Usability issues - Facebook Likes

[Remster 24]

Not sure when the "you and so_and_so Like this" link on the top of most forum started, but even on a fairly fast connection at home and work, it takes a second or 2 for that and the FB icon to load; that means, I often click on a link just as the page shifts down a bit, making me click on another thread.

It's not the end of the world, but its annoying as heck.

Remster

[Shotgun 1]

That's been bugging me too.

Edit: I don't think it's just the Facebook thing. It happens to me on any forum page, whether the fb thing is there or not - seems to be caused by the top ad loading???

[Squeak 17]

me 3

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[Meso 38]

It does look like it's more likely to be the ad popping up in the header that pushes it down the most. I will see if we can make the header height fixed to help with the problem.

[Squeak 17]

Quote

It does look like it's more likely to be the ad popping up in the header that pushes it down the most. I will see if we can make the header height fixed to help with the problem.

it's definately not the header ads for me, it's the Facebook ad on

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[PhreeZone 14]

Its an ad. I have turned off all the ads and it loads lighting fast, turn them on and it slows down again.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[CarpeDiem3 0]

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Its an ad. I have turned off all the ads and it loads lighting fast, turn them on and it slows down again.

Is that something that we ordinary users can do?

[Meso 38]

I'll look into it and see if we can try and make a steady height for the header and the area where the facebook add-on is, or shift the latter somewhere else.

CarpeDiem3: While ad removal isn't provided as a feature on the site, there are other ways of removing them.

But remember, it's ads that keep dropzone.com running

[Meso 38]

I've changed the area where the little facebook like box is displayed, to try prevent it from expanding the height of the page. This should fix the problem you guys have been having.

[wolfriverjoe 1,339]

Not working for me. As the page loads, first the plain page loads, then the top banner ad jumps in, making it hop down a little, then the facebook thing pops in, making it jump down again.

The most frustrating part about this is it varies in time, but always seems to make the page jump just as I'm clicking. The second most frustrating part is that it makes the page jump one line, so the thread I want to click on jumps and the one above it is the one I actually click on.

I don't want to disable the ads. I'm not a premium member, so I will click on the occasional ad to generate a bit of revenue for the sight (Blatant suck-up).

Edit to add: This is fairly new. It never used to do this.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Meso 38]

There will always be a series of loading, where the main page loads (as it's on our server), then when the items hosted on other servers load, in this case the ads and the fb button.

The amount by which the button shifts the page was dramatically reduced yesterday. When testing here, I see it moving maybe 2mm when it loads, not enough to change the thread that you were hovering over before. Though I'm assuming if you're using a low resolution monitor or a mobile device, it may be different. Then there are less pixels to work with and even a 5px shift for example, would be more noticeable.

I will continue to look into how it can be fixed some more next week, but in my testing, it's shifting a lot less than it was. And when I play my curser over a title prior to the load, after the load it remains on it.

[monkycndo 0]

Lately, have we told you how much we love you.

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[Squeak 17]

Quote

Lately, have we told you how much we love you.

yeah what he said, it's much better now
Thanks Meso

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[CornishChris 5]

Having never been in this forum before it doesn't surprise me that this is the top thread as it is why I cam in here. This is still happening to me and is worst on the iPad and iPhone. I regularly click the wrong link and it is infuriating!

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[Meso 38]

So it seems the issue has only been resolved for some...

I'm going to try some different placements, maybe along the left hand side bar, under the 'my stuff' menu. Hopefully this will resolve all issues related to the button.

[Meso 38]

Okay so I've removed the top facebook link, and replaced it with the alternative option of a facebook like box on the left hand side of the page. This should cause no issues in the loading of items pushing the page down as they load.

I have done testing on a mobile device and I can say that while there is still a small 'bump' when the top banner ad loads as there has always been, there is no longer a second movement from the loading of the facebook button.

Hopefully this sorts things out.

[wolfriverjoe 1,339]

That's a lot better. The faceplant link still "pops" in, but it's now along the left side, so the only thing that jumps is the left side ad.

It was really strange before. On the "Forum" page, it would load in the center, alongside the "Forums:Dropzone.com:" header, which wouldn't make it jump. In each individual forum and in each thread, it would load under the header and would make it jump.

The top banner ad is still making it jump, but I can live with it.
It didn't do that before. The page would load with the top banner space empty, and the ad would just fill the empty space without a jump. Now, the page loads without the space and when the ad loads, the top space changes size to allow the ad to fit.

Again, I can live with it.

Thanks for taking care of this stuff. Monkey is right.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[Meso 38]

I've tried assigning a fixed height to the header behind the ad image, so now in theory.... there shouldn't be a bump when the ad gets displayed. I've only made this change to the forum section as I suspect it's the only place where it really makes life a bit more difficult.

Lemme know how it is.

[wolfriverjoe 1,339]

Quote

I've tried assigning a fixed height to the header behind the ad image, so now in theory.... there shouldn't be a bump when the ad gets displayed. I've only made this change to the forum section as I suspect it's the only place where it really makes life a bit more difficult.

Lemme know how it is.

Normally the phrase "Hey, no jumping" is a bad thing, like this past weekend when it rained both days.

But here, now, in this context, NO JUMPING is a good thing.

This is great. It's fixed.

Thanks Meso, you really do rock!!

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[CornishChris 5]

Much better!

Thanks

CJP

Gods don't kill people. People with Gods kill people

[Remster 24]

Thanks!

Remster