[Closed] Website redesign - Update

i doubt anyone really disagrees

This is STW of course someone will disagree 😉

i doubt anyone really disagrees

This is STW of course someone will disagree

lol

😀

And so it begins......

🙂 @gfs

Got then didja? 🙂 I wore those for a few years, they were damn fine shoes.

Prefer my Haglöfs. 🙂

[img] [/img]

Zoom update.......................................No zoom.

Please, please, please enable zoom at tablet sizes.

Zoom is still working for me; chrome/android. It's enabled in the Accessibility settings in chrome.

I'm not using either, but thanks.

Zoom upate .............Zoom on.
Scotty I'm sending you a big sloppy kiss xxx

zippykona - Member

Scotty I'm sending you a big sloppy kiss xxx

That wasn't a kiss.....

Is this still the place to post feedback on the new website? I've spotted a bit of a gremlin in that the drop down menu options against my user name (top right) vary depending on whether I'm in the forum or not. So for instance, now I see:

Profile
Forum Activity
Settings
Logout

On other pages on the site I see:

Profile
Messages
Forum Activity
Settings
Logout

Not a huge problem, but since I'm so used to clicking the second option down for Forum Activity, I often accidentally click Messages instead.

#FirstWorldProblems

I can confirm that I'm seeing the same behaviour. (Chrome/Win10).

It would also be handy to have Messages on the Hamburger menu on mobile.

One irritating thing that is quickly fixed.
The posts column expands to fill much more of the screen than necessary, so much so, that changing a mobile to landscape gives no extra room for the thread title.

Fix:
Currently on a <td> containing the thread title you have a class of .mobile-truncate which has...

.mobile-truncate {max-width:300px; width:300px}

Delete both of these, or alternatively fix the width of the posts column to pixels.

...although personally, I don't understand the logic in not allowing the title to wrap.

on my screen at work if i make the front page or forum smaller (so people dont see me tossing it off) then i loose the navigation at the top.

Not sure if this is my issue or the websites 🙂

so people dont see me tossing it off

You probably shouldn't do that at work.

We've not even got proper quote functionality, and you think picture uploads are a possibility?

Gonna need a new site/forum* for that sort of whizzbangery.

I generally post disposable images using http://postimage.org/

They actually offer free site plugins/extensions to add image hosting (via them) to existing forums that use phpBB, SMF, MyBB, FluxBB or PunBB:
http://postimage.org/site-plugins/

when will the decision be made to revert to the old/better version?

Something that doesn't work for me on the mobile version (Android phone) is the "Main Theme" portion of the forum. Having it in the same format s the forum posts works fine on a Win computer, but those 4 lines fill the entire screen on the phone:

[img] [/img]

WGAS about the number of topics or posts? Eliminate this so that we can see the first forum posts.

Aye - but you need the words [b]MAIN THEME[/b] up there and a description telling you what you might expect to find in the Classifieds - For Sale forum 😉

Not sure if it's just me - chrome on android - but I'm finding "ads" slipping through even though I'm a premier member.

It's not a problem as such - i pay for the magazine and the website because i use them not specifically not to see ads - but they do take up a huge (blank) space in mobile view, less problematic in desktop view.

Desktop

[img] [/img]

Mobile

[img] [/img]

That happened to me earlier too - looking at that same article.

Assuming that someone from STW is still looking at this thread, would it be possible to have some sort of weekly update on the changes being worked on (it's not exactly Brexit 😉 )?

Zoom upate .............Zoom on.

I also get adverts on the fresh goods on mobile yet on laptop I dont? yes I'm signed in on the mobile.

[img] [/img]

It's just not the Fresh Goods page. I'm getting the same on any of the Home Page articles (signed in, ads switched off).

I'm sure someone is just about to report on this.

Any.

Minute.

Now.

Those are premium adverts. Not just regular adverts the usual riffraff gets.

You should feel honoured.

OK.

I'll stop whining.

Good. It was getting a bit much.

Have there been any more bug fixes put in? Looking through it all, it appears not - have the increased volume of clicks satisfied the need to not fix and combat the reduction in frequent visitors?

What is the plan for fixing the issues? Given that the users are the commodity that earns the money, surely it would be polite to let us know when our whining has reached a point where someone will attempt something?

They don't care 🙂

Oh I am sure they do. You can always PM Mark about it 😉

So after binning off a perfectly good thread I started last night I thought I'd come to the "official" place to complain.
On normal Internet viewer on android...
I cannot zoom in
I cannot see number of posts
I cannot see thread title
Overview page is a waste of time
I cannot click on last page of any thread
Text box is about 6/7 average words before it moves to next line.
It really has made the forum a pain to use.
Been a (nonpaying admittedly) member for a long time, but why did you try and fix something that wasn't particularly broke?

It is rubbish now. An easy fix is to go back to the old one.
You can make it a bit better on android but on Apple stuff it's rubbish.
I have no idea what I'm writing as the words are too small to see on my iPad.

On the mobile site on my android there is no zoom, I cannot see full thread titles, post numbers or author before clicking in, and having to go back to 'overview' in stead of having the forum links at the top is annoying.

Wrightyson - makes no oddsif you pay ornot, the fact you are on the site and ads are being served, they are making money off you...so the non-payment is irrespective as money is being made from you.

I love the idea of numbers makes money, but fixing issues to maintain the regularity of visits isn't...more regular the visits, the higher the volume which equates to more ads and more money to be made.

Not deliberate, and I maybe wrong (sure my visits can be verified), but pretty sure I have been coming here slightly less often and reading less threads.

An update on whether any of the feedback was being taken on-board and worked upon would be nice.

Another update would be nice (on progress or actually to the website). The Christmas holiday excuse is wearing a little thin now. 😛

So after binning off a perfectly good thread I started last night I thought I'd come to the "official" place to [s]complain[/s] be ignored

I've asked TPTB for an update.

Even Cougar has to beg for scraps of info. It's like we're dealing with Apple 😥

Anyway, while we're screaming into the void. I have an issue where after inserting an image, It doesn't always allow me to scroll the input box down to add more text.

iOS/Safari.

Ooh. Never seen that one.

Thanks Cougar. Thing is, I like the new Theme, it's a pity there's so much currently wrong with it.

I've been told they're working through priorities and will be fixing bugs as soon as they can. Hope that helps.

So bugs aren't priorities? Do we get to find out what are priorities?

Well I'd say some bugs will be and others won't. I'm not sure why you feel the need to know the priority list.

He's a special agent, he's obvioulsy investigating something.

Probably has a friend in the military.

What colour is the ST boat house?

[quote=Drac ]Well I'd say some bugs will be and others won't. I'm not sure why you feel the need to know the priority list.
Well, if we knew what was considered a bug - and therefore likely to be getting fixed - and what wasn't, then perhaps folk would only concentrate on the former. That's pretty much standard practice in software/UI testing and it would seem that WE are the testers. But, you know, we're only the users so maybe our opinion doesn't matter 🙄

Seriously, folk are trying to help.

Seriously, folk are trying to help.

Reporting bugs is helpful, asking what the priorities are and can I see them isn't.

[quote=Drac ]

Seriously, folk are trying to help.

Reporting bugs is helpful, asking what the priorities are and can I see them isn't.
OK - what are the bugs and what are the "features" then?

Drac - Moderator

Seriously, folk are trying to help.

Reporting bugs is helpful, asking what the priorities are and can I see them isn't.

*It's not me tbh as I use a desktop PC 95% of the time, but I can see why others are.

I miss being able to resize on my iPad 🙁
...and Jamie's issue - I have to rotate to portrait mode to insert text into the IMG/VIDEO/QUOTE/etc dialog box, otherwise it's hidden behind the onscreen kybd.
I'm sure they know about this stuff already but s'along thread innit.

You can see why people* might be getting frustrated though can't you?

Not really. It's an internet forum where people talk sh*te all day. I think in that respect it's probably not very high on the list of priorities compared to the lots of other stuff the STW dev team/person have to do.

No visible consideration of points made.
No acknowledgement of bugs when reported.
No update on when any of this might be looked at again.

Diddums! Honestly, it's really not that important. You (or others) are looking for excuses to get upset about something that really isn't worth getting upset about.

it's probably not very high on the list of priorities compared to the lots of other stuff the STW dev team/person have to do.

It's their shop front in effect and where a lot of people come into contact with the brand. A shabby experience here will reflect on the rest of the setup.

How come Grit.cx still looks better than this place, despite the disparities in forum traffic?

[i]looking for excuses to get upset about something that really isn't worth getting upset about[/i]

You're talking about my LIFE man! 😆

Diddums! Honestly, it's really not that important. You (or others) are looking for excuses to get upset about something that really isn't worth getting upset about.

I know I am going out on a limb here, but do you ever think that not everything has to be of life or death import, for people to ask about?

Also, the patronising and belittling makes you look like a muffin farmer.

Oooh, is it muffin season yet?

it's really not that important

True, it's far from life and death but for some the success of the site and mag may be a living. I have barely looked at the site on my (android) mobile since the update. Not a conscious decision just something I realised I haven't been doing as much as I used to. It just isn't as easy to use so I don't.

Edit: Still on it loads on my work PC which isn't as bad apart from the auto sizing thing

I'm curious....I'm involved in this kind of thing as a living and I'm genuinely interested in knowing what the plans are as it looks like nothing is...a thread was posted up asking for reports and very little has happened, so has it been requested to stop us moaning elsewhere?
Whatever the buzzword is - stakeholder management - it appears to be non-existent, which promotes bad experiences, etc.
People are complaining as they feel some kind of link with the place and they want to see it working...
The silence from the owners is the biggest issue as all it does is annoy the users (who have been told are money makers) - people will stop using it and the model fails...so look after the money-making side and the rest should be simple.
However, you are right Draw, why should we want to know how things are going...

It is quite interesting how they have managed to change almost nothing yet at the same time mess up the experience so much d:

It doesn't look like they've got the in-house expertise to sort the site out, decent web devs aren't cheap or easy to come by. I'm pretty miffed as to why they've not restored the template from backup and then worked on a dev version of the site with some beta testers.

Steady...you appear to be going in with a solution, rather than just the problem so they can recommend a best approach for resolution...

Head in the sand isn't a solution...which is how it appears without any updates.

To be fair, they have rolled out Daz to tell us we're all moaning and should move on with our lives.

Maybe they should open source the code so us lot can help out fixing bugs? That's a serious suggestion BTW. I'd be more than happy to chip in if there was any way to help, and I'm sure others would too.

decent web devs aren't cheap or easy to come by

Can this be a sticky topic to make it easier to flag bugs, issues and features?

Oddly enough, originally it was.

My guess is that they're sticking with the mobile theme no matter what anyone says.

Which is a shame, but if it's working as a whole for their business/traffic/internetmoneymakingstuff then I understand - so what if a few vocal twerps that post incessant shit don't like it?

If it isn't though, then frankly, it's a big fat sack of crap and sort it aaaht.

Please.

Can this be a sticky topic to make it easier to flag bugs, issues and features?

...unless you're on an iphone: Multi-page threads are a no-go area for me now, so posting this from PC after this morning's closed thread.

PURLEEEESE can we have zoom back for threads, and the full title, and the time of the latest post with a link directly to it. Just give me the option of the desk-top site in the iphone.

PURLEEEEEEEESE!

t doesn't look like they've got the in-house expertise to sort the site out,

Nail head.

You wonder were the focus is nowadays when there are front page 'News' stories about Drones and Hoverthings.

It doesn't look like they've got the in-house expertise to sort the site out,

I think they have one guy on it. Which always seems risky.

All said though, as the mobile version is that shite and work laptop is on some archaic explorer/Firefox that has an aneurism trying to load STW, my productivity has increased so much I have been promoted 12 times and am now ridiculously important and successful.

Obviously I no longer know what vacuum to buy, but I can instead afford to get a man/woman/sex-droid in to do it. In fact sod it, leave the site as it is.

[quote=Jamie ]I think they have one guy on it. Which always seems risky.

[quote=Cougar ]I've been told [b]they're[/b] working through priorities and will be fixing bugs as soon as [b]they[/b] can.
😆

Well. Unless they're contracting out the work, [url= http://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/up-in-the-tower/ ]this article[/url] suggests it's just Ali doing it.

Mibbe Cougar was just trying to be gender non-specific.

Or they lied to him.

Or they haven't responded to his question...

Have I managed to get lucky and avoid all the adverts? I seem to be getting a repeat ad with people walking around the British Museum...when I click it, it takes me to www.memeglobal.com which appears to be a network for monetizing website traffic.

So have I been lucky enough to be able to avoid all ads?

Been like that for about 5 days.