Mobile Skin for bushwalk.com

[wildwalks]

Hi All

Just wanted to let you know that today we have added a mobile skin to the forum. This makes it easier to access the website from your smart phone. I hope you find it helpful.

There is no need for you to do anything to use this. If you visit the website from your mobile then you will get the mobile version and if you visit from your desktop then you get the original view.
If you want to use the original view from your mobile there is a "Switch to full style" button at the bottom of the page.
If you want to keep using tapatalk you still can - no worries there.
If you find a bug or want to make a comment then please do in this topic.

Thanks - Happy walking

Matt

[Son of a Beach]

I think I'm going to like this even better than Tapatalk - time will tell.

For anybody that doesn't notice at first, the "Active Topics", "Unread Posts", "New Posts", etc links are available with the search links by tapping on the search icon at the top (I know a lot of people use these tools as their primary means to view the forums).

[walkinTas]

Is it just me...?

In a multi-page topic I don't seem to get any more than the first page.

[walkinTas]

Ahhh! Ok! Solved that bit.

...and Yes. Looks good on the phone.

Thanks Matt.

[FatCanyoner]

Awesome. I'd almost converted to the tapatalk app, so this is perfectly timed. I've only had a quick play, but it seems to work a treat.

[Strider]

No "View new posts" button?

Edit - found it!

[stepbystep]

Tapatalk is a lot cleaner and easier to read.

[FatCanyoner]

Tapatalk is a lot cleaner and easier to read.

Yes, but for most forum users (certainly most readers of the forum) who don't use Tapatalk then this is a great initiative to make it more usable on smartphones. I think it's well worth the effort that's been put in and will certainly see some use from me.

[stepbystep]

Tapatalk is a lot cleaner and easier to read.

Yes, but for most forum users (certainly most readers of the forum) who don't use Tapatalk then this is a great initiative to make it more usable on smartphones. I think it's well worth the effort that's been put in and will certainly see some use from me.

An improvement for sure, well done. I mostly only look at this forum on a desktop, the pictures are much nicer.

[Miyata610]

I think I like it.

I especially like the New Post button. It's much easier to use than that tiny broken image on the regular site. Btw... Can that be fixed?

[Strider]

Tapatalk is a lot cleaner and easier to read.

Agreed. I find the black text on white background is a lot easier to look at. I wonder if this could be applied to the mobile site?

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

I generally like it.

The "install this app" bubble is a real pain in the proverbial though. I don't want a link to the site on my home page, and no matter how many times I close it down, it keeps coming back.

I say ditch it completely. I'm sure iphone users know how to add a desktop link.

[walkinTas]

Tapatalk is a lot cleaner and easier to read.

Agreed. I find the black text on white background is a lot easier to look at. I wonder if this could be applied to the mobile site?

No, please don't. White text on dark backgrounds has been demonstrated to be significantly harder to read at smaller font sizes, lowers reading speed especially for scan readers and lowers overall comprehension when compared to dark test on a light background. It is not recommended where people have to read volumes of text on computer screens.

[ILUVSWTAS]

While im sure it's a fantastic advancement for those who like to use phones for accessing the net, im somewhat of a purist who uses a computer, and when i try to log onto the site now, it re-directs me to the mobile app and i have to change "skins" from my pc.

Quite frankly it gives me the *&^%$#@! and i think it's flawed.

[walkinTas]

While im sure it's a fantastic advancement for those who like to use phones for accessing the net...

I think skinning websites for mobile users really isn't about "phones" per se, its about touch screen surfaces and making things finger-friendly. It should also be about lower bandwidth connections. Like it or not (and many do like it) the future of computing is touch enable glass surfaces. The current touch interfaces might be imperfect, but we have to start somewhere.

...And if we don't like it ILUV, its only one click more to return to the old ways.

I like the skin, but I think the buttons could be a bit bigger (more finger-friendly) and I'm surprised the pictures still render. Most mobile themes I've seen have a small (low bandwidth) icon instead of the picture - which you can choose to touch and see the full picture. Matt, did it come that shade of green or did you colour it?

[wildwalks]

I think I like it.
I especially like the New Post button. It's much easier to use than that tiny broken image on the regular site. Btw... Can that be fixed?

I hope so - but I am not aware of the issue -- can you take a screen shot of the problem I can't reproduce it at my end.
(try hitting refresh on your browser and see if that fixes the issue first)

Thanks for letting me know

Matt

[wildwalks]

While im sure it's a fantastic advancement for those who like to use phones for accessing the net, im somewhat of a purist who uses a computer, and when i try to log onto the site now, it re-directs me to the mobile app and i have to change "skins" from my pc.
Quite frankly it gives me the *&^%$#@! and i think it's flawed.

I have PM'd ILUVSWTAS to try to resolve this issue -- If anyone else is having this problem please let me know as it does sound frustrating.

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback.

Matt

[Strider]

I think I like it.
I especially like the New Post button. It's much easier to use than that tiny broken image on the regular site. Btw... Can that be fixed?

I hope so - but I am not aware of the issue -- can you take a screen shot of the problem I can't reproduce it at my end.
(try hitting refresh on your browser and see if that fixes the issue first)

Thanks for letting me know

Matt

I've never had this issue, either.

[ILUVSWTAS]

While im sure it's a fantastic advancement for those who like to use phones for accessing the net, im somewhat of a purist who uses a computer, and when i try to log onto the site now, it re-directs me to the mobile app and i have to change "skins" from my pc.
Quite frankly it gives me the *&^%$#@! and i think it's flawed.

I have PM'd ILUVSWTAS to try to resolve this issue -- If anyone else is having this problem please let me know as it does sound frustrating.

Thanks again to everyone for the feedback.

Matt

Cheers for your help Matt, you've been great, unlike past mods..... and yes Steve im sure I COULD click on the "change to original" everytime i log on, but why should i have to?

[wildwalks]

.....The "install this app" bubble is a real pain in the proverbial though.....

Thanks again for this feedback -- yep I agree this was just not working as I hoped. The code has now been update and we should not see it again (You may need to refresh your browser).
Sorry for the hassle with it.

Matt

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Yep, annoying popup now gone.... Much better!

Thanks for the quick reply.

[icefest]

This is great!

I'm enjoying it already, especially in combination with email notifications.

-icefest

[north-north-west]

What happened to all the photos and avatars and stuff like that? This says 'desktop version', but it's nothing like what I used to get.
And nowhere near are easy to use, either: two clicks for a quote instead of just one, things like that.
I want the old forum back!!!!!!!!!!!!

[icefest]

You need to click on desktop version. Then it looks just like on the PC (or mac).
At least that's how it works for me.

Images and quotes are like normal.

-icefest

[wander]

I've just found the mobile skin and it looks good so far.

Any chance of a "new posts" button top and bottom of the board index page???

[Son of a Beach]

Hit the magnifying glass button to get new posts (and other predefined searches).

[neilmny]

I finally weakened and switched to Firefox on my desktop PC and they are right it is faster. Now each first access to the forum comes up as the mobile version and I have to click the change button. No biggie but it kind of gives you the jimmy britts. Any ideas Matt.

[wildwalks]

I finally weakened and switched to Firefox on my desktop PC and they are right it is faster. Now each first access to the forum comes up as the mobile version and I have to click the change button. No biggie but it kind of gives you the jimmy britts. Any ideas Matt.

Hey neilmny
Sounds like "cookies" are not been stored by your browser. Does it keep you logged in when you return? Does sound a bit frustrating.
Matt

[neilmny]

Hey Matt, yes the log in cookie still works. It's quite strange, for a very brief moment (blink and you miss it) it is the desktop version but then it changes very quickly to mobile version.?????????
It only happens on each initial connection to the site. Once on the site and desktop selected it remains the desktop version.
Neil.

[taswegian]

do you still have that issue neilmny?
I have used FF for years and never seen any contrary stuff when accessing this forum.
It's straight to the desktop version.

I do store Cookies though.