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Beta 3 VS beta 4

Started by novill, March 14, 2018, 12:24:26 PM

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novill

In my test area I have uploaded the smf 2.1 beta 3 and then upgraded it to beta 4. I noticed that the beta 4 is not so wide.
What is the reason for that?


Gwenwyfar

Beta 4 has a maximum width limit to prevent it being hard to read/use. If you want you can change this limit in the css, just look for "max-width: 1200px" in index.css, but I wouldn't recommend you remove it or make it too wide.
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novill

Can you explain to me why is hard to read the wider website? The "old" smf 2.0.15 is wide, and it fills the whole website.
Thanks for your reply

Illori

try clearing your browsers cache and that may fix the issue.

Gwenwyfar

Because having to follow a line from one side to another far side of the screen isn't comfortable. Many buttons are also placed either on the right or on the left, and when there is not much content between them, having the forum take up the entire screen only creates a lot of empty space, making this problem even worse. And since most pages will have a lot of empty space, most pages are affected by this.
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novill


I understand, then this site will be not wide. When some writes to many word in the topic I must go down, use my mouse to read the whole content? For me it's strange because I will have lots of free space the right and the left side.
I believe you, that this is good for usability Facebook feed is similar for that kind of reason I guess.
Thank for your answer.

I noticed the following:
I have checked in different browsers my test site, and I noticed that in Internet Explorer 11 the bottom line in not in the right place.
When I open the site in Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome then works fine.

Gwenwyfar

Don't take this for granted because it's still being considered, but there could be some changes to use the left/right space for something else (eg. the menu). If you have any suggestions about how that space could be used we can take it into consideration too :)

That must be a bug in IE, I'll look into it.
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novill

I like the old fashion way, the site is responsible and can fill the space. My screen is pretty wide, and I don't like that many page don't fill it, and I must scroll down to see the content.

Gwenwyfar

I see. Stretching the site won't make you have to scroll any less though, only for large blocks of text and a few other specific places. Everything else doesn't change much in height. Instead of simply stretching and leaving blank space, moving content elsewhere could be more useful. But I have never seen any site do this, so there's no examples to go by.
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Biology Forums

Also, I'd recommend using any other browser than Windows Explorer. Try Edge if you're a Microsoft fan.

Kindred

I hate fixed width designs...   :(  I prefer a 90% width, which then floats the size to the appropriate look for the device.
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novill

Quote from: Study Force on March 14, 2018, 03:41:43 PM
Also, I'd recommend using any other browser than Windows Explorer. Try Edge if you're a Microsoft fan.


I don't use Microsoft Explorer browser, just checked the smf2.1 in different browser and then I noticed the problem. But somebody can use this browser to.  :)


Quote from: Kindred on March 14, 2018, 03:43:18 PM
I hate fixed width designs...   :(  I prefer a 90% width, which then floats the size to the appropriate look for the device.

90% wide is good for me. :)
If you see the first picture which is attached to the topic, that wide isn't 90% in beta 4 version.

Gwenwyfar

#12
Quote from: Kindred on March 14, 2018, 03:43:18 PM
I hate fixed width designs...   :(  I prefer a 90% width, which then floats the size to the appropriate look for the device.
It's a limit, not a fixed width. And it's a single line change if you really want to remove it... But it adds no value, it just moves all the empty space to the middle of your vision instead of leaving it on the sides so you can focus on the actual content.

Using more of the empty space would be akin to an adaptive theme in reverse (make changes for larger monitors instead of small devices), but I've yet to see how well that works. May not have much to fill it with in practice.


A practical example. This is how a (small) wide monitor would display the heading of this forum with no limit, vs having one:
Tables and other similar content that has some connection to the other side are even "nicer" to look at.
"It is impossible to communicate with one that does not wish to communicate"

novill

Let's see my example.  :)
I have tested with more content from my original forum. I have made a few pictures, you can see that with beta 3 looks better the site, and the user can have more content on the screen.

I haven't change the resolution.
Usability is better I think with wider screen.
Which one is looking better?

Gwenwyfar

You still have a rather small monitor, and even so it still shows all I said. Except for large posts, nothing else changes much, just more useless space. And for posts themselves... Books are narrow for a reason, it's more comfortable to read  :)
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landyvlad

I have a question as reagrds this - how will it affects portals eg tinyportal, simple portal etc.

Will those sit to the left and right of this max 1200 width, or will their content blocks be jammed into this space as well?
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GigaWatt

@Gwenwyfar: Why don't you just make the max width an option in the admin menu?
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Gary

Quote from: landyvlad on March 14, 2018, 09:30:16 PM
I have a question as reagrds this - how will it affects portals eg tinyportal, simple portal etc.

Will those sit to the left and right of this max 1200 width, or will their content blocks be jammed into this space as well?

They'd be within that max-width of 1200. But as always that can always be adjusted with a single CSS change.
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landyvlad

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with questions on astrophysics or theology.  You will get better and faster responses by asking homeless people in the street. Thank you.

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Gwenwyfar

Quote from: GigaWatt on March 14, 2018, 09:45:56 PM
@Gwenwyfar: Why don't you just make the max width an option in the admin menu?
Could be done. The option had already been removed when this change was made, so we would need to add it back.
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