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Topic: Forum navigation back arrow

fuchur

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Joined: 2009-10-07, 14:01
Posts: 186
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Location: Germany
Posted at: 2015-03-24, 22:43

When I want to read the latest posts in the forum I usually use the "Latest Posts" list on the right side. A click on the topic loads the topic with the last post in the viewing area. If there have been several new posts since I was there the last time I have to scroll up (which is perfectly fine) or go to a previous page. Now a click on the previous page number or the left arrow "<<" always displays the top of the page. But usually the unread posts are at the bottom of the page.

Now my suggestion is to make the left arrow "<<" link to the last post of the previous page. I hope that is not too difficult to implement.

I thought of filing a bug report for that, but I'm not sure if the forum readers would like the change. And I assume a thread here would be read by more affected people than a bug report. I know that this will introduce some kind of inconsitency as the arrow will behave different from the page numbers. But I wouldn't change the behaviour of the page numbers because I think there it is wanted to have the first post of the page in view. Especially if the selected page number differs by more than 1 from the current one.

Maybe someone can tell how this is handled in other fora. I think widelands should behave like people are used to it.

Edited: 2015-03-24, 22:44

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wl-zocker

Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37
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Posted at: 2015-03-24, 23:53

What if the "latest post" did not bring you to the latest post, but to the first unread post in a thread? I think that would be more comfortable (I would not have to open the previous page and search for potentially unread posts, then go back to the last page to read the rest). The information which user has read which posts is already stored somewhere and used when you click on forum in the navigation bar.


"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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GunChleoc
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Joined: 2013-10-07, 15:56
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Posted at: 2015-03-25, 09:03

I think the "first unread post" thing wl-zocker suggested would be the best solution. Usually, this is done by having an extra "new" link beside the topic title.

I have spent time on lots of different forums and none of them go to the bottom of the page when hitting the back arrow.

Edited: 2015-03-25, 09:04

Busy indexing nil values

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Venatrix
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Joined: 2010-10-05, 20:31
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Posted at: 2015-03-25, 09:48

Though I normally use the rss feed and don’t have that kind of problem, I would go for wl-zocker’s solution, too. Not only for the side bar, but for the forum overview as well.


Two is the oddest prime.

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fuchur

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Joined: 2009-10-07, 14:01
Posts: 186
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Widelands-Forum-Junkie
Location: Germany
Posted at: 2015-03-25, 10:14

The "first unread post" would be the best solution. face-smile.png

The only concern I have is that is needs cookies and/or being logged in. As I usually try to avoid tracking mechanisms in the internet I only log in to a site if I need to (writing a post). And I delete cookies after I close the browser. But that's a special problem of my personal internet usage: privacy vs. convenience face-confused.png


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GunChleoc
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Posted at: 2015-03-25, 12:19

This information can be stored in the database for logged in users, and in a cookie for guests. Since you can log in before reading, you wouldn't have a problem then.

I don't know how the current implementation works to notice if there is a new post; probably a timestamp for the last click.


Busy indexing nil values

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tuggyne

Joined: 2011-07-22, 00:27
Posts: 42
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Pry about Widelands
Location: TN
Posted at: 2015-03-26, 06:25

I would dearly love a "first unread post" feature like most forum software has.


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kaputtnik
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Joined: 2013-02-18, 20:48
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Posted at: 2015-03-26, 07:56

As i understand it right, you want to change the behavior of the "Latest Posts" panel on the right side:

  • This panel should contain links to the latest posts in a topic, since the user has last visited this topic?

On the forums overview and on the forum view (f.e. Technical help) there are allways signs for unread posts, but no such links. Just a question of interest: Does someone of you use this views?


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wl-zocker

Joined: 2011-12-30, 17:37
Posts: 495
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Posted at: 2015-03-26, 08:30

Let me explain how I read new posts:

Currently:

  • I look at the latest posts and check which ones I have not yet read. Since I mostly use the same browser, I can easily see this because visited links are shown in a different color.
  • I click on those links (Ctrl + LMB, which opens them in a new tab), and scroll upwards until I find the last read post (based on the date and time when I visited the forum last). This makes it sometimes necessary to go to the previous page, which is an extra click and some scrolling.
  • Only if all entries are new, I go to forums, look for fora in which new posts have been made, then go to the last post of the threads which contain new posts (that little arrow the the right, after the poster's name) and search backwards for the last read post. I do not use this way if not really necessary because it involves three links, some scrolling, plus the search for the last read post.

Ideally:

  • The section "New posts since your last login" (which replaces the "Latest posts") contains a link to the first unread post in every thread. It would be nice if the number was not restricted to five, but would adapt to the actual number of threads with new posts (so one link per thread, not per post).
  • We could limit the number to ten (I suggest something greater than five) to prevent very long lists. If there are still more (e.g. because I was on vacation), there should be a link at the bottom "Show the whole list" (or whatever) which links to a wiki-like page. This number (ten) could also be the default value for users that are not logged in and have no cookies.
  • By doing so, I would have everything with one click. It is not required anymore that I navigate to Forums and I would not have to scroll upwards anymore.

"Only few people know how much one has to know in order to know how little one knows." - Werner Heisenberg

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GunChleoc
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Posted at: 2015-03-26, 16:08

kaputtnik wrote:

On the forums overview and on the forum view (f.e. Technical help) there are allways signs for unread posts, but no such links. Just a question of interest: Does someone of you use this views?

Yes, all the time. I mostly ignore the side panel. This is an old habit from when nobody had side panels.


Busy indexing nil values

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