[Closed] App for this forum?

No. There's an app for the magazine but not the forum.

No. There’s an app for the magazine but not the forum.

Not even the exclusive Members' Forum?

I use an app called "Google Chrome" for it on my iPad 😀

Not even the exclusive Members’ Forum?

yes, but it only displays posts from Gold card members...

What functionality would this offer over a browser? There is a bit of an obsession over having an app for everything, most of which are better served with a good website. An app for every website kind of kill the point of a browser...

Guess it might not log you out every few hours.

plus: there are other websites?

most of which are better served with a good website.

My bold.

Guess it might not log you out every few hours.

Crazy talk!

Don’t want another damn app on my phone.

Update cookie / login duration to 30 days and we’re good.

Very little work x cost for significant improvement in usability.

That's not the issue. If it was we'd have done it.

There’s an app for the magazine

There's an app?

What functionality would this offer over a browser? There is a bit of an obsession over having an app for everything, most of which are better served with a good website. An app for every website kind of kill the point of a browser…

Plus half the apps are just a front-end which farms you straight back out to the website anyway.

Using this site with Firefox on an iPad, the pages don't wrap around correctly most of the time which is a mild annoyance, don't think it necessarily needs an app to fix this.

There’s an app?

There's a magazine?

Browser on phone > dedicated app for websites. Apps unnecessary if a decent website exists.

That’s not the issue. If it was we’d have done it.

@Mark - so what IS the issue, because most other sites don't suffer from it...

so what IS the issue, because most other sites don’t suffer from it…

This site doesn't suffer from it for a lot (probably a majority) of users.

This site doesn’t suffer from it for a lot (probably a majority) of users.

I get suffer from it though, and it's a (slight) pain. Don't need an app, though.

My bold.

Yet here you are, one of our most prolific posters.

We have two very critical but conflicting plugins that interfere with the login cookie. Neither of the plugins are written by us but they are pretty critical to the functionality of our site. Our site is more than a basic forum/content website. It has to manage complex membership and print subscriptions databases and it's buried in all that where the issue lies. It's not being ignored. It's in our schedule to try and find a solution. The problem with altering someone elses code however means that it does take it out of the update cycle. We would have forked the plugin from it's author's track and effectively taken ownership of it. Not without it's advantages but similarly there are obvious disadvantages of doing that.

Our tech guys can offer you perhaps more detailed and technical explanations if you want to use the help option bottom left. I think the plugins in question might be Ultimate members and Woocommerce Subscriptions for those that like to google these things. I may be wrong though. We use Ultimate Members to bypass the standard Wordpress login and I seem to recall that could be where the issue lies. I could be wrong.

Yet here you are, one of our most prolific posters.

I have been a subscriber in the past and the forum can be great, but the site is still functionally pretty shonky, let's be honest. At least it's mostly usable now I guess. Mind you it's always been perfect on your iPad, apparently.

I did give the site some advertising click money earlier today though cos I checked out the link from an (unavoidable) ad featuring Richard Branson just to check it really was the bitcoin scam I thought it was. :-/

I mean, how is it the site is still taking money from people advertising actual illegal fraud/scams, never mind the whole legal scam e-visa thing they were promoting? How does that happen if they are using reputable companies to serve ads?

Subscribe I hear you say, well it might just be me but 'subscribe or we'll try to sell you illegal scams designed to drain your bank account, and have click-through and autoplay ads with sound that take over your device audio' isn't a very appealing business model.

Our ads are supplied by Google. Through their AdX network.

There are no display ads for those that pay. It's an old song I know.

Third Party Cookies were meant to be on their way out about now but Google has postponed their removal until 2023. That means those personalised, targeted, tracking ads will be around for a few more years yet. I was looking forward to their end as the replacement was going to be site level contextual targeting - which means the ads on here would not have been based on your personal browsing history but rather on the subject matter of the site - in this case that would mean more bike specific ads. Although I imagine there'd be a decent amount of log burner ads in the forum too 🙂

I guess google are just too big to have to bother with stuff like not promoting fraud. Imagine if a TV company was responsible for advertising something like that. It's nuts.

This was the ad:

You can report those ads by clicking the little cross in the corner.

<We have two very critical but conflicting plugins that interfere with the login cookie. Neither of the plugins are written by us but they are pretty critical to the functionality of our site. Our site is more than a basic forum/content website. It has to manage complex membership and print subscriptions databases and it’s buried in all that where the issue lies. It’s not being ignored. It’s in our schedule to try and find a solution. The problem with altering someone elses code however means that it does take it out of the update cycle. We would have forked the plugin from it’s author’s track and effectively taken ownership of it. Not without it’s advantages but similarly there are obvious disadvantages of doing that.

Our tech guys can offer you perhaps more detailed and technical explanations if you want to use the help option bottom left. I think the plugins in question might be Ultimate members and Woocommerce Subscriptions for those that like to google these things. I may be wrong though. We use Ultimate Members to bypass the standard WordPress login and I seem to recall that could be where the issue lies. I could be wrong.>

Fair, 100% not worth forking or messing around with that guessing current scale / revenue generated vs potential for it to constantly break and cost of fixing.

You should def sign up to some affiliate networks and post links to all the major investment Apps every time someone asks an investment or bitcoin question, while your at it get in early and sign up for pizza ovens too 🙂

Since you ask ...

Here's why I think an app would be a good idea.

Using this site on web is great but on mobile it is really annoying.

This is the main forum homepage. Why is there a big banner about Mexico City bus drivers?
Why is the nav so small and difficult to click? Where's the content? (below the fold).

This is a sub-forum homepage. On a Samsung Note (large screen), I can only actually see one line of content. The ad - which might ordinarily be reasonably inconspicuous- is right over the only bit of content I'm interested in. And I had to dismiss an interstitial full screen advert to even get here.

This is the private message page. Again, actual content is bumped below the fold.

No native push notifications also a niggle.

A mobile optimised website might work. Something like Ionic Framework could allow you to do both.

Subscribe I hear you say, well it might just be me but ‘subscribe or we’ll try to sell you illegal scams designed to drain your bank account, and have click-through and autoplay ads with sound that take over your device audio’ isn’t a very appealing business model.

To be honest, I'd be doing the honourable thing and having nothing to do with any of it.

@jamster, you know you can turn off the ads as a subscriber, right?

Philip Schofield is advertising the scam now too. I tried to report it, didn't work.

The site behaves differently on different devices and in different browsers. It's a pain but it's worth trying a few to see what works best for you. If you have a specific browser just for this site then it's sort of like an app 🙂

I use Chrome an a tablet and opera on my phone. The navigation gets messy if you zoom in but tbh the nav doesn't really work on mobile anyway

Re Tapatalk as mentioned by the OP:

I set up a forum using PHPBB and looked into Tapatalk. PHPBB have a verification process for plugins (i.e. making sure that the plugin plays nicely with everything else), it seems Tapatalk submitted theirs and it failed the verification, they were told what the problems were and that was the last that was heard from them.

I've an old iPad that now struggles with certain sites, including this one, as things have just moved on regarding web technologies. Not worth it to me to get a new iPad as I can view this site on my desktop.

I have been a subscriber in the past and the forum can be great, but the site is still functionally pretty shonky, let’s be honest. At least it’s mostly usable now I guess. Mind you it’s always been perfect on your iPad, apparently.

Is that a saucer of milk to go?

I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s perfect, but it is perfectly adequate on mine as well, apart from the time of the Tudor Watch and Maserati adverts, but that was ages ago.
I subscribe now, purely to give support as I haven’t bought the mag in years, and my browser setup stopped most adverts, I certainly never ever see things like those posted above! It’s just a combination of the right browser with the right search, and I don’t use Google or Chrome, and haven’t for a long time. Privacy is my main concern so I choose wisely…
I can put up with the occasional request to log in again, but it takes seconds, because my password is in my keychain list, so it’s easy to just tap and go.

@jamster, you know you can turn off the ads as a subscriber, right?

If you have to log in every single time you visit the site even as a subscriber then it almost negates that benefit, doesn't it? I'm a subscriber, but I also use other means to avoid bullshit like the Branson Bitcoin stuff mentioned above.

@whitestone Oh yes, for sure, Tapatalk are a bunch of ****. I paid for lifetime "Pro" subscription once upon a time. They reneged on that.

In terms of their products, though, they are the best of a bad bunch.

Look at the reviews for the Discourse app (Discourse itself is actually pretty good - better than wordpress-plugin forums - but clearly making notifications / mobile integration work properly is an afterthought)

It's almost like forum owners *want* everyone to move to Facebook or Reddit

If you have to log in every single time you visit the site even as a subscriber

I have to log on every 3-4 weeks or so.

Google Chrome on Windows 10 - every single time

Mark - at least there is an acknowledgement of an issue - as it seemed like Gofar were in denial that their users/content generators/customers suffer from this problem. I'll certainly not be paying for a P whilst I still get ads until I login if you can't keep me logged in!

Just so that you know though - this is what I actually heard, despite what you typed:

We haven't designed our system very well so have two very critical but conflicting plugins that interfere with the login cookie. Despite the web being a core channel for the business we don't write our own stuff even when its critical to the functionality of our site. Our site is more than a basic forum/content website but we chose to build it on a basic web platform and cobble bits on. It has to manage complex membership and print subscriptions databases and it’s buried in all that where the issue lies. It’s not a huge priority for us. It’s in our schedule to try and find a solution. We're too tight to commission the provider of the module to solve our problem so that means that it does take it out of the update cycle. We would have forked the plugin from it’s author’s track and effectively taken ownership of it. Not without it’s advantages but similarly there are obvious disadvantages of doing that.

Google Chrome on Windows 10 – every single time

Also Chrome on Win10, Chrome on Android and Chrome on Chrome(book).

I could be wrong.

If we're talking about the 'being logged out' complaint, that has been present as long as I've been a member and that's over a decade. It predates UM and it predates the forum upgrade.

Here’s why I think an app would be a good idea.

An app isn't the answer there, different formatting on the mobile version of the site is.

Google Chrome on Windows 10 – every single time

Google Chrome on Windows 10 – doesn't do it to me. What's different? What are you running that I'm not?

Just so that you know though – this is what I actually heard, despite what you typed:

You can buy an off-the-shelf package that does 95% of what you need with a few quirks, or you can write your own from scratch? Who on earth does that? That's not "being tight," it's not being a mentalist.

Very few systems these days are "written from scratch", things like security are really, really hard to do right which is why sites like this use plug-ins but you do rely on those developers playing by the rules and not relying on hidden features or similar.

@Mark - sounds like the plugins are hosted on Github or similar - depending on how complicated the fix is (assuming you can fix it) then forking, fixing and issuing a pull request *should* get it pulled back into the next release. Also depends on how actively the plugin is being developed, one or two check-ins/releases a year and you could just merge the changes across to your branch, but you wouldn't want to do that weekly. I've worked on big projects that do both and they both have their problems so no one right answer.

As for log-in, I "see" the standard WP login with the option of being logged in for 2 days or 14. For me both options work as stated. Google Chrome on MacOS.

Google Chrome on Windows 10 – doesn’t do it to me. What’s different? What are you running that I’m not?

I'm on a Google Pixel with Firefox at the moment and I'm staying logged in, which is nice. The Win10 pc though, who knows? It's a work computer so there may be something going on behind the scenes but other things like Spotify web player stay logged in.

I use a work Yoga, W10 and Chrome a d have to log in every few weeks (same as on Android phone and Chrome)

If my work ICT dept could do anything to **** up the experience they would, they are pretty risk averse so lock loads of things down.

We seem to be getting into solutioning here.

Isn't the first step to decide that there is actually a problem? It seems that the majority of us are saying that there is, but there's some resistance to this. Is that a fair summary?

It seems that the majority of us

😂🤣😂🤣😂

There’s 25 voices on this thread, not all of whom have an issue, and that constitutes a majority? How many folk use this forum?

120k+ registered users

1.6 million site visitors in June.

To be clear. There IS a problem. We know generally where it lies. It is scheduled for attention but there's a lot of outstanding work to get through for our two tech guys first.

You can buy an off-the-shelf package that does 95% of what you need with a few quirks, or you can write your own from scratch? Who on earth does that? That’s not “being tight,” it’s not being a mentalist.

cougar - nobody does that - but nobody sane would build a forum around Wordpress (which doesn't really do what you want) and tag on a bunch of plugins (which aren't tested to play nice together), and try to cobble a physical product subscription on too. More appropriate platforms exist. I've no idea how much revenue STW makes from print v's digital but I'm fairly certain that its enterprise value (its business valuation) is weighted towards those 120K subscribers and > 1M users, rather than an expensive to produce and distribute magazine. So if you really want to build a solution on top of Wordpress and use 3rd party plugins - chuck some cash at the guys who made/maintain those plugins to fix your issue.

Does anyone know if they've fixed the issue (on iOS at least) where the site consumes so many resources anything beyond a 1 line reply kills the browser? I've reported that and never had an acknowledgement and given up replying on my phone.

Hey @poly (free member) Good try at assuming to understand the business here but I'm afraid there's so much wrong with your assumptions I don't know where to start - so I won't.

Hey @Mark - Good try at failing to engage your content generators that add to your business value.

Works well enough on my iPhone. Sure I occasionally get logged out but that's not really a big deal.

nobody sane would build a forum around WordPress (which doesn’t really do what you want) and tag on a bunch of plugins (which aren’t tested to play nice together), and try to cobble a physical product subscription on too

The site and the business is not a forum. This bit is, sure.

Good try at failing to engage your content generators that add to your business value.

With all due respect, I rather suspect that your "content generation" isn't as valuable as you think it is.

You know what I think Mark has handled himself pretty well in this thread, so I graciously decided to subscribe again. 🙂

Now with my £2.50 a month coming in they can probably get rid of all the advertising on the site and buy solid gold bikes.

Thank you @grum

Ah that reminds me.

Display on overview page is all mental on ipad/chrome. Have reported using the (faulty) fault report page 😅

Does anyone know if they’ve fixed the issue (on iOS at least) where the site consumes so many resources anything beyond a 1 line reply kills the browser? I’ve reported that and never had an acknowledgement and given up replying on my phone.

I visit the site pretty much every day using ios and have never had that issue.

Doesn't kill the browser on my iPhone but jeez is this site a power drain - with it open in a tab then battery life drops by 1% per minute. This is using Safari with no plugins of any kind.

With all due respect, I rather suspect that your “content generation” isn’t as valuable as you think it is.

Well 120K subscribers aren't visiting for the articles written by the paid staff and the advertisers aren't paying to clutter the forum with ads for no reason. If the site isn't valuable to the business either directly through revenue or its audience then they should get rid of it because its clearly a pain in the arse to maintain. If Mark doesn't understand the value of the people who generate the traffic free of charge for him, he probably shouldn't be running a commercial forum! However I used to be a paid subscriber a long time ago, and never got any benefit because of the log out issue. Its taken years to even get an acknowledgement that its real, and the crashing on iOS when replying has gone ignore for far too long too... add to that issues with videos autoplaying sound etc - and its really quite hard to believe that the audience is anywhere on the priority list. If Go Far Enterprised Ltd really believe the value of their business is in a print magazine whilst that industry is in decline then I'm sorry to say they'll not still be here in a decade.

I visit the site pretty much every day using ios and have never had that issue.

Doesn’t kill the browser on my iPhone but jeez is this site a power drain – with it open in a tab then battery life drops by 1% per minute. This is using Safari with no plugins of any kind.

Likewise, and the phone gets really hot, and freezes when trying to type a reply - eventually crashing the page, when it reloads the reply has gone. I installed Chrome and its definitely power-hungry there too. Nothing special about my phone. Laptop is certainly consuming lots of power with either Safari or Chrome too. There's nothing the site is supposed to be doing that should be power hungry.

Well 120K subscribers blah blah

You misunderstand me.

Your "content generation" isn’t as valuable as you think it is.

I'm probably one of the most, if not the most, prolific poster on the forum. And in the grand scheme of things, from a business perspective my contribution isn't worth shit. If I stopped posting tomorrow, likely no-one would notice. Certainly Mark wouldn't be sat there scratching his beard and going "hmm, why is revenue down this month?"

If Mark doesn’t understand the value of the people who generate the traffic free of charge for him, he probably shouldn’t be running a commercial forum!

He isn't running a commercial forum. He's running a commercial publishing business which has a forum attached. And I can tell you with cast iron certainty that whatever other criticisms you're going to lay on Mark's feet, and I could lay a few on the grumpy shithouse myself 😁, the one thing he is not guilty of is being oblivious to the commercial aspect. A dozen people's livelihoods depend on his decisions.

However I used to be a paid subscriber a long time ago, and never got any benefit because of the log out issue.

Aside from access to a couple of decades' worth of back catalogue? LBS discounts?

Its taken years to even get an acknowledgement that its real,

This simply isn't true.

and the crashing on iOS when replying has gone ignore for far too long too…

Dunno about that, I don't know (or overly care) about anything iOS related. Safari doesn't seem to like STW much though. Other browsers are available.

add to that issues with videos autoplaying sound etc

Again, this shouldn't happen. Ads are delivered via a third party and they are explicitly told not to do this. If one slips through the net it's a mistake.

Why are you allowing autoplaying videos in your browser anyway? You can disable this yourself.

If Go Far Enterprised Ltd really believe the value of their business is in a print magazine whilst that industry is in decline then I’m sorry to say they’ll not still be here in a decade.

I refer you back to my first reply. Mark is well aware that print is in decline, it's a big problem and one he is seeking to mitigate.

Site does not need an app, very few do, but generally where a poor web experience (which STW is not, for me) has been implemented some people think an app is the way to solve it.

I have no problems with login or CPU, however that said I am a logged-in paid subscriber

Opening in a private incognito window (so not logged in), the fan on my laptop kicks in within a minute.

The cause of this appears to be a script from liqwid.net which runs a small piece of code every 10 milliseconds. Also the page appears to be in a frenzy of making network requests - in one minute it has made nearly 2000 mostly to various ad networks. It seems that every ad network under the sun is active on the page.

A pihole and a sub sorts all issues bar the logout.

As one who runs a number of legacy systems I do sympathise with the site’s various predicaments. STW has grown into being IT centric rather than been born from it. This comes with decision baggage that is hard to shed.

While we're whinging, I'm currently experiencing a large white blob at the top of the forums page.

[url= https://i.postimg.cc/cHKhB6Fk/Screenshot-20210708-080157.pn g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/cHKhB6Fk/Screenshot-20210708-080157.pn g"/> [/img][/url]

And, FWIW, when I go to look at the forum I'd rather not have to swipe up past (STW) ads just to see the topics. But I know that's going to fall on deaf ears (again).

Apart from the logout issue (which I don't have, but I use a browser I can't mention as it keeps getting edited out as the name suggests something), everything works brilliantly on my phone and desktops -Android, Windows and Mac). This was the case before I subscribed as well.
What does seem apparent for many is the layout design looks to need a tweak so it works better at the various screen sizes - not always easy and certainly not quick.