touch.boards.ie changes

Dav

Hello all.

Our traffic to touch.boards keeps growing which is great, so we're looking to make some tweaks to make it better for both logged in members and guests.

I'll start by showing you these 2 mockups - the first for someone who's logged in and the second for someone who isn't.



OK, so starting with "Logged in":
We're making a change from the tabs along the top with Forums | PMs | Account and adding 3 icons for "Forum list (which will have "by category" or alphabetically), Account (which will also have PMs displayed) and a new "Start a discussion" button (the pencil) - I'll explain the plan for that in a moment.

The Logged out screen will show a Start tab which will be a quick and easy means for people who aren't members to join and start their first thread. You can see there are options to upload a photo and share a link - they're all going to be doing the same thing as "start a discussion" but they'll just tweak the layout of the submission forum.

So this start a discussion functionality is something we've been working on for a while and is designed to make it as easy as possible to get people posting on the site. Every single day we still get emails from people who don't know how to start a thread on Boards and the problem is not that the big blue "New Thread" button is invisible, but that a forum structure is so alien to the majority of today's internet users (for whom the internet mostly consists of things like Facebook and YouTube) we need to meet them halfway and guide them through some of the basic things that the rest of us do on instinct after years of using this site and others like it.

So when you click on the button to start it'll ask you what you want to talk about and make a suggestion of what forum to post it in. The functionality will allow for attaching a photo or inserting a link depending on what the person's pressed but will require content - so no "empty" threads with just a link in it.

You'll have also seen a "What's hot?" tab - we can display several different threads from all across the site which will probably work similarly to the @boards_top Twitter account - the specifics of the algorithm that'll manage that haven't been finalised just yet, but it won't be difficult. We figure that it's a nice means of getting non-members interested in the pretty wide range of things the site has to offer.

So we'd like to hear what you think of these ideas and if you've any suggestions.

Yitzhak Rabin

Can you develop an a through to z tab on the side of the forum list to quickly jump to forum letter similar to on an iPhone's contact list?

Ella

Is there any chance when you reply to a pm on Touch that it will include the pm you are replying to?

Dades

Ella wrote: »

Is there any chance when you reply to a pm on Touch that it will include the pm you are replying to?

And also enable "reply all", which, unless I'm missing something, you can't do within the touch environment.

I like the look of the mockups. I'm just wondering if the "Start a Discussion" causes people to skip a crucial step of doing a basic search to see if that question has ever been asked. I understand the drive to get people in the door, as it were, but will it just mean a spate of new "should I get an iPhone or an android phone" type threads the mods will need to close and refer to the 20 existing ones? [This may be addressed already in the process - I don't know!]

How does the upload a photo thing work? Sounds useful.

Dav

The A-Z tab on the Forum list - I'll add that to the wish list for sure, sounds useful.

I'd imagine we could quote the PM when doing a reply too.

The "Start a Discussion" thing will do a brief search for threads with the same (or similar) subject - its functionality we've already developed for something we're hoping to implement on the Talk To forums, so it hopefully won't be too difficult to port over to the touch site.

Regarding the logged-in mock-up, would it be possible to include a notification indicating that a followed thread has been posted in? This would be similar to the notification that appears beside a user's username on the regular site, which notifies the user of a new post in a thread he/she is following. I imagine it would look similar to how the "New Message" notification appears on the current touch site, and the notification could appear as a (1) (or (2) and so on) beside the "My forums" text on that same tab in the new mock-up.

Boards.ie: Danny

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Can you develop an a through to z tab on the side of the forum list to quickly jump to forum letter similar to on an iPhone's contact list?

Just to head this one off at the pass - this is much harder than it sounds. iOS apps have access to phone features that websites don't and one of them is that nice UITableView with it's awesome A-Z list down the right hand side of a long list.

We spent a considerable amount of time trying to implement one about two months ago but fell short because of various browser issues; support for the things needed to do this (CSS position:fixed) was either non-existent (Android < 2.3, IOS < 5), buggy (IOS5, Android 2.3-4.0) or working fine (IOS6, Android 4.1 or Android 4.0 with Chrome updated).

We currently have something in place for IOS6 and other up to date webkit browsers (e.g. Chrome for Android) that operates just as well as the A-Z index on IOS. I don't see it being backported down to older IOS/Android browsers though, it was frustrating enough the first time.

That isn't to say that the designers may not find another more browser-friendly way to do an A-Z index, just that that particular way of doing A-Z (a fixed list on the page off to a side that scrolls) is next to impossible

Danny

Elmidena

How about an optional button you can click that brings up a popup with all the letters of the alphabet in it? Still does what you want it to but should be easier to implement than the list on the side?

djflawless

a good app would be the way forward.similar to adverts...also on galaxy mini i cant upload any pics with current "attach a photo......."underneath comment box

Rabies

Can we get page navigation on the top and bottom of the page?

Maybe I'm the only one that wants it :-/

Dades

Elmidena wrote: »

How about an optional button you can click that brings up a popup with all the letters of the alphabet in it? Still does what you want it to but should be easier to implement than the list on the side?

Thats what happens for me already! I'm on iOS6 - I guess you need to update either the OS or the android browser you're using as per Danny's post above.

Regarding the navigation at the top, the Pinterest app has the slickest method of showing/hiding the navigation I've ever seen. Basically as soon as you scroll the screen down the navigation disappears, and as soon as you scroll up it reappears. Works beautifully.

Though I guess this not being an app, that functionality would be difficult if not impossible in HTML/CSS/JS.

Discodog

I have been using Touch on Android for a while & a few changes would make a big improvement.

I have already mentioned notifications but it's worth repeating as it's such a pain. You post/follow on Touch but the email notification links to the main site. Maybe a follow thread option.

Can we not have a faster scrolling & alphabetical display like with phone contacts. Scrolling to some forums takes forever.

Please put page numbers on the top & bottom of each page.

When you post in a forum there should be an option to add the forum to your "My Forums" list. This would help to make up for the notification problem.

LuckyLloyd

Rabies wrote: »

Can we get page navigation on the top and bottom of the page?

Maybe I'm the only one that wants it :-/

Seconded...

wnolan1992

Don't use touch that much because I've always found it a pain to use...

But the mock up of the logged in site makes me think I'll definitely use it to browse the site. Really nice.

Said already, but a notification indicator similar to the regular site would be nice.

Boards.ie: Danny

Discodog wrote: »

...

I moved your post from Site Development into this thread since there are Touch site changes incoming. For an answer to your specific request for a "Forum Index" on the forum list see my earlier post on this thread

Danny

Bloodwing

My request isn't overly important but seen as your asking for suggestions I might as well throw my two cents in, i'd like to see a button at the bottom of a thread that will allow me to return to the home page. Currently I'm set up to view 40 posts per page, it's great on my PC but on touch it means i have to do a lot of scrolling to get back to the top of the page and hit the BOARDS.IE button to go back home. Either that or an option to limit the touch site to 20 posts per page.

Like I said it's not all that vital but it would make things a bit more user friendly.

Boards.ie: Neil

Bloodwing wrote: »

My request isn't overly important but seen as your asking for suggestions I might as well throw my two cents in, i'd like to see a button at the bottom of a thread that will allow me to return to the home page. Currently I'm set up to view 40 posts per page, it's great on my PC but on touch it means i have to do a lot of scrolling to get back to the top of the page and hit the BOARDS.IE button to go back home. Either that or an option to limit the touch site to 20 posts per page.

Like I said it's not all that vital but it would make things a bit more user friendly.

Are you on iOS? If you tap the status bar where the clock is it will scroll you to the top of the page. If you're on android see about getting an upgrade to a superior phone *

* it's a fair point scrolling on a touch device is a pain in the nads.

Bloodwing

Boards.ie: Neil wrote: »

Are you on iOS? If you tap the status bar where the clock is it will scroll you to the top of the page. If you're on android see about getting an upgrade to a superior phone *

* it's a fair point scrolling on a touch device is a pain in the nads.

I have an iPad and i use the double tap on it but I normally use the full site so it doesn't make a big difference. My phone is as you guessed an android, I tried to get a superior phone but it turns out they don't make one! :P Even a "Back To Top" button like the full site would do.

Sauve

Boards.ie: Neil wrote: »

If you tap the status bar where the clock is it will scroll you to the top of the page. .

You just made my day. Dunno how I never copped that

Boards.ie: Neil

Sauve wrote: »

You just made my day. Dunno how I never copped that

Yup it's handy. It's an iOS feature it will work in most if not all apps.

suomi

After posting in a thread, it would be great if it showed your post rather than going to the top of the page where you have to scroll down again to see it.

How about infinite scroll? As you scroll down through a thread its posts automatically appear until the end of that thread is reached. That, or a "Load more posts" button at the bottom of the page that will, when pressed, load 10, 20 or 40, for example, more posts. The former would be slicker than the latter, though harder to implement, I imagine.

El Guapo!

gvn wrote: »

How about infinite scroll? As you scroll down through a thread its posts automatically appear until the end of that thread is reached. That, or a "Load more posts" button at the bottom of the page that will, when pressed, load 10, 20 or 40, for example, more posts. The former would be slicker than the latter, though harder to implement, I imagine.

In theory that's a good idea, but if you wanted to navigate to a certain post in a large thread, you'd be scrolling all day to get to it.

Slidey

At this stage I reckon 90% of my browsing is done on my phone.

One issue I have that really bugs me is when an older thread is bumped you get brought to the start of the thread, not your last viewed page. This means you have to hit the last page and start working your way back to find where you last viewed it, which is a PITA

Orion

Slidey wrote: »

At this stage I reckon 90% of my browsing is done on my phone.

One issue I have that really bugs me is when an older thread is bumped you get brought to the start of the thread, not your last viewed page. This means you have to hit the last page and start working your way back to find where you last viewed it, which is a PITA

Agree 100%. The mail link should go to first unread post similar to the main site.

One other small thing. Can the post reply button go above the add photo one. 99.999% of my posts contain no photos. Less scrolling is better.

LuckyLloyd

Would it be possible for a change to be made so that clicking an external link while using an iphone would open up a new tab in safari rather than directing you to the page in your current tab and by extension exiting boards.ie?

Some things you click to read later or you may wish to reference what you're reading to posts in a thread or be formatting a reply while referring to the content in the link.

Boards.ie: Neil

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Would it be possible for a change to be made so that clicking an external link while using an iphone would open up a new tab in safari rather than directing you to the page in your current tab and by extension exiting boards.ie?

Some things you click to read later or you may wish to reference what you're reading to posts in a thread or be formatting a reply while referring to the content in the link.

Certainly possible for sure. We'll explore it when we come to looking at touch. In the meantime do you know that safari has an "Open in Background" button? If you tap and hold on a link you'll get a context menu that has the following two options:

"Open" - will open link in current tab.
"Open in Background" - will open in new tab in the background.

LuckyLloyd

Boards.ie: Neil wrote: »

Certainly possible for sure. We'll explore it when we come to looking at touch. In the meantime do you know that safari has an "Open in Background" button? If you tap and hold on a link you'll get a context menu that has the following two options:

"Open" - will open link in current tab.
"Open in Background" - will open in new tab in the background.

Is this not the right thread?

And yep, aware of that option as a workaround but, you know, the less clicking I have to do (or the less I have to think about what I'm clicking) the better it always is.

Boards.ie: Neil

It's the right thread indeed , I just meant we'll be looking at this thread when we all sit down to actually start making the changes to touch we've got planned, and picking out the good suggestions

strobe

Could we get the advanced search feature on touch please? Also the 'find all posts that quote/thank/etc' links in the account screen maybe?

Slidey

Slidey wrote: »

At this stage I reckon 90% of my browsing is done on my phone.

One issue I have that really bugs me is when an older thread is bumped you get brought to the start of the thread, not your last viewed page. This means you have to hit the last page and start working your way back to find where you last viewed it, which is a PITA

Any idea if this will be addressed?

Boards.ie: Danny

Slidey wrote: »

Any idea if this will be addressed?

It's not a question of if, it's a question of when and I'm afraid we don't have any timeline for this just yet

Danny

Yitzhak Rabin

Yitzhak Rabin wrote: »

Can you develop an a through to z tab on the side of the forum list to quickly jump to forum letter similar to on an iPhone's contact list?

I see this was sorted. Cheers for that lads.

thesandeman

Sorry guys. Can't find the main thread where ye sorted out the black border/things moving to top of page etc. so I'll stick it here.

It's happened to me numerous times in the last couple of days that: When I click on a thread (after reading other threads beforehand) I get sent to the main Forum.
ie: If I have read something from Gambling-Consumer Issues--Bargain Alerts on 'My Forums' and then the next thread is a thread on the Galway Forum when I click on the thread it sends me to the main Galway Forum.
If I go back and click again a few times it eventually shows me the thread but at one time today I had to do it 7 times and at another I had to turn the phone off and start again from the memory.

Galaxy Y.
Opera Mini.
2.3 (I think).

Sorry bout the long winded explanation.

Star Lord

I've seen this a few times now, but there have been quite a few times now that the touch version of the site stops displaying recent posts in some of the mega threads.

Pembily

DamoElDiablo wrote: »

I've seen this a few times now, but there have been quite a few times now that the touch version of the site stops displaying recent posts in some of the mega threads.

I have that this morning too.

pickarooney

Any ideas for a button to jump to the top or bottom of a page? It can be really annoying to have to scroll for ages just to get to the button for next page only to have to do it all over again straight away.

Stokolan

Anyone else having an issue pressing the page numbers while browsing a forum?

Its fine for them while reading threads.

Using boat browser on android.

pickarooney

Haven't had a problem with the page numbers but the PM icon is very unresponsive on my phone.

Discodog

Stokolan wrote: »

Anyone else having an issue pressing the page numbers while browsing a forum?

Its fine for them while reading threads.

Using boat browser on android.

Yes same here.

Discodog

pickarooney wrote: »

Haven't had a problem with the page numbers but the PM icon is very unresponsive on my phone.

Again same here.

My biggest gripe is still the way that email notifications take you to the first post in the thread. This was notified 3 months ago.

When using touch if I go soc - Irish Economy (link) it brings me to forum 1198 which seems empty.

If I go soc - Politics - Irish Economy it brings me to 1196 which has the content.

On the full version hovering over Irish Economy link suggests it is 1198 but it leads to 1196.

Boards.ie: Danny

This (as in Forum 1198) is a "link" forum, and handling of link forums is on the to-do list; cheers.

Danny

keith16

Orion wrote: »

Agree 100%. The mail link should go to first unread post similar to the main site.

One other small thing. Can the post reply button go above the add photo one. 99.999% of my posts contain no photos. Less scrolling is better.

I would second that. The natural thing to do his hit the first button underneath the text entry box to submit a reply but that's the "add photo" button. A bit annoying.

sillymoo

Is it possible to have it so when you click the boards.ie logo it goes to the my forums tab rather than the main screen! Touch used to do this but not anymore. Btw I rarely use the desktop site anymore, love the new changes. Thanks!