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I've added a page at http://lib.povray.org/searchcollection/index2.php to
try and address some of the issues raised in this newsgroup earlier this
year.
It doesn't use any JavaScript, so should work with a wider range of
platforms and browser settings. You should see a full hierarchical list of
categories down the left and thumbnails/action icons on the right. I don't
want to explain here how anything works as I'd appreciate feedback on how
intuitive it is when you first use it and any suggestions on how to make it
better/clearer for first-time users.
I'm not aware of any bugs, so if something doesn't work right for you it's
worth mentioning it, (remember to say what Browser and Operating System you
get the problem on).
Regards,
Chris B.
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"Chris B" <nom### [at] nomail com> wrote:
> I've added a page at http://lib.povray.org/searchcollection/index2.php to
.....
> Regards,
> Chris B.
Thank you! That's MUCH better.
One small suggestion occurred to me, so I'll share it. How would you feel about
adding an "Unselect All" button?
Best Regards,
Mike C.
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Chris B <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> http://lib.povray.org/searchcollection/index2.php
On the very first sight it looks good, but on closer examination
I find some problems.
Firstly, the thumbnail images are scaled down. Most browsers do an
absolutely awful job at scaling down images, so they look horribly
pixelated where the browser drops pixels.
Secondly, I liked more the idea that you can see the short
descriptions of the objects, with clear links to additional info, etc.
The minuscule images on the right side of the thumbnail are not
intuitive and don't really stand out as "you can see more information
here". Also, I don't like it that you have to click on such a small
link to get a page which just has the short description of the object.
I prefer the list with the textual descriptions, as in the original
index page. I think that layout is ok. It just doesn't need the javascript.
Perhaps there could be some link to a page which shows only the
thumbnail images (but without scaling them!) as that index2, or something.
Thirdly, clicking eg. on "Games" and then "Display Selected Categories"
gives nothing. Should give all entries below the "Games" category.
--
- Warp
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"Mike the Elder" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message
news:web.47fa1f1e133a8f915a8888d90@news.povray.org...
> "Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
>> I've added a page at http://lib.povray.org/searchcollection/index2.php to
> .....
>> Regards,
>> Chris B.
> One small suggestion occurred to me, so I'll share it. How would you feel
> about
> adding an "Unselect All" button?
>
Hi Mike,
I've added a "Clear Selected Categories" link below the button. I'll have a
think about how I might make it a button (without cheating and resorting to
JavaScript).
Regards,
Chris B.
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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:47fa23eb@news.povray.org...
> Chris B <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
>> http://lib.povray.org/searchcollection/index2.php
>
> On the very first sight it looks good, but on closer examination
> I find some problems.
>
> Firstly, the thumbnail images are scaled down. Most browsers do an
> absolutely awful job at scaling down images, so they look horribly
> pixelated where the browser drops pixels.
Ah. They looked ok on my screen in both IE and Firefox. I've added an option
to change the scale and I've changed the page to use the URL to pass
parameters, so if you change the scale and bookmark the resulting page it
should come up in whatever scale you've bookmarked.
> Secondly, I liked more the idea that you can see the short
> descriptions of the objects, with clear links to additional info, etc.
I've added an option to display both a short textual description and the
graphics. See below about keeping the existing page too.
> The minuscule images on the right side of the thumbnail are not
> intuitive and don't really stand out as "you can see more information
> here".
I'm running on 1024x768 and they don't look 'very' small on my screen. Are
you running on a higher resolution? In any case I've set it to scale the
icons along with the thumbnails, so if you select 100% they'll show up as
33% larger than they start off as. If they still look too small I can
increase them by another 33% without much difficulty. I was trying to keep
them as small as I could to cram as many as possible into the available
screen width.
Are the meanings of the icons clear (now that you can see them)?
Is it apparent that hovering over the icons brings up the Alt text to
explain their function, or should I add some sort of hint at the top of the
screen?
> Also, I don't like it that you have to click on such a small
> link to get a page which just has the short description of the object.
>
> I prefer the list with the textual descriptions, as in the original
> index page. I think that layout is ok. It just doesn't need the
> javascript.
>
> Perhaps there could be some link to a page which shows only the
> thumbnail images (but without scaling them!) as that index2, or something.
Yes, my plan is that this will be an extra page, so won't replace the
existing search screen.
> Thirdly, clicking eg. on "Games" and then "Display Selected Categories"
> gives nothing. Should give all entries below the "Games" category.
I had thought about that, but if it automatically incorporates lower
categories whether they're ticked or not then it doesn't provide the user
with any way to view the contents of just the higher level category.
Whereas, doing it this way makes both possible.
Regards,
Chris B.
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Chris B <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> I've added an option to display both a short textual description and the
> graphics.
Small problem, though:
http://warp.povusers.org/snaps/objectcollection.png
> > The minuscule images on the right side of the thumbnail are not
> > intuitive and don't really stand out as "you can see more information
> > here".
> I'm running on 1024x768 and they don't look 'very' small on my screen. Are
> you running on a higher resolution?
1600x1200.
> Are the meanings of the icons clear (now that you can see them)?
I suppose they are ok, although in the longer version there could be
textual links as well, IMO.
> Is it apparent that hovering over the icons brings up the Alt text to
> explain their function, or should I add some sort of hint at the top of the
> screen?
I have never been so good at UI and web design. I can report problems,
but I don't necessarily have good ideas for solutions. :)
--
- Warp
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Warp escribió:
> I have never been so good at UI and web design. I can report problems,
> but I don't necessarily have good ideas for solutions. :)
Don't worry, that's pretty normal :)
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Chris,
I'm liking the ability to see more entries all at once! Seeing all the
categories on the left is great too. Selecting 50% scaling does a nice
job on Firefox in Windows. (Note, I'm also at 1024x768). I do find the
small icons intuitive - i for information, a magnifier for a larger view
and a downward pointing arrow for download all seem pretty standard to
me.
Right now clicking on the thumbnail seems to do the same thing as one of
the icons - specifically the download button. Minor changes I think
might be nice would be to change the function of the "i" icon to bring
up a separate smaller pop-up window (did I say that?) with the full size
thumbnail and description and another download link. That and maybe
change the function of clicking on the original thumbnail to bringing up
something like the full size image in the same window captioned with the
description and another download link. This way everything you click
gets a slightly different result to fit more tastes.
I do get the over-written text if I list with text, similar to Warp's
screenshot.
Charles
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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:47fc07f4@news.povray.org...
> Chris B <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
>> I've added an option to display both a short textual description and the
>> graphics.
>
> Small problem, though:
> http://warp.povusers.org/snaps/objectcollection.png
Ah whoops. I hadn't scrolled down enough in the Firefox version to notice
that and IE handled it ok. I've fixed that so it should be ok in both now.
>> I'm running on 1024x768. Are
>> you running on a higher resolution?
>
> 1600x1200.
ok now that resolution is beyond what I can test :-)
Is the text showing up ok at that resolution? I have used a small font.
>
>> Are the meanings of the icons clear (now that you can see them)?
>
> I suppose they are ok, although in the longer version there could be
> textual links as well, IMO.
>
ok. I've added textual links to the 'Images and Text' mode.
Regards,
Chris B.
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"Charles C" <"nospam a nospam.com"> wrote in message
news:47fc5ead@news.povray.org...
> Chris,
>
> I'm liking the ability to see more entries all at once! Seeing all the
> categories on the left is great too. Selecting 50% scaling does a nice
> job on Firefox in Windows. (Note, I'm also at 1024x768). I do find the
> small icons intuitive - i for information, a magnifier for a larger view
> and a downward pointing arrow for download all seem pretty standard to
> me.
>
ok. Thanks for the feedback.
> Right now clicking on the thumbnail seems to do the same thing as one of
> the icons - specifically the download button. Minor changes I think might
> be nice would be to change the function of the "i" icon to bring up a
> separate smaller pop-up window (did I say that?) with the full size
> thumbnail and description and another download link.
At the moment it brings up that information by specifying a 'target', so IE
puts it into a separate window and Firefox opens it in a new tab (can anyone
tell me what Opera etc. does with it). Do you think it would be better to
show a sort of overlay on the same page? This may be possible with some CSS
jiggery pockery rather than resorting to JavaScript (I'm trying to make this
view JavaScript-free).
> That and maybe change the function of clicking on the original thumbnail
> to bringing up something like the full size image in the same window
> captioned with the description and another download link. This way
> everything you click gets a slightly different result to fit more tastes.
I may be able to use CSS to bring up an overlay when the mouse pointer is
hovered over a thumbnail, but without JavaScript it might be difficult to
control the position so that it stays in the visible part of the screen. I'm
also not sure how well other (e.g older) browsers and other platforms handle
that sort of thing. I'll dig into the manuals.
> I do get the over-written text if I list with text, similar to Warp's
> screenshot.
ok. I think I've nailed that one now if you'd like to double check that for
me.
Regards,
Chris B.
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Chris B <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> Is the text showing up ok at that resolution? I have used a small font.
The cells are now scaling according to the text (even if text size is
increased by the browser), so it works a lot better now.
--
- Warp
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Btw, in the 'image and text' mode the "more info" link simply links
to the exact same 'image and text' (but without anything else).
Wouldn't it be better if it linked to the (possible) html file submitted
alongside the object, as in the normal index page?
--
- Warp
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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:47fcbbab@news.povray.org...
> Btw, in the 'image and text' mode the "more info" link simply links
> to the exact same 'image and text' (but without anything else).
>
> Wouldn't it be better if it linked to the (possible) html file submitted
> alongside the object, as in the normal index page?
Yes. I think that is better. It now links to the html file contributed with
the object if one exists. Otherwise it displays the standard page like
before.
Regards,
Chris B.
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"Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote in message
news:47fbff20@news.povray.org...
>
> "Mike the Elder" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message
>> How would you feel about
>> adding an "Unselect All" button?
> I've added a "Clear Selected Categories" link.
It's now a button.
Regards,
Chris B.
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Will it be possible in the future to add an object to both the Area of Interest
and Content Type categories?
Also, will it be possible to modify an existing entry without having to fill out
all the fields and upload files from scatch? Sometimes you just want to fix a
typo, or update a file without changing its description.
-Mike
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Also, you might want to consider adding the "optgroup" element to the category
form to keep people from adding to the super-categories when submitting
objects.
-Mike
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"SharkD" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message
news:web.485e01e9133a8f91896db6a10@news.povray.org...
> Will it be possible in the future to add an object to both the Area of
> Interest
> and Content Type categories?
It should be possible now because it's a multi-select list. When you're
submitting an object you should be able to use Ctl-Click in the browser to
select multiple categories and sub-categories. Though the mechanism for
doing a multi-select may vary between browsers and operating systems.
> Also, will it be possible to modify an existing entry without having to
> fill out
> all the fields and upload files from scatch? Sometimes you just want to
> fix a
> typo, or update a file without changing its description.
This is a little more problematic. Certain functions of this sort can be
done by an administrator but it needs a bit of consistent judgement to make
sure that significant changes aren't made without changing the version
number, otherwise people wouldn't be able to tell that an object had changed
since they downloaded it.
So for changing typos within the description, keywords and possibly for
small changes to documentation files and other meta-data you can email an
admin or post a request here.
For changing files that fix problems with the object or change functionality
you should create a new version which means uploading a complete new copy.
There are times when it may make sense to make an exception to this. For
example, if you forget a file or fix a bug and you can get an administrator
to upload it for you before anyone's downloaded it, then I don't see a
problem with that.
Regards,
Chris B.
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"Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> It should be possible now because it's a multi-select list. When you're
> submitting an object you should be able to use Ctl-Click in the browser to
> select multiple categories and sub-categories. Though the mechanism for
> doing a multi-select may vary between browsers and operating systems.
Thanks, I didn't notice that.
> This is a little more problematic. Certain functions of this sort can be
> done by an administrator but it needs a bit of consistent judgement to make
> sure that significant changes aren't made without changing the version
> number, otherwise people wouldn't be able to tell that an object had changed
> since they downloaded it.
Well, a step in this direction would be to only require a version number change
if any new files are uploaded. Of course, this would as a result be triggered
any time *any* file is uploaded, regardless if the actual code hase changed.
However, despite this quirk it would still be an improvement.
Thanks for your reply.
-Mike
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"Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> "Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
> news:47fc07f4@news.povray.org...
> >> I'm running on 1024x768. Are
> >> you running on a higher resolution?
> >
> > 1600x1200.
>
> ok now that resolution is beyond what I can test :-)
> Is the text showing up ok at that resolution? I have used a small font.
There's a site called BrowserShots.org that will load any wab page in any of
about 40 different browsers and then upload a screenshot of what the site looks
like within that browser. You can pick which browser to test (you can test more
than one at the same time), choose from different operating systems and choose
from among several other options such as disabling JavaScript ot Flash. It's
simple and very convenient.
-Mike
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"Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> So for changing typos within the description, keywords and possibly for
> small changes to documentation files and other meta-data you can email an
> admin or post a request here.
I searched for an email address in order to take you up on that suggestion, but
wasn't able to find any. Who do I email?
-Mike
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"SharkD" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message
news:web.485ee24a133a8f9123ce54f40@news.povray.org...
> "Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
>> So for changing typos within the description, keywords and possibly for
>> small changes to documentation files and other meta-data you can email an
>> admin or post a request here.
>
> I searched for an email address in order to take you up on that
> suggestion, but
> wasn't able to find any. Who do I email?
>
It's on the members page at http://lib.povray.org/members/
Regards,
Chris B.
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"SharkD" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message
news:web.485e035c133a8f91896db6a10@news.povray.org...
> Also, you might want to consider adding the "optgroup" element to the
> category
> form to keep people from adding to the super-categories when submitting
> objects.
>
> -Mike
>
Makes sense. I've modified the script that generates the multi-select.
Regards,
Chris B
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Here's another idea: add a "New!" indicator to objects that are, say, less than
two months old. I suggest a red font color.
-Mike
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"Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
> Makes sense. I've modified the script that generates the multi-select.
>
> Regards,
> Chris B
You should probably mention somewhere in the submission form that you can make
multiple selections. As I said earlier, I didn't notice it and had to ask.
-Mike
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"SharkD" <nomail@nomail> wrote in message
news:web.48683073133a8f91feb17ab00@news.povray.org...
> "Chris B" <nom### [at] nomailcom> wrote:
>> Makes sense. I've modified the script that generates the multi-select.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Chris B
>
> You should probably mention somewhere in the submission form that you can
> make
> multiple selections. As I said earlier, I didn't notice it and had to ask.
>
> -Mike
When you move into the multi-select panel the help message at the top of the
screen describes using Ctrl-Click to select multiple items.
Regards,
Chris B.
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