What would you like to see on the touch site?

Boards.ie: Paddy

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.

Professey Chin

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Can it be stopped from quoting every post in a trail? If I'm quoting someone I don't need what they and the person before them quoted

Slidey

Provide access to social groups

Thanks for this.

I find the touch site a valuable tool, I use it 75% of the time I reckon and a few improvements would be great

FearDark

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

How about you start by not making it completely ****.

Tallon

FearDark wrote: »

How about you start by not making it completely ****.

How about you start by making a constructive post?

ibarelycare

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Please please PLEASE swap the "Report" and "Quote" buttons around. They're on the opposite sides to what they are on the normal site, and it's causing a lot of inadvertent reporting of posts. Alternatively, make the "Report" button on the touch site red, or highlight it in some way so that people don't automatically press that instead of the Quote button!

I started a thread about it in here before and Danny said he would look at it

Mr E

Provide access to social groups

I would love a "Mark Forums Read" button (not singular)

This link (accessible from "Quick Links" on main site):

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?do=markread&markreadhash=xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It marks everything as read, so the next time you visit, new content is obvious.

Abi

It would be an idea to look into the location of the report button. Some people are accidently replying to a post in the report post window.


Edit: IBC got in before me!

ShiverinEskimo

Provide access to social groups

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Can it be stopped from quoting every post in a trail? If I'm quoting someone I don't need what they and the person before them quoted

This + 100

ibarelycare wrote: »

Please please PLEASE swap the "Report" and "Quote" buttons around. They're on the opposite sides to what they are on the normal site, and it's causing a lot of inadvertent reporting of posts. Alternatively, make the "Report" button on the touch site red, or highlight it in some way so that people don't automatically press that instead of the Quote button!

I started a thread about it in here before and Danny said he would look at it

This +1000000

Marlow

Howdy,

when I click on a link in my mail and it redirects me to the touch side, i always get send to the first post of the thread, not the newest not read post, like normally.

I'd say that's something that should be massively high on the fix list.

(Phone used being Samsung GS3)

/M

ArtyM

Maybe I am missing something but is there already a way to jump to the latest/last post in a thread on the touch site?
When in a thread I only have the options 1,2,3, and Next page
Kinda limiting when a thread has hundreds of pages.
Would be great to have a link to last page.
If it already exists and I am doing it wrong, lets pretend I didnt post this and say no more.
Thanks

Trampas

facility to go to last page on a thread.

pickarooney

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

First unread post - I'm not sure if tapping on a thread is supposed to bring you to it or not. Sometimes it does, sometimes it brings me to the first post. An option to do either would be nice.

Can I suggest features that aren't currently on the list?

I would like red/yellow cards to show up on posts on touch. From a mod's perspective, this will mean less reported posts as often posts are reported after they have been actioned and I am assuming this is being done from the touch site.

Boards.ie: Paddy

Deleted User wrote: »

Can I suggest features that aren't currently on the list?

I would like red/yellow cards to show up on posts on touch. From a mod's perspective, this will mean less reported posts as often posts are reported after they have been actioned and I am assuming this is being done from the touch site.

You can of course make suggestions. They won't go into this round of voting but we will add them to a later round. I'm thinking we implement say the top 4-5 from this round, trim off a few obviously unpopular ones and add in anything that's been suggested here and start the voting again.

thesandeman

Add an unread PM indicator

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Can it be stopped from quoting every post in a trail? If I'm quoting someone I don't need what they and the person before them quoted

Another +Zillions for this. Its very annoying.

biebiebie

What about the most obvious one - pinch to zoom? That's my biggest issue with the touch site, I can't pinch zoom it when I need to.

On a smaller note, the Page title is wrong. When you "share" the Page via Android browser to email, the resulting text in the email subject line is wrong compared to the full site.

Anyhow hopefully some useful feedback.

Sad Professor

Add more and better client side validation

Suggestion for next round:

A "Reply to All" PM button.

GASMANN

When you get to the bottom of a long page there's no return to top button - to go to a new thread you have to roll back to the top

Solair

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

I'd like a touch friendly site that still retained the functions of the full site.
There are a lot of very capable tablets and large screen phones out there that need something more sophisticated than the basic touch site, but aren't really ideal clients for the traditional site either.

Perhaps you need two touch sites?
One for small screen devices and one for big phones and tablets?

Josey Wales

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

I would like to suggest you take a look at how the Neogaf.com forum has implemented their touch site. The navigation on that site is far superior to boards' touch site.

At the top of the thread they have a link that will bring you to the bottom of the page and at the bottom there is a link that will bring you to the top. Simple but very useful.

Eoin

Add more and better client side validation

I think you could use a lot more client side scripting + AJAX, which would help reduce the number of page loads that needs to be done.

For example, reporting a post could just pop open a modal style interface, rather than a new page (which would be nice on the full version too).

You could declutter the interface by having more smartphone style actions - e.g. swipe right across a thread title to subscribe to it / swipe right across a post to see the report & quote post options etc.

Getting rid of the nested quotes would be my number 1 request though - presuming that a fix for the bug where you're sometimes brought to the first post in a thread is already on the way.

Boards.ie: Paddy wrote:

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.

Or start loading the next n number of posts in a thread when you reach the bottom of a list.

DaveNoCheese

Have option to increase number posts per page

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Can it be stopped from quoting every post in a trail? If I'm quoting someone I don't need what they and the person before them quoted

I'll have to second this, gets very annoying when you have a looong list of quoted posts!

+1

KELTICKNIGHTT

Have option to increase number posts per page

good idea to have a touch site, maybe a section about tablets on boards be good too, as they becoming more popular too

KELTICKNIGHTT

Have option to increase number posts per page

pm all button id good idea too

Newaglish

Add more and better client side validation

This poll itself looks crazy on the touch site, don't know why we can't have bar charts like normal.

Also, the formatting of images is strange - some sort of resizing happens and YLYL is tough going sometimes.

etcetc

Can you add the option of next page on threads the current page numbers systems is a pain especially on a mobile

Thunderbird2

Would be great if we could upload photos directly to boards :-)

Washington Irving

Add more and better client side validation

Could you re-position the thanks button? Maybe to the far right. I find I often accidentally thanks posts when I'm scrolling down the page

havana

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

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!

MugMugs

Provide access to social groups

Kill the multi quote..... It's a pain to manually amend all the time

Fluorescence

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

The only thing I voted for was PM notifications. Please get them in ASAP! :P

From the added suggestions, I'd love a "Go to first unread post" option and for the report button to be moved/made more obvious. As for the rest, it can wait for another day :pac:

TheBazman

Marlow wrote: »

Howdy,

when I click on a link in my mail and it redirects me to the touch side, i always get send to the first post of the thread, not the newest not read post, like normally.

I'd say that's something that should be massively high on the fix list.

(Phone used being Samsung GS3)

/M

I find that if you click the thread title it brings you to the first post in the thread, however if you click to the right hand side of the thread on the menu it brings you to the last post on the thread that you viewed. On SGS2

cyrusdvirus

Can we make the 'My Threads' shortcut as a permanent button on the top bar?

When I make a post, the buttons are forums, pm's, my account.
Having a my threads one will speed up the navigation.

Unless I'm doing it wrong of course!!

Oh yeah, add the smileys too please. I don't know the keyboard shortcuts for them all!! :-(.

MarkR

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!

I think this is the worst part of the touch interface.

Overheal

I havent used it on Windows 8 in a hot minute but I'm just going to remind you I found plenty of bugs with how IE10/IE-Touch handles the touch version of the boards website, navigation is near impossible.

I'll get back to you though. That is however a concern of mine. Keep in mind, Windows 8 officially launches in 3 weeks from today. No bueno if people can't navigate the site on their new hardware if they adopt early.

donalg1

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Sort the quotes out please

Steve

On behalf of the users of Airsoft adverts (and indeed this forum) can you please consider getting the thread prefixes to show up on touch?

In particular, the adverts forum is difficult to use unless the prefix is visible as there's no other way to tell if the thread is about a wanted / for-sale / sold item etc.

Thanks

Mrs OBumble

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

ArtyM wrote: »

Maybe I am missing something but is there already a way to jump to the latest/last post in a thread on the touch site?

Click on the date/time next to the last posters name.

Ebr sniper

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

Speaking as an Airsoft adverts user an option to add attachments would be great. Sick of not being able to upload pics off my phone to adverts

.E_C_K_S.

A dark theme would be nice If it isn't there already.this is my first time posting.on.a mobile and its just that bit too bright.I know its probably not as big an issue as the others but just a suggestion all the same

Scioch

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

How about drag to next page in thread/next subscribed forum when in forum view ?

Or is that crazy talk ?

CIE

The "View Poll Results" link lists every username that voted. I grew up with secret balloting, so that makes me averse to this poll.

oscarBravo

CIE wrote: »

The "View Poll Results" link lists every username that voted. I grew up with secret balloting, so that makes me averse to this poll.

So don't vote. That said, I don't see why you'd have a problem with people knowing what features you would like to see developed.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Add a "Mark Forum as Read" button

2 issues that annoy me:
- If I scroll half way down a page while viewing a forum, then I click on a thread, read what I want to read, click back, the page automatically goes back to the top of the page, it's highly irritating!
- When I click and hold on a thread and tap "open in background/new tab" it never scrolls to the latest post, it always goes to the top of the page that the newest post is on

Wee Willy Harris

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

Suits me alright... no problem as it is.

Prefer it to classic, too. PM indicator maybe

Dogwatch

Steve wrote: »

On behalf of the users of Airsoft adverts (and indeed this forum) can you please consider getting the thread prefixes to show up on touch?

In particular, the adverts forum is difficult to use unless the prefix is visible as there's no other way to tell if the thread is about a wanted / for-sale / sold item etc.

Thanks

+1 on this

Optimalprimerib

There is no ignore function on the touch site.

El Guapo!

Provide access to social groups

Thanks for starting this poll!
Great to see the community being included.


Some suggestions for next time:

I'll give a big +1 on getting rid of a quote automatically multi-quoting the whole conversation. Extremely irritating.
Also could we actually get a proper multi-quote button so replying to more than one post is possible?
The mark all forums read button is a good idea too. I miss that on the touch site.

K.Flyer

Provide access to social groups

ShiverinEskimo wrote: »

The Great Chinholio wrote: »

Can it be stopped from quoting every post in a trail? If I'm quoting someone I don't need what they and the person before them quoted

This + 100

ibarelycare wrote: »

Please please PLEASE swap the "Report" and "Quote" buttons around. They're on the opposite sides to what they are on the normal site, and it's causing a lot of inadvertent reporting of posts. Alternatively, make the "Report" button on the touch site red, or highlight it in some way so that people don't automatically press that instead of the Quote button!

I started a thread about it in here before and Danny said he would look at it

This +1000000

Sometimes I hit the report button when scrolling.
Please if nothing else move this button.

Giblet

Remove as much JavaScript as you can. You currently have close to 100 listeners on any thread view.