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Testing a new mobile experience for the forums

ambassadorkael#6946 ambassadorkael Member, Administrator Posts: 2,673 Community Manager
Hey guys,

The experience of browsing the STO forums on mobile isn't really up to snuff, so we're going to try something new. Later today, the experience will change pretty drastically. Please take a look, and let us know what you think in this thread.

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Comments

  • malebissemalebisse Member Posts: 86 Arc User
    Looks good to me, but I am generally not logged into the forums from my mobile device however; I do read the forum posts that are tweeted, I am just not logged in.
  • nickkyana#2794 nickkyana Member Posts: 16,147 Arc User
    Okay. I'm going to be honest. I do not like it.

    •I can't Manually save drafts for my posts

    •Notifications for favorite threads are at the bottom of the page rather than the top. And that just seems utterly useless.

    •It feels watered down and harder to navigate.

    I personally liked the old way so much better. I understand that I as a singular person can't have enough sway to have it changed back but I would prefer to be able to browse easier as I am stuck in a car for the next few hours.
    "We have no tomorrow, but there's still hope for the future. In our struggle to survive the present, we push the future farther away. Will I see it in my lifetime? Probably not. Which means there's no time to waste. Someday the world will no longer need us. No need for the gun, or the hand to pull the trigger." -Punished Snake
  • hoan113hoan113 Member Posts: 5,892 Arc User
    the flag and quote options are nice but navigating is hard and the fact that the number of the page you are on only show up when you are on that specific page gets confusing. also having bookmarked discussions on the bottom instead of top is more of a regression then progress
    "The rains have ceased and we are graced with another beautiful day. but you are not here to see it."
  • sevenofnine13141sevenofnine13141 Member Posts: 4,272 Arc User
    This new format for the mobile version... Is the worst. Please revert to the old version. I can't even save drafts, this isn't accessible at all, it's hard to navigate, etc. I'm with Nick here. The old one was far better as it was more accessible and easy for me to use.
    | State of the Federation |
    The German Empire
    Founded 2413
    Leader: S. Raneson
    de_pr2.gif
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    Unordered lists...never fun to scroll through. How do I turn off pictures...they are taking over the world. Also, can not tell who the last person to comment on the thread is.

    Yeah, not liking this.

    +++++++++++++++++++++

    OK....signed in now. Not liking all the navigation being on bottom of the screen. I mean, I don't want to scroll down to the bottom past everything to see if there is anything in the inbox or if there are notifications.

    The badges you are using for the Categories page is gigantic...but the text saying what the badge is for dinky....plus no descriptions. Where did mark all read go?

    On Recent Discussion list..why is the navigation bar white with tiny gray text on it....hard to see.
    I am on a Kindle Fire tablet.
    Post edited by where2r1 on
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • galattgalatt Member Posts: 707 Arc User
    I just refreshed a page and What The Hell?
    It's not intuitive on how to use and there's no option for scrolling through pages when messaging.
    As clunky as it may have been, please bring back the old version.
    sig_picture_resize_by_gx_9901-db9d1v1.png
  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,001 Arc User
    I personally would prefer a "full page" on my mobile device, not a watered down version. I like to have my PC experience on the go.
    lFC4bt2.gif
    ^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
    "No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
    "A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
    "That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
  • postagepaidpostagepaid Member Posts: 2,899 Arc User
    Closest I get to browsing the forums is on a tablet not a phone so the standard web page does me just fine.

    Off the top of my head the thing that could improve the experience would be removal of sigs as there are some which are vastly larger than the average reply.

    Why do you feel the need to revamp or update things? You say its not up to snuff but don't specify in what way.

    Just please, whatever you do, don't turn it into a forum version of the obnoxious (and largely useless) lander that got inflicted on the game.
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    angrytarg wrote: »
    I personally would prefer a "full page" on my mobile device, not a watered down version. I like to have my PC experience on the go.

    There is a "Full Site" option under the Menu. Thank God!
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • ltminnsltminns Member Posts: 12,569 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    Forget 'Full Site', stuff is on top of each other.

    And I now have a Drafts 'Folder' that has like 67 drafts from years gone by.
    Post edited by ltminns on
    'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
    Judge Dan Haywood
    'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
    l don't know.
    l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
    That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
    Lt. Philip J. Minns
  • starswordcstarswordc Member Posts: 10,963 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    JaoLwQb.png
    (img spoilered due to ridiculous height)

    This is on Android 7. Seems to me there's one or two glitches, for some reason there's a banner blocking half the toolbar.

    Honestly, I could accept the old site just fine, I just want to be able to use proper BBcode on the phone.
    "Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
    — Sabaton, "Great War"
    VZ9ASdg.png

    Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
  • evilmark444evilmark444 Member Posts: 6,950 Arc User
    Tried it for a minute, then immediately re-enabled 'Request Desktop Site'. Signatures are still not available in the new mobile version (the main reason I was requesting the desktop site before), but more importantly everything is much more difficult to read now. This was a step backwards, not forwards.
    Lifetime Subscriber since Beta
    eaY7Xxu.png
  • lopequillopequil Member Posts: 1,226 Arc User
    Please, please revert this. The mobile site is too clunky and the desktop one doesn’t render correctly on my phone.
    Q9BWcdD.png
  • hawku001xhawku001x Member Posts: 10,758 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    It works fine for me so far, but I haven't tried every function yet. Only thing I'd change is somehow seeing who posted last, or if there are unread posts.
  • jrdobbsjr#3264 jrdobbsjr Member Posts: 431 Arc User
    It sucks. Please include a means to disable it
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,164 Arc User
    Hey guys,

    The experience of browsing the STO forums on mobile isn't really up to snuff, so we're going to try something new. Later today, the experience will change pretty drastically. Please take a look, and let us know what you think in this thread.

    Well that was horrible experience please roll back the changes. The new forum is almost unusable. It was more difficult to read, more difficult to navigate and unintuitive. I could not do half of what wanted and what I did manage to do took longer and more clicking which is the opposite to what a mobile forum is meant to be.

    One reason I say it’s near unusable is I am unable to see past page 2 in any thread as there are zero page numbers or next page buttons, unable to view full site from the top either.

    Unable to see if a thread has been updated or see last person to post, time last post or page numbers. I kept wasting time clicking on threads that had no new posts as I was unable to track anything.

    Often on break I switch between news page and forums which is a nightmare on the new forum.

    With the old forum I could half read a thread from the PC and then within very few clicks continue reading later in the day from where I was on the mobile. That’s not possible in the new forum.

    The old forum took me 2 clicks to get to the thread I wanted and the page I wanted. That was easy to navigate and simple. The new forum is way more complicated.

    This is even worse then the terrible new queue UI.
  • ambassadorkael#6946 ambassadorkael Member, Administrator Posts: 2,673 Community Manager
    Allrighty, well, that's the answers I was looking for.

    Gonna try one more option today, if you guys still hate it, we'll just go back to the original.

  • nickkyana#2794 nickkyana Member Posts: 16,147 Arc User
    Okay, If this fully white theme is the second one you where talking about I do have to admit it's better than the previous test one, but not by much.

    •There is still no save draft button

    •The post button is too close to the buttons that lead back to other parts of the thread. And on mobile it can lead to a lot of misclicks... And losing posts too since we can't manually save drafts...

    •I don't see a place for notifications.

    I do gotta thank you for trying new things but neither of the two test ones seem to be optimal... My vote is to go back to the old ways. Back to what we had before. Maybe in the future we can agree on a better one. But right now it's best to let well enough alone. Thank you for opening this to debate rather than force the change on everyone.
    "We have no tomorrow, but there's still hope for the future. In our struggle to survive the present, we push the future farther away. Will I see it in my lifetime? Probably not. Which means there's no time to waste. Someday the world will no longer need us. No need for the gun, or the hand to pull the trigger." -Punished Snake
  • grumpyowl#1151 grumpyowl Member Posts: 96 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    Not a fan. Please put it back the way it was. The new version feels... awkward. With all respect, it seems a better use of time to fix ViL rather than breaking the forum.
  • sevenofnine13141sevenofnine13141 Member Posts: 4,272 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    I agree with Nick and Runlevel. Both versions of a new mobile forums are not good at all. Restore the old version! Put it back the way it was!
    #restoretheoldversion
    | State of the Federation |
    The German Empire
    Founded 2413
    Leader: S. Raneson
    de_pr2.gif
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,164 Arc User
    That’s better but I couldn’t see how to view recent discussions. So I clicked on full site and everything is scrambled. Text overlaying on other text I couldn’t even read thread topic titles on full site.
  • nommo#5819 nommo Member Posts: 1,105 Arc User
    I played around with it a little late last night. It's not as fluent or intuitive to me, but I also thought going in I was more ignorant of it compared to the older version. I didn't have too many debilitating hiccups & with the mind-set of eventually getting used to it it was no biggie, but like many others, for me so far, I still prefer the older version since I'm accustomed to it & it functions better.
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    The white background change is well... I don't like it. Blue text is pretty. But it is looking like a giant list, again. No avatar pics at all? I really don't like the plain Reddit looking thing at all.

    I went back to the full site.
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • evilmark444evilmark444 Member Posts: 6,950 Arc User
    This is better, nice and quick too, though id prefer white text on a black background. I may consider using this version when I'm not on wifi, but when wifi is available I'll still be using the full site instead cause I like seeing the signatures
    Lifetime Subscriber since Beta
    eaY7Xxu.png
  • hawku001xhawku001x Member Posts: 10,758 Arc User
    This is fine. Just needs a dark background.
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,164 Arc User
    edited June 2018
    I have been unable to see todays version of the mobile platform as in yesterdays version I clicked full page version. Since then the forum has been scrambled and unreadable. All the text is overlapping on other text, I cannot even make out thread titles and I see no way to reload the mobile version of the site back up.

    The full page version was working before the mobile tests. I have been unable to view the forums on my mobile devices for 24 hours now. If it helps I can take a photo and post it. For me at least on my mobile the forum is now 100% unusable .
  • tedgrodzkitedgrodzki Member Posts: 31 Arc User
    sure , fine, but 3 months now that ARC daily quests are gone, revamp my lilly white TRIBBLE. S
    afe bet I can delete all the games I downloaded
  • nickkyana#2794 nickkyana Member Posts: 16,147 Arc User
    Do we have enough pull up bring back the old theme yet?
    "We have no tomorrow, but there's still hope for the future. In our struggle to survive the present, we push the future farther away. Will I see it in my lifetime? Probably not. Which means there's no time to waste. Someday the world will no longer need us. No need for the gun, or the hand to pull the trigger." -Punished Snake
  • lordsteve1lordsteve1 Member Posts: 3,492 Arc User
    Looks clear at first but then you realise that most of it is empty space and jumbled up text.
    The Reply and Views columns take up an inordinate amount of space (like 50% of the horizontal plane!) so there's a lot of wastage there.

    A few other things:
    1. how the heck do i quote a post? It's not very obvious where the option is.
    2. drafts don't save/can't be manually saved.
    3. the white colour is sore on the eyes, bring back the darker colour schemes.

    Preferred the old version tbh.
    SulMatuul.png
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