Page size

[eyes00only]

Lately when I go to a forum and maximize the page, it gets too big, and I need to scroll left to right to read the messages. This is a bummer, and it never used to happen. I know that it's probably a problem with my computer, but thought I would ask here just in case.

Jerry / aka eyes00only

 

[Dubbin]

If someone post a long link or a big picture that will happen.

 

[eyes00only]

Thanks Dwayne / that explains why it only happens sometimes. Maybe the culprits that do this will read this post, and stop posting long links & big pictures.

Jerry

 

[loumaag]

Thanks Dwayne / that explains why it only happens sometimes. Maybe the culprits that do this will read this post, and stop posting long links & big pictures.

Jerry,
Your dreaming. I have been complaining about this since this was the Trunked Radio Net and still people do it. What a pain!

 

[Joseph11]

There's a mod for phpBB that when someone attaches an image (not a GIF), it turns it into a thumbnail and you have to click it to get the full image.

 

[eyes00only]

There's a mod for phpBB that when someone attaches an image (not a GIF), it turns it into a thumbnail and you have to click it to get the full image.

OK. I admit that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but what the heck is a phpBB? .

Jerry

 

[mciupa]

what .. is a phpBB?

php is a scripting language that can be embedded into HTML and
BB is Bulletin Board.

Most Discussion forums on the internet favor this style.

 

[Dubbin]

There's a mod for phpBB that when someone attaches an image (not a GIF), it turns it into a thumbnail and you have to click it to get the full image.

What about when they use the IMG tags and link it to another site?

 

[DonS]

Thanks Dwayne / that explains why it only happens sometimes. Maybe the culprits that do this will read this post, and stop posting long links & big pictures.

Jerry,
Your dreaming. I have been complaining about this since this was the Trunked Radio Net and still people do it. What a pain!

Before we can keep people from doing "it", we'll need to define "long link" and "big picture". So far, the only definition I've seen was from Lou's post on another thread, where he mentioned that TrunkedRadio.net was originally designed around an 800x600 size. A few (potential) problems with that resolution:
1. Based solely on my own experiences (the several computers I use and see on a daily basis, as well as those belonging to friends and family), I imagine that most people are using at least 1024x768 - when those people post, they're going to see that their image/link fits on their browser, and won't think anything of it. Later viewers, those with resolutions less than the poster's and those that have their browser windows "small", will see the horizontal scroll bars.
2. The "preview post" function yields a width that is larger than what actually appears in the forums. Even if people limit themselves to pictures that appear to "fit" in this preview with an 800x600 browser size, the scroll bars will appear in the actual post.
3. RadioReference.com itself has gone away from the 800x600 limit. The side-by-side maps shown when browsing the database cause horizontal scroll bars when the browser is maximized on an 800x600 desktop (based on a test on my machine). This seems to indicate that RadioReference.com is now designed around a screen resolution larger than 800x600. The next "standard" step is 1024x768.

The "long link" problem, at least, is easy to fix (via education). Instead of using tags of the form
[u r l] <some link> [/url]
use
[u r l = <some link>] short, descriptive text [/url]

Perhaps informative text, something describing the potential for horizontal scroll bars, could be added to the "post" form. This text could recommend the use of the tag form above for long URIs, and could suggest a maximum width for images (or two maximum widths - one for attachments, one for those linked via the [i m g] tag, since the former places a further restriction on width if we want to avoid the scroll bars).

-Don

 

[Dubbin]

The fix I use for long links is tinyurl.com
example :
http://www.radioshack.com/product.a...me=CTLG_008_009_010_003&product_id=20-526

http://tinyurl.com/48xd7

Those are linked to the same thing and by using 1024x768 I still get the scroll bar because of that long link.

 

[DonS]

The fix I use for long links is tinyurl.com
example :
http://www.radioshack.com/product.a...me=CTLG_008_009_010_003&product_id=20-526

http://tinyurl.com/48xd7

Those are linked to the same thing and by using 1024x768 I still get the scroll bar because of that long link.

In this thread, I only get a scroll bar when I shrink the browser window down to something less than 764 pixels wide. I don't think it's the link causing the scroll bars, because I see it wrapped to a second line. More likely, it's the width of other elements on the page (like the message "framing", the "Forum FAQ Search..." bar, etc.).

 

[DonS]

We should also keep in mind that "browser width" is not the only user-specified setting that will affect whether a user browsing the forums sees the scroll bars.

On a Windows machine, the available width of the "message text" area will also be limited by such user-specified settings as: window border size, scroll bar size, font sizes, etc..

Even if we make sure our linked images fit on our own 800x600 browsers with no scroll bars, there's no guarantee that another user, someone with an 800x600 browser (or even 1024x768, depending on the severity of the settings), won't see the scroll bars.

 

[eyes00only]

Well, this morning this whole forum is too wide for my PC. I had to scroll sideways to read every post. As I stated before, this could be a problem with my PC. It's a three year old Compaq, and I do only have dial up IP service with Compuserve. I really do appreciate all the replies.

Jerry

PS / I just went to my Colorado forum, and DO NOT have the problem there (for now).

 

[Joseph11]

What is your screen resolution?

 

[DonS]

What is your screen resolution?

Addenda to that question:
1. How wide is the browser window (i.e. is it the full width of the screen? 50%?)
2. Which forum shows the behavior?

 

[eyes00only]

I would guess that my window is 90%. There's approx. one inch not covered on each side. The problem varies with forums. Now this forum is too wide, however the Colorado forum is OK. Pretty sure resolution is 800 x 600.

Jerry

 

[DonS]

I would guess that my window is 90%. There's approx. one inch not covered on each side. The problem varies with forums. Now this forum is too wide, however the Colorado forum is OK. Pretty sure resolution is 800 x 600.

To get the "real" resolution of your machine, right-click on the desktop, select "Properties", then select the "Settings" tab on the dialog box that appears (assuming a Windows machine).

The "one inch not covered on each side" measurement requires that we know how wide your monitor is.

If this forum is now too wide, it might have something to do with quoted posts - some overhead is added when quoted posts are indented, but I'm not sure that contributes to the "scroll bar" problem.

 

[eyes00only]

OK / 800 x 600 was correct, and my monitor measures 13 1/2 inches diagonally.

Jerry

 

[DonS]

OK / 800 x 600 was correct, and my monitor measures 13 1/2 inches diagonally.

13.5" diagonally equals 10.8" x 8.1". One inch on either side of the browser window leaves 8.8", or 652 pixels at 800x600.

Lou posted in a previous message on this topic (though not this thread) that the original design for this site (database, forums, etc.) was intended for 800x600 browsers. At a width of 652 pixels, a horizontal scroll bar is to be expected.

I'm actually surprised that you don't see the scroll bar in all forums, given my experiences with narrowing the browser here (I think the scroll bars appear on my machine when I decrease the width to a point where I hit the minimum requirements of the "Forum FAQ Search Usergroups ... Log out" bar) - here, that was at about 760 pixels wide.

 

[eyes00only]

Thanks for the help Don. Actually I normally don't have the problem. I will to try keep track, and get a percetage. I don't seem to have the problem in other websites or e-mail.

Jerry