Here a Tweak, There a Tweak, Everywhere a Tweak-Tweak

[Jason Dunn]

We're still working hard to polish up the rough edges of the site. Here are a few of the outstanding issues our team has tackled lately:<br /><br />• If you're a Mac user using Mozilla, and wondering why you're ending up on the mobile page, here's the deal: the user agent string for Mozilla on the Mac is, you guessed it, "PPC" - the same as Pocket Internet Explorer (it stands for "PowerPC" in this case). So, unfortunately, this means you get punted to the mobile version of the site. The best solution we can come up with is a version of the site that <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/no_sniffer.php">has no browser sniffer on it.</a> Bookmark that URL and use it to avoid this issue. Then start an email campaign to get Mozilla to change it. :roll: The downside to the "no siffer" version of the opening page is that it's not compatible with the news filter on the site.<br /><br />• Voting has been switched from an IP-based system to a cookie-based system. The net result is that those of you sharing an IP address with your fellow co-workers can now vote in the polls. The downside is that it's now possible to "cheat" on the polls by tossing your cookies (so to speak) and voting again. My hope is that everyone will be honest and only vote once. I should note that your vote is tied to your profile, so I hope you all at least have your own profiles on the site.<br /><br />• For those of you who are using Mobile Favorites to download this site, you should point your browsers to mobile.pocketpchtoughts.com. That URL should work for everyone within 72 hours, and it points directly to the mobile version of this site.<br /><br />There's still a lot of work to be done on the site, but we're getting there!

[JonnoB]

Let me be the first to say ithat this site rocks and the changes are an improvement on what was already very useful and rich source of Pocket PC news. Keep up the great work and service to the community!

[Paragon]

What about email notification? Or are you guys just trying to get rid of me? :D

Dave

[PDAlien]

In Javascript, doesn't navigator.platform return the OS platform? For PC's it returns WIN32, so I would imagine it would return MAC or something for a Mac. I've successfully done it before, but misplaced my code at my old job.

You may want to investigate this further, because the user agent is not the only way to detect who's accessing the site. A combination of user agent and navigator platform should be able to determine almost exactly what platform a user has.

Are there a lot of Mac pocket PC users?

[Mike Temporale]

Jason,

When sniffing for Pocket IE, just check that the OS isn't Mac based. That should fix the problem.

Your typical PIE browser string looks like:
Mozilla/2.0 (compatible; MSIE 3.02; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320)

So you can easily check both the operating system AND the browser type.

If you need any help with this, let me know. I might be able to help you out.

[topps]

Previously I found that the site was a pleasure to access via wireless PDA, even over a slow CDPD connection. It formatted well to the PPC screen but does not now. Maybe I'm using the wrong URL but I was under the impression that, with the sniffer, I should be able to point PIE at www.pocketpcthoughts.com and still be given the mobile version.

This has probably been raised in previous discussions and I apologise if so because I have not been keeping up.

I'll try the mobile URL.

[badbob001]

Why not just go here

http://www.xulplanet.com/downloads/prefbar/

and install the Preference Bar and be able to choose or change the user agent at whim?

[Pony99CA]

What about email notification? Or are you guys just trying to get rid of me?

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who's not getting the E-mail notifications. Let's get that fixed before the Mac issue. :-)

Steve

[lar3ry]

• If you're a Mac user using Mozilla, and wondering why you're ending up on the mobile page, here's the deal: the user agent string for Mozilla on the Mac is, you guessed it, "PPC" - the same as Pocket Internet Explorer (it stands for "PowerPC" in this case). So, unfortunately, this means you get punted to the mobile version of the site. The best solution we can come up with is a version of the site that has no browser sniffer on it. (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/no_sniffer.php) Bookmark that URL and use it to avoid this issue. Then start an email campaign to get Mozilla to change it. :roll: The downside to the "no siffer" version of the opening page is that it's not compatible with the news filter on the site.

Jason,

I usually like what you do with this site, but this is one area where I disagree with you.

Why do you think Mozilla is at fault here? PPC for PowerPC has been in use WAY BEFORE Microsoft ever thought of the term "Pocket PC." IBM called their original RS/6000 platform the "Power Platform" and the one-chip version of it the "PowerPC." You may also consider that "PocketPC" is just Microsoft's name du jour for the platform. It is a rename of Windows CE (with the rather ugly shortened name "WinCE"). Who knows if Microsoft won't decide that "MiniPC" might be a better name next year? After all, nobody REALLY puts these devices in their pockets (at least, not their pants pockets!).

Personally, I think that "sniffing" for a PocketPC device and redirecting the user to a different page is wrong. If a person wants to get to the mobile page, they should type "mobile.pocketpcthoughts.com" or whatever other URL in the first place. Why do you think it necessary to try to outsmart the visitors to your site? Some people might want to actually get to the site that they type!

If you INSIST on "sniffing" for a PocketPC, why not give them the page they asked for, and, if you wish to be helpful, add a link near the top saying "If you are viewing this on a PocketPC, you may find this link to be better. Bookmark the resulting page." This way, you won't frustrate Mac users or PocketPC users that wish to view your site.

[24va]

I wish the 'sniffer' would work on the forums while using PIE!!

[Jason Dunn]

What about email notification? Or are you guys just trying to get rid of me?

This is a bit of a mystery to be honest - I'm getting notifications fairly reguarly, but I know that not all others are. We're investigating it - I think it may be related to the name of our server (ensim.pocketpcthoughts.com) not being in a public DNS yet. I've submitted it to the Rackshack DNS, so hopefully within a few days it will resolve, and this will start working. The problem is that many mail servers do a reverse lookup on the SMTP server on the other end, and if they can't find it, they reject the email.

[Jason Dunn]

In Javascript, doesn't navigator.platform return the OS platform? For PC's it returns WIN32, so I would imagine it would return MAC or something for a Mac. I've successfully done it before, but misplaced my code at my old job.

Thanks, I'll look into that. :)

[Jason Dunn]

I should be able to point PIE at www.pocketpcthoughts.com and still be given the mobile version.

That's correct, you should. You aren't? Have you hacked the user agent string on the Pocket PC?

[Jason Dunn]

Personally, I think that "sniffing" for a PocketPC device and redirecting the user to a different page is wrong. If a person wants to get to the mobile page, they should type "mobile.pocketpcthoughts.com"

Communicating that message on a regular basis would be impossible - and you should know how hard it is to create a brand and get the URL drilled into people's heads. Trying to do that with a mobile version of the site is a losing scenario - intelligent routing of clients, whether it be a Pocket PC, a Smartphone, or a WAP phone, is what has to occur - there is no other viable option.

[Anthony Caruana]

Great job on the new site design.

I've only just started using PIE to view the site. The home page renders really well in PIE. Are the forums meant to render in the same way? I need to scroll from left to right to view messages. Is this normal?

[mmidgley]

hasn't the Mac/PowerPC combination been around longer than PocketPC? why do we assume the other software is to blame? i'm no Microsoft basher (at least not in any harsh way), but shouldn't Microsoft have researched this better? couldn't Microsoft have used "MSPPC"--and do something consistant with desktop IE? in general i'm displeased with the industry's lack of proper use of the agent string.

m.

[Ed Hansberry]

hasn't the Mac/PowerPC combination been around longer than PocketPC? why do we assume the other software is to blame? i'm no Microsoft basher (at least not in any harsh way), but shouldn't Microsoft have researched this better? couldn't Microsoft have used "MSPPC"--and do something consistant with desktop IE? in general i'm displeased with the industry's lack of proper use of the agent string.

m.

Because I think by now there have been more Pocket PCs sold than there are Macs still in use. :wink:

[rogben]

Personally, I think that "sniffing" for a PocketPC device and redirecting the user to a different page is wrong.

Nah... it's a way to seamlessly provide the optimum experience for most users. It would be nice if those with a need could override the redirect, sure, but that can wait.

OTOH, I agree that blaming any sniffing problems on Mozilla is just silly. "PPC" has been part of Netscape user-agent strings for years, as well as those of other Mac browsers like iCab. The solution is to fix the broken sniffer... simple as that.

--
Roger

[alex_kac]

Because I think by now there have been more Pocket PCs sold than there are Macs still in use. :wink:

I beg to differ! I use a Mac for all my stuff. My Windows PC is used for Pocket PC development - and that's about it :)

[Jason Dunn]

The solution is to fix the broken sniffer... simple as that.

True, and we're working on it. But I couldn't resist poking fun at the Mac users. :lol:

[Jonathon Watkins]

What about email notification? Or are you guys just trying to get rid of me?


Ah - I had wondered why it had gotten a bit quiet recently. I rely on the email notification to let me know what is going on in threads that interest me. Please fix them ASAP! :D Cheers!