Viewing the Plusnet online User Interface across different platforms.

[#1]

Hi Folk,

Is it just me or is it common to discover that not all posting/Private message options (i.e. the format header bar) are not available on some platforms?

• On my android tablet running Marshmallow I don't see any options for Quotes or attachments in fact there is no format bar at all above the message I am writing. 

• On my mobile (also android Marshmallow) phone I also don't see Quote or attachment options or any format bar but I do get a red font message saying "View discussion in a popup", which seems to do nothing to the way the post is presented or add any options.

• I also have an older android tablet running KitKat and this does show me the full format bar and the quote option without any text on the format option icons (I know this is being looked into) Perhaps I should add this is also rooted.

• On My widows 10 laptop I get all format options with the icon description text masking over some of the icons. (I know this is being looked into)

• On my wife's iPad I get the full Monty without any text masking the icons.

Does everyone on android mobile have editing/formatting restrictions on Marshmallow or is it just perhaps my device?

Cheers.

[#2]

if only we knew some sort of expert who might know exactly why this happens?

Oh wait WE DO! @jaread83 will know I'm sure

[#3]

Just wild thought - could this perhaps be something to do with differing screen resolutions and the UI not scaling accurately?

[#4 · Accepted solution]

Hello @quickbrew,

During testing of the community with our community veterans, we found that a lot of users found the text editor to be needlessly complicated and fiddly on small screen and touch devices. It was frustratingly difficult to select areas of text to edit, the buttons sometimes caused issues when being used and it was generally agreed that it was not fit for purpose on smaller screens or touch devices. I personally had no issues with it but I am also quite patient with things like this. But generally speaking, the users disliked it on tablets and phones. So we disabled the use of the rich text editor for mobile devices.

I could go on about how we tested this on all sorts of devices but the truth of the matter is that the system can't always detect whether or not your device is classed as a 'mobile' so therefore it will sometimes give you the editor becuase the system had not detected whether or not your device was a mobile or not.

If you are on a mobile or tablet and the editor is not showing for you, its because the system has detected that your device is a mobile and disabled it. There are ways around this though...

On iPhone Safari you can visit the community, click a button in the browser to bring up more options and click the 'show desktop version' and you will get the full editor. Same for some Android devices too (although not always with great success).

The editor itself is extremely fiddly on small screens but there are ways around it if you got the options on your device. We just felt that (after UX and UAT testing) for general use of just posting a message, a regular text input box was sufficient for this purpose.

[#5]

@jaread83

Thank you for you comprehensive answer.  I am not at home at the moment so I am writing this on my mobile phone using your fix of using  Desktop Version.  As you say it is very small and my 70 year old eyes are not what they used to be. 

Thank you again.  I have set your response as Fixed for my question.  🍷

[#6]

I often resort to using the 'Show desktop version' option on my Galaxy S5 mini but my unrooted Acer 8" tablet shows the full editor as if I'm at the desktop. Can be a bit fiddly moderating on the mobile, fat fingers has got me into trouble a few times

[#7]

@Mav,

Lol 😊 don't talk to me about fat fingers.
As you know, I edited one post so many times it got trapped by the spam filter.😂