[Closed] Adaptive STW

Topic name and list of pages is truncated so you can't go directly to the last page of posts.

How do you find updates to your own threads/posts?

Also good on Fire

perchypanther - Member

Whilst we're mucking about with the forum, do you suppose we could have a "stealth version " which looks like an Excel Spreadsheet for the people who work in open plan offices?

On this, is it possible to do awaw with the Singletrack banner being perminantly on show when reading the forum through a half width window on the PC please? Makes it a little too conspicous for office [s]skiving[/s] browsing.

Avatars look good and the like button is awesumz!

When text is quoted it's displaying in Helvetica light italic, and also kerning looks compressed, so not easy to ready (this is on a 27" iMac) - screenshot below...

[IMG] [/IMG]

scruff - if you're on chrome you can get extensions (and I assume for Firefox or Safari too) that turn off images. This makes it all just read text. Although now, if STW thinks you're on a mobile when you're on a computer the whole top bar is an image so you can't navigate.

Can STW not host the original on '/forum', and this version on '/forumbeta' so the haters can use the old version and others can use the new version, file bug reports (In this thread?) and then it can be rolled out as the default in a few weeks when the bugs are ironed out?

Looks kind of neater and tidier...
Is loads faster than of late..
The smiley bug is fairly minor

Merry Xmas

Avatars look good and the like button is awesumz!

😀

Not sure why [b]anyone[/b] needs an avatar. This isn't MTBR you know.

Looks fine to me. Have looked at it using Safari on iPad; Firefox and Chrome on Linux (Kubuntu) and Chrome on Mac. Only real difference is on the iPad where it's much better, not checked which columns are visible in the thread listing on the iPad but they are all there on the desktop versions.

Not just the forum. Anyone been to the home page (via the rather discreet link)?

Edit. Just noticed the permanent banner is a home button

Working pretty well on my venerable iPhone 4S.

Font size is fine without any zooming for the main text, if anything it's a little big for my taste but I understand that many of the readership are getting on a bit:

[img] [/img]

Text when editing a post is a bit small though:

[img] [/img]

Good job overall though. Well done STW bods.

Personally I'd restore from backup and get back on it in a dev environment after xmas.

Font's far too big on iOS Safari, forum overview button at the bottom is a pain.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Some features work in landscape others in portrait. Just need to keep spinning the tablet to get the one you want

Don't you have to beta environment for testing?

I get the intention, and it's to be welcomed, and I know this stuff is a lot harder than the average web-surfing punter thinks it is, but it doesn't half feel like someone's accidentally released their unit test code into production.

Whilst we're mucking about with the forum, do you suppose we could have a "stealth version " which looks like an Excel Spreadsheet for the people who work in open plan offices?

Agreed. With the 'singletrack' banner across the top it means there's no way to stealth browse on a PC. Until that's gone I won't be on STW when I'm at my desk.

Don't you have to beta environment for testing?

Isn't that the Grit.CX forum?

It's a reet bloody mess.. navigation broken, text reflow broken, zoom broken, stupid permanent banner prevents full screen browsing.

What a brexit.

Ad revenue will be dropping today as that big banner means no one will be using the site whilst at work from now on.

Mixed emotions about this one. Clearly it's faster, and as a paid up member (which is also an option folks, you get a nice shiny heavily discounted magazine delivered to your door every so often too) ads aren't a problem...

BUT... I can't see who the hell started the thread until I click on it and enter into it, by which time it might be too late and I've been drawn into Hora'a latest "what car/bike/tyres for my biannual ride" thread and like a moth circling a flame, I won't be able to pull myself away! 😐

Don't you have to beta environment for testing?

There is a beta site, yes.

Beta = prod apparently

Is there not a template switcher available, so at least give people the option until it's at least in beta form.

Agreed. With the 'singletrack' banner across the top it means there's no way to stealth browse on a PC. Until that's gone I won't be on STW when I'm at my desk.

Are you saying its always on your screen when scrolling? Im not getting that (internet explorer on PC).

There is a beta site, yes.

So the obvious question is, why is it in Production in this state?

Agreed. With the 'singletrack' banner across the top it means there's no way to stealth browse on a PC. Until that's gone I won't be on STW when I'm at my desk.

Yes, well it was until I installed an add on that allows me to 'block elements'. So the 'singletrack' part is blocked but still showing the search and dropdwon bit. Using firefox btw.

It's NICE on Windows Phone - likes

I iz freaked out, it's change and I'm not ready ... us oldies need warning for all this new fangled technical malarky ... 😉

Wow that's dreadful on a desktop, the adverts take precedent over the website / forum text.

I'm not sure releasing something untested this close to Christmas was a good idea, when I'm assuming you all want a well earn't rest and not a lot of grumpy forum folk asking for updates.

dragon - Member

Wow that's dreadful on a desktop, the adverts take precedent over the website / forum text.

If you want it to not be dreadful you need to say how you are viewing it, otherwise they cant possibly fix it.

I never knew stw was full of flat earthers

Ah the singletrack banner thing is only there if you view in a reduced size browser - viewing full screen removes it, but I don't view full screen in work.

Just refresh the page. All layout issues should fix themselves.

It's on the list 🙂

Well I'm using a bog standard computer running Chrome, I'd have thought that as it a pretty boring setup then STW would have tested it in that environment before release.

The banner's still there (Chrome on Android). Why on earth would you think I'd need that?

I'm not sure releasing something untested this close to Christmas was a good idea, when I'm assuming you all want a well earn't rest and not a lot of grumpy forum folk asking for updates.

Not if they hate Christmas as much as I do!

Convenient excuse to have to work through it rather than spend hours/days of enforced merriment with people you barely see the rest of the year! 😆

Yay,a new search engine.

Search for: New AND search AND engine
[b]No results found.[/b]
SEARCH INSTRUCTIONS

This search works just like Google. Search for specific words or phrases, optionally excluding others.
Here are some searching examples:
"some words" finds posts that contain "some words of wisdom", but not "some strange words".
apple banana finds posts that contain both these words, in any order.
apple OR juice finds posts that contain either of these words.
apple -macintosh finds posts with "apple" but not "macintosh".
apple* finds "apple", "apples", "applesauce", and "applet".

I've managed to get it working, with various add ons, in an extreme stealth mode so I'm happy 🙂

So. It's all a bit different 🙂

The feedback is already being worked on. Ali has a growing document of tweaks and bug fixing reports that we are documenting with your help.

Here's a non exhaustive collection of our very early thoughts.

- The link to the Forum overview page from within a thread will return. That's one of those obvious things that you completely don;t see until it's too late 🙂

- The advertising positions and what's in them will settle down in the next day or so. The general aim has been to reduce the ads around the page and use them in a less intrusive manner within stories.

- We've reduced the ad positions in the RH column on desktops.

- The shortening of the forum thread titles was to truncate things so that each thread is displayed on a single line on the screen for mobile. There's a lot of data displayed for each thread on a desktop and we had to lose some of it to adapt it for mobile. Thanks for pointing out that the page count is no longer there, which was used to go directly to the latest page in a thread. We are thinking hard about bringing you a solution to that that maintains the single line approach to mobile.

- We've made it clearer to see what type of stories you are reading by displaying the categories on the stories on the front page. These categories are, of course, clickable to take you to similar content.

- Sponsored stories are better labelled now so you are aware that a commercial partner is involved in producing it BEFORE you click on the story to read it.

- We are aware of some font sizing issues and they are fairly high up the list of bug fixes. For example the font size is too small in the forum post entry box. There's also a bug that reduces the size of the font following the insert of a quote.

- Pinch and zoom - We are aware of the issues with different browsers. Our plan is to eliminate the need entirely. I'd like to see a editable font size controls. We are looking into it.

That's all for now. But keep feeding back 🙂

@Gary_M If you have your browser window sized quite narrow then you get the tablet/phone version and there's a fixed bar at the top with the hamburger menu and "Singletrack" banner. Make your browser window wider (doesn't have to be full screen) and you'll get the desktop version. This happens automatically so you don't need to refresh the page.

This is how adaptive/responsive websites work, the browser knows how big its viewing window is and uses the relevant formatting based on that.

No "post last updated column" (chrome/android/phone). If that's combined with a "show threads updated since last visit" function it'll be reet

In general it does look better Mark, especially on mobile. 6 months time and I'm sure we'll all be wondering why we thought the old one was better.

Gary_M - Member

Ah the singletrack banner thing is only there if you view in a reduced size browser - viewing full screen removes it, but I don't view full screen in work.

Oh yes, having it on half screen or a small screen (phone/pad I guess) make it jump from the normal desktop setup to the 'adaptive' mobile style shrunk format, rather than a side-ways scroll bar. Yes they probably need to think about that Singletrack header for people who use it that way on a desktop.

- We've made it clearer to see what type of stories you are reading by displaying the categories on the stories on the front page. These categories are, of course, clickable to take you to similar content.

- Sponsored stories are better labelled now so you are aware that a commercial partner is involved in producing it BEFORE you click on the story to read it.

It's on the list

So. It's all a bit different

It's not the bits that are different that I have a problem with, it's the bits that obviously don't work.
That list should have been a much shorter list before the new site was released.

I'm using up to date IE on a Windows laptop, and it's very buggy, and Chrome on an Android phone, and it's very buggy. Like someone else has said, they're hardly outlandish browser/device combinations.

Ali has a growing document of tweaks and bug fixing reports that we are documenting with your help.

Poor ALi should have been given more time to iron a lot of the stuff out before you had him release the site to production.

Make your browser window wider and you'll get the desktop version

But I don't want the window wider, I want to browse in stealth mode in an office environment but I've found a workaround now.

Ah - if I ask my browser to give me the Desktop version I get the main forum page the old way but each thread I open is in the new format. That's neat.

It's changed??
*makes note to book optician's appointment in the new year*

EDIT Oooh, the "Send Post" button is a very retro sage green now 🙂

Whole thing looks great to me, (iphone 6s and iMac 27"). Nice work guys

So you want to force the browser to a less stealthy mode to be stealthy?

Widen the window to 1000px (which on my monitor is about half the overall display width) and you'll get the desktop version which is just as understated and doesn't have the banner.

Looks fresh, works fine, ju allow font selection on front page. And the could you use use developer who knows something other than iOS. I can't read the threads on the front page!

This on a BlackBerry OS10 Passport running opera. Not looked on the ipad as I'm sure I was tested thoroughly.

A few tweaks for buttons is minor by comparison, but would also be welcome.

Whole thing looks great to me, (iphone 6s and iMac 27").

Ooh, lovely. Now, for the 90% of the user population that use Android and Windows...

Widen the window to 1000px

I don't want to widen the window, that's the whole point.

As I've said I have it running in super stealth mode now with a couple of add ons.

Looks good on the iPhone.

Ooh, lovely. Now, for the 90% of the user population that use Android and Windows

I dont have any issues in with explorer on my PC in a wider window, the issues seem to be the narrow window/mobile style format. Font size, smiles, header banner, etc.

Ooh, lovely. Now, for the 90% of the user population that use Android and Windows..

Widen the window to 1000px (which on my monitor is about half the overall display width) and you'll get the desktop version

On my laptop it needs to be at least 3/4 of the screen width to get "desktop" which is much wider than I usually want the browser. In mobile mode the different format isn't a problem but the monstrous font size definitely is.

The other thing is that (logged in as premier) in desktop mode 1/3 of the window is taken up by the blank strip down the RHS where the ads aren't, which I can't get rid of becase it switches to mobile when I squeeeze the browser window down...

Mark has stats showing that STW users favour Apple products.

Never ask a man if he prefers Apple products; if he does prefer Apple products, he'll tell you

Was just thinking it looks pretty good on my old iPad, but the font for posts is a bit too large... but Scotroute's last post has a completely different size font (too small) to all the other posts!
(The frozen Singletrack banner needs to go I reckon.)

Ooh, lovely. Now, for the 90% of the user population that use Android and Windows...

[Jeremy Clarkson Smug Voice]Quit wasting all your time on Internet forums, and soon enough you may be able to afford to upgrade to Apple products too![/Jeremy Clarkson Smug Voice]

😉

lol @ upgrade

Quit wasting all your time on Internet forums, and soon enough you may be able to afford to upgrade to Apple products too

You're right, I should quit the subsistence existence of IT contracting and get myself the kind of cash cow that is a bike shop 😉

@IHN, given that I'm using Chrome (which last time I checked was available on other platforms), I don't see what your point is? 😕

You're right, I should quit the subsistence existence of IT contracting and get myself the kind of cash cow that is a bike shop

It's a hard life making all this money, but somebody's got to do it! 😆

Android newest version and latest Chrome Well text size is all over the place, single tap to return to the forum is gone (my preference is always least clicks/taps) last post time missing is annoying especially for those of us in different time zones.
Personally the web version worked really well on my phone before. Will take a bit of getting used to (nothing much leaping put as an improvement here)

I don't see what your point is?

Which one? I've made a few.

We are thinking hard about bringing you a solution to that that maintains the single line approach to mobile

Why? Nothing wrong with it falling to a couple of lines if necessary.

@elliptic - the RH side has the "Don't miss" block at the top so that's what's causing that column to remain in view regardless of whether there are ads there or not.

Pinch and zoom - We are aware of the issues with different browsers. Our plan is to eliminate the need entirely.

A quick pinch zoom into images etc is very very useful. Be a shame to loose that.

Aye, font sizes seem to be completely random. Several in the same post sometimes.

In iOS (not sure about Android) double tapping on any block element makes that element take up the full width of the device. This works on elements that are also links as the browser waits (350ms) for the second tap and only follows the link if the second tap isn't forthcoming.

How about thread title in smaller font on line 1, then line 2 is number of posts, originator and page jump options?

Worried that I might miss gift giveaway day 19 😐

In iOS (not sure about Android) double tapping on any block element makes that element take up the full width of the device. This works on elements that are also links as the browser waits (350ms) for the second tap and only follows the link if the second tap isn't forthcoming.

Same on android, which used to work great on the old layout, but doesn't work at all on the new.

OK. To get to most recent post on the EU referendum thread (though would anyone want to) I now have to click on the 3 dots icon then select the last page. That's one more click than previously.

Might as well ditch the topic icon next to each post and that'll save 18px or so with the padding.

@elliptic - the RH side has the "Don't miss" block at the top so that's what's causing that column to remain in view regardless of whether there are ads there or not.

I know. But previously I could squeeze the browser window and it fell off the side (with a scroll bar to bring it back over).

Now I can't, the site switches to mobile instead.

Working well on my iPhone 6s
I like it

acidtest - Member
Might as well ditch the topic icon next to each post and that'll save 18px or so with the padding.