RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to RPoL Development

07:59, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc.

Posted by Skald
jase
admin, 3731 posts
Cogito, ergo procuro.
Carpe stultus!
Wed 11 Sep 2019
at 14:22

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Fixed the missing "set as default".

Agreed regarding the spacing in the roller.  It's very nicely laid out (wasn't me!) but the requirement to scroll every time is an annoyance.  Need to compact it down... somehow.
Whispering Shadows
member, 8 posts
Wed 11 Sep 2019
at 18:06
  • msg #56

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

I tried to see if this comment was made elsewhere, but I don't see it - my apologies if it's redundant!

I have noticed a 'bug' in the responsive page, specifically, the 'mark all as read' doesn't seem to work right.

Reproduction Steps:
Navigate to a story that currently has unread threads. Note that they have the little pencil icon next to them.
Select Mark All as Read
Navigated Out
Note that the story no longer shows as having fresh threads
Navigate back IN to the story
Note that those threads are still marked as 'unread' with the pencil icon.
Actually open the thread.
Navigate back out, then back in - no longer flagged with the icon.

This is troublesome when I see that a story has a new thread, but when I navigate in all of them are showing as unread.

If it matters, I'm in Firefox.

Hopefully that makes sense! Feel free to rMail me if not!
nauthiz
subscriber, 631 posts
Wed 11 Sep 2019
at 22:28
  • msg #57

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Most read/unread flagging issues can be solved by clearing your browser's cookies for RPoL.

Jase also mentioned somewhere that if you move from the classic site to the responsive you might need to log out of the classic site, then clear cookies, before using the responsive site to avoid certain cookie related issues.
SunRuanEr
subscriber, 140 posts
Wed 11 Sep 2019
at 23:51
  • msg #58

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Hey jase - when IN a Private Message on the responsive site, there's no button in the righthand side 'This game' menu to get BACK to Private Messages. There's 'Post a Private Message', but that just takes you to the posting window, not the actual list of your PMs.

We can go back to the Game Menu and then go to Private Messages again, but that just feels like a lot of extra effort and page-loading (at least on my phone, which is slow as molasses). Could we get a Private Messages button in the options that are available when we're IN a private message, so that we can go back to the Private Message list easily?
jase
admin, 3732 posts
Cogito, ergo procuro.
Carpe stultus!
Fri 13 Sep 2019
at 12:28

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 58):

Give it a whirl now.
SunRuanEr
subscriber, 141 posts
Fri 13 Sep 2019
at 13:14
  • msg #60

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

In reply to jase (msg # 59):

Hm. Still not seeing it on responsive.

There's now a Private Messages option in the 'this game' menu when we're in the Cast List and the Game Map (and there didn't use to be one for those, so that's great! Thanks!), but I'm still not seeing one when I'm reading a Private Message thread. Just the 'Post a Private Message'.

Is it something on my end, like needing to log out and back in? *goes to try that*

Edit: Nope, still not there - although entertainingly, logging out (which wouldn't work from responsive, and required me to relog over on live - I feel like that's been mentioned before by someone else) changed my theme on live. Which was... weird.

Edit, part deux: Also just noticed while checking this that when the 'this game' menu is collapsed down, it doesn't appear to indicate whether or not there are new private messages without opening it to check. Is there any way to make the little 'this game' collapsed icon pop a different color when there are new PMs, so you can see that they're there without having to manually open the 'this game' menu to check?
This message was last edited by the user at 13:31, Fri 13 Sept 2019.
Pat
supporter, 163 posts
Fri 13 Sep 2019
at 16:32
  • msg #61

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

The one thing that keeps tripping me up is finding the "Home" button. I routinely want to select Home right after some action in the This Game/Forum menu block (e.g., mark all as read), but it's both small and on the opposite side of the screen.

Could a redundant Home button be added to those blocks?
jase
admin, 3733 posts
Cogito, ergo procuro.
Carpe stultus!
Fri 13 Sep 2019
at 23:42

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 60):

Ah, I thought you meant when composing a message.  I get you now, should be better when both composing and reading now.  (c;


In reply to Pat (msg # 61):

Not a terrible idea but it doesn't belong in any of the menus.  "This game" / "This forum" would probably be the best of a terrible bunch.
Ski-Bird
subscriber, 46 posts
Fri 13 Sep 2019
at 23:46
  • msg #63

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Pat:
Could a redundant Home button be added to those blocks?


If it helps, Pat, the RPoL logo and title is the home button. The one at the top of every page.  Click it (or tap on mobile) and you are brought back to your landing page.
SunRuanEr
subscriber, 142 posts
Sat 14 Sep 2019
at 00:46
  • msg #64

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

In reply to jase (msg # 62):

*wild cheering*

Thanks jase! :)
Pat
supporter, 164 posts
Sun 15 Sep 2019
at 15:13
  • msg #65

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Ski-Bird:
Pat:
Could a redundant Home button be added to those blocks?


If it helps, Pat, the RPoL logo and title is the home button. The one at the top of every page.  Click it (or tap on mobile) and you are brought back to your landing page.


It does help sone, thanks. It's still the opposite side of the screen, but it's a much bigger target.
SunRuanEr
subscriber, 145 posts
Sun 15 Sep 2019
at 15:24
  • msg #66

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Two unrelated requests from a sheer aesthetics wish, here...

1) Could we get a means to reduce the height of the game thread titles? I realize that the information included in the Thread Details sets a minimum height, but there's about a third of the height below the last post timestamp that isn't being used (unless there's both a Notice and a Thread Closed icon for the thread, although those could maybe be side-by-side instead of one above the other?). That space is still there even in the collapsed version.

There's a whole lot of scrolling down that I'm having to do to see threads in a game (since the entire page no longer shows on the browser), and anything that reduces the amount of scroll that I have to do just to find the new posts would be awesome.

2) Could we increase the number of threads that appear per page, in a game?

Since the responsive site seems more geared towards vertical viewing, (and there's going to be scrolling even if the thread title height is reduced) is there really a need to cap at 25 threads per page? I'm not suggesting something crazy like 'ALL OF THEM!' on the same page because that would get crazy, but even an increase to 30 or 35 threads per page would be nice.
Escribblings
member, 36 posts
Sun 15 Sep 2019
at 16:10
  • msg #67

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Don't know if it's just me...

I have a Samsung Note 10+.  This has curved screen edges.

Would there be a possiblity of a couple of pixels of padding on the left and right of the page?

It's going right to the edge, round the curve, and although it isn't, it feels like it's cutting a bit off and I constantly have the urge to scroll, where no scroll is available.
This message was last edited by the user at 16:11, Sun 15 Sept 2019.
Longbow
member, 1 post
Sun 15 Sep 2019
at 23:16
  • msg #68

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

One issue I've found with the new design is when using it on multiple devices. It marks threads that have been viewed on another device as having unread posts. I assume that's because it's stashing that data in a cookie, rather than storing it on a server.
Pat
supporter, 165 posts
Sun 15 Sep 2019
at 23:19
  • msg #69

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

In reply to Longbow (msg # 68):

For what it's worth, that happened on the old site, too.
Pat
supporter, 166 posts
Sun 15 Sep 2019
at 23:40
  • msg #70

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

SunRuanEr:
1) Could we get a means to reduce the height of the game thread titles? I realize that the information included in the Thread Details sets a minimum height, but there's about a third of the height below the last post timestamp that isn't being used (unless there's both a Notice and a Thread Closed icon for the thread...


The other place that last third is used is the Wanted Players forum, where the font for the game system (often not included in the thread title) is already tiny.
SunRuanEr
subscriber, 146 posts
Mon 16 Sep 2019
at 00:16
  • msg #71

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

In reply to Pat (msg # 70):

Ah, well then, that would teach me right for not checking every possible forum, then. Oh well.
steelsmiter
member, 2048 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Tue 24 Sep 2019
at 23:52
  • msg #72

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

I hope this isn't the wrong place, but I'm making my own CSS for all the colors I want. I'm going pretty well with a brown/khaki theme that uses white lettering, but I can't figure out how to turn the RPoL in the banner where it says "Welcome to RolePlay onLine, steelsmiter!" right below it white. Which field in the CSS editing page would I change to FFFFFF?
Ski-Bird
subscriber, 54 posts
Wed 25 Sep 2019
at 02:14
  • msg #73

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

The 'RPoL' in the header box just to the right of the RPoL logo uses whatever color you have selected for 'Standard Text.'
steelsmiter
member, 2049 posts
BESM, Fate, Indies, PBTA
NO FREEFORM! NO d20!
Wed 25 Sep 2019
at 03:01
  • msg #74

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

In reply to Ski-Bird (msg # 73):

Ick... Thanks though.
Mad Mick
member, 980 posts
GURPS beyond measure,
outlander
Mon 14 Oct 2019
at 23:47
  • msg #75

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

I've been alternating between using the traditional RPOL site and the responsive site for a while now on both my phone (iOS) and my laptop. I think I've already expressed these thoughts, but here's where I am right now with the responsive site.

Using my laptop, I like the responsive page that lists my games and the forums. It's cleanly organized, and I can see at a glance which games and forums have updates. Honestly, I like the aesthetics of this page more than the traditional page, although I typically use the traditional page when logging in.

Within the game itself, I far prefer the traditional page to the responsive site. Although the traditional page seems to waste space, especially for games with only a few threads, this isn't an issue on long-running games with full pages of threads. For games with a number of notice threads, I need to scroll down on the responsive page to see what threads have been updated. On the traditional page, I can see immediately what threads have been updated.

I also prefer having the firebolt notice of new threads within the column of lights to the left rather than being by themselves on the responsive page. It just seems more aesthetically pleasing to me, although I'm not sure why.

On mobile, I appreciate the larger font, but I do like being able to see the whole games and forums page at a glance under the traditional setting. The responsive version on mobile is fine, but there's a lot more scrolling.

In a game, there's far too much scrolling on mobile to get to new threads. There seems to be a lot of unnecessary information. I'd love to be able to toggle off the line "For group X by Y with Z replies". The table version on the traditional site allows so much more information to be seen at a glance.

For reading threads, I do like the way the responsive site presents the story, especially with the settings Skald posted in this thread, both on mobile and desktop. I love the automatic resizing of images to fit in the thread.

A note - Logout does not seem to log me out of the responsive site. I think this is an issue that has already been brought up.

Anyway, the responsive site is looking good. I would like a way to be able to view simultaneously more thread names in the game forum, perhaps by disabling some of the information. I suppose using a table format like the traditional site isn't very workable in the responsive site.
DaCuseFrog
member, 79 posts
SW Florida
Tue 15 Oct 2019
at 04:42
  • msg #76

Re: Responsive site - appearance, layout, aesthetics etc

Not sure if this had been mentioned, but I don't like that you can't see the original author of a private message thread in a game.  As a GM, I sometimes have to open a dozen to find the correct one.
SunRuanEr
subscriber, 169 posts
Sun 24 Nov 2019
at 16:03
  • msg #77

Cast List Layout

I've been playing with solely the responsive site for a while now, and I've come to discover that I really, really miss one particular feature of the live site:

The ability to, at a glance, see when players last logged in.

It's an important feature to know, when I need to check to see if a player has seen an update/read a notice/just plain logged in to meet activity requirements. As it is, on responsive, I have to literally mouse over each and every individual name one at a time to check their last login. On live, I can just skim down the list and look for a 'Today' timestamp to know if someone has read a post. It's not a huge issue for games with small cast lists, but it feels really unbearable in a game with 20+ characters to check. If I'm not taking notes on the side, by the time I get to the end I've forgotten who has/hasn't seen something.

By the same token, having the Groups listed for each character visible at a glance seems extraneous - that isn't something I really need to be able to see all the time at a glance. I do sometimes need to double-check groups/remind myself who is in each one, but that's not something I need to do every day or even every month, and when I do I rarely need to check more than a character or two. Seeing logins... that I need to do practically every day.

I understand if I'm alone in this, or if it's not possible, but man... it would really up the usefulness of the cast list (for me) if we could switch the 'Groups' column with 'Last Login'.

Edit: Or add an option to perhaps 'Expand All' so that every cast entry opens completely all at the same time? That would make the list ridiculously long to scroll down through for some games, but at least then it could be scrolled through with all the information viewable at once.
This message was last edited by the user at 16:07, Sun 24 Nov 2019.
Skald
moderator, 882 posts
Whatever it is,
I'm against it
Wed 27 Nov 2019
at 11:13
  • msg #78

Cast List Layout

As a workaround for now ... you can simply copy all the cast details and paste into Notepad or somesuch which will then show all those hidden details.  :>

And a +1 for me for swapping last login or last post or both with groups - I'm more likely to check those dates than the groups and I can get the groups list from the GM menu easily enough if I need to check it.

Or if space is an issue on Responsive and the aim is to minimise the info displayed on the cast screen, perhaps add a last logins/last post option on the GM Menu ?
Xenoviel
subscriber, 25 posts
Mon 9 Dec 2019
at 17:11
  • msg #79

Cast List Layout

Going to need full control over the display Font, pt-size, and formatting (Bold) etc. I currently use the Green theme on the good site. I show the section headers (Games You Own, etc.) as being displayed in 9.5 size Verdana Bold and the game links as 9.5 Verdana. On this new monster, the headings are in flipping size 17 Arial Bold and the game links are 10.5 Arial Bold.

I neither need nor want the game links to be bold. Nor do I want them to be in Arial, and I need them to be smaller. I understand that some users prefer things like this, but I don't, and I would like to be able to appreciate the aesthetic of the site based on my own preferences, not those of others.

Edit:

The links to Relog, Logout, go into RPoL Preferences, or start a new game are all important, but I do not think they need to be on every single page (especially where they might be accidentally tapped by a mobile user). Being able to access those options from the home page is likely sufficient.
This message was last edited by the user at 18:18, Mon 09 Dec 2019.
Sign In