What would you like to see on the touch site?

RevBlueJeans

This msg appears at the top of boards.ie threads today 6/Oct/2012.

Hello all,

The Tech Team are looking at the Touch Site at the moment and want to make sure any changes they make are in accordance with community wishes.

So, we'd like your help in prioritising the work - you can see the details here.

But what is the touch site? Is it the same as regular boards.ie? If its something differrent does it have a FAQ?

K.Flyer

Provide access to social groups

RevBlueJeans wrote: »

But what is the touch site? Is it the same as regular boards.ie? If its something differrent does it have a FAQ?

Its Boards.ie, but scaled down for use on Mobile Phones, Touch being the reference to Touch Screens.

Jsmurff

Atari Jaguar

Probably i tiny thing that will be looked over but when going through forums that have thread prefix's it would be nice to actually see them... and to search for a specific thread prefix within that forum e.g. if i was in an advert section i would like to be able to vie all the [WANTED] threads

Sully

I appear to be able to vote more than once on this poll lads! Also I cant view the results as they are to wide.. galaxy s ii.

El Guapo!

Provide access to social groups

Sully wrote: »

I appear to be able to vote more than once on this poll lads!

It's supposed to be that way.
As per the opening post:

Now as this is a multivote poll there is nothing to stop you just voting for everything, I can only ask that you limit yourself to 3-5 features. Voting for more will make preferences less apparent and will invalidate the whole exercise.

pipkin12

Boards.ie: Paddy wrote: »

It has been brought to our attention that community members feel they don't have enough input on how new features for the site are being selected and prioritised. With a view to addressing this we have decided to give you guys some input on how we prioritise our next batch of updates to the touch site.

This is a first stab at improving community involvement in the future of the site. If it is successful we will look at improving and extending the process in the future.

So without further ado, I present you with a poll of features and improvements suggested by both the community and internally by boards.ie staff. We ask you to vote for the improvements you would most like to see. Whatever wins the poll will be implemented first and we will continue on down the list implementing features in the order that the community wants.

Now as this is a multivote poll there is nothing to stop you just voting for everything, I can only ask that you limit yourself to 3-5 features. Voting for more will make preferences less apparent and will invalidate the whole exercise. The poll is also entirely public so any shenanigans or attempts to game the poll will be visible to all. So no shenangians.

More detailed descriptions of the features are below and as always any suggestions for how we can improve this process are very welcome.

Thanks
Paddy

Make the site faster, it's too slow
This will involve reducing the average page size and reducing the number of requests made to our servers when you load a page. It's difficult to say in advance how much of an improvement we can make but if you feel that page load times are big problem then vote for this.

Add support for attachments
More and more touch devices are adding support for file uploads in their browsers. If you find yourself wishing you could upload pictures to the site directly from your phone then vote for this.

Add an index to the forum list
One of the most common complaints we get about the touch site is that the Forums page is a pain to use because it involves so much scrolling to get down to forums further down the list. If this irks you too then vote for this.

Add a forum hierarchy breadcrumb
On the main site we have links at the top of every page that show you what forum you're in and where that forum lives in the over all forum heirarchy. For example when you're in Site Development it says: "Home > Sys > Site Development". On the touch site we just show you the forum you're currently in. If you miss this when using the touch site vote for this.

Add an unread PM indicator
When using the touch site the only way to find out you have a new private message is to actually click on the PM link at the top of the page. If you'd like something to indicate you have new PMs on every page then vote for this

Add page links to the top of the page in thread view
On the main site we have links to the pages of a thread at the top and the bottom of the page, on the touch site we only have them at the bottom. If you'd like us to add them to the top on touch vote here

Add more and better client side validation
Touch currently doesn't validate that you've filled out a form correctly before sending it to the server. So for example if you try to start a new thread and forget to set a thread title the page will send off a request to the server, then wait for a response, then tell you you made a mistake. If this is annoying you vote for this.

Take forum specific BBCode settings into account
This is fairly self explanatory. Some forums don't allow some BBCode but touch will ignore this and show everything.

Improve search options available on touch
The main site has an advanced search form but this hasn't been added on touch yet. Also the main site allows you to find posts that quote you, posts that were thanked by you and posts of yours that have been thanked. If you want to be able to do all this on touch vote for this.

Have option to increase number posts per page.
On the main site you can change the number of posts shown on a page, this setting currently has no effect on the touch site. If you'd like to have more posts on a page on the touch site vote for this.

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button.
Fairly self explanatory, if you want to be able to mark forums as read with one tap then vote for this.

Provide access to social groups
There is currently no support for social groups on the touch site, at the moment we have no plans to implement this because we don't think social groups are very popular. If you think we're wrong then vote for this. I will caveat this option by saying that unless we see very strong support it will not be implemented as it involves a significant amount of effort.

Allow us to actually create new threads from the mobile app. 3 devices I have won't let me post on the mobile type app

locum-motion

Just my tuppence worth: "touch" sites are worse than useless, in general. On every website that I visit on my iPhone, the first thing I do is look for the "View Desktop version" (or equivalent). I never use mobile/smartphone versions of any website including Boards.ie.

endswell

once im in a subforum there is no link for me to go to the main forum. i have to use search bar to get to it.

Sully

Dean09 wrote: »

Sully wrote: »

I appear to be able to vote more than once on this poll lads!

It's supposed to be that way.
As per the opening post:

Now as this is a multivote poll there is nothing to stop you just voting for everything, I can only ask that you limit yourself to 3-5 features. Voting for more will make preferences less apparent and will invalidate the whole exercise.

I already picked my choices and voted. Allowing me do so several times skews results:)

El Guapo!

Provide access to social groups

Sully wrote: »

I already picked my choices and voted. Allowing me do so several times skews results:)

Ah now I get ya. Apologies.

recyclebin

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

I can't seem to zoom in on pictures in ylyl. Can that be changed?

johnny_ultimate

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Definitely more posts per page for this round, and a PM indicator would be welcome too.

That said, above all that, basic modding tools would be fantastic, and would make life much easier. Even a simple delete post option would be a welcome start, although carding / banning options would be wonderful.

spideog7

Add more and better client side validation

havana wrote: »

Probably the only thing that really bugs me is when you're in 'latest posts' busy threads will reoccur over and over - and as there are only 7 pages this greatly reduces the number of threads you can view.

Probably not the best explanation but hopefully that makes some sense!

Yes that irks me too. It seems the 'latest posts' should be 'latest threads' or something instead. I often have to scroll pages and pages to even see a new thread, it's just different posts in the same threads.

Chloris

Atari Jaguar

I never understood why there were no avatars on Boards.ie in general. It wouldn't be ideal for the touch site though, it would take too much extra time for threads to load. But Boards should consider having them; it makes it far easier to remember posters you like.

alwaysadub

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

There are avatars on boards! You must have them switched off. You can check in your user cp.

Boards.ie: Paddy

OK Voting is now closed. Thanks to all the voters. It looks like we have some fairly clear winners.

The dev team will now start implementing some of these features, you should see them popping up in the coming days. Once we've implemented a decent chunk of the list we'll take all the suggestions made in this thread and make another poll.

sliabh

It's not on the list, but personally I find that the email notifications I get for threads don't work properly with the touch site. You are supposed to be taken to the last post, but instead you always get dropped back at the first post. I't prioritise that one.

Boards.ie: Paddy

pipkin12 wrote: »

Allow us to actually create new threads from the mobile app. 3 devices I have won't let me post on the mobile type app

Have you any more information on this issue? What devices, exactly what happens when you try to post etc? If you're having trouble creating new threads that would be a bug and we'll fix it as soon as possible.

Sully

On the subject of avatars, they don't work for me on touch! Its a broken image! Is that supposed to be the case?

Boards.ie: Paddy

Sully wrote: »

On the subject of avatars, they don't work for me on touch! Its a broken image! Is that supposed to be the case?

Let me guess, you're on O2?

The problem should be gone now, it was on my list of things to do today already. Basically O2 don't seem to like serving our avatars unless we use SSL.

jackal

While the page loads it allows you to scroll down, then the page finishes loading and it snaps back to the top again.

Also when viewing a list of threads it would be great to be able to go to the first or the last post.

Sully

Boards.ie: Paddy wrote: »

Let me guess, you're on O2?

The problem should be gone now, it was on my list of things to do today already. Basically O2 don't seem to like serving our avatars unless we use SSL.

You guessed directly! A prize is on its way to you at HQ, congratulations!

Cheers!

Boards.ie: Paddy

Today we released the round of updates voted for in this poll. Here's what's new:

Posts per page setting applies to touch
This was the most requested feature this time out. Your posts per page setting on the main site will now apply to the touch site. To compensate for the impact that this will have on page views and potentially advertising revenue we've had to put a large mid-thread ad similar to the footer ad. I'm sure some of you won't like this. All I can say is that the footer ad on the touch site is essentially paying for the improvements you're seeing today.

Unread PM indicator
Pretty simple really, now you can see when you have new PMs without going to the PM page.


Index on Forums page
This turned out to be more painful than anyone anticipated... As a result it will only display on browsers which are compatible with webkit 535(essentially anyone on Android 4+ or iOS6), we realise that this is nowhere near 100% of our users however there simply wasn't a solution that worked well across all browsers.


Attachment Support
If your browser supports file uploads you will now be able to attach images from your phone to posts. If your browser doesn't support attachments you should see nothing different


Multi Quoting Bug Fixed
This wasn't part of the suggested features for this round but since it's such an intensely annoying bug we decided to promote it to this release. So now when you quote a post with a quote the original quote will be stripped out.

Speed Improvements
We've removed 5 HTTP requests and shaved 15k off the average page size. The difference won't be dramatic but it should be noticeable on slow connections.

I think this process has been very successful, getting input from users on what they feel is important has really changed how we approach prioritisation. So a big thank you to everyone who voted on the poll or contributed to the thread. We'll be doing this again in the near future.

DaveNoCheese

Have option to increase number posts per page

Boards.ie: Paddy wrote: »

Multi Quoting Bug Fixed
This wasn't part of the suggested features for this round but since it's such an intensely annoying bug we decided to promote it to this release. So now when you quote a post with a quote the original quote will be stripped out.

Thank you, ye are gods amongst men!

Sully

No breadcrumbs

Good work all the same dudes, appreciated!

DubDJ

Provide access to social groups

DaveNoCheese wrote: »

Thank you, ye are gods amongst men!

Amen to that. Very annoying having to edit out the quote before posting. Love the improvements!

redt0m

I'd like to see a left-right scrollable A,B,C,D,E...etc list in Forum View at the top of the page to allow easier jumping to a particular letter, rather than this clicking the down arrow beside each letter to get to the next one - if you want to go to 'T' for example, you have to hit the down arrow 20 odd times. The scrollable list could have icons for each letter of a similar size to the key icons on an iPhone or Android keyboard.

Boards.ie: Danny

redt0m wrote: »

I'd like to see a left-right scrollable A,B,C,D,E...etc list in Forum View at the top of the page to allow easier jumping to a particular letter, rather than this clicking the down arrow beside each letter to get to the next one - if you want to go to 'T' for example, you have to hit the down arrow 20 odd times. The scrollable list could have icons for each letter of a similar size to the key icons on an iPhone or Android keyboard.

The alphabetical index is available for this, but only on phones with browsers supporting webkit 535 or higher because lower and we encounter all manners of unique-to-phone issues

smash

Provide access to social groups

Hi Danny, I noticed the upgrades there on the touch site but I went to reply to a thread and got a message after submitting my reply to say the thread was closed, although my reply did actually post.

Running chrome on iOS6, iPhone 4.

Boards.ie: Danny

smash wrote: »

Hi Danny, I noticed the upgrades there on the touch site but I went to reply to a thread and got a message after submitting my reply to say the thread was closed, although my reply did actually post.

Running chrome on iOS6, iPhone 4.

Thread link?

Boards.ie: Paddy

smash wrote: »

Hi Danny, I noticed the upgrades there on the touch site but I went to reply to a thread and got a message after submitting my reply to say the thread was closed, although my reply did actually post.

Running chrome on iOS6, iPhone 4.

Oh we see what's happened here, if you're on 40 posts per page it was trying to send you to the wrong page after you posted.

Should be fixed now.

redt0m

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

The alphabetical index is available for this, but only on phones with browsers supporting webkit 535 or higher because lower and we encounter all manners of unique-to-phone issues

Does less than Webkit 535 not allow the scrolling left and right? You could have a left and right arrow on the left and right hand side of the screen so that you could click/touch (rather than scroll) to display the next batch of letters i.e. << A,B,C,D,E,F >> then << G,H,I,J,K,L >>. Something a bit of java might sort out maybe?

pickarooney

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Love the PM counter. Good work lads.

Posy

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Love the extra posts per page- and I'm noticing the touch site is faster.

The fact that 'choose file' is above 'post reply' is really irritating to me though.
I keep hitting the wrong one because I have to scroll down to post a reply now on my phone!

Scioch

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Why is the unfollow button so much more prominent than the post reply button. Wouldnt it make more sense to have reply button a decent size with reply written on it rather then a small thing in the corner with a pencil on it ?

Zaph

Provide access to social groups

Boards.ie: Paddy wrote: »

Index on Forums page
This turned out to be more painful than anyone anticipated... As a result it will only display on browsers which are compatible with webkit 535(essentially anyone on Android 4+ or iOS6), we realise that this is nowhere near 100% of our users however there simply wasn't a solution that worked well across all browsers.

On a non-rooted Galaxy S2 running Android 4.0.3 and not seeing the forum index at all. Do I need to be on Jelly Bean?

AlmightyCushion

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Zaph wrote: »

On a non-rooted Galaxy S2 running Android 4.0.3 and not seeing the forum index at all. Do I need to be on Jelly Bean?

I'm not seeing it either. Using stock android browser. Xperia Play, ICS, CM9.

Neewbie_noob

You can't read these on the touch site

:mad:

Zaph

Provide access to social groups

Zaph wrote: »

On a non-rooted Galaxy S2 running Android 4.0.3 and not seeing the forum index at all. Do I need to be on Jelly Bean?

Forgot to mention that I'm using Dolphin Browser HD 9.0.0

AlmightyCushion

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Neewbie_noob wrote: »

You can't read these on the touch site

:mad:

Does tapping the spoiler tag not work? It did before.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Does tapping the spoiler tag not work? It did before.

It works for me on iOS 5 on an iPhone 4.

Good work on the updates

El Guapo!

Provide access to social groups

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Does tapping the spoiler tag not work? It did before.

I was just about to post about this myself. Tapping it hasn't worked for me lately.
Using iOS 6 on iPhone 4S.

El Guapo!

Provide access to social groups

Posy wrote: »

The fact that 'choose file' is above 'post reply' is really irritating to me though.
I keep hitting the wrong one because I have to scroll down to post a reply now on my phone!

I agree. I think the position of those two buttons should be swapped around. Or even put one on the left and one on the right.


Overall, great improvements so far guys. Good job!

Eoin

Add more and better client side validation

Dean09 wrote: »

I was just about to post about this myself. Tapping it hasn't worked for me lately.
Using iOS 6 on iPhone 4S.

Working for me, same phone and os.

Love how the quotes aren't nested any more!

El Guapo!

Provide access to social groups

Eoin wrote: »

Working for me, same phone and os.

Strange. I noticed it stopped working for me about a week or so ago. Maybe it's my phone! :eek:

Eoin wrote: »

Love how the quotes aren't nested any more!

It's a godsend! That was probably one of the worst features of the touch site!

Fluorescence

Add page links to the top of the page in thread view

It now jumps to first unread post! Brilliant Well done, guys.

Boards.ie: Danny

Fluorescence wrote: »

It now jumps to first unread post! Brilliant Well done, guys.

We didn't fix this, it could be a temporary fix or it could have been a temporary break. All issues addressed are in Paddy's post.

Dean09 wrote: »

I was just about to post about this myself. Tapping it hasn't worked for me lately.
Using iOS 6 on iPhone 4S.

Bug reports on the bug report thread, there's been no messing about with spoiler BBcode

Zaph wrote: »

On a non-rooted Galaxy S2 running Android 4.0.3 and not seeing the forum index at all. Do I need to be on Jelly Bean?

Zaph wrote: »

Forgot to mention that I'm using Dolphin Browser HD 9.0.0

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

I'm not seeing it either. Using stock android browser. Xperia Play, ICS, CM9.

So I guess you're not running a browser that's on WebKit 535 then

I've access to a HTC One X with ICS 4.0.4 using an updated Chrome browser - reports a Webkit version of 535.17 and the index shows up fine. If you need to know what WebKit version you're reporting take a trip over to http://www.boards.ie/diagnostics and read the User Agent string, it should have the version number there.

A fresh copy of Dolphin HD reports 534, the same as IOS 5.1 which does have issues

Danny

AlmightyCushion

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

So I guess you're not running a browser that's on WebKit 535 then

I've access to a HTC One X with ICS 4.0.4 using an updated Chrome browser - reports a Webkit version of 535.17 and the index shows up fine. If you need to know what WebKit version you're reporting take a trip over to http://www.boards.ie/diagnostics and read the User Agent string, it should have the version number there.

A fresh copy of Dolphin HD reports 534, the same as IOS 5.1 which does have issues.

Android browser is different to chrome so I guess android browser doesn't support it. No real loss for me, as I never really use the index. I should be upgrading to a S3 soon anyway.

Boards.ie: Danny

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Android browser is different to chrome so I guess android browser doesn't support it. No real loss for me, as I never really use the index. I should be upgrading to a S3 soon anyway.

It'd still be of some assistance if you wouldn't mind copying and pasting your User Agent string from the Diagnostics page to here, just for stats & stuff

Danny

KKkitty

Atari Jaguar

I can't upload photos. I've a Samsung Europa with android 2.2.