Should We Move To A New Forum Platform?

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm not sending you hunting.
I thought the rabbit hole was right there in front of you...

Be careful up on ladders.  😉

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks for the reminder.  Trust me, I am CAREFUL on ladders - now.  

As for rabbit holes, you've caused me to take a look at the makeup of the users, and despite the way things are laid out 2/3 of our users are on mobile devices.  So I need to start catering to them.

And the library is an excellent place to start.  I'll see what I can come up with and bounce it off of you, and others, to see if it works.  But later....

[Gary Lewis]

Jim & Jeff, plus any others that have mobile devices they use here, please take a look at the Test Page For Tables.  I've reduced the width to just the Bullnose years and added a suggestion to look at it in landscape mode.  It works fine on my iPhone 10 Pro Max, but it has a larger screen than Jeff's Mini so I don't know that it'll work there.

And don't get hung up on the glitches like that the columns aren't the same width or that there's a "value" showing below Bronco Miles Ahead.

Also, don't miss that there's an entry at the very bottom of the table.

[ArdWrknTrk]

It works, but my phone won't screenshot in landscape

[ArdWrknTrk]

On a tablet the added "test section for tables" takes up valuable vertical screen space.
Makes it almost impossible to use if I'm trying to type a reply in landscape..

Not quite as bad as the edit window, but really bad nonetheless

[Gary Lewis]

You mean the text in the menu, right?  Obviously that goes away when we decide what to do about tables, but in the interim I've hidden it under Truck Shows.  Does that work?

But the table itself seems to work well?

[ArdWrknTrk]

On a tablet in landscape it floated below the bullnose logo, and brought the whole 'shade' down to about 1/3 of the screen.
With the keyboard taking up the bottom half, it was like a viewing slit in a pillbox and the function buttons and emojis were impossible...

I can see about 10 lines now, and that's enough, if I keep my reply short. (or just go stream of consciousness like I did early this morning)

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, remind me to remove that when the time comes.

But the table approach is good?

[ArdWrknTrk]

There seems to be enough width, on my phone, in landscape.

If that's what you're asking

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, but the actual question is if you would use it if I filled out the whole table and took both the pdf and Excel off the library page?

Or, maybe I should ask if you think other mobile users would?  I know some do as I've directed them there from Facebook and they have found what they were looking for.  So would the new table be a good improvement?

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm already conditioned to avoid it at all costs. (learned helplessness)
And since I "don't go there" I don't know that I see any value.

I'm mostly here to dig up parts and offer personal experience to users that have questions or trepidation.
Because I have the recall that I do, I can serve photos, diagrams and empirical evidence (both good, and bad examples)
 
I realize I'm the exception, not the norm, but if I have a place that I can be of use I'll continue to do so.

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

Jim & Jeff, plus any others that have mobile devices they use here, please take a look at the Test Page For Tables.

Gary, I’m lost.

I don’t find the Test Page For Tables…

Maybe two ships passing in the night?

[Gary Lewis]

Jeff - You didn't click the link in the email nor read above that I moved it under Truck Shows.  

Seriously though, it was causing Jim a problem so I had to move it so it didn't hang down.  Too many menu items.

[BigBrother-84]

Jim - In my case, I usually (90%?) come to the Forum when I have a minute or two… Often looking at my phone between two other jobs.

The remaining 10% is after a day at work, can take some time to access the Forum via my computer.

I like to think that, in 2024, you and I aren’t alone to come here (mainly) from a mobile device.

Gary - Question:  If the Forum migrates to another platform, do I understand that the Library itself will remain « out of it »?
I mean:  You’re not losing your time trying to fix something that could migrate soon?

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm usually sitting in a tow truck in the middle of the night!  

Not optimal viewing conditions.  But it gives me something to do, trying to help others.

Today is a nice day for February. I've about ordered all the 'little bits' for my axle, but I'm not going to expose it if I can't finish.
My brother asked me out to dinner tonight. There might be a surprise, but I guess I'll see, and hopefully tomorrow is a sunny day as well.  😁

[Gary Lewis]

Jeff - No, I won't be losing anything.  The only thing that will change will be the forum itself.

So, how does the table approach work for on your Mini?  Can you use it in landscape?

Jim - Glad you are getting this on order.  And hope your dinner goes well.  

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

So, how does the table approach work for on your Mini?  Can you use it in landscape?

Lol, I completely missed your instruction about the new menu place for this test!  Sorry!

Well, I would say this test is almost perfect.


I have a suggestion:  Why not title each link with just 2 digit year, same as its column title?  Even if the table is best viewed in Landscape orientation, it would allow the Portrait mode to be more comfortable too.

Oh, and take a look to the column titles, some bold characters remain there.

Here are iPhone 13 Mini Portrait and Landscape results:

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, I think two characters/numbers is enough.  That will make it smaller and work better.

As for the bold characters, we will probably have several things like that to clean up, but y'all can tell me what you see on your screens as it might not show on mine.  

[Gary Lewis]

Larry, and anyone else that uses Discourse, tell us about posting pics, please.  Does it rotate pics w/o you doing it manually?  Can you do it manually?

[ratdude747]

The reply "popup" window has an upload button for files. Pictures auto-load inline to the post, similar to nabble.

Here's me simulating a reply with a test picture uploaded:



it Auto-sizes for efficient viewing (that pic is relatively high resolution), with three scaling options. No rotation option though.

Note that it has real-time previewing... no need to manually hit "preview" and then scroll over a bunch of stuff.

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While we're talking about the posting of threads and replies, one unique thing is how one quotes things... as the "quote" button is for manually typing a quote box (like quoting a book or the like). Instead, all one has to do is highlight the text in the post one wants to quote and then a couple of buttons pop up to quote or share. I think it also works across different threads in different browser tabs if one has a new thread/reply editor open already.