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Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2017 11:57 am
by debunix
>the workflow i had in mind is this though: right now, i have a floating arrow that appears in the bottom right when you're scrolled down in a page.
you can click that to auto scroll to the top, and then interact with the menus up there. do you think that's not good enough?

It wasn’t obvious enough for me to recognize it’s purpose. Now that I see it, it looks good.

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2017 1:35 am
by pedant
i wrote a phpBB extension to do a better job of resizing uploaded images.

now there are no longer exact limits on what you can upload.
if you try to upload an image bigger than 256KiB, it will be automatically resized to 950x950 px.

please feel free to test it out here:
https://www.teaforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=34

also, if you encounter an error (for example a popup that says 'HTTP error'), please let me know along with the following information about the file you tried to upload:
  • filesize
  • dimensions (width x height), in pixels
thanks and enjoy

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2017 9:58 am
by debunix
I was working on some images to post of me making matcha at home in my best chawan for the first time with some tea I brought home from Japan, but first had to wait out the kittens, who suddenly found my tea tray very interesting, and then discovered I had forgotten to take the matcha out of the fridge, so maybe tomorrow....

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:16 pm
by pedant
debunix wrote:
Sun Oct 29, 2017 12:58 pm
Web browsers are pretty good at enlarging text & icons, but not perfect, and iOS device browsers are lousy at it. I often find myself getting frustrated searching about for something that is just off the edge of the page. My eyes are OK with my glasses but I spend too much time looking at screens and do everything I can to decrease eye strain. My default is enlargement of virtually all web sites, and for sites that I am visiting casually--following a link from somewhere else--I bail quickly.

How hard is it to implement a larger default font for the site as a whole?
i still don't really get it, but you can change font size now if you go to UCP > Board Preferences.
use it at your peril -- i think it makes the site look worse...

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 10:44 am
by debunix
My point is that site aesthetics are too often dictated by web fashion designed by people with good vision, and often it's more about sleek or standing out in ways that are not conducive to accessibility by people who have limited vision, or who have difficulty with managing scrolling and clicking, or who get motion sick easily--that infinite scroll problem killed Flickr for me--etc, etc.

I'm talking about universal design that doesn't depend on asking users to find new web browsers, to have a particular enlarging capability for larger type, because, as you point out, if the site is not designed for a particular size typeface, enlarging one thing makes other elements of the site look bad, or awkward to use--and not having to find yet another effing browser to view a particular site.

FYI, I have viewed the site on iOS Firefox and iOS Safari, desktop Firefox and desktop Safari, and I am frustrated by the same thing in all of them. Currently I am typing this in Firefox set to enlarge 120%, and am a little frustrated by the length of the text lines as I type this answer.

I like the smooth look of the site, but am pleading for ease of use and clarity to trump aesthetics a little bit. That is all. If you can't see this as an issue, you are lucky. I personally have issues with some of these things, and I professionally interact with a lot of people who have variously compromised vision--simply being in the bifocal years makes these things hugely more important than they used to be.

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 1:20 pm
by Victoria
debunix wrote:
Sat Nov 18, 2017 10:44 am
I like the smooth look of the site, but am pleading for ease of use and clarity to trump aesthetics a little bit. That is all. If you can't see this as an issue, you are lucky. I personally have issues with some of these things, and I professionally interact with a lot of people who have variously compromised vision--simply being in the bifocal years makes these things hugely more important than they used to be.
If I need to zoom in, I just pinch enlarge on my phone and iPad and on desktop I can just zoom in. I wear glasses so not sure what your issue is. What devises are you using?

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:04 pm
by debunix
Have you ever tried to read text by pinching and zooming?

Yes, it can be done, but it is not something that should be necessary to read through a forum like this.

I am not suggesting the site equivalent of large type books; I am asking for a eye-ease text. I can read my compact OED without the provided magnifier, but don't want to need to do that, or pinch/zoom and take 5 times longer to read a post or topic.
Standards built around once larger pixels are no longer eye-ease friendly on many web sites, because tinier pixels on screens mean tinier text. Standard web sites on modern screens appear to be built for 20 year old eyes and devil take the hindmost. I find many web sites to be a bit of a strain, and I would like this to not be one of them, for me or others.

I'm sorry this is so hard to understand; it should not be. Universal design is not just about steps vs ramps and handrails--it matters on the web too.

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:21 pm
by Victoria
debunix wrote:
Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:04 pm
Have you ever tried to read text by pinching and zooming?

Yes, it can be done, but it is not something that should be necessary to read through a forum like this.

I am not suggesting the site equivalent of large type books; I am asking for a eye-ease text. I can read my compact OED without the provided magnifier, but don't want to need to do that, or pinch/zoom and take 5 times longer to read a post or topic.
Standards built around once larger pixels are no longer eye-ease friendly on many web sites, because tinier pixels on screens mean tinier text. Standard web sites on modern screens appear to be built for 20 year old eyes and devil take the hindmost. I find many web sites to be a bit of a strain, and I would like this to not be one of them, for me or others.

I'm sorry this is so hard to understand; it should not be. Universal design is not just about steps vs ramps and handrails--it matters on the web too.
Sorry what Devices and operating System are you Using?
Just trying to solve this for you.
On my mac 27" desktop I have a specific zoom magnification pre-set for all my web browsers. On my iPad Pro when I slightly zoom in, it stays that way - no need to do twice or anything. On my iPhone, same thing it's no problem, it keeps zoom level in place.

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:59 pm
by debunix
I know how to use zoom features on all of my devices, and am not looking for assistance with how to use adaptive features. Right now I'm on a Mac book pro (pre-retina display) and viewing this in firefox at 120% and it is ok, although the column length is still too long for best viewing unless I shrink the window size by about 25%.

But zoom features on the iPhone 5S are lousy, whether in Safari or Firefox, and it's not about the size of the phone--it's about the pixel dimensions and default fonts--I think the larger phones use print just as tiny; and switching to Reader view loses a lot of the elements of the forum site. I can read reams of text via my Kindle and NYTimes apps comfortably because it is easy to make the font just the right size for maximum comfort. Web sites that don't play nicely with 'reader view'? Not so much. I can use them, but they're not *comfortable*. And that's what I'm arguing for: something that will be comfortable for all the others who are not here yet to argue for themselves.

The overall site layout is great, and the subtle green background and tea plants fading into the forum views are really nice, and the lines and colors are highly functional to differentiate text boxes from buttons and not intrusive as they became on TeaChat.

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2017 8:01 pm
by pedant
so did you try the thing i added to change font size in the UCP? is it helpful for you?

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 10:00 am
by debunix
Yes, that is PERFECT.

I am so sorry! I kept going on after you'd put in the fix, my fault for taking all that time to rant and not taking time to review the topic for things I might have missed in too-rushed trips to the forum.

Now have my zoom off for this site, and am happy on phone and on laptop, in FF and Safari on each, the zoom command follows me regardless of platform. THANK YOU!

Now I can try to finish photoshopping the ever-expanding collection of photos of chawans being used, for the first time, for MATCHA!

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:50 pm
by TeaHive
Closing comments?

This could already be a feature and I may have missed it, but is it possible to close comments? Similarly to how reddit allows you to click an arrow and the comment collapses bringing the next comment into view. I love that feature and it would be an awesome addition here!

Just spitballin' ideas! 😉

Thanks for hearing us out!!

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:45 am
by debunix
For those of us who don't follow reddit.....can you expland on that a little? Is the point to go from first to last post in a topic faster? Or something else?

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:30 pm
by pedant
TeaHive wrote:
Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:50 pm
This could already be a feature and I may have missed it, but is it possible to close comments? Similarly to how reddit allows you to click an arrow and the comment collapses bringing the next comment into view. I love that feature and it would be an awesome addition here!
reddit uses a hierarchical threading system where any post can branch out and become a separate thread. imagine a tree.
Image

on 'classic' forum software like this, threading is linear. every post descends from at most one post.
Image

in a hierarchical model like reddit's, being able to collapse a comment and all of its replies (children) is pretty important for readability.
even with that, however, i think that it's difficult to follow the overall conversation flow in large discussions.

in some people's opinion, linear threading promotes deeper discussion and is easier to follow.
i don't see how collapsible comments are useful on this site because you'd only be hiding a single comment. doesn't do much for clarity.

Re: New Web Site: Discussion

Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2017 11:24 pm
by TeaHive
pedant wrote:
Wed Dec 13, 2017 6:30 pm
TeaHive wrote:
Tue Dec 12, 2017 11:50 pm
This could already be a feature and I may have missed it, but is it possible to close comments? Similarly to how reddit allows you to click an arrow and the comment collapses bringing the next comment into view. I love that feature and it would be an awesome addition here!
reddit uses a hierarchical threading system where any post can branch out and become a separate thread. imagine a tree.
Image

on 'classic' forum software like this, threading is linear. every post descends from at most one post.
Image

in a hierarchical model like reddit's, being able to collapse a comment and all of its replies (children) is pretty important for readability.
even with that, however, i think that it's difficult to follow the overall conversation flow in large discussions.

in some people's opinion, linear threading promotes deeper discussion and is easier to follow.
i don't see how collapsible comments are useful on this site because you'd only be hiding a single comment. doesn't do much for clarity.
I see your point. Thanks for the well thought out and explained reply! I guess in the end it boils down to an OCD thing for me.. :P collapsing all the comments I've read, makes the page "cleaner". Ill get over it.