05-24-2002, 03:53 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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We bring you...more!
Astute readers would have noticed that the RhinoSkin case review yesterday used something new - the "more" function. Uber-php guru Chris Edwards whipped up a little custom phpBB mod for us that allows us to truncate posts on the opening page. We add a special symbol, and everything after that symbol is cut off on the opening page but is there on the sub-page.
The net result I'm hoping for is reduced load time on the opening page, especially for those of you with Pocket PCs. Even (especially?) with offline tools like Mazingo and AvantGo, having less text & graphics on the opening page will help the anemic Pocket Internet Explorer to render the pages quicker. All the content is still there on the sub-page, so it won't speed up your Mazingo sync time if you do the full channel sync (two levels deep), but it should speed up the load time (the current page is 33 KB instead of 100+ KB). The down-side to this is that if you only sync with the "lite" channel (opening page only) you may not get the whole story.
I'm really eager to hear some feedback from you on what you think of this. Better? Worse? How can we tweak it to make it better for you? I'm anxious to have a "real" mobile version of the site, but until then, this is the best I can do with the tools I have. As a general rule we'll try to force any graphics over 15 KB onto the "sub" page, and the same for more than one or two paragraphs of text. This post is an exception because I want all the Mazingo readers to see it. 
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05-24-2002, 06:07 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 30
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Good job, I like it.
-Mike
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05-24-2002, 07:42 PM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,389
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I am not sure if I like it or not. It is nice that the page loads faster but it takes MUCH longer to read now. Before I just read through the main page and if I was further interested I clicked on the link. Now I become frustrated when I am reading along and all of a sudden it stops mid sentence. I have to click "more" and try to find my place again.
I think I like it better the old way. Now I spend all of my time clicking "more" then the back button. I loose my place too often. No flow the the reading experiance anymore. That is one of the things I liked most about this site. Unlike other sites I got all the important info without clicking or navigating back and forth.
Just my ramblings... 
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05-24-2002, 08:28 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 623
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I like the idea, but I think you have shortend some of the posts to much. Take Ed's post from a few days back. Now on the front page it says: "ARTICLE: He shoots.... he SCORES!!!!! - "It is May of 2004, the Grizzlies are in the playoffs and Shaquille O'Neal is at the free-throw line." ... ". How are we supposed to know what that is really about? At first glance you would think it might not have anything to do with Pocket PC.
I agree with the last guy who posted too. It does load faster, but clicking on the more button for all the stories you want to read all the way through takes a long time. Anyway, just my 2 cents.
__________________
~SpencerOwner-Editor of TabletPCBuzz.comMicrosoft MVP - Tablet PC
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05-24-2002, 08:38 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 544
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Would it be possible to have two versions of the front page? One (the default) would have this new feature and the other would show the entire article.
__________________
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
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05-24-2002, 09:03 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Thanks everyone - keep the feedback coming!
But look at our posts going forward, not the older ones - we're modifying the way we write them a little to make them work better with this new system, and some of the old ones clearly don't work very well.  ops:
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05-24-2002, 11:22 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 72
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I don't like it, because it does not work with "View posts since last visit".
When I start reading and then click "more" to read the full text, it will reset the "View posts since last visit".
This way I don't see all the other posts since my last visit.
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05-24-2002, 11:57 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 157
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Good idea, but...
Good idea, but I much prefer having everything on one page. Easier than always having to click on those [more...] links.
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05-25-2002, 12:08 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 171
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Pro.
It makes a huge difference with a slow connection and seems to work and flow well... possibly because I normally don't post with a ppc but wait for a pc keyboard for that.
Thanks... tis appreciated.
Beverly Howard
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05-25-2002, 12:16 AM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 667
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I see what you're trying to do, but the load time never bothered me in the first place and it was a pleasure to have it on one screen so you could just scroll down and read the thoughts. Then you only had to click something to follow up the ones you were more interested in.
Now you can't just hit the scroll button to read the thoughts; you have to have your stylus in hand the entire time clicking backward and forward. Before it was easy to read and now it's work. I know you've put a lot of work into it, and that's always appreciated, but I'm not sure this one was an improvement.
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Linear Mode
