Large layout problems
Thread poster: Jacques DP
Jacques DP
Jacques DP  Identity Verified
Switzerland
Local time: 14:21
English to French
Sep 20, 2016

It's been a while since I visited the forums. Looking at them today the layout is all wrong. After a quick search I see that you are fiddling with the layout to make it work with mobile devices.

Honestly I'm surprised that this is done on the production version, over months, with huge display bugs (if I believe the forum posts I saw).

I'd expect there is a better way to accommodate mobile devices.

Also I'm not sure mobile access can be more than a fringe a
... See more
It's been a while since I visited the forums. Looking at them today the layout is all wrong. After a quick search I see that you are fiddling with the layout to make it work with mobile devices.

Honestly I'm surprised that this is done on the production version, over months, with huge display bugs (if I believe the forum posts I saw).

I'd expect there is a better way to accommodate mobile devices.

Also I'm not sure mobile access can be more than a fringe application, since we can't work on files on a smartphone, and if we just want to have a peek we can already do it. So it seems strange that a fringe application has such devastating effects on the main thing.

I can't spend too much time reporting bugs and discussing them but here is a screen shot anyway, also there are huge vertical spaces between paragraphs. Thanks.

(Edited to add that I'm using Firefox 48.0.2 on Windows 7. Seems like a rather standard configuration. Also I toned my message down a little.)

cap


[Edited at 2016-09-20 09:32 GMT]
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 13:21
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Yep Sep 20, 2016

Yes- there are problems with this. Converting the way things display on a computer screen to a smartphone or a tablet doesn't work. You need to rethink both.

 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:21
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Yes, but you're no longer their target user Sep 20, 2016

Jacques DP wrote:
It's been a while since I visited the forums. Looking at them today the layout is all wrong.


You can see the forums as they are supposed to be seen by zooming out until the text is tiny (then the faux columns show up as columns) or by investing in a wider screen.

zoooom out

You'll notice all kinds of oddities when you browse the site again. Don't bother reporting them. For example, in the forums, the posters' information is no longer displayed next to the post, but above it (again, unless you zoom out, but then you can't read the posts).

zoooom out2



[Edited at 2016-09-20 11:12 GMT]


 
Jacques DP
Jacques DP  Identity Verified
Switzerland
Local time: 14:21
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
Not their target user? How so? Sep 20, 2016

Thanks a lot Samuel for taking the trouble of showing this to me.
I understand the technical problem. Obviously experimenting with zoom factors and window sizes until you get the intended layout is not something a website should force us to do. Instead it should gracefully adapt to any zoom factor and window size.

So why am I not their target user any more? I just paid $133 again to renew my membership so I'd like to understand. I'm on a 21.5-inch iMac.

Maybe what
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Thanks a lot Samuel for taking the trouble of showing this to me.
I understand the technical problem. Obviously experimenting with zoom factors and window sizes until you get the intended layout is not something a website should force us to do. Instead it should gracefully adapt to any zoom factor and window size.

So why am I not their target user any more? I just paid $133 again to renew my membership so I'd like to understand. I'm on a 21.5-inch iMac.

Maybe what you mean is that the target user is someone whose business goes through the Job posting system and wants to be able to accept new jobs in less than 10 seconds, from their bed in the middle of the night, in order to be the first? And therefore the mobile app has become the main thing, while ProZ is less interested in the main website?
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Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
Site developers are still working to adjust forums effectively Sep 20, 2016

Hello everyone,

Jacques DP wrote:

It's been a while since I visited the forums. Looking at them today the layout is all wrong. After a quick search I see that you are fiddling with the layout to make it work with mobile devices.

Honestly I'm surprised that this is done on the production version, over months, with huge display bugs (if I believe the forum posts I saw).

I'd expect there is a better way to accommodate mobile devices.


Thanks for your feedback, Jacques. As explained on the original announcement thread, http://www.proz.com/post/2575726#2575726, developers are doing the best they can to optimize ProZ.com for mobile devices, but without affecting desktop user experience, and your feedback is much appreciated.

Also I'm not sure mobile access can be more than a fringe application, since we can't work on files on a smartphone, and if we just want to have a peek we can already do it. So it seems strange that a fringe application has such devastating effects on the main thing.


Optimizing forums and other site areas is part of a plan to improve site experience on mobile web browsers, regardless of how forums are built on the ProZ.com Mobile application. In other words, while the purpose is the same for both, the ProZ.com Mobile app and ProZ.com site on mobile are two separate things.

I'll make sure that bugs found on forums as well as on any other site area are adjusted and fixed accordingly.

Samuel Murray wrote:

Yes, but you're no longer their target user


This is certainly not correct, Samuel. Several staff members have been working on optimizing ProZ.com for mobile as well as on the ProZ.com Mobile app for Android (and the iOS version to be released soon) precisely to give professionals like you even more effective ways to meet clients, give and receive terminology help, and network with colleagues, among other things. Jacques and you, as well as the rest of ProZ.com professional members are precisely the target users.

Samuel Murray wrote:

You'll notice all kinds of oddities when you browse the site again. Don't bother reporting them.


Why not, Samuel? I see on http://www.proz.com/post/2576123#2576123 that you reported the issues that you found and that site staff took note of them and is working to fix them.

Lucia


 
Siegfried Armbruster
Siegfried Armbruster  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 14:21
English to German
+ ...
In memoriam
The real reason might be something else Sep 20, 2016

If you look around on the web, you will find info such as this picture.

In my opinion ProZ had to do something, and it is positive that they do improve the site, even if I personally don't thing it has anything to do with improving "my user experience".

Alexa-1

The sharp drop in December is bad for ProZ and for us and the slow increase in August until now is good for ProZ and for us. I really don't care if the site has some hickups at the moment, if the site (and my profile) get back to their old ranking.


[Edited at 2016-09-20 13:10 GMT]


 
Jacques DP
Jacques DP  Identity Verified
Switzerland
Local time: 14:21
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks Lucia, just one question Sep 20, 2016

Thanks Lucia for clarifying the distinction between using the website on mobile and the Mobile app, and the fact that the problems are due to an effort to make the site mobile friendly, not to the Mobile app.

My point was you might want to make changes on an offline version and test it yourself with various browsers, zoom factors and window sizes, rather than making changes on the live version and expecting us to document blatant layout bugs, on a period of several months.
... See more
Thanks Lucia for clarifying the distinction between using the website on mobile and the Mobile app, and the fact that the problems are due to an effort to make the site mobile friendly, not to the Mobile app.

My point was you might want to make changes on an offline version and test it yourself with various browsers, zoom factors and window sizes, rather than making changes on the live version and expecting us to document blatant layout bugs, on a period of several months.

I understand you are happy to hear our bug reports, and I agree that it would be worse if you resented it. But we are paying members, so we would usually expect the website to function without actively contributing to its technical development. It's your job, while ours is to do translation work.

One question by the way, if I may. You're saying that mobile use is meant precisely to give professionals like Samuel and me even more effective ways to meet clients, give and receive terminology help. Can you clarify what would be a situation where I might want to receive terminology help on my smartphone?

I'm not saying mobile access to ProZ is necessarily useless and I understand some people may have a use for it, though I don't think it will often be the case for me (even though I do have a smartphone and two tabs which I use for all sorts of things).


[Edited at 2016-09-20 15:06 GMT]
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Heinrich Pesch
Heinrich Pesch  Identity Verified
Finland
Local time: 15:21
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
Mobile version should use own layout Sep 20, 2016

On a sophisticated phone screen I can display any web page as such and zoom in and out ad libidum. But if the developers want to create a site for small screens they should do this using only the raw data and a special layout for small screens. Not fiddle with the whole system.

 
Lucia Leszinsky
Lucia Leszinsky
SITE STAFF
My pleasure, Jacques Sep 20, 2016

Jacques DP wrote:

My point was you might want to make changes on an offline version and test it yourself with various browsers, zoom factors and window sizes, rather than making changes on the live version and expecting us to document blatant layout bugs, on a period of several months.


I agree in that optimization could have been done offline and tested carefully before it was made accessible to members, but at the same time great features with great usability have been developed and adjusted with member feedback. And while in the past some new features and adjustments may have been introduced to members after they were developed, this time we thought your input was of utmost importance. In the end, you are the regular users of such tools.

One question by the way, if I may. You're saying that mobile use is meant precisely to give professionals like Samuel and me even more effective ways to meet clients, give and receive terminology help. Can you clarify what would be a situation where I might want to receive terminology help on my smartphone?


Well, based on real usage, some members may indeed have terminology help needs as there have been a few KudoZ questions posted via the ProZ.com Mobile app. In any case, answering terminology help questions and Term Search browsing may be more popular than posting. We just want to make sure that most important tools and opportunities are there.

Lucia


 


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Large layout problems






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