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Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:41 am
by computerslayer
Hi all,

I couldn't find this subject in the forums - my apologies if this has been discussed before.

I'm wondering if there is an easy and cheap way to make the forum mobile-friendly. I use an application called Tapatalk, though I know its not the only show in town. Is there something already in place that I missed or could this be something done without disrupting what already exists?

Thanks for considering the idea.
CS

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:51 am
by Krulle
There is a board for forum features requests: Forum and Website Stuff.
I think your request would be served much better there.

And personally, I think no.
Something like this is a major change in software, and as such a major weakness in software architecture.
We all remember what happened to the old forum.
We do not want that to happen again.

Most smartphones are forum friendly enough, I know I have no issue with Goblinsforum, although I use a very cheap, old, otherwise good for nothing "smart phone".

What does "tapatalk" do? Does it write out what you're dictating?

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:35 am
by Krulle
Okay, got curious.

Tapatalk is an aggregator collecting new posts on different forums or forum-like webpages.
For it to work, it needs to also be installed on the server side of the forum.

I, personally, do not see a need for an aggregator being between me and my forum experience, but then that's me.

There is a tapatalk phpBB add-on (link), for the phpBB 3.0 series.
I do not know which version is installed for Goblinsforum (can't find a hint), so I do not know if we even could install a stable version.
Also, there are new releases every few weeks fixing problems. Keeping it up to date might not be worth it.

But there have been bad experiences with tapatalk, so I vote against installing something like this.

Also, I do not want to see posts with the end line "sent from my iPhone using tapatalk" (or corresponding other OS) in every post. That kind of advertisements are annoying.
Apparently, that line is standard to be added to the post text (so it's not part of the signature) when using tapatalk.
I'm sure you can set it off as a user, but my experience is, that many are too lazy to switch it off on their side.

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:56 pm
by computerslayer
Hi Krulle,

Sorry for the late reply. I've been off at a family funeral all week and not near a computer all week. I did have my tablet, but well, that's why I started this thread after all - not much usability for me there.

My biggest problem with these forums is that they don't detect mobile browsing, at least from what I can tell. I use the Google Nexus 7 tablet and Chrome on it. There is a lot of pinching and zooming to select the buttons that are sized perfectly for a desktop experience, but not so much for fingers on a screen. Type is especially frustrating because the site detects finger touches as mouse clicks - typed responses are usually lost when this results in accidentally browsing away.

Although I use Tapatalk, I'm not wedded to it as the only or best option. From the minor research I've done, it is possible to add a mobile style (theme) to phpbb....though the mods and Tarol would best know how possible that is with the version we're using. I ran across this tutorial about installing such a mod that suggests it would be much easier than an app support.

I want to be sure to mention that as far as problems go, I'm grateful for the fact that this is the only one I have! Our forums hear are well-organized, thoughtfully moderated and are home to some great folks. I think this could help, but I don't mean to denigrate what we have either.

Peace,
CS

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 8:14 pm
by RocketScientist
I can't say with certainty, but I think the amount of work it would take for installing and supporting something like that is more than the admins can handle right now. Personally, I access the forums from my Kindle a lot. The only problem I have is when I'm trying to select a bunch of type in the reply box. That's a pain.

But if a lot of people are interested, I'm sure they would at least consider it.

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 1:54 am
by Krulle
computerslayer wrote:Hi Krulle,

Sorry for the late reply. I've been off at a family funeral all week and not near a computer all week.
Nothing to be sorry about.
And my condolences.
My biggest problem with these forums is that they don't detect mobile browsing, at least from what I can tell.
phpBB indeed does not.

I understand your need.
I use my wife's iPad a lot to access the forum...

But, it's not the site that detects
Type is especially frustrating because the site detects finger touches as mouse clicks - typed responses are usually lost when this results in accidentally browsing away.
it's your browser that interprets finger scrolling as clicks.
I tend to touch the screen longer than necessary to avoid being accidentally too short in touching, thus being interpreted as clicking....
Although I use Tapatalk, I'm not wedded to it as the only or best option. From the minor research I've done, it is possible to add a mobile style (theme) to phpbb....though the mods and Tarol would best know how possible that is with the version we're using. I ran across this tutorial about installing such a mod that suggests it would be much easier than an app support.
This is something I could stand behind.
Also thank you for looking deeper and proposing other solutions as well. I'm sure the admins are much more inclined to consider such requests than just "I want mobile support".
The decision will remain Moose's or Duke's though, as they are the admins.
I want to be sure to mention that as far as problems go, I'm grateful for the fact that this is the only one I have! Our forums hear are well-organized, thoughtfully moderated and are home to some great folks.
[/quote]I'm sure the mods and forumites are glad to read that.

Can someone of the mods please move this thread to the correct forum? (Forum and Website Stuff)

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:13 pm
by RocketScientist
done

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:21 am
by Krulle
Thank you.

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 3:52 pm
by SeeAMoose
Mobile support is near the top of our list for things to add to the forum when we have the time. The problem is I don't have as much time to work on such things as I'd like and there are a lot of other things on the to do list too.

Re: Mobile (ie, Tapatalk) support?

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 4:13 pm
by computerslayer
Thanks for the move RocketScientist (and to you Krulle for pointing out the right forum).

I'm jazzed that mobile support is on the todo list. If there's a way to help (time, efforts, donations, et cetera), I hope you feel free to let us know!

Peace,
CS