Introducing UM 11.0 - major site update

[Saru]

The main site has today received its largest overhaul in years, with the underlying code being rebuilt from the ground up to provide a range of improvements as well as to lay the groundwork for many more updates to come. This is, in effect, the beginning of a new phase of development for the site, as we move to modernise, update and expand our content and functionality.

What follows is a list of changes for 11.0 ( these are specific to the main site, not the forum ):

• The site is now completely responsive, rather than having separate mobile and desktop versions, which offers renewed support for desktop, mobile and tablet devices.
• The desktop site now supports higher screen sizes, with a wider layout for resolutions that can support it.
• The header graphics have been redone to support higher PPI displays.
• The header logo can now be clicked on to return to the home page.
• The search system has been improved (and will receive further improvements).
• Font sizes have been increased to better suit modern displays.
• The news section can now be filtered to show only articles with videos.
• News articles and content can now support longer titles.
• The old encyclopaedia and video sections have been discontinued.
• Some very old (15 years+) news articles have been retired and now direct to their forum comment threads.

Similar update lists will be posted up for each subsequent update - there are plans to further improve and revamp individual sections of the site. 

If you run into any bugs or broken links, please let me know.

Thank you.

[+ouija ouija]

I am especially looking forward to the improved search system!

[acute]

Thank you for all your efforts, Saru.

I'm looking forward to seeing the ongoing evolution of the site. 

 

Edited October 15, 2021 by acute

[acute]

Am I imagining things, or is everything happening quicker?

The scrolling seems much smoother too.

[lightly]

...click!     click!     HELLO ?!*!       ??   ..*click* !   HELLOOOOOOOO  ?!*!!       Hmm. Hafta try later I guess. ?

Edited October 15, 2021 by lightly

[acute]

29 minutes ago, lightly said:

...click!     click!     HELLO ?!*!       ??   ..*click* !   HELLOOOOOOOO  ?!*!!       Hmm. Hafta try later I guess. ?

Problem? 

 

Edited October 15, 2021 by acute

[lightly]

12 hours ago, acute said:

Problem? 

 

click.     .         .          ..click!  click!      

[Tom1200]

I don't suppose there's any chance of increasing the attachments size?  0.24 MB might have seemed a lot 20 years ago... but now?

[Saru]

2 hours ago, Tom1200 said:

I don't suppose there's any chance of increasing the attachments size?  0.24 MB might have seemed a lot 20 years ago... but now?

That's on the forum side of things, but yes, there are plans to increase the attachment size - the forum will be receiving its own set of separate updates/improvements.

[+Nuclear Wessel]

I have noticed that the front page has been a lot slower to load on mobile (on my iPhone) than what it was before. Maybe I will just have to clear the cache or something, but it seems to be only related to UM.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Nuclear Wessel

[Saru]

1 hour ago, Nuclear Wessel said:

I have noticed that the front page has been a lot slower to load on mobile (on my iPhone) than what it was before. Maybe I will just have to clear the cache or something, but it seems to be only related to UM.

There shouldn't be any noticeable reduction in load speed, however the loading efficiency is something that will be tweaked over time.

[+OverSword]

Hi @Saru ,  The forums work fine but on the mobile site it only loads the title bar with the search box and links to go to other areas of the website, an advertisement and the first two pictures of the featured articles and no text.  I'm using an iPhone 12 pro software version 14.7.1

[Saru]

8 minutes ago, OverSword said:

Hi @Saru ,  The forums work fine but on the mobile site it only loads the title bar with the search box and links to go to other areas of the website, an advertisement and the first two pictures of the featured articles and no text.  I'm using an iPhone 12 pro software version 14.7.1

I just got a report from someone saying the same thing - this is very weird because I have an iPad and Mac /w Safari and I cannot for the life of me reproduce this issue.

Are you running an ad blocker or other extension ? Do you have any other mobile devices to test it on ?

[+OverSword]

3 minutes ago, Saru said:

I just got a report from someone saying the same thing - this is very weird because I have an iPad and Mac /w Safari and I cannot for the life of me reproduce this issue.

Are you running an ad blocker or other extension ? Do you have any other mobile devices to test it on ?

I don't have any other mobile devices and I don't believe I'm running an ad blocker unless safari has something built in that I'm not aware of, but judging by the amount of ads I get I don't think so.

[Saru]

Just now, OverSword said:

I don't have any other mobile devices and I don't believe I'm running an ad blocker unless safari has something built in that I'm not aware of, but judging by the amount of ads I get I don't think so.

Does it work if you turn your phone horizontally rather than vertically and refresh the page ?

Is there any other content further down the page or does it stop rendering entirely at that point ? (i.e. there's nothing at all below it when you to scroll down)

[+OverSword]

1 minute ago, Saru said:

Does it work if you turn your phone horizontally rather than vertically and refresh the page ?

Is there any other content further down the page or does it stop rendering entirely at that point ? (i.e. there's nothing at all below it when you to scroll down)

Yes. 

[Saru]

Just now, OverSword said:

Yes. 

To which question ?

[+OverSword]

2 minutes ago, Saru said:

To which question ?

It renders all the way down when I refresh in vertical position.  When I flip back to horizontal it only shows what was visible when I turned the phone and when I scroll everything is gray.

[Saru]

@OverSword I'm reading reports of this being some sort of issue specific to the iPhone 12.

Here's a few suggestions:

1. Try refreshing/clearing your browser cache for UM and then reloading the page
2. Make sure your device and browser are updated to the latest version
3. Try it in a browser other than Safari and see if the result is any different

If anyone else is experiencing this issue please let me know.

I won't be satisfied until I find an explanation and solution for this - however so far I cannot reproduce it on any other device or browser.

Unfortunately I don't have an actual iPhone 12 to test it on.

[Saru]

Update:

The above-mentioned page rendering issue impacting some iPhone Pro/Max models has now been fixed.

[acute]

@Saru

Is there any way to move the Sign-Out button to somewhere less convenient, like underneath the Leader Board?

Someone I know on UM (a friend of mine) keeps accidentally signing out — even when he's had no Scrumpy Jack!

 

 

[Saru]

1 hour ago, acute said:

@Saru

Is there any way to move the Sign-Out button to somewhere less convenient, like underneath the Leader Board?

Someone I know on UM (a friend of mine) keeps accidentally signing out — even when he's had no Scrumpy Jack!

Do you mean on the forum's mobile menu ?

[acute]

2 minutes ago, Saru said:

Do you mean on the forum's mobile menu ?

I mainly use my Android phone on UM.

If I click on the top right of the page, I get Notifications, Messages, and Sign-Out just below.

[Saru]

1 minute ago, acute said:

I mainly use my Android phone on UM.

If I click on the top right of the page, I get Notifications, Messages, and Sign-Out just below.

Ok I can see how the Sign Out button could be accidentally clicked as it is right at the top.

I'll put this on my to-do list of things to look into.

[acute]

Just now, Saru said:

I'll put this on my to-do list of things to look into.

Great, thanks!