Mobile-friendly theme available

Started by shawnb, October 05, 2016, 07:41:44 PM

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shawnb

You can now choose a new theme under Profile | Forum Profile | Look and Layout.

The very first setting on this page is "Current Theme".   If you click on the "change" link, you can change your theme. 

You can choose among these themes:
  -  Forum or Board Default - Choose this if you are OK with whatever we choose.  Set to our current boxy blue "Core Theme"
  -  SMF Default Theme - Core - This is the NEW beige, curvy, mobile-friendly-ish, "Responsive Curve" theme for SMF.
  -  Core Theme - This is the boxy blue theme we currently use.

This link will take you directly to your Profile | Forum Profile | Look and Layout:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;area=theme;u=2695

It works pretty good overall, once you get used to it.

We use SMF software to run our forum (http://www.simplemachines.org/).  SMF is working on a new version, likely a few months out, that will provide better mobile support.  This new theme is an interim solution until that release.

Any questions, let me know.
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Headless68

I tend to use phone quite a lot for the forum - after 60 seconds of using the mobile friendly theme it's a huge improvement - I don't have to keep zooming :-)

Thanks for this

Headless68

Infact - would this be a better default look if the logo can be sorted ?
It has a more current feel to it I think

shawnb

Quote from: Headless68 on October 06, 2016, 06:36:31 AM
Infact - would this be a better default look if the logo can be sorted ?
It has a more current feel to it I think

We'll see what kind of feedback we get!

It is a temporary workaround until the SMF 2.1 release.  It is a little kludgy & is missing some things.  For example, I'm on the fence, because on my smartphone I don't have the little 'last post' links to the right of topics when scanning a board.  I'm not sure what bugs me more, all the zooming or the lack of that 'last post' link. 

But the new theme is far more readable on a phone, and you're right, it has a cleaner more open look overall. 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

sixeight

#4
QuoteI'm not sure what bugs me more, all the zooming or the lack of that 'last post' link.

I changed the sorting order in the settings.  Now I have the most recent post on top.

Elantric

#5
QuoteI'm not sure what bugs me more, all the zooming or the lack of that 'last post' link.




https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=recent
I click here to do that  - and never miss a post



More navigation tricks here
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=4973.0

shawnb

After clicking on the "Show unread posts since last visit", what happens next?   

In the old UI, you got a list of topics, & you could go directly to the last post for that topic by clicking the last post link to the right.

In the new UI, though clearly more readable, that link is gone.  So you end up opening the topic, clicking on the last page & the 'go down' link.   

Comparison between the two UIs on my Samsung S7 Edge is below.  The choice is full-featured, but lots of zooning, vs. much more readable, but missing a few neat features.   
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Headless68

Personally I click the 'show new posts' which is at the top in both the new and original view to see what's happened since I last looked

shawnb

Both the "Show unread posts since last visit" and the "Show new replies to your posts" links (top left of both UIs) exhibit the behavior in my screenshots above.   Those links are on every page. 

Elantric is correct that the "Recent Posts" link, at the bottom of the home page only, brings you directly to a list of posts & saves a few keystrokes. 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

sixeight

#9
This is my solution. Sorting order reversed.
It takes a little time getting used to it. But now I think it's better. Often when you read back replies of a post, the last page has only a few replies  and you end up scrolling anyway reading the previous ones. I now have full pages and don't need to scroll reading back.

Elantric

#10
and dont forget our WAP2 access for limited data internet access

WAP2 link is at bottom of the home page

https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?wap2

and RSS Feed into your preferred RSS Reader
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?action=.xml;type=rss

here is Chrome RSS Reader plug in
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-feed-reader/pnjaodmkngahhkoihejjehlcdlnohgmp?hl=en


shawnb

#11
Yep, reversing the sort order makes it much easier as well!  One click away again!  (And yes, it will take a while to get used to...  I keep scrolling forward looking for responses...)

WAP is text only, & misses all media, even photos.  Can work in a pinch, though.   

The "Recent Posts" list excludes attached media (but displays inline media). 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

shawnb

All -

Several modifications have been made to the mobile-friendly theme:
  - The banner now scales & looks OK on mobile
  - The search box drop down has been improved, it no longer hogs the whole screen width
  - Reduced some of the wasted space at the top of the screen
  - Improved the aesthetics of Like Posts, all sizes

If you haven't yet tried using the mobile theme, please give it a try.  You can choose it in your Profile under "Look and Layout".  Instructions are in the first post in this thread:
     https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=19252.msg138031#msg138031

If we get enough positive feedback, we may make it the default theme for the site.

Feedback welcome,

Shawn
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

sixeight

I have made the switch to the new theme and reversed the sort order of the posts. The old theme looks kinda old fashioned now...

Elantric

#14
At least we have choices

For me the "old theme " remains my preferred theme on iPhone because the new  Mobile friendly theme with its larger text eats up all my valuable screen real estate and shows much less info per screen and prevents doing my real work

Compare the higher information per screen in old theme in screen shot here


Elantric

#15
To the "Mobile theme below"


shawnb

The benefits of the new theme are that for the vast majority of users, for the vast majority of the time, it is far more readable and functional.

No need for pinching/zooming, everything can be done with one hand.   

This comes at the expense of some columns/functions, especially for site administrators.  But most folks aren't site administrators.

Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Scatabrain

#17
Overall the mobile theme is much better.

2 suggestions:  it would be better if the too of the page was far more compact. Ideally you could see the action buttons and the top of topic list right away. Now my picture and the site logo take up nearly the entire screen. After logging in to the site neither of those things are important to me. And after opening a link I can't even tell if the content has changed. I am using an iphone 7.

And it would be easier for me to read a thread on mobile if the posts did not alternate light and darker. Since the quotes also to a gray, it becomes very hard to tell one post from another. I was on another forum using the same theme where they had one background color for all posts and one contrasting for quoted. Then a strong contrasting border between posts. I said - ah hah, that's right.

Hope that feedback is helpful. Cheers.

shawnb

Thanks for the feedback, Scatabrain. 

Regarding #1 - Did you know about the "upshrink" arrow/button?  Easily overlooked, it gives you much more real estate.  Especially helpful when using mobile.  It's the little Down/Up arrow in the upper right, below the banner.  It hides a # of things, allowing more real estate for posts:
     https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=19424.0

Regarding #2 - I think there will be more themes down the road.  This is an area where I liked the older colors better myself.  I have tested a bunch of themes, and though some have better colors, all other themes I tried screw up the menus - buttons end up overlapping each other on mobile, making them impossible to use.  This is the best overall theme I could find - by far the most functional & readable. 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Elantric

#19
Quote from:  philjynx on August 16, 2017, 08:03:56 AM
The icons for the following - My Bookmarks, Downloads and Like Stats - are all a blue circle with a question mark in it.

Post pics

Looks like this here

New theme iPhone ( Safari)





New theme Desktop (Chrome)

shawnb

#20
Correct.   Those modifications didn't include icons.   Where there is no pic, the default is the blue circle w/question mark.
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp