.

Software & Hardware

I'm using Netscape 1.1N but your site does not display correctly. Is this right?

The site has been designed and built using standards based technologies to provide a better experience for the majority of our users. This does require modern browsers that fully support standards such as XHTML, CSS & JavaScript. For Linux and Windows users we reccomend a browser such as Firefox and for Macintosh users Safari.

l'm using the latest version of Internet Explorer and it doesn't appear as if you are using all the features those hard working engineers at Microsoft have included?

As stated above, this site was built using accepted standards so that users of any modern browser receive an equally good experience when visiting the site. This means that elements using proprietary browser features were not included.

I'm using Internet Explorer for Macintosh and some features such as the quick search preview do not appear to work. Is this correct?

Some features are not available for Internet Explorer on the Macintosh because either they have not been implemented by Microsoft or have been built poorly. Internet Explorer for Macintosh has not been significantly updated for years and is now discontinued. We recommend using Safari for Macintosh users.

It would have been nice to see animated Flash graphics in the site. I guess they are just being finished and will be inserted later?

The site doesn't use animated graphics because we do not see the need for them. The majority of visitors to the site only want to find and see the information they need quickly and do not want to wait for animation files to download from the server. The majority of users of this site are looking for information about events at Watershed. It is unfair to make these users waste their time and money downloading eye candy. If you wish to be entertained then our projects at dShed will interest you.

Why do you use content that requires plug-ins on your site?

We have tried to keep the use of media that requires plug-ins to a minimum. In some cases, such as video, it is very difficult to supply high quality video effectively without the use of a plug-in. We have decided to limit the number of plug-ins. Apple's QuickTime will be needed to view some video and audio data and Adobe Acrobat can be used to view some documents that are likely to be printed.

Video clips just show a white box but I have QuickTime installed. What am I doing wrong?

The video clips on this site are QuickTime movie files. For more information on QuickTime see the QuickTime pages at www.apple.com/quicktime/. Most of the video clips are encoded using the Sorenson Video codec. You should have QuickTime 4.0.2 or higher to view these clips, although the newer pieces of video require version 5.0 or higher. We recommend that you upgrade to the latest version of QuickTime. Click here to download.

I've noticed your site leaves cookies on my computer. Should I be concerned about my privacy?

No. The package Watershed uses for log statistics (Urchin), uses cookies to report paths through the site. Urchin is used by a number of well regarded sites and the process is completely anonymous. We will never link users between sites, never correlate tracking to actual individual people (only in aggregate) and obviously we will never pass any data about you to anyone.