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[woahitsreeo]

Actually, that was the iOS linen cloth texture, which matches the stowaway options background. That was the whole point of using such a texture.

And as for woahitreeo's mockup, I actually don't think that type padding would be possible, due to the ad dimensions being fixed. I could be wrong, though (something like that would def. look better).

Regardless of design for everything else, if there can be padding on all sides of the ad-space or even a border around the ad-space to make it more separate, the webapp would look much better. Just as you said though and I said previously, I don't know if coding guidelines/ad guidelines would permit. It should be a possibility if coding is fixed-ratio rather than cut and dry specific per pixel dimensions. Hopefully ckohler can chime in and enlighten us all more on what is and isn't possible.

 

[sruckus]

I like some of the recent designs except I like the monocrome Gaf logo better (looks more modern) and I don't really like the blue menu that comes up. It looks out of place to me. I'd rather it be a dark gray background or something.

 

[noah111]

So I opened up the mockup pics on my iPhone, and it could still use some work, imo. Needs more spacing, in general. Even my version needs more spacing, since it seems too easy to accidentally tap the ad.

The N-Ball/options buttons could be a bit bigger, too, probably something like D4's last version. I'm kind of enticed to make a long image mockup that we can open on mobile just to get a feel for it all.

 

[Radec]

Anyone else having problem using http://www.secondapps.com/neogaf/ ?

In the past 2 days I can't browse normally. The front page is fine (list of thread titles etc..) then when I enter a thread, the format is messed up. It's like all images of the layout has been disabled, just text and avatars. :/

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Personally, my favourite thing about the app at the moment is how bare bones it is. There are some images, obviously, but they're mostly just simple gradients. One step above formatted plain text is kind of what I like about this, going all multimedia on this bitch really isn't my cup of tea.

 

[noah111]

Personally, my favourite thing about the app at the moment is how bare bones it is. There are some images, obviously, but they're mostly just simple gradients. One step above formatted plain text is kind of what I like about this, going all multimedia on this bitch really isn't my cup of tea.

That doesn't change the fact that we need a new interface that isn't iOS based. This going official means going to www.neogaf.com on a mobile device, will take you to this version.

And what that essentially means, is that the hundreds (of thousands?) of people visiting GAF from non-desktop devices, will be looking at an official mobile GAF. It needs to LOOK like NeoGAF, it can't just be some skin. Any 'graphics' (which are few and far imo) are there to help identify it as GAF.

It'd still be pretty barebones either way, I think.

 

[Kentpaul]

Anyone else having problem using http://www.secondapps.com/neogaf/ ?

In the past 2 days I can't browse normally. The front page is fine (list of thread titles etc..) then when I enter a thread, the format is messed up. It's like all images of the layout has been disabled, just text and avatars. :/

working for me. i browse daily.

 

[ckohler]

Hi guys. I've been finding all the mockups and debates very helpful. It's also kinda funny because it seems everyone has a different opinion about what this should look like. I've honestly liked some of the ideas being thrown around but here's MY thoughts:

First up, as cool as some of these GAF inspired designs have been I think they are too busy. They are also trickier to do because they have to stretch to fit different screen resolutions. Simpler is better.

Second, I actually still prefer my original design for another reason. It's something that can be reused on other projects. Making this look exactly like GAF prime means I can't reuse the design elsewhere. Aside from the color of the header and the logo, the design I came up with could work on any mobile site.

So, for now I think I'm just going to build my original design with maybe a few interesting ideas gleamed from these later mockups. I'm building the new version to support "themes", so later down the road maybe we could add selectable theme options. However, in order to move forward I'm just going to go with what I'm calling the "default" theme (the one I designed). One idea I gleamed from this debate that I really liked was having the header logo be a multipurpose button. So, instead of it just operating as a "back" button, I'm thinking of it being a popup menu that lets you chose to jump to any forum (or the main menu). This will free up extra icon space in the menu bar.

Third, all this time I've been working on the rewrite. It's taking longer than I thought but I decided several weeks ago to rewrite the entire web app from scratch. It was my first PHP project and was pretty sloppy. This new version is much more streamlined and has FAR better code reuse. I'm making good progress but I'm at the point where I need to start actually outputting what it will look like so I'm going to build it using my theme.

Once I get enough features working, I'm going to ask you guys to test it. Some very low level stuff changed (the way cookies are handled, for example) so I'm going to need people to test it. I'm also wanting to test a few browser things such has having a position:fixed header bar and embedded YouTube clips for everyone (not just iOS users). Soon, I'll post a link for your guys to test that has these HTML things and I'd like to get some feedback on if they work. If not, I think I may still have them but only as options you can turn on and off.

 

[RevDM]

Hi guys. I've been finding all the mockups and debates very helpful. It's also kinda funny because it seems everyone has a different opinion about what this should look like. I've honestly liked some of the ideas being thrown around but here's MY thoughts:

First up, as cool as some of these GAF inspired designs have been I think they are too busy. They are also trickier to do because they have to stretch to fit different screen resolutions. Simpler is better.

Second, I actually still prefer my original design for another reason. It's something that can be reused on other projects. Making this look exactly like GAF prime means I can't reuse the design elsewhere. Aside from the color of the header and the logo, the design I came up with could work on any mobile site.

So, for now I think I'm just going to build my original design with maybe a few interesting ideas gleamed from these later mockups. I'm building the new version to support "themes", so later down the road maybe we could add selectable theme options. However, in order to move forward I'm just going to go with what I'm calling the "default" theme (the one I designed). One idea I gleamed from this debate that I really liked was having the header logo be a multipurpose button. So, instead of it just operating as a "back" button, I'm thinking of it being a popup menu that lets you chose to jump to any forum (or the main menu). This will free up extra icon space in the menu bar.

Third, all this time I've been working on the rewrite. It's taking longer than I thought but I decided several weeks ago to rewrite the entire web app from scratch. It was my first PHP project and was pretty sloppy. This new version is much more streamlined and has FAR better code reuse. I'm making good progress but I'm at the point where I need to start actually outputting what it will look like so I'm going to build it using my theme.

Once I get enough features working, I'm going to ask you guys to test it. Some very low level stuff changed (the way cookies are handled, for example) so I'm going to need people to test it. I'm also wanting to test a few browser things such has having a position:fixed header bar and embedded YouTube clips for everyone (not just iOS users). Soon, I'll post a link for your guys to test that has these HTML things and I'd like to get some feedback on if they work. If not, I think I may still have them but only as options you can turn on and off.

I don't know anything about programming but I use the webapp multiple times a day. I would be happy to test drive it for you.

 

[noah111]

Hi guys. I've been finding all the mockups and debates very helpful. It's also kinda funny because it seems everyone has a different opinion about what this should look like. I've honestly liked some of the ideas being thrown around but here's MY thoughts:

First up, as cool as some of these GAF inspired designs have been I think they are too busy. They are also trickier to do because they have to stretch to fit different screen resolutions. Simpler is better.

Second, I actually still prefer my original design for another reason. It's something that can be reused. Aside from the color of the header and the logo, this design might work on other mobile sites. I like it being generic like this since I might end up using it elsewhere.

So, for now I think I'm just going to build my original design with maybe a few interesting ideas gleamed from these later mockups. I'm building the new version to support "themes", so later down the road maybe we could ad different theme options. However, in order to move forward I'm just going to go with what I'm calling the "default" theme (the one I design).

Third, all this time I've been working on the rewrite. It's taking longer than I thought but I decided several weeks ago to rewrite the entire web app from scratch. It was my first PHP project and was pretty sloppy. This new version is much more streamlined and has FAR better code reuse. I'm making good progress but I'm at the point where I need to start actually outputting what it will look like so I'm going to build it using my theme.

Once I get enough features working, I'm going to ask you guys to test it. Some very low level stuff changed (the way cookies are handled, for example) so I'm going to need people to test it. I'm also wanting to test a few browser things such has having a position:fixed header bar and embedded YouTube clips for everyone (not just iOS users). Soon, I'll post a link for your guys to test that has these HTML things and I'd like to get some feedback on if they work. If not, I think I may still have them but only as options you can turn on and off.

Good to hear, can't wait to test it all out.

Too bad that GAF-style design won't be progressed, a lot of people dug it I think. But it's definitely understandable since it would slow development down significantly, i'd imagine.

Hopefully in the future we can come back to it, I still think it'd be a great representation of an official GAF mobile site.

A few questions though: will the look be retina display supported? The image resources for the current web app doesn't look that good for some buttons, so I hope the graphics can be iPhone 4 supported-res.

Also, I wanted to ask about the main menu screen. Are there going to be more options included? I think the 'Store' tab as well as 'Search' should be included. Not even sure if a toolbar will be needed there.

Thanks for the update, and again, can't wait to start testing this out and using multi quote/jumpt to last unread post.

Making this look exactly like GAF prime means I can't reuse the design elsewhere.

Didn't think that would be an issue, kinda thought the whole point was to make it an official GAF directory rather than a 'generic mobile adaptation'.

That's a legitimate gripe though, from your perspective (in terms of streamlining future projects, etc).

 

[RevDM]

If you are putting in ads, can I please make a suggestion? If one touches an ad, can you please require a "do you want to open a new page?" prompt instead of automatically opening a new page.

 

[noah111]

If you are putting in ads, can I please make a suggestion? If one touches an ad, can you please require a "do you want to open a new page?" prompt instead of automatically opening a new page.

I think that'd kind of defeat the purpose. Is there a way to program it to open in a background tab, on iOS, ckohler? I don't think so, but that would be neat.

 

[RevDM]

I think that'd kind of defeat the purpose. Is there a way to program it to open in a background tab, on iOS, ckohler? I don't think so, but that would be neat.

I don't think so. Think of how annoying these ads can be if they are not formatted for mobile. It could take forever to get back to the thread.

 

[ckohler]

A few questions though: will the look be retina display supported? The image resources for the current web app doesn't look that good for some buttons, so I hope the graphics can be iPhone 4 supported-res.

Yes and no. This is a tricky issue that I'm currently dealing with. You see, in order to make this new version very skinnable (and have pure separation of content and design) I'm planning on using CSS background images a lot. However, most browsers don't support "background-size" making it impossible for me to have retina sized graphics scale down to non-retina layouts. So, some of the stuff may be retina and others not. The only time I can use an image that is high res is if I actually use the IMG HTML tag which I'm trying to avoid.

Also, I wanted to ask about the main menu screen. Are there going to be more options included? I think the 'Store' tab as well as 'Search' should be included. Not even sure if a toolbar will be needed there.

Those are excellent ideas. I will do that. I also am debating whether there should be a search box in the toolbar on the other pages. That would be convenient but would only work for simple, site wide keyword searches. There would still need to be a button to access the search page where you can get the full gamut of search options. We'll see if space allows it.

 

[ScOULaris]

You can count me in for the test drive. I'll help however I can.

 

[Oppo]

Hey ckohler. Check out the CSS menu bar on this page:

http://videojs.com/

It's below the teaser area, but sticks to the top of the browser window once you scroll up, and stays there. it's a pretty neat solution and would work well with your mobile GAF. I am going to be incorporating similar navbars on my own hybrid desktop/mobile sites in the future.

 

[ckohler]

Hey ckohler. Check out the CSS menu bar on this page:

http://videojs.com/

It's below the teaser area, but sticks to the top of the browser window once you scroll up, and stays there. it's a pretty neat solution and would work well with your mobile GAF. I am going to be incorporating similar navbars on my own hybrid desktop/mobile sites in the future.

That is indeed very slick however keep in mind that mobile browsers can be quite finicky. Like I said earlier, even position:fixed isn't supported everywhere (IE on WP7, for example). One thing I will be doing is using jQuery (not jQuery Mobile, just the normal version). That will be part of the upcoming test.

 

[noah111]

Yes and no. This is a tricky issue that I'm currently dealing with. You see, in order to make this new version very skinnable (and have pure separation of content and design) I'm planning on using CSS background images a lot. However, most browsers don't support "background-size" making it impossible for me to have retina sized graphics scale down to non-retina layouts. So, some of the stuff may be retina and others not. The only time I can use an image that is high res is if I actually use the IMG HTML tag which I'm trying to avoid.

I thought as much. Depends on how it will end up looking on retina devices, but I wonder if down the line you could have a toggle in the settings that enables HD graphics/resolution.

Won't be necessary if it doesn't look that bad (resolution wise), but we'll see.

Those are excellent ideas. I will do that. I also am debating whether there should be a search box in the toolbar on the other pages. That would be convenient but would only work for simple, site wide keyword searches. There would still need to be a button to access the search page where you can get the full gamut of search options. We'll see if space allows it.

That sounds neat, I would be all for a search box if there is enough size for it. If not, the button and a drop down search box (or something like that) would be equally effective, imo.

It would need to have an 'advance search' option as it currently works here, so people, like you said, can access the full search features.

PS. I'm wondering if EviLore would want an 'advertise' option on the main menu as well (ala the option above, in-between TOS and Store), but i'm not sure if it'd be appropriate for the user base that this is going for.

 

[Monumental]

I don't like Metro's UI because of the needlessly high contrast (all black backgrounds with bright white or colored text on top), unappealing fonts that tend to be bigger than necessary, and primary color tiles/white silhouette icons that look uniform but limit design possibilities a bit too much for my tastes.

What're you even babbling about?

Apps use the WP7 UI in the way the user sets it up. No one's forcing them to use a black background. Its the user's choice to use a white or black background. If someone doesn't like the contrasting white on black then they can switch to white backgrounds and it'll look the same as on the iPhone.

This works inverse for the tiles, where no one is forcing the dev to use the user selected primary colour for the tile background, they can design their tile in any way they want.

It's painfully obvious you don't know what you're talking about when you spout stuff like "limit design possibilities".

 

[noah111]

Oh and about the menu bar, what options will be available for users not signed-in? All I can imagine is the goto page and main menu buttons, and i'm guessing there'll be a 'log in' option in the menu bar, too?

 

[brotkasten]

Once I get enough features working, I'm going to ask you guys to test it. Some very low level stuff changed (the way cookies are handled, for example) so I'm going to need people to test it. I'm also wanting to test a few browser things such has having a position:fixed header bar and embedded YouTube clips for everyone (not just iOS users). Soon, I'll post a link for your guys to test that has these HTML things and I'd like to get some feedback on if they work. If not, I think I may still have them but only as options you can turn on and off.

Does that mean I don't have to log in every time I switch from HSPA to WiFi and back?

 

[ckohler]

Does that mean I don't have to log in every time I switch from HSPA to WiFi and back?

No. It will work even better because now when you read a thread on your desktop, it will be shown as read on the web app and vice versa (as long as you are logged into the same account on both).

 

[ScOULaris]

No. It will work even better because now when you read a thread on your desktop, it will be shown as read on the web app and vice versa (as long as you are logged into the same account on both).

The current Web app has always done this for me.

 

[Leona Lewis]

No. It will work even better because now when you read a thread on your desktop, it will be shown as read on the web app and vice versa (as long as you are logged into the same account on both).

It does that automatically for me already. Your web app is even better than you think :-D

 

[Good Job Bob]

ckohler, do you know how to make the web app go full-screen when you pin it to the home screen on iOS?

For example, the WP7 demo.

 

[noah111]

ckohler, do you know how to make the web app go full-screen when you pin it to the home screen on iOS?

For example, the WP7 demo.

If not, here's a good link, I think; http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mobile-web-apps/remove-address-bar/

Unless I didn't understand you correctly. It would be awesome to open GAF from the home screen (versus Safari) and have it fullscreen.

 

[ckohler]

It does that automatically for me already. Your web app is even better than you think :-D

Nope. It only works on the Subscribed thread view page. The forum view pages aren't synced with the desktop. The web app currently has a unique cookie to track viewed threads. If you read a new thread on the desktop, then view the same forum on the web app that thread will appear unread.

 

[Good Job Bob]

If not, here's a good link, I think; http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mobile-web-apps/remove-address-bar/

Unless I didn't understand you correctly. It would be awesome to open GAF from the home screen (versus Safari) and have it fullscreen.

That's exactly what I mean't!

Please do it ckohler!

 

[Leona Lewis]

Nope. It only works on the Subscribed thread view page. The forum view pages aren't synced with the desktop. The web app currently has a unique cookie to track viewed threads. If you read a new thread on the desktop, then view the same forum on the web app that thread will appear unread.

I guess I never noticed because I have it set to subscribe whenever I post in a thread.

Best forum has best web app. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Suggestion: remove the member status line from the app. It can take up a lot of space if someone doesn't have the "Member" tag.

I really love the refresh button on the bottom. I can't stand scrolling up in safari, refreshing, then scrolling all the way back down again.

 

[RoboPlato]

If not, here's a good link, I think; http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mobile-web-apps/remove-address-bar/

Unless I didn't understand you correctly. It would be awesome to open GAF from the home screen (versus Safari) and have it fullscreen.

This would be amazing.

 

[crazy monkey]

Just want to say I use this more than actual site.

 

[noah111]

Suggestion: remove the member status line from the app. It can take up a lot of space if someone doesn't have the "Member" tag.

I really love the refresh button on the bottom. I can't stand scrolling up in safari, refreshing, then scrolling all the way back down again.

If you're talking about that dark grey bar at the bottom that follows you ever, yes.

If you're talking about user tags under their name, definitely not.

Removing that just for people who have long tags? I'd rather have a solution that works like it does on GAF, if it's past x amount of characters, decrease the font size.

[EDIT] OK might as well post this stuff; last/final mockup (that i've been sitting on), tested it out on my phone and I think it's nicely spaced (as not to accidentally hit tap the advert) and has practically sized buttons (unlike previous mocks).

Forum/Board View
+Options Bar

Thread View
Guest View

When this is all finished, we should definitely get started working this into a selectable theme.

 

[D4Danger]

Yes and no. This is a tricky issue that I'm currently dealing with. You see, in order to make this new version very skinnable (and have pure separation of content and design) I'm planning on using CSS background images a lot. However, most browsers don't support "background-size" making it impossible for me to have retina sized graphics scale down to non-retina layouts. So, some of the stuff may be retina and others not. The only time I can use an image that is high res is if I actually use the IMG HTML tag which I'm trying to avoid.

you could use a CSS3 media query to target images at high-dpi devices

The only downside I can see is they would download the low res images as well but it would only be a few kb, not much.

http://thomasmaier.me/blog/2010/06/23/css-for-iphone-4-retina-display/

 

[Hey You]

I would love to be able to click a button and take me to the "First Unread Post" in a thread. That's the only reason I don't use this app and use the desktop version on my ipod.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

Honestly as long as search function is back it will be amazing.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

That doesn't change the fact that we need a new interface that isn't iOS based. This going official means going to www.neogaf.com on a mobile device, will take you to this version.

And what that essentially means, is that the hundreds (of thousands?) of people visiting GAF from non-desktop devices, will be looking at an official mobile GAF. It needs to LOOK like NeoGAF, it can't just be some skin. Any 'graphics' (which are few and far imo) are there to help identify it as GAF.

It'd still be pretty barebones either way, I think.

Yeah, I wish this would happen. It sucks opening a link and realizing it's not mobile version, and I have to basically copy the post ID and thread ID and paste it into mobile GAF. So time consuming. I was thinking about it the other day and I'm this close to buying a domain name and making it redirect to mobile GAF if it means making it more simpler.

C'mon, Evilore! Throw us a bone!

 

[noah111]

you could use a CSS3 media query to target images at high-dpi devices

The only downside I can see is they would download the low res images as well but it would only be a few kb, not much.

http://thomasmaier.me/blog/2010/06/23/css-for-iphone-4-retina-display/

This would be awesome.

Yeah, I wish this would happen. It sucks opening a link and realizing it's not mobile version, and I have to basically copy the post ID and thread ID and paste it into mobile GAF. So time consuming. I was thinking about it the other day and I'm this close to buying a domain name and making it redirect to mobile GAF if it means making it more simpler.

C'mon, Evilore! Throw us a bone!

This IS happening, right now.

This secondapps site will be going official, so i'm pretty sure NeoGAF.com on a mobile device will redirect to the new and improved mobile version, with ads, search, multi-quote, jump to last unread, etc.

I would love to be able to click a button and take me to the "First Unread Post" in a thread. That's the only reason I don't use this app and use the desktop version on my ipod.

Ckohler already confirmed he's working on this.

 

[noah111]

Forgot to ask this earlier, but ckohler, how will you be implementing multi-quote functionality? I assume there'll be two buttons (one for multi-quote and one for reply/quote?).

Also, I realize that there currently is no way to link to a users single post. You can click on the post # for a view of a single post here (top right), but there's no way to view or link to that in the mobile version.

I had done this mockup earlier (when using the angled gaf design) as a way to separate the Post# from the post date, so it could be a tappable area. I think it's really a necessary function to view single-posts.

 

[ScOULaris]

I really do hope ckohler gives us some sort of donation option when this is all done. He deserves some kind of compensation for all of his work on this project. EviLore will have an increase in ad revenue, we'll have an awesome new GAF web app, and ckohler should end up with a nice chunk of change via donations.

Just sayin'. I'd be more than willing to throw a few bones his way.

 

[noah111]

^DEFINITELY. Even just a donation link in the about tab would do.

Also, will this still be hosted on your servers, ckohler, or will it move over to GAF/Evil's? If the former, you're probably gonna HAVE to be open to donations, I'd imagine (bandwidth increase, etc).

 

[Hey You]

Ckohler already confirmed he's working on this.

Ah okay. Didn't read through the entire thread.

 

[Fatalah]

This thread is full of activity, so it's a bit hard to follow. My only request is for a thread title change, because I'm sure there's a large number of traffic coming from non-iOS devices. Actually, that brings me to a second request - skins for ICS and WP7.

 

[ClovingWestbrook]

This thread is full of activity, so it's a bit hard to follow. My only request is for a thread title change, because I'm sure there's a large number of traffic coming from none iOS devices. Actually, that brings me to a second request - skins for ICS and WP7.

Only mods/ admins can change titles.

 

[noah111]

This thread is full of activity, so it's a bit hard to follow. My only request is for a thread title change, because I'm sure there's a large number of traffic coming from non-iOS devices. Actually, that brings me to a second request - skins for ICS and WP7.

Didn't even notice this, lol.

A

Spoiler

n Official

NeoGAF Web App

 

[EviLore]

What's with this donation talk? You guys need to relax. I'd be more than happy to pay ckohler for his work, we just haven't discussed yet.

 

[ScOULaris]

What's with this donation talk? You guys need to relax. I'd be more than happy to pay ckohler for his work, we just haven't discussed yet.

That's great. There had never been any mention of payment up until now, so we just wanted to make sure ckohler knew that donations were something we were open to.

Since you're here, do you have any thoughts about the proposed mockups by ckohler and others? Anything you'd like to add?

 

[EviLore]

That's great. There had never been any mention of payment up until now, so we just wanted to make sure ckohler knew that donations were something we were open to.

Since you're here, do you have any thoughts about the proposed mockups by ckohler and others? Anything you'd like to add?

On my phone right now, I'll look it over in detail when I'm situated.

 

[gcubed]

if its not a free project i think it makes even more sense to make it look like gaf-lite and not IOS on the web

 

[noah111]

if its not a free project i think it makes even more sense to make it look like gaf-lite and not IOS on the web

I agree, but I think either way, if we want to get things going sooner rather than later, the first version of this will probably need to use the generic look in the original design ckohler posted.

Maybe afterwards a GAF-style can be official/default, or just a selectable skin as mentioned before. I'd still like to see it as the default look, though. Just makes a bit more sense (imo).