Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Discuss issues and requests related with the forum software
User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 03 Feb 2023, 12:22

Curious if there'd be any interesting in trying to update the forum styling to better suite users with ultrawide monitors. It is difficult on the pages that list forums/subforums and threads because their ends up being such a large gap between the forum/subforum/thread name or title and the detail information on the right-side of each row. Perhaps adding a max-width: 1260px; and margin: 0 auto to the #page-body element on some of those pages would help keep the data to a minimum density.

User avatar
joedf
Posts: 8937
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 17:08
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by joedf » 03 Feb 2023, 14:35

I'll look into it. Could you share a screenshot in the mean time? :think:
Image Image Image Image Image
Windows 10 x64 Professional, Intel i5-8500, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, 2x16GB Kingston FURY Beast - DDR4 3200 MHz | [About Me] | [About the AHK Foundation] | [Courses on AutoHotkey]
[ASPDM - StdLib Distribution] | [Qonsole - Quake-like console emulator] | [LibCon - Autohotkey Console Library]

User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 06 Feb 2023, 09:01

Here's a screenshot. It just makes it hard to scan across horizontally to find the latest post in each forum.
image.png
image.png (459.84 KiB) Viewed 2371 times

User avatar
joedf
Posts: 8937
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 17:08
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by joedf » 07 Feb 2023, 11:23

Okay, I've added the following

Code: Select all

#page-body {
	max-width: 1367px;
	margin: 0 auto !important;
}
Image Image Image Image Image
Windows 10 x64 Professional, Intel i5-8500, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, 2x16GB Kingston FURY Beast - DDR4 3200 MHz | [About Me] | [About the AHK Foundation] | [Courses on AutoHotkey]
[ASPDM - StdLib Distribution] | [Qonsole - Quake-like console emulator] | [LibCon - Autohotkey Console Library]

User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 07 Feb 2023, 11:26

:thumbup: Oh cool. I think it looks pretty good! I'm also open to opening a poll to get community feedback if folks have issues with it. Thanks much!

User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 07 Feb 2023, 11:27

And for feedback (since I assume you don't have an ultrawide monitor), here is what it looks like now:
image.png
image.png (885.78 KiB) Viewed 2323 times

User avatar
joedf
Posts: 8937
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 17:08
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by joedf » 07 Feb 2023, 11:41

Nice! Yes, thanks! the poll is an excellent idea! :+1:
Image Image Image Image Image
Windows 10 x64 Professional, Intel i5-8500, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, 2x16GB Kingston FURY Beast - DDR4 3200 MHz | [About Me] | [About the AHK Foundation] | [Courses on AutoHotkey]
[ASPDM - StdLib Distribution] | [Qonsole - Quake-like console emulator] | [LibCon - Autohotkey Console Library]

User avatar
Flipeador
Posts: 1204
Joined: 15 Nov 2014, 21:31
Location: Argentina
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by Flipeador » 07 Feb 2023, 11:54

Can't you just resize the browser window?, or am I missing something.
I hate 99% of websites because of the margins that take up so much of the space on the sides, it drives me crazy. :lolno:
Anyway, I don't have an ultrawide monitor so this doesn't affect me and I don't have a strong opinion on this forum in particular.

User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 07 Feb 2023, 12:02

@Flipeador good to hear from you! I didn't know you were still active on the forum.

Yes, one could certainly just resize the browser window. But with today's browsers using tabbed experiences so much it means you'd have to look at all open tabs in that size or constantly resize the window when viewing this forum. Another option is a separate browser window for just this forum but that increases resource usage on the machine. When there's a perfectly good code solution (CSS, in this case) to make the user interface easier to use then I think it is warranted. Obviously, this is just my opinion.

To your point, I do agree that sites with these "containers" that limit the width of the central content can be annoying. But I find that is usually only the case when, in my opinion, there isn't a good reason to limit the container width. Sites have to be designed for all types of devices and monitors these days. And most often, sites are still optimized for a traditional (I guess this is traditional now?) 16:9 monitor.

Just my two cents but I certainly understand your viewpoint.

User avatar
Flipeador
Posts: 1204
Joined: 15 Nov 2014, 21:31
Location: Argentina
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by Flipeador » 07 Feb 2023, 12:47

I take a look at the forum every day, but I haven't been very involved lately. :shh:

Yes, I meant a separate browser window.
Naturally, people have their own tastes and preferences. I just think it's less work to resize a window than to edit CSS for those who don't want margins.
But like I said, I don't have an ultrawide monitor. Maybe I'm just an isolated case.

Most of the websites I frequent have margins that I find annoying and useless (not necessarily always on the sides), even with a small monitor. But your case is different, so I guess it's okay.

:wave:

User avatar
joedf
Posts: 8937
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 17:08
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by joedf » 07 Feb 2023, 16:12

Right... this is definitely a subjective/user preference. I say we try it out for a bit and see how it goes.
But either way, User styles is the go-to solution I usually suggest! :+1: :mrgreen:
Image Image Image Image Image
Windows 10 x64 Professional, Intel i5-8500, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, 2x16GB Kingston FURY Beast - DDR4 3200 MHz | [About Me] | [About the AHK Foundation] | [Courses on AutoHotkey]
[ASPDM - StdLib Distribution] | [Qonsole - Quake-like console emulator] | [LibCon - Autohotkey Console Library]

swagfag
Posts: 6222
Joined: 11 Jan 2017, 17:59

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by swagfag » 07 Feb 2023, 16:24

where is that poll so i can check no on it

malcev
Posts: 1769
Joined: 12 Aug 2014, 12:37

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by malcev » 07 Feb 2023, 16:37

On 1920x1080 looks badly.

User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 07 Feb 2023, 18:05

Not everyone can use user styles as corporations block most browser extensions from being installed

User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 07 Feb 2023, 18:07

I also think that saying “it looks bad on X by Y resolution” is very subjective. As Flipeador pointed out, many websites use this type of formatting on the primary page content. It looks different than this forum has looked for as long as anyone can remember. Humans don’t like change. I like JoeDFs suggestion on trying it for a little and creating a poll.

User avatar
joedf
Posts: 8937
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 17:08
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by joedf » 07 Feb 2023, 18:14

I reverted it for now for status quo. It did start to look weird to me in some cases.
I think it maybe best to just use the Userstyles plugin... if you want this change. :mrgreen:
Image Image Image Image Image
Windows 10 x64 Professional, Intel i5-8500, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, 2x16GB Kingston FURY Beast - DDR4 3200 MHz | [About Me] | [About the AHK Foundation] | [Courses on AutoHotkey]
[ASPDM - StdLib Distribution] | [Qonsole - Quake-like console emulator] | [LibCon - Autohotkey Console Library]

User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 07 Feb 2023, 18:22

No idea what you mean by Userstyles plug-in


User avatar
kczx3
Posts: 1640
Joined: 06 Oct 2015, 21:39

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by kczx3 » 07 Feb 2023, 18:27

Already stated that corporations block browser extensions like that.

User avatar
joedf
Posts: 8937
Joined: 29 Sep 2013, 17:08
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: Forum usability on ultrawide monitors

Post by joedf » 07 Feb 2023, 19:53

@kczx3 Sorry, misread things... :P
Image Image Image Image Image
Windows 10 x64 Professional, Intel i5-8500, NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB, 2x16GB Kingston FURY Beast - DDR4 3200 MHz | [About Me] | [About the AHK Foundation] | [Courses on AutoHotkey]
[ASPDM - StdLib Distribution] | [Qonsole - Quake-like console emulator] | [LibCon - Autohotkey Console Library]

Post Reply

Return to “Forum Issues”