PF5 Problems & Errors: Report & Discuss

[Tom.G]

My window size is 1241x816 on a screen of 2048x1152. 102 pixels-per-inch, 4 pixels-per-mm.

Window height must be greater than 918 to show any part of "[->Log out"

 

[fresh_42]

I remember that I also found it disturbing at the beginning when I couldn't find it. It is certainly visited more often than "reactions received". But I admit that this is a general issue of many websites. Log out has to be at the end. Says who? It reminds a bit of ad fade-ins where you can't find the cross to close them.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

@Tom.G @jim hardy @fresh_42 how about now?

 

[fresh_42]

I think this is perfect.

But now I'm thinking about what "update your status" should mean, except for a copy of fb status.
Can I answer this by a quotation: "McCOY (on viewscreen): Aside from a touch of arthritis, I'd say pretty good."?

 

[jim hardy]

This is not design but a result of low screen resolution. What device are you using @jim hardy?

my laptop screen
is this an answer ?

That's the selection with highest numbers - is that resolution ?

 

[jim hardy]

Perfect ! Thank you Greg !

 

[Wrichik Basu]

By the way Greg, did you figure out what bug is causing this error that I mentioned some time back? Actually now it's happening with all the dropdowns like Alerts, Conversations, etc. On my phone (desktop view on), I cannot read the alerts until I zoom in, but as soon as I zoom in, the dropdown just runs away.

 

[Orodruin]

Even if it is not intended as an unread watched thread counter, I believe it is how many people have been using it.

Let me also be clearer with this. It is not just watched threads, but all things watched that create alerts. Including new threads in watched forums. The functionality used to be that alerts were marked as read when you visited the alerts page - meaning that they were marked as new when you did so. Now the alerts are matked as read upon drop down of the alerts menu, meaning that they are no longer marked as unread when you go to the alerts page.

This can be changed by a setting, but regardless of that setting new alerts are not highlighted on the alerts page in the same way they are highlighted in the alerts menu. (All that is different is that they do not have a ”mark unread” link.)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

This can be changed by a setting, but regardless of that setting new alerts are not highlighted on the alerts page in the same way they are highlighted in the alerts menu. (All that is different is that they do not have a ”mark unread” link.)

There is a setting for this in
https://www.physicsforums.com/account/preferences

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

By the way Greg, did you figure out what bug is causing this error that I mentioned some time back?

Honestly I don't know how to solve this. Dealing with zoom level for browsers is really messy to detect and implement. Zooming with the menus works fine in Chrome.

 

[Orodruin]

There is a setting for this in
https://www.physicsforums.com/account/preferences

If there is I cannot find it. I have found the setting that does not mark alerts as read upon dropping down the alert popup, but I have not found any setting that highlights unread alerts in the alerts page.

 

[fresh_42]

There is a setting for this in
https://www.physicsforums.com/account/preferences

I think that he meant that the "new" marker is gone (by clicking) before entering the page (list) itself. So if one regularly uses the listing, then the information new / old is gone, since it needs two clicks to enter the list.

 

[Orodruin]

I think that he meant that the "new" marker is gone (by clicking) before entering the page (list) itself. So if one regularly uses the listing, then the information new / old is gone, since it needs two clicks to enter the list.

No, there is a setting that makes sure just seeing the alert pop-up does not mark alerts as read. I have found that setting. What is currently my issue is that it is very difficult to see what alerts are new on the alerts page, even if they have not been marked as read. The only way of telling read alerts from unread alerts is that the read alerts have a link next to them stating "mark unread".

Edit: For illustration.

The top one is unread and the bottom one is read. The only difference is the "Mark unread" link at the bottom.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

The only way of telling read alerts from unread alerts is that the read alerts have a link next to them stating "mark unread".

fixed

 

[fresh_42]

No, there is a setting that makes sure just seeing the alert pop-up does not mark alerts as read. I have found that setting.

Can you tell me which box it is? I haven't understood the "push" functionality, though.

 

[Orodruin]

fixed

Much better. Together with the setting, this makes me happier.

Just for reference (@BvU @Tom.G ), the setting is this one:

Unchecking the setting below (Alerts page skips mark read) allows you to mark alerts as read upon visiting the alerts page. Alerts that were new when loading the page still appear with the red border. With the new fix and those to settings marked and unmarked, respectively, this reproduces how PF4 used to work for me.

 

[Tom.G]

@Greg Bernhardt
"[-> Log out" fixed, much better! thanks.
Still no joy with the Alerts dropdown.

Here is a repeat of post #90, and I note that the "Alerts" dropdown also had the dotted box as mentioned in 1) therein.

Since we're on to the 'inconveniencies' now...

1) Restore dashed outline around user-current forum and thread lists.
The main page that lists all the forums, and the thread lists in the the forums, used to put a dashed line around a forum you clicked on. Please restore that. Since I open forums and threads in a new tab, I used that dashed outline to keep track of where I left off!

2) Need more contrast of pinned threads background.
In the individual forums, the background for pinned threads has little contrast with the background for the 'normal' threads. Makes it hard to know where to start looking for the current/normal threads.

@Orodruin
Thanks for tracking down the Preference setting. I haven't noticed any difference though, maybe I'm missing something?

 

[BvU]

On a 'nice to have' note: I responded to this post and now regret I bumped him off the unread list after only 90 min. How about a button to add a reply or a comment without that side effect ?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

On a 'nice to have' note: I responded to this post and now regret I bumped him off the unread list after only 90 min. How about a button to add a reply or a comment without that side effect ?

Do you mean unanswered list? If we have a function to override that then the list doesn't make sense. Don't worry about it.

 

[BvU]

Let me ask another one: one third of my screen (chrome, W7) shows a side bar with ">> top threads" and ">> unanswered threads" . They turn out to be really old. What's the purpose ? Can I get rid of them and have my screen back ?
What does "change width" at the bottom do ? (trial and error reveals something that resembles 'fix width')

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Can I get rid of them and have my screen back ?
What does "change width" at the bottom do ? (trial and error reveals something that resembles 'fix width')

Change width will expand the main content area to full width.

 

[BvU]

Change width will expand the main content area to full width.

Doesn't do that for me: side bar remains

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Doesn't do that for me: side bar remains

The sidebar is permanent. Depending on your screen resolution the main content area will stretch.

 

[Tom.G]

Another bug bit, in the text box for creating or editing a post.

Highlite some text with left-button-drag.
Position cursor in highlited text.
To copy the text to an additional place, Ctrl-Left-Drag.

But it doesn't. Ctrl-Left-Button changes the width to 15 characters, for the whole page. How do we drag-copy text in this new version? Worked fine in PF4.

 

[fresh_42]

Works here well:

dragged from your post:
Worked fine in PF4.

dragged within this editor box from line 1 to here:
as

 

[Tom.G]

Rats! Another compatibility issue. Works for some, not others. Oh well, thanks for checking.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Rats! Another compatibility issue. Works for some, not others. Oh well, thanks for checking.

I've tested the highlight to quote capability with the latest versions of Chrome, IE, FF, and Opera. Please use a recent version of one of those.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Replying to the first post in a thread with custom fields, now includes the custom fields in the quote. Still working on highlight to quote.

 

[BvU]

View attachment 242310

worked as desired (by me) until:
@anorlunda merged a thread with a reply from me with another thread by the same OP . My reply was now moot, so he deleted it rightly. But now the alert counter is stuck at 1-- no reset when I click the link
https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/242751

 

[fresh_42]

worked as desired (by me) until:
@anorlunda merged a thread with a reply from me with another thread by the same OP . My reply was now moot, so he deleted it rightly. But now the alert counter is stuck at 1-- no reset when I click the link
https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/242751

Yes, some sort of alerts don't vanish, even if you visited them or clicked on the bell. The only way is to set all alerts on read, which is a bit annoying as you have to open the alert page first and cannot mark them separately as read.

 

[Orodruin]

worked as desired (by me) until:
@anorlunda merged a thread with a reply from me with another thread by the same OP . My reply was now moot, so he deleted it rightly. But now the alert counter is stuck at 1-- no reset when I click the link
https://www.physicsforums.com/attachments/242751

There is always the option to visit the alerts page and mark all alerts as read.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

These are not errors, but some suggestions:

1. I know that font size can be changed using BBCodes. Can you put an icon that can increase or decrease text size, like in MS word?

2. Can you put an option for toggle case?

3. Inline codes can be written using BBCodes. Can this be simplified? For example, we can write Latex by $$ and ##. Can anything similar be made for internal codes, so as to simplify the writing? It's time consuming to write [icode][/icode] every time.

 

[DrClaude]

1. I know that font size can be changed using BBCodes. Can you put an icon that can increase or decrease text size, like in MS word?

Personally, I see no value in users changing the size of the font. I would therefore discourage any attempt to make that easier.

 

[fresh_42]

These are not errors, but some suggestions:

1. I know that font size can be changed using BBCodes. Can you put an icon that can increase or decrease text size, like in MS word?

However, our font size is 16 which you get by removing format (leftmost button).

2. Can you put an option for toggle case?

What do you mean? The thing behind the rightmost button?

3. Inline codes can be written using BBCodes. Can this be simplified? For example, we can write Latex by $$ and ##. Can anything similar be made for internal codes, so as to simplify the writing? It's time consuming to write [icode][/icode] every time.

Code tags are behind the symbol with the red circle around.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

However, our font size is 16 which you get by removing format (leftmost button).

From my phone (with desktop view on), I cannot see any text size button:

What do you mean? The thing behind the rightmost button?

No, something that can capitalise text or make capitalised text small. Something similar exists in MS word.

Code tags are behind the symbol with the red circle around.

I know they are already present there, but it's difficult to use them from my phone. Generally when I am accessing the site from the phone, the interface between the browser (Chrome) and the keyboard is a little buggy at times, and almost always quite slow. I have tried this on different phones, with desktop view on and off, but no change. Even autocorrect doesn't work. (This doesn't happen from PC.) So, when typing long replies, I type them out separately in Google keep (which is quite fast), and copy that to the Reply box. This means I have to type out all the codes. Bold or italics can still be managed. But when I am working in the math software workshop, it's really tedious to wrote out icode again and again. Just like we can write LaTeX without using BBCodes, if something similar could be done for inline code, it would be great. At least for mobile browsers.