Calling all iPhone users

[Pete]

Over the past week I've been working on an iPhone theme for the forum; a lightweight version of the forum, with an iPhone style interface, which should be much quicker loading, and easier to use on a small screen. Are there any iPhone users out there who want to help test it for me?

It should also work on other mobile browsers, but I onl have an iPhone to test it on.

[Julz]

Im running via a dongle, mini laptop and 3g most of the time Pete if that would help

Julz

[Guest]

Happy to test it on a Blackberry.

[Guest]

I may be getting an iPhone and if I do I'll be happy to test. Not sure yet though. I've always been one for sleek and slim handsets so I declined an iPhone when the company last renewed. However my colleague didn't and I have to say, despite its relative bulk I was impressed by it. He has now left and the iPhone is going spare and every so often I hear it calling my name.

There's also the small fact that since I got my Nokia whateveritis it was nearly at ground zero during my metal post incident earlier in the year and despite my efforts at bending it back looks slightly like a flat black banana.

[Pete]

For those of you with mobiles, if you try accessing the site now from your mobile, it should automatically direct you to the iphone style theme. Would be interesting to see how it displays on devices other than the iphone. At the moment it can only detect mobile browsers, and not laptops connecting through a dongle.

So far it supports the following:

Login/Logout

Listing Forums

Reading Topics

Creating new topics

Replying to topics

Listing active topics

Listing PM's

Reading PM's

(Creating PM's to follow shortly)

There is a bug where after the 'Information' page displays (after logging in, posting a topic, replying to a topic) the links on that page either dont work, or make the next page look odd, but should be fixed soon. Also stickies and announcements aren't handled too well yet.

So let me know what you all think, and let me know of any problems or possible improvements.

[Pete]

Some screenshots are attached below. Those of you familiar with the iPhone interface will hopefully recognise the similarity.

[Pete]

Hello from my iPhone!

[Guest]

It works really well on my Blackberry Bold. I don't have to scroll backwards and forwards across the screen to read the beginnings and ends of lines any more, which was a real PITA. Well done Pete - good stuff.

Bruce

[Pete]

It works really well on my Blackberry Bold. I don't have to scroll backwards and forwards across the screen to read the beginnings and ends of lines any more, which was a real PITA. Well done Pete - good stuff.

Bruce

Thats great. Have noticed a few usability issues, mostly arising because I did all the testing on a test site with only a single forum.

[Pete]

Opera is doing a slightly odd thing at the top of the page, where it displays the thread title over the top of the reply button. It's possible to select but from a UI perspective it would be good if it rendered them a bit further apart.

Glad to hear it works reasonably well on Opera Mobile. Any chance you could take a screenshot of what you're seeing? I've got a rough idea of what you mean; on the iPhone the buttons overlay the title, but should be easy enough to enforce the layering

[Guest]

Yes it is quicker to load and more readable without enlarging will I phone format allow picture uploads in the future, also might their be an opt back option?

[Pete]

Yes it is quicker to load and more readable without enlarging will I phone format allow picture uploads in the future, also might their be an opt back option?

Hi, I'm not sure yet if the iphone allows image uploads, as I dont think you can access the photo library from the browser. With the new OS coming out soon though, that may change.

Yes, an opt-out feature will soon be appearing.

[Brian]

Ive been using this with my Ipod Touch using my Wireless network.

ITs cracking Pete !

[Guest]

brian or pete could you call me on asap

[Pete]

Have updated the iPhone version of the site with a few minor changes.

* The forum list is now divided into categories.

* Sub-forums now display correctly, and don't cause a redirect loop.

More to come soon!

[Brian]

This is a massive task to take on, i have to say many thanks Pete for taking this one on.

[Pete]

This is a massive task to take on, i have to say many thanks Pete for taking this one on.

No need to thank me, doing it as a mini project for myself, which hopefully one day soon will get used by many other forums.

Just added auto-login, and hide-me-this-session checkboxes/sliders on the login page, so should save you having to type in your login details each time you visit on a tiny keypad/screen.

[Pete]

I do like this phone-friendly skin. The only thing I miss is the ability to reply to pm's - Admittedly most of the people I PM I could just text instead, but it would be great if that was added (pretty please)

Thats high on my list, I gave it a shot about a week ago, but for some reason it didn't work, and what with it being mobile phone based, its a PITA to debug.

[Pete]

Thats high on my list, I gave it a shot about a week ago, but for some reason it didn't work, and what with it being mobile phone based, its a PITA to debug.

Replying to and creating new PM's should work now, let me know if there's any issues.

Edit: when creating a new PM, when you submit the message, you'll be redirected back to the message, (but with the typed in username now turned into a (broken) link), submitting the message again will actually submit the message second time around. This is the same way as it works on the forum, although it's not so obvious.

[Pete]

A few more updates...

More space around the page jump buttons at the bottom of the page, so that they're easier to press.

Posts are now more clearly spread out when reading a topic.

(Links to) Attachments now display regardless of whether they've been added inline or not.

Attachments at the end of a post are now displayed in a neat box.

Added the beginnings of the view members profile page.

[Antares_9]

Cool!

[Pete]

Opera is doing something a little daft at the top of threads where it renders the header graphic three times with some overlap, this usually extends to underneath the first couple of rows of the first post on a page. I will post some pics up soon.

I'm aware of that issue, it's something out of my control, but I have sent a request to the relevant people asking for a fix.

[Pete]

Just added lots of updates, enjoy