FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board
Announcements and Help => 
FORVM Announcements and Website Help => Topic started by: Jay GT4 on March 04, 2020, 06:17:06 pm
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For the last week or so the Members Gallery formatting is all wonky. The comments are all different sizes. Screen shot below. It also now shows only two rows across nstead of 4.
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We are trying to get the gallery to pass Google's mobile friendly standards. We have two main issues - display is too wide, and text is too small. We are still experimenting. We are not done yet. Unfortunately it may mean it will be a little less pretty on a computer screen.
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Ah, ok. I'm usually on Forum with a tablet or laptop. Rarely a phone.
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Unfortunately the world is going mobile and Google search engine indexing and rank is based to a significant degree on mobile phones usability.
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As Charles has mentioned on another thread, now coins are spread out over several pages and only 2 rows wide in the personal gallery. Makes it more cumbersome to navigate.
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Right now, our priority must be on achieving Google's "mobile usability" requirements. It is a big challenge. Expect more changes, some not entirely pleasing. After we have everything working to their standards, then we can work on improving appearances. I expect this will take some time. It is challenging and expensive.
Google's "mobile usability" is essential to our search rank, which is essential to maintaining sales and paying our staff and keeping up this website.
Support Forum by Shopping at Forum.
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Dear Joe
Sadly I have to state: Browsing through the gallery is a torture. Instead 3 pages as before there are now 54 pages! No trace of clarity.
A pity
Jochen
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We will get them back the way they were. It will just take a little time.
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It looks like the gallery displays are up to a 3x format....perfectly acceptable, IMO, if that's the best that can be achieved due to Google's requirements.
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We hope to have them display flexibly, to the maximum appropriate for the screen - eventually.
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We appreciate all you do Joe!
Charles M.
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Joe,
We all understand that you have to please the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
Craig
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Dear Joe
Sadly I have to state: Browsing through the gallery is a torture. Instead 3 pages as before there are now 54 pages! No trace of clarity.
A pity
Jochen
I AGREE!!!
Well, if the question is "to Google, or not to Google", I would rather choose not to Google instead of having this mess!
The galleries (all of them...) are practically unbrowsable now. No order, no short descriptions, no sense at all.
Even the winning Member's Gallery is not, what it used to be.
Apparently, the prevous quality has been sacrificed on the altar of some murky "mobile usability".
It's a mad world...
Zenon M.
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Dear Zonom,
no need for CAPS, and it's not a mad world.
It's important to keep this great website efficient and find able on the web to make some revenue (money)
just want until everything is completed, some part became better some not.
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BTW: is there a possibility to do a search in my own gallery which includes not only the title but the whole text?
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Good idea Ralf
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It's important to keep this great website efficient and find able on the web to make some revenue (money)
just want until everything is completed, some part became better some not.
I do understand - it's important to make money.
Unfortunately, during last weeks I've observed a great website not improving, but deteriorating, loosing much of its basic functionality.
Till now I've withheld my opinion on this matter. However, how can a website flourish (and make more money...), if regular users (like me) start to avoid it?
Zenon M.
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If you want us to try to fix a problem we need more specifics. We cannot fix "basic functionality" because I am not sure what that means.
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The only thing I'd suggest is to have at least a partial description of the coin visible. Many times the title doesn't give the info required and you end up clicking through many coins before you find what you're looking for.
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Yes, I would like to restore that and I hope we can.
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I have been gradually changing the titles of my own coins to reflect the basic information I need. The search function looks at the descriptions when you use the gallery search on the home page for the entire Forum gallery, so it is still very useful when I am looking for parallels.
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All website changes come with growing pains. Changes and fixes to problems often have a ripple effect, and it takes time and energy and, unless one is doing one’s own programming, money to get everything looking and functioning how the website owner wants. Courtesy of the site that Joe hosts, maintains, improves, and pays for I have the ability to learn so much from Numiswiki, the discussion board, and the gallery. Courtesy of Joe’s site I have the ability to create my own gallery of coins, and I don’t recall ever being charged a penny for that ability. Of course we won’t forget that Forum is also a great place from which to purchase wonderful coins. I have many of them and I have never been disappointed.
About three years ago when I first flirted with the idea of collecting ancient coins I believed that I could never do it, could never even begin to build a basic knowledge of Roman and Greek coinage. A Google search, yes Google!, brought up Doug Smith’s wonderful site, hosted of course by Joe. That led me to Joe’s site and I quickly realized that I had the information and tools that I needed to begin my collecting journey.
I look forward to experiencing the website and the gallery now and when the project is finished.
Tracy