NEED SOME HELP: Please Look @ Library Table

[Gary Lewis]

Folks - I'm struggling to manage the pdf version of the table on the library page.  But managing the Word version works pretty well.

So I'd like you to take a gander at the Library page and tell me what you think.  There are two versions of the table on the page:

First: This is the pdf version

Second: This is the Word version

I really need to do a lot of work to the table for several reasons.  First, Paul/Rockhauler has sent me two new manuals and I need to be able to add them.  But I also have over 50 other Ford publications that I need to add to the table.  So I need to be able to easily manage it and I'm not finding the pdf version to be easy.

Please let me know what you think of how the two work, load, etc.  (But don't worry about any differences in the two, I'm only interested in how they function.)

[BigBrother-84]

Gary, at a first glance, I would say that these embedded PDF and embedded DOC files have similar behaviour.

Both are showing well and have functional permalinks.

Work the same way on my iMac or my iPhone 13 Mini.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Jeff.  They work that way for me as well.  But I want to hear from others as well.

On a slightly different subject, we have so much documentation that I'm thinking we need to have several tabs so people don't have to scroll to find things.  Like maybe:

Advertisements & Brochures

Annual Service Literature: Service highlights on each year, Engine Emissions Diagnosis, etc

Other Ford Annual Publications: Includes owners manuals, dealer fact books, accessories catalogs, etc

Ford Training Manuals: Not specific to a year, like Basic Gasoline Engines, The Effect Of Engine Design On Emissions & Performance, Overhauling Diesel Engines, etc.

Or I could put pages w/in the library with those tabs on each page.

Thoughts, y'all?

[Rockhauler]

I find the Word version loads slower but once loaded both look the same. I'm on windows 10 PC and my computer is a dinosaur in the real world Think my computer is circa 2008 or close to that, anyways I can live with either format.

Paul

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Paul.  If I break it up by either tabs or pages the files should be small enough to load faster.

[Rockhauler]

For me its more the file that loads slower not the page, but like I said its likely do in part to my old computer and my rural internet connection. Hopefully once the forum gets migrated to the new platform some of these issues will become less of a issue. But really if the file does load within a reasonable time I'm willing to wait for it.

As for more tabs or not, good luck no matter how your try to simplify how the files are organized you will find files that end up in a gray area. I tried organizing my photography files but in the end never found any system that really made things simple.

Paul

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, whatever you do at the moment do NOT go look.  I've done something W.R.O.N.G.  

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, here's the status - all messed up!

I've added pages below Library, but you can still click on Library.  On there you'll see tabs for the 5 different types of literature.  Or you can hover over Library, on some devices, and then click on one of the 5 links with a page for each of the types of literature.

BUT, Microsoft is not playing nicely at the moment and while I can see all of the stuff on the tabs save for Training Manuals, with Safari my iPhone, I can only see Other Annual and Other Pubs on the tabs with Chrome on Windows.  And other browsers give similar results.  But none show the Training Manuals.

Gotta go to a meeting at church right now, but maybe in the morning I can sort this out.

[Rockhauler]

Gary for now I'd suggest putting it back the way it was and allow the migration to happen then look at dealing with the bugs that will come from making the move. Once that is running smoothly then come back and tackle the organizing / updating and format of the documentation.

Remember rule one keep it simple.

Paul

[Gary Lewis]

Microsoft is NOT cooperating.  So I tried Google Drive, and it's no fun either.  So I think I'm going to create the pages using Weebly.  I've done some playing with it on this page: https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/ford-training-manuals.html.  Obviously the 2nd attempt is a bit slicker, and it should load immediately.  I'll work on it a bit in the morning and we'll see what we think.

[dirtymac]

Not sure if it's still WRONG but the Word version is not working well for me.  The lists don't scroll very well and get stuck jiggling.  The PDF, on the other hand, works fine for me.

Also, we have some of the 82 books and brochures.  We are happy to share images of anything we have as time permits.

1982 Light Truck Shop Manual, Body/Chassis/Electrical
1982 Light Truck Shop Manual, Engine
1982 Light Medium Heavy Truck Shop Manual, Pre-Delivery/Maintenance/Lubrication
1982 Car/Truck Shop Manual, Engine/Emissions Diagnosis
1982 Bronoc/F100/350/Courier Electrical * Vacuum Trouble-Shooting Manual
Haynes Repair Manual, Ford Pick-ups & Bronco 1980-1996
1982 F-Series Pickup Brochure
1982 4-Wheeler Brochure

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Will.  But I'm having problems with both Google and Microsoft so I'm exploring a different way of doing this - creating a table on the Weebly page and not using either Google or Microsoft.

Please use the menu to see the drop-down below Library and go to Advert's & Brochures or click on this link to go there directly: https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/adverts--brochures.html.  Does that load better?  How does it look?

It does for me but doesn't look as good in portrait on my phone due to wrapping of the text.  But it is better in landscape, although not perfect.

However, the Weebly app is a PAIN to use.  It is really, really difficult and tedious, so I'm loathe to do all that work until y'all look it over and say "Yes!!!!  That's IT!!!!"  Or not.

As for sharing, one of the reasons I want to get the list of things I have on the site is so y'all don't go buying or scanning things for me.

And I don't put complete manuals on that are being produced by someone licensed by Ford.  That includes the shop manuals as you can buy them in CD format under a Ford license.  

But smaller or one-off things like brochures or training manuals aren't licensed for reproduction by Ford and are legitimate to put on.  So if you want to scan some of them and send to me I can use them.  But please scan in 600 dpi as I run my optical character recognition program on things like manuals so people can search them for what they are looking for.

[dirtymac]

That looks much better!

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Will.

All of y'all - I now have re-created the pdf/Excel/Word table for advertisements and brochures on the Weebly page called Adverts & Brochures under Library, meaning using the dropdown.  Please look it over and let me know what you thing, but don't get hung up that some of the pages don't open.  There's an issue with Microsoft at the moment that I'm working in the background, but the real question is what you think of the Adverts & Brochures page.

If that is a better approach than using a pdf, or Excel, or Word table then I'll continue on down that road, but need to know soonest as that is a painful, rocky road and I don't want to go there if it isn't what we want.

Assuming it is, then we need to decide on whether or not to use separate pages or tabs:

Separate Pages: This means that on a Windows device you'll hover over the Library link and you'll then see links to the separate pages.  Or on an iPhone, and presumably Android, you'll single click on Library and see the links to the separate pages.

Tabs: This means that you just go to the page called Library and on that page you are presented with multiple tabs.  But this isn't a very good solution for mobile devices as you have to scroll to see all of the tabs and it isn't intuitively obvious to the casual observer that there are more tabs.  And we are limited to the practical # of tabs, with a max of 5.  So if we need more than that we are back to individual pages.

I'm voting for separate pages as it is much more flexible to create.  If we come up with documents we can't put in the existing categories we will create a new one.  But that's not easy with tabs.

However, I'd like to hear from y'all.  

[85lebaront2]

Looks good on this end! Nicely laid out and pretty easy to follow.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, Bill.  And thoughts on tabs vs individual pages?

[grumpin]

Worked and seemed fine to me.

[Gary Lewis]

Dane - What about tabs vs pages?

[grumpin]

I'm sorry, I'm not getting it. I'm using a laptop with Windows 11. I'm seeing the links but no tabs.

Haven't tried my iPhone.

Edit, Okay, I think I see what I wasn't doing. I clicked on library instead of the list below. I like the pages better. Easier for me to see.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, that's what I was asking about - the tabs on the Library page.  Thanks.