Archived Forum Smartphone Application

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Now, I'm not sure quite how hard this would be to program, so I'd love some feedback on that, but I know it'd be damned useful for me at least.


I don't know how many people use smartphones to access the forums, but I do, so here are my thoughts on the matter:

- It's slow.

-Many of the features don't work properly (most notably the rich text editor)

- the layout really isn't designed for a smartphone, so finding things on the page quickly becomes very difficult.

And so I propose one of two solutions:

- A mobile website (probably the easier of the two to create, though not as useful for the Rich text editor etc.)

-a smartphone application. (Likely the more complex solution, but the one that could potentially be very useful and successful, in my eyes)

I, personally, prefer the latter, though I very much suspect that it would be harder to implement than the former.

Ideas? Improvements? Likes? Dislikes?

All comments are welcome!
 
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You have really good ideas,


Just sayin'.
 
This sounds great, but the app might be really hard and very time consuming. I don't know though.
 
Hirazrador
I had feared as much… it would be brilliant if they took the time to implement it though.
 
Hm. Thank you for that, patrickdxs

Well then, if not a smartphone application, what are people's opinions on a mobile website? I know that it is possible due to websites such as blogspot doing it automatically; so surely it would have a fair amount of benefit to the forum community, with (hopefully) relatively little work?
 
As a general programmer and a website developer I can say that it is easier to create a mobile website. But this forum runs on xenforo forum software. I believe editing the files (which is possible) would violate some agreements made when in use. There are a lot of languages used to create phone apps but there is a difference depending on whether you go for Apple or Android. Especially considering java phones seem to be obsolete these days.
 
Hm. Thank you very much, Ethanol
So to summarise so far:

Smartphone Application- too time consuming for too little profit.

Movie Website Design- causes breach of contract with xenforo software.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. In fact, please correct me if in right, because this is something if a shame.

I would like to briefly make the point that all my posts on this thread have in fact been posted from an iPhone, and it was a complete pig. This drives the point in question home somewhat.
 
I don't have any trouble personally when using the forums on my phone. I've never tried to create a thread with it, but I can manage a post when I find it necessary
 
Azas
Hm. What sort of phone do you have?
I find manipulating text somewhat difficult, though I admit replying to threads is probably the easiest (as long as there is no need for bold or italics, etc.)
 
Pyromaniacal said:
Azas
Hm. What sort of phone do you have?
I find manipulating text somewhat difficult, though I admit replying to threads is probably the easiest (as long as there is no need for bold or italics, etc.)
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iPhone 4s. I rarely post on my phone though, I usually just elect to wait until I have access to a computer for when I need to post
 
Azas said:
I disagree, this would mean the app is used even less for the time put into it, and there is already a way for folks to donate to the server if that's their decision
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Agreed, terrible idea of mine. Deleting due to shame.
 
Azas I use a somewhat older iPhone, so I guess this could, in fact, have something to do with it.
(And also, I have been noted to use far too many commas in one sentence, such as this one, so please, if you feel the need to do so, do tell me about my excessive use of commas, and any tips to avoid it, as it can be really annoying.

Nolanryan1235 Thank you very much! I think that yes, it is probably too much work for staff. I shall have to learn more java, then. (Or whatever the heck language it it iOS uses nowadays)

Silent_ruler I don't really have anything to point out to that post, but I didn't want you to feel excluded, so I thought I'd tag you anyway.


P.S. Who voted that I smell? :(
 
I support this for those that have a hard time trying to keep up to date with certain topics while on break at work. I've been there myself. A Mobile App. would be a wonderful idea!
 
Oh, and another point, though extremely minor- the emoticons don't work properly. Not that this has almost any bearing whatsoever. But yeah. It's the little things, y'know?
 
Just a hint of what a phone can do with the forums. My first character app Eloraid the wondere was done Completely on my phone.
 
Billy Rage
Yes, and this is an argument both for and against, just within itself; it shows tat people use the forum on phones, so could benefit from an app, but it also shows that the forums as is are accessible and usable via iPhone.

I'm guessing you intended the latter?
 
Pyromaniacal said:
Billy Rage
Yes, and this is an argument both for and against, just within itself; it shows tat people use the forum on phones, so could benefit from an app, but it also shows that the forums as is are accessible and usable via iPhone.

I'm guessing you intended the latter?
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I use my iPhone when I can't use my PC, this is becuase the computer version is better. I do see the benefits of adding this, but I see it as work that is not totally needed.
 
Mm. That's what I'd feared, Billy Rage
However, I feel that the same argument could be applied to any and all ideas in this section of the forum; were the staff to change nothing, would the server keep running? Most probably. But that doesn't mean that people don't want new features.
I understand that most people don't seem to want this particular new feature more than many others, though, such as the new races plugin, the magic plugin, and suchlike.

As such, I'm going to leave the debate open for a few days, but unless someone comes up with a fantastic idea, I think I'm going to request a lock on the thread.
 
Pyromaniacal Typically, Objective-C (programming language) is used for making iPhone apps.

I feel I should say, there are ways to make a phone app without programming knowledge, they won't be as good but I could look into it if you would like? Also, I believe that you, use just enough commas, to get your message across, don't worry.
 
Ethanol yes, but you see, the difference between you and I is that, whereas you sprinkle commas liberally, I am prone to using them in a grammatically correct manner, such as this, though I admit it is not purely grammatical, and also for correct, so, to summarise, I use commas grammatically, and you use commas at random intervals, such as earlier, to go along with my previous statement, the one about commas, do you see?
 
Thank you. Nice way to add a new, on topic point that we could discuss for many, many, long, enjoyable hours.
 
Ethanol if you've got the time, that'd be brilliant. I know appinventor for android is… available, at least. I suspect it may be somewhat too low-level for something like this though.
But yes, it would be wonderful if you could look into that, if you've got the time, the effort to spare, and the inclination.
 
I often use my iPhone 4S to access the forums when I'm not home, and it is a bit slow for me. Often times it takes me MUCH longer than it should to type a single post, and I'm moderately quick at texting. However, I don't see too much of a need for a full-blown app, at least not for iOS. The mobile site, I'd be overjoyed to have, but iPhones are capable of saving website pages to their home screen, essentially bookmarking them in the form of an app, allowing easy access to one's favorite websites. (Listen to me, I sound like an iPhone ad.) I'm not unaware if other smartphones are capable of this, but I wouldn't be surprised. I'm not at all opposed to an app, I just think it may or may not prove unnecessary.
 
Pyromaniacal Okay, I'll fit it in there. For the greatness of MassiveCraft! :3 If there's anything else that you want a programmers opinion or view on, just tag me. I do plugins as well so... :)
 
This is a possible plugin that we could use on Xenforo, though it is 10 USD. If you would like to suggest cheaper/better ones by looking through their forums, this would help us to create a better mobile version for others.
 
So does someone want to volunteer to foot the bill if the staff agree or some donations? But regardless of payment, the staff would need to approve of it
 
Many of you do not seem to understand the complexity of making a mobile application and I am quite sure that none of the staff have had experience coding mobile apps (Feel free to correct me if I am wrong @TeamMembers.) We cannot just clap our hands together and have a pre-coded application appear. If we were to do this it would take time, educating and a lot of testing will take place with many bugs popping up here and there. Plus, the staff already have their hands full with a lot of other things, meaning this idea would be sent to the bottom of our priority list what is pretty damn long. Like Imboring56 said, if you can find a plugin on XenForo that is cheap, simple, easy to manage, has little bugs, etc. then it may be considered.
 
Spartan I'm not claiming to be an expert of any kind but I have had a small amount of experience with this area as a programmer, and I can assure you, and all the other readers, that you are correct. Also, just to inform you, the plugin mentioned with XenForo by Imboring56 is good for use and is quite efficient. I've talked to people I know that use XenForo and they use that plugin for mobiles. I only asked them after Imboring56 had mentioned due to unearthed curiosity.
 
Create a mobile version of the Massivecraft website. If possible.
I haven't read too many posts on the thread, sorry if I am repeating anyone.
 
I've looked into creating a phone app for the forums and even started to. But the links on this sight have made it redundant. If the Tech staff that handles the forum software (Yendor, Cayorion or Gethelp) took a look at one of these XenForo plugins (I know that this one works quite well) then I'm sure they would find one of them suitable to help build a bridge between the forums and mobile phones.
 
We are presently getting ready to upgrade the forum software. The new version of XenForo has a responsive design, so that it can adjust the format of the forums when using smaller screens. It sounds like people would like this feature enabled. The plugins mentioned above will not be needed for the upgraded XenForo, and are, for the most part, not compatible with the version we will be upgrading to. Obviously, the first priority will be restoring our present functionality with the new software, but I'll look into implementing this either in parallel or right after the forums are back up.
 
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