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STW is the only forum / website folk are having problems with?
Soon I might end up putting this into the swear filter...
A third party keyboard would be something like swiftkey. And before anyone asks, I classify Gboard - Google Keyboard to not be third party (even though you can download it) as it is shipped as the default system keyboard for the Pixel range.
We make minimal changes / modifications to the codebase. But we have to make small changes because believe it or not, you guys (the STW forum users) push some aspects of the codebase in ways they were never meant to be pushed. For example, the sheer volume of forum posts you guys have created over the years pushes the codebase of the forum and the database structure. It was never intended to handle so many posts but we change it so it can handle it.
We are not ignoring you guys but rather caught up with other things that you guys don't see. Like the fact we had to fight off a DDoS attack a couple days ago. We were able to defend the website against it with minimal distruption to you guys but it took us away from everything else including bug fixes. Its just these things that we have to deal with in the background that make it look like nothing it being done but trust me they are.
And I'd like to reiterate that there is only two of us in the tech dept. That means two of us to run and develop an entire website and manage the internals at STW HQ. Currently I am handling the front end of the website and STW internal stuff as my colleague handles migrating from a legacy system which has a dependency on a third party system which is being sunseted for the end of this year.
One thing we might be able to do is revert to a plain text editor as opposed to the current WYSIWYG editor. One of the downsides to this is loss of features / functionality such as the tools to insert links and images. Would you guys be happy with reverting to a simple text editor if it meant it solved the autocorrect issue?
(By the way, I’m not saying this will solve it but rather it might and I’ll look into doing this if you guys are happy with a simple text editor.)
Yes please.
The current one doesn't work. We still get people asking how to post videos, or struggling to insert pictures. The preview doesn't look like the output. The messages get filled with divs and spans (see above). As long as we can still insert links and images some way it'll be a vast improvement
... then if you can stop the page jumping around while it loads 🙂
One of the downsides to this is loss of features / functionality such as the tools to insert links and images.
Nah, half the fun elements on here is posting YouTube and Pictures and Links to other stuff.
And I’d like to reiterate that there is only two of us in the tech dept. That means two of us to run and develop an entire website and manage the internals at STW HQ.
Just think what you'd be able to accomplish if funding for your team wasn't being diverted to subsidise a failed magazine.
Would you guys be happy with reverting to a simple text editor if it meant it solved the autocorrect issue?
Tom, why not have it as an option? Is that possible? Those who are happy with the current editor can carry on using it, those who are having issues can switch to a basic one.
Only, I guarantee that if you switch it globally we'll have thirteen separate threads started all going OMG WHY HAVE YOU CHANGED IT THE OLD ONE WAS MUCH BETTER WE FEAR CHANGE I WAS JUST ABOUT TO BUY A [P] BUT I'M NOT NOW IT'S ALL SHIT THE SKY IS FALLING.
Bottom line is, people are using all manner of different client combinations and you'll never please everyone as what you do. Choice is good.
Bottom line is, people are using all manner of different client combinations and you’ll never please everyone as what you do.
True, but if you please those using modern, bog-standard equipment (e.g. a stock Android phone and Chrome) then you'll please a lot more people than is presently the case. I don't think anyone has suggested that the forum should work perfectly on obsolete or obscure devices.
The problem there is that "stock" Android ain't all that stock. Different manufacturers bundle different keyboards as default, and in any case if we take "stock" to mean Google's own keyboard there's still going to be variations. Is Gboard on my Android (9) Pie going to be the same keyboard and behave in the same manner as someone stuck on Kitkat? I doubt it.
Case in point, albeit anecdotally: some people have reported problems with Gboard. Gboard worked fine for me last time I tried it. Why's that? Could be different versions. It could be down to people's usage even, maybe swiping words fails but hunt-and-peck typing works fine. It might not be the keyboard at all, maybe Gboard + Chrome works and Gboard + Opera fails. And so on.
There's a vast array of variables here, it's not as simple as testing one perceived "common" setup and going "there, it works now." It's not helped by the fact that many people (understandably) won't even know which keyboard they're using. "It's the one that came with the phone" isn't helpful in diagnosing issues.
The problem there is that “stock” Android ain’t all that stock.
Yet it works perfectly absolutely everywhere else.
Perfectly Ok everywhere else for you maybe but for others, it doesn’t.
Perfectly Ok everywhere else for you maybe but for others, it doesn’t.
Sigh. Given that I have not accessed every website that exists in the world, it's not terribly surprising that some people have had some problems in some other places. The fact remains that my bog standard Moto G5 has problems on one single site, and no problems on many, many others. From the comments here, I'm not alone with this observation.
Thanks Cougar.
testing Chrome
It still jump-scrolls when loading (I guess ads? ) but seems more stable so thanks for that. I did try a random browser before as dont like to be sucked wholesale into googlewo
When editingUh oh seems with an image you still can't view the full width width of the text on
Given that I have not accessed every website that exists in the world, it’s not terribly surprising that some people have had some problems in some other places.
"It's only STW that's affected!"
"No it isn't, look."
"Well, obviously it isn't only STW that's affected!"
How many other forums and websites do folk use besides STW that involves significant amounts of typing? I'll wager for most people it's barely a handful. I think I use STW, Facebook and Twitter interactively, struggling offhand to think of any more that I use regularly. Asserting that it's "only" STW when you've got a sample pool of six websites is just confirmation bias.
Sigh. Given that I have not accessed every website that exists in the world, it’s not terribly surprising that some people have had some problems in some other places. The fact remains that my bog standard Moto G5 has problems on one single site, and no problems on many, many others. From the comments here, I’m not alone with this observation.
Which is exactly my point. There’s not just you claiming "it's just STW" despite it pointed it's not strictly an error with STW.
Which is exactly my point. There’s not just you claiming “it’s just STW” despite it pointed it’s not strictly an error with STW.
What I actually said was:
"My phone doesn’t have this problem on any other site."
Still, well done to you and Cougar for passing your exams at the Mark Alker school of customer contempt.
The one that gets me is after typing a post, quoting people and nicely using the remove formatting button and being really careful, using the preview to check, I hit Submit...
and it logs me out and the post has gone!
Still though, STW is a quirky forum place. It's unlike any other forum on the Internet, even in its old form. It's got an odd charm, if frustrating.
Simple thing that would be nice though is ability to switch to plain text mode, and maybe we can put formatting markup in manually etc. You know, like the vast majority of forums, e.g. BBCode.
That and a 'Quote' button 😉
The problem there is that “stock” Android ain’t all that stock.
Yet it works perfectly absolutely everywhere else.
Is what you posted.
Is what you posted.
I was referring to my own phone, which was perfectly clear from my first post, something you are ignoring, I assume deliberately.
It is a pity that you are continuing to misrepresent me. It's almost as though the arguments you are putting forward are too weak to stand on their own merits.
I was referring to my own phone, which was perfectly clear from my first post, something you are ignoring, I assume deliberately.
My apologies it wasn't that clear to me and I was addressing all who mentioned it only happens on STW.