Just wondering if this is an upcoming idea any time soon. I know people with awesome Droid phones and stuff can probably access RPR just fine, but I'm one of those people who have like... a short bus phone. Better than a verizon flip phone, but still kinda chugging along behind the rest of the class. I can view some parts of the forum and whatnot, but I can never log in, or check my stuff, or reply--nor can I download anything to the phone.
I was wondering if there was any consideration of a mobile-access page that would align things for us crappy phone users. Probably would have to make the profile editing moot since there's Java and whatnot, but to be able to check your PMs, post in the forums, etc? Man, I'd be on RPR all the time that way.";
I was wondering if there was any consideration of a mobile-access page that would align things for us crappy phone users. Probably would have to make the profile editing moot since there's Java and whatnot, but to be able to check your PMs, post in the forums, etc? Man, I'd be on RPR all the time that way.";
I might even want this for my droid.. I can load the site and all, but long posts some times do not show. That and I have to zoom and push the screen around to read things right.
One redesign at a time. 
I do sometimes make attempts to consider smart phones, but they are low priority. Views from phones account for less than 0.8% of total site use, so energy put into accommodating them is development time that doesn't even benefit 1% of the people here.
A stylesheet that makes the forums and the chat shrinky dinky skinny minny (technical terms) for phones might be an interesting project, but I doubt I'd do the whole site.
There's no java anywhere on the site, it's all javascript.
I do sometimes make attempts to consider smart phones, but they are low priority. Views from phones account for less than 0.8% of total site use, so energy put into accommodating them is development time that doesn't even benefit 1% of the people here.
A stylesheet that makes the forums and the chat shrinky dinky skinny minny (technical terms) for phones might be an interesting project, but I doubt I'd do the whole site.
There's no java anywhere on the site, it's all javascript.
I dunno, Kim. There's one flaw in your logic (forgive me for saying it like that).
Only .8 percent of views are by phone, but when even Droid users can't access it properly, it goes to reason that people won't access the site from their phone as much and just are forced to wait. I can't use my Samsung on this site for more than seeing if anyone replied to my post or not, and I can't even see the post usually. That doesn't mean I wouldn't use it if it was there, or that potential demand wouldn't be there if there was the supply, it just means people don't bother, and wait to actively access until they get home. I've accessed it twice from phone and gave up. If it worked, it'd be another matter entirely and I might go so far as to say other people probably share a similar idea.
And dangit I keep typing Java, we've been through this. Javascript. My phone can't read javascript. But I can still access, say, Ebuddy. There's javascript involved in the way the profiles work, but I dunno, a basic function like checking PM, or forums, shouldn't demand that as much. I can do it on some sites, depending on their mobile access. It'd make RPing on the fly a lot faster.
Only .8 percent of views are by phone, but when even Droid users can't access it properly, it goes to reason that people won't access the site from their phone as much and just are forced to wait. I can't use my Samsung on this site for more than seeing if anyone replied to my post or not, and I can't even see the post usually. That doesn't mean I wouldn't use it if it was there, or that potential demand wouldn't be there if there was the supply, it just means people don't bother, and wait to actively access until they get home. I've accessed it twice from phone and gave up. If it worked, it'd be another matter entirely and I might go so far as to say other people probably share a similar idea.
And dangit I keep typing Java, we've been through this. Javascript. My phone can't read javascript. But I can still access, say, Ebuddy. There's javascript involved in the way the profiles work, but I dunno, a basic function like checking PM, or forums, shouldn't demand that as much. I can do it on some sites, depending on their mobile access. It'd make RPing on the fly a lot faster.
I'd love to be able to add widgets with my phone. There might be more ponies in it for you. Just sayin'.
mross wrote:
I'd love to be able to add widgets with my phone. There might be more ponies in it for you. Just sayin'.
The redesign contains an option wherein double clicking a widget will add it, so dragging is no longer necessary. If your smart phone is smart enough, that should make it possible to add widgets even with touch screens. And yes, I did this specifically for phone users.
I'm not really sure how the site is unusable on androids. I've used it on both an android and an iphone and had screenshots sent to me by ipad users, and I didn't notice the forums being invisible or anything weird like that, so now I'm really confused.
You guys are saying you can't read things and you can't log in, but I'm not understanding why. What exactly happens when you try? There's no javascript involved in either of those things. And what does it mean that only long posts don't show? I'm assuming that means that short ones do.
Sorry, I just need some clarification here so I can figure out what we're talking about.
I cant say I've had any trouble with my Android phone or iOS devices.
Ditto here. Bout the only thing I can't do is add widgets from my phone. Other than that, I can do everything on RPR fine. Just like how I'm typing this from my phone.
I've never had any issues with the forums on my iPhone. I've never tried to edit my characters websites on my phone because that's... well, a little unrealistic to me. But that's because a computer is normally close at hand or only a days wait away to update and trying to do major updates to one of my character sites on a smart phone seems a little tedious. I can fully understand making the site more compatible for phones to be a low priority.
I've a Galaxy S (android) and it works perfectly fine for me. I'm even able to screenshot bugs that occur on the site (on PC also, so unrelated to mobile) and send them to Kim through PM, so I'm not sure where the issues lay. Likely it's more an issue with the phone itself than Android, or a different browser etc. especially considering the majority of droids don't seem to be bugged in any way.
Long chunks of text ARE a pain because a droid can't scroll in the textbox where you enter text (at least mine won't), but whatever I type is always sent properly and displayed on the forum. But then again, to even begin typing something big enough to fill up the box is a pain on a phone anyway.
Widgets are accounted for because smartphone users were having some real issues with that early on, so Kim was nice enough to consider us for that.
But other than adding a new widget being impossible, I can edit my character profiles perfectly fine. I've even added artwork to my character pages at work when an artist sent me the finished image over email!
Also, a mobile version of any website is pretty much a double deal. You might notice that every mobile website is always a different url. Instead of www.example.com it's usually m.example.com, meaning there are two different sites that need to be updated constantly. You can't have the site select a different stylesheet based on the fact a user is viewing the site on a mobile phone. Maybe that will come in the future, but if Kim were to make a mobile friendly version of RPR she'd been to be constantly updating and fixing two different sites. Considering the workload of this one, I don't want to put her through that.
Edit: Am I understanding it right that you're not a droid user, Minerva? I'm slightly confused now. I sell cell- and smartphones for a living, if you can let me know what kind of Samsung phone you're using I can check to see if your phone is capable of properly viewing RPR or not, perhaps needing some setting tweaks etc. But chances are that if you got a Samsung phone with their standard OS instead of android, you'll be out of luck. The only suggestion I then have is to obtain a smartphone with an OS that is geared towards online usage or allows you to try different browsers, but they're costly and often come with lengthy plans if you want one.
Long chunks of text ARE a pain because a droid can't scroll in the textbox where you enter text (at least mine won't), but whatever I type is always sent properly and displayed on the forum. But then again, to even begin typing something big enough to fill up the box is a pain on a phone anyway.
Widgets are accounted for because smartphone users were having some real issues with that early on, so Kim was nice enough to consider us for that.
But other than adding a new widget being impossible, I can edit my character profiles perfectly fine. I've even added artwork to my character pages at work when an artist sent me the finished image over email!Also, a mobile version of any website is pretty much a double deal. You might notice that every mobile website is always a different url. Instead of www.example.com it's usually m.example.com, meaning there are two different sites that need to be updated constantly. You can't have the site select a different stylesheet based on the fact a user is viewing the site on a mobile phone. Maybe that will come in the future, but if Kim were to make a mobile friendly version of RPR she'd been to be constantly updating and fixing two different sites. Considering the workload of this one, I don't want to put her through that.
Edit: Am I understanding it right that you're not a droid user, Minerva? I'm slightly confused now. I sell cell- and smartphones for a living, if you can let me know what kind of Samsung phone you're using I can check to see if your phone is capable of properly viewing RPR or not, perhaps needing some setting tweaks etc. But chances are that if you got a Samsung phone with their standard OS instead of android, you'll be out of luck.
The only suggestion I then have is to obtain a smartphone with an OS that is geared towards online usage or allows you to try different browsers, but they're costly and often come with lengthy plans if you want one.
Not sure why there's confusion over my phone type, my first post said I didn't have a Droid. I went off of the second post where the guy had trouble reading the site, and my friend has a really nice smart phone and can't access this place for her life, I just don't know the model.
And Sanne, some sites can, in fact, read whether you're mobile or not and redirect you to the mobile page. Ebuddy is, again, one of those sites. But that's minor. Someone can decide to type the "m." if they're mobile. I'm not suggesting doing it right now, I mean eventually.
As long as the mobile is functioning and secure, there's really no need to constantly update it.
When I log in on my short bus phone, it just redirects me over and over again to the front like I didn't log in at all. The most I can do is click the forums link and see if, say, there's a new name replied to X thread. I can't do much forum reading cuz the text cuts off.
And Sanne, some sites can, in fact, read whether you're mobile or not and redirect you to the mobile page. Ebuddy is, again, one of those sites. But that's minor. Someone can decide to type the "m." if they're mobile. I'm not suggesting doing it right now, I mean eventually.
As long as the mobile is functioning and secure, there's really no need to constantly update it.
When I log in on my short bus phone, it just redirects me over and over again to the front like I didn't log in at all. The most I can do is click the forums link and see if, say, there's a new name replied to X thread. I can't do much forum reading cuz the text cuts off.
Sorry, I got a bit confused with your second post!
I think you misunderstand though. I'm not talking about just a redirect. The page you're redirected to is an entirely different site that loads the same info from the database. Ebuddy basically has two versions of their site: one regular and one mobile, both which are coded entirely separately from one another. While the content is the same, the coding around that content is a site on its own, meaning that
- Kim will have to code an entirely new graphical interface to fit in smaller screens
- Character pages and templates either need to be ported to a mobile version or they simply won't work properly on your phone anyway (so one of the main attributes of the site is lost then anyway)
- Functions will need to be altered, removed or added to be compatible with a normal mobile phone
- Pages will need to be minimized in content to reduce loading size and adjust the text to the screen, so some functionality will be lost
- Whenever the main page gets an update or Kim brings out a new feature, she'll need to code that into the mobile version as well
In short, this means she has to work twice as much and as hard. If you're in constant development of the main site, it doesn't work to just let the mobile version sit and do nothing with it. People will end up confused and annoyed that they can't do the things they can do on their PC, and an outdated mobile version with limited functionality isn't much better than a poorly working version of the main site. So at this moment in time, there's really no benefit to adding a mobile version of the site. 0.8% is just too little of a userbase to go by. The best that can be done is tweak a few features so that the few limitations of smartphones (drag&drop) are avoided without losing functionality on the main site.
I know it really, really sucks not to be able to see the site on your phone and I'm sorry for that. I wish it was easier to port sites to mobile versions but it's not as easy as they make it appear to be. Newer phones are able to display about 90% of all websites fine without a mobile version because they're adjusted for it, therefore it works for the majority of us who have a smartphone.
I honestly would enjoy a mobile website or an app, but the amount of work that goes into it is quite staggering.
I think you misunderstand though. I'm not talking about just a redirect. The page you're redirected to is an entirely different site that loads the same info from the database. Ebuddy basically has two versions of their site: one regular and one mobile, both which are coded entirely separately from one another. While the content is the same, the coding around that content is a site on its own, meaning that
- Kim will have to code an entirely new graphical interface to fit in smaller screens
- Character pages and templates either need to be ported to a mobile version or they simply won't work properly on your phone anyway (so one of the main attributes of the site is lost then anyway)
- Functions will need to be altered, removed or added to be compatible with a normal mobile phone
- Pages will need to be minimized in content to reduce loading size and adjust the text to the screen, so some functionality will be lost
- Whenever the main page gets an update or Kim brings out a new feature, she'll need to code that into the mobile version as well
In short, this means she has to work twice as much and as hard. If you're in constant development of the main site, it doesn't work to just let the mobile version sit and do nothing with it. People will end up confused and annoyed that they can't do the things they can do on their PC, and an outdated mobile version with limited functionality isn't much better than a poorly working version of the main site. So at this moment in time, there's really no benefit to adding a mobile version of the site. 0.8% is just too little of a userbase to go by. The best that can be done is tweak a few features so that the few limitations of smartphones (drag&drop) are avoided without losing functionality on the main site.
I know it really, really sucks not to be able to see the site on your phone and I'm sorry for that.
I wish it was easier to port sites to mobile versions but it's not as easy as they make it appear to be. Newer phones are able to display about 90% of all websites fine without a mobile version because they're adjusted for it, therefore it works for the majority of us who have a smartphone.I honestly would enjoy a mobile website or an app, but the amount of work that goes into it is quite staggering.
It.s true that they often require different code that talks to the same database. It'd need to be updated whenever the functioning of the main site changed. Thankfully the forums do't change often.
Whoa, I wrote my last post on a borrowed Android, and it was the worst experience ever. That keyboard... so tiny! It took me a good two minutes to get the site address typed properly. You guys who do it on a regular basis, much less do anything useful with your phones, have my absolute awe.
So, the revelation that we might be talking about writing and editing rather than just reading being the issue that the "long text" was a reference to was very very helpful, thank you whoever said that, it cleared up a lot of confusion for me. I was thinking in a whole different paradigm. I'm not entirely sure how to fix the textbox sometimes requiring more space at this moment, but I'll think on that and see if a solution presents itself. The scrolling issue is a complaint for the chat as well, that is definitely in my mind as something that needs fixing, although I'm not sure how beyond a different version for phones.
Minerva, it sounds like the issue you are experiencing is the phone not properly saving cookies or starting sessions. I did a little Googling on the topic to see if Samsung handles those things strangely, or there's some common phone mistake that I can fix on my end, but so far I can't find anything relating to Samsungs and cookies at all. Is there a particular model number I might use to narrow my search? If that is the main barrier and you're able to log in to other sites, it seems like something that could be looked into.
So, the revelation that we might be talking about writing and editing rather than just reading being the issue that the "long text" was a reference to was very very helpful, thank you whoever said that, it cleared up a lot of confusion for me. I was thinking in a whole different paradigm. I'm not entirely sure how to fix the textbox sometimes requiring more space at this moment, but I'll think on that and see if a solution presents itself. The scrolling issue is a complaint for the chat as well, that is definitely in my mind as something that needs fixing, although I'm not sure how beyond a different version for phones.
Minerva, it sounds like the issue you are experiencing is the phone not properly saving cookies or starting sessions. I did a little Googling on the topic to see if Samsung handles those things strangely, or there's some common phone mistake that I can fix on my end, but so far I can't find anything relating to Samsungs and cookies at all. Is there a particular model number I might use to narrow my search? If that is the main barrier and you're able to log in to other sites, it seems like something that could be looked into.
Tiny keyboards take some getting used to but are much nicer than tiny touchscreen keyboards.
darth_angelus wrote:
Tiny keyboards take some getting used to but are much nicer than tiny touchscreen keyboards.
I bet. Unfortunately, I was on a tiny touchscreen keyboard. Which doesn't respond to my long nails, so I couldn't get it with the tip of my finger, I had to use the pad, which resulted in me hitting the wrong letter at least a third of the time.
At least the backspace key is big enough not to miss.
EDIT: Oh heck, I just found the flip out keyboard. Durrrr.
LOL Kim. Welcome to the world of smartphones! I keep my nails mostly trimmed short or I bite them off in frustration because I can't type on the screen properly anymore at some point.
But I'm very happy with RPR on my phone nonetheless. What type of scrolling is done in the chat and in the textbox? Javascript or div layers?
As for Minerva's phone, you were probably looking for a needle in a haystack. Samsung makes phones for almost every OS out there, with different browsers and capabilities. I suspect her phone runs Symbian though, which is a bit of a pain in the butt on lower end phones when it comes to internet usage, but it's difficult to tell without knowing the type. My mom has an old Nokia with Symbian 60 and getting whatsapp for her was a tedious, tedious task I tell you.
Nevermind browsing other sites. And what's worse is that some phones that run the same OS but are from different manufacturers often have different software running as well, so there's no telling how a certain phone handles certain tasks and so forth...
Welcome to smart/cellphone hell?
Welcome to the world of smartphones! I keep my nails mostly trimmed short or I bite them off in frustration because I can't type on the screen properly anymore at some point.But I'm very happy with RPR on my phone nonetheless.
What type of scrolling is done in the chat and in the textbox? Javascript or div layers?As for Minerva's phone, you were probably looking for a needle in a haystack. Samsung makes phones for almost every OS out there, with different browsers and capabilities. I suspect her phone runs Symbian though, which is a bit of a pain in the butt on lower end phones when it comes to internet usage, but it's difficult to tell without knowing the type. My mom has an old Nokia with Symbian 60 and getting whatsapp for her was a tedious, tedious task I tell you.
Nevermind browsing other sites. And what's worse is that some phones that run the same OS but are from different manufacturers often have different software running as well, so there's no telling how a certain phone handles certain tasks and so forth...Welcome to smart/cellphone hell?
It's like the browser wars all over again. No standardization yet.
Kim wrote:
mross wrote:
I'd love to be able to add widgets with my phone. There might be more ponies in it for you. Just sayin'.
The redesign contains an option wherein double clicking a widget will add it, so dragging is no longer necessary. If your smart phone is smart enough, that should make it possible to add widgets even with touch screens. And yes, I did this specifically for phone users.
Oh heck. And further research suggests that the iPhone and Android browsers have co-opted double tapping for zooming or something silly like that. Back to the drawing board on this one. Here I thought I was being so clever.
Nevermind, false alarm, I'm changing it so that desktop users can still double click (so they don't accidentally add things while trying to drag) but phone users should be able to use a single tap to add widgets. All these new platforms, so very complicated. xD
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