Mobile-friendly version of this forum?

Does this forum work with TapaTalk or other mobile message board software?

deshNL said:

Does this forum work with TapaTalk or other mobile message board software?

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The last time I heard the question raised, the answer turned out to be no.


I wish it did, though.

mk42 said:

The last time I heard the question raised, the answer turned out to be no.


I wish it did, though.

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I find it humorously ironic that we're talking about high tech industrial automation on a website that looks like it was created back in 1994.

I find it humorously ironic that we're talking about high tech industrial automation on a website that looks like it was created back in 1994.

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Do you also find it humorously ironic to be using an alphabet that has been around for a few millennia?

I brag about this forum and folks who glance at it have that "Welcome to 1990" first impression of it. I wouldn't change it though...other forums upgrade and everyone useful soon bails.

OkiePC said:

I brag about this forum and folks who glance at it have that "Welcome to 1990" first impression of it. I wouldn't change it though...other forums upgrade and everyone useful soon bails.

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This forum embodies the mindset of "If it ain't broke". It's a turn off and as the old guard retires...slow death to follow. How many of you couldn't let go of Office 2003, Windows XP and now Windows 7...

I'm curious how much traffic we generate, newbies vs veterans and what our retention rate is. There is a lot of great info here but I hardly ever contribute anymore, spend my time elsewhere or I just don't bother. It's boring...posters either have high post-counts because they have been around for the long haul, or low post counts as they are newbies. Don't seem many in-between. Most People get some answers and don't stick around. Case in point, as of this post:

Currently active users: 705 of which only 5 are Members

I wish the site could transition to discourse.org, I spend more time on the IA forums simply due to the mobile experience and the large influx of users, so much more to learn and experience and it's just 1 automation brand where as this site should have a much broader reach.

Paullys50 said:

This forum embodies the mindset of "If it ain't broke". It's a turn off and as the old guard retires...slow death to follow. How many of you couldn't let go of Office 2003, Windows XP and now Windows 7...

I'm curious how much traffic we generate, newbies vs veterans and what our retention rate is. There is a lot of great info here but I hardly ever contribute anymore, spend my time elsewhere or I just don't bother. It's boring...posters either have high post-counts because they have been around for the long haul, or low post counts as they are newbies. Don't seem many in-between. Most People get some answers and don't stick around. Case in point, as of this post:

Currently active users: 705 of which only 5 are Members

I wish the site could transition to discourse.org, I spend more time on the IA forums simply due to the mobile experience and the large influx of users, so much more to learn and experience and it's just 1 automation brand where as this site should have a much broader reach.

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I'd be really curious about the retention rate as well. In my experience, any time the management have asked "What can we do to the site to improve it?" they shut down hard any discussion of anything relating to the forum. I get the impression that the forum only exists to drive business to the other things on the site, but I honestly couldn't tell you what they are. The forum is the only part of the that matters to me, and even then, it's only because it's the biggest I know of.


The only other forum I frequent is for fans of a sports team. It's been sold a few times, between different media companies. Each time the new parent company migrated it to their own standard forum platform, with varying degrees of success. At no point did we, the users, think that any of the changes were improvements. Things looked flashier, but they loaded slower, features disappeared, etc. The change was just hassle, and hoping your account didn't accidentally get deleted in the backend migration. The media companies just wanted us there to drive users to the other content, like their sports news. I'm sure there was some small amount of ad revenue as well, but I'm assuming that was more breakeven vs server costs than actually profitable.



I dunno, I guess my point is that as much as I wish the site were better, I'm pretty sure that whatever changes we ended up with, we won't be any happier, because it isn't about us.

deshNL said:

I find it humorously ironic that we're talking about high tech industrial automation on a website that looks like it was created back in 1994.

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Many of the questions here relate to people trying to fix hardware installed in 1984, let alone 1994. I think the forum is par for the course.

I actually read most posts on my mobile in a browser window and it works fine for me.

I think the only thing that i find challenging is attaching files and photos.

I like it the way it is. It loads very quickly on my laptop and my phones specially my primary phone which is blackberry classic; and that's saying a lot.
I have been on forums with my 15" laptop and wanted to reach in and strangle whoever coded it. The header took more than third of the height of the screen and was fixed so I could not scroll down and have it disappear.
And guess what I've just done, I clicked on a link while typing this on my phone and all (just did it again) I had to do is click back to find everything I wrote still here.
Leave it alone please.

I also appreciate that the site loads quickly.
The only thing I would like changed for easier browsing on a smartphone is the navigation when a thread have multiple pages. The tiny buttons for chosing pages just have to be bigger, that is all.

Works perfect on my phone.

I must be old - never come here on my phone - use a tether and the laptop or desktop! Bloody mobile phones are a pain - in the 'old days' the missus could not even find you in the pub having a beer! No email on the phone either - have work to do - check emails at the end of the day when home or in the motel - wait - have work to do. Then there are the dills who text you for a detailed technical explanation of something - text back is ring me? Geez!!! Do not want to get RSI of the thumbs!!! LOL

I like the site the way it is. Granted, it is a little harder to read on my phone, but I usually don't read on my phone anyway. This site is a great resource for people. I have used it both for getting and giving help. I find it very interesting to see the problems those in our community are having and how the problems are solved. Sometimes I get to chime in to help. The contributors are giving help, free of charge on their own time (or at least by their own will). It is great to see people helping each other. I know of at least one person who left another valuable forum because it was upgraded and it made the text harder to read. Let's not mess with a good thing. A lot of these upgrades that people do to their forums try to make it look like a social media site. People can sometimes spend more time updating their profile and profile pics than they do contributing to anything helpful. FWIW, I like this forum in this format.

To the retention point. I have been a member for about three years. I started lurking in about 2010 when I was in college. Total posts...40!

Mostly because I know how to use the search bar. I've scrolled for hours on one or two key words just to find something to help me.

I like the platform this site uses. I always use my phone, i do not think i have ever logged in with my laptop.

Other forums non plc related that i use have a "newer" look meaning more bubbly sort of. They load very slow and it is frustrating to even scroll up and down since they jump and skip. I can only deal with that for about 15 minutes. This site you can spend hours with no problem.

I honestly do not care how it looks as long as it is quick and user friendly.