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No I can see the whole site, and just zoom in on what I want to read.
Right, so you can "see" blocks of colors and stuff, but have to zoom on the posts to actually read them, at which point they take up a lot of the screen, just like on mobile. What's that intermediate view of the page adding if you can't read any of it?

It's quick and easy but this is the opposite
It's quicker and easier to zoom on each post to make it fill the screen, rather than having it already doing that? Seems to me the difference is that on mobile, the middle step is cut out: the thing you want to read is already readable.



I just had a look...HI GUYS BTW,,,and on my computer (using Chrome) it looks the same as it always has. But on my phone, if I switch to desktop setting, all hell breaks loose and I almost couldn't switch back as I could hardly reach the user CP and it wouldn't scroll to the right at all. I was lucky a tiny fragment was able to be clicked on.
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I might have to reset things to Default en masse, since people not being able to switch to mobile is, in fact, a problem, beyond familiarity or anything else.



I think it's kinda crazy that you guys prefer a super tiny layout you have to constantly zoom in and out on. You may have gotten used to it, but think of how much of your browsing time is spent "fighting" the layout because you have to do all that. It's probably a lot.

Mobile styles load faster, are easier to read, and easier to use because everything's bigger and easier to click on. They're simple and functional and way better on phones. Give 'em a try, beyond the shock of things being different, and see how it wears after awhile of not having to do all that legwork.
I use mobile for mobile. It IS easier that way, the only drawback is you can't see the "who's online" and "now playing" sections. Or birthdays/anniversaries. That's why on the very odd occasion, I switch to desktop on mobile for just a moment or two.



No I can see the whole site, and just zoom in on what I want to read.
Right, so you can "see" blocks of colors and stuff, but have to zoom on the posts to actually read them, at which point they take up a lot of the screen, just like on mobile. What's that intermediate view of the page adding if you can't read any of it?

It's quick and easy but this is the opposite
It's quicker and easier to zoom on each post to make it fill the screen, rather than having it already doing that? Seems to me the difference is that on mobile, the middle step is cut out: the thing you want to read is already readable.
I don't want the site zooming in for me though. It's not easier at all or better in any way, quite the contrary.



I don't want the site zooming in for me though.
Can you explain why a bit, though? You had to zoom to read the posts. Now the posts are already zoomed. When I asked this...
What's that intermediate view of the page adding if you can't read any of it?
...it wasn't rhetorical. I'm genuinely asking. What's better about seeing a zoomed out assembly of stuff you can't read, as opposed to just being able to go right into reading it?

It's not easier at all or better in any way, quite the contrary.
See above. I'm perfectly happy to hear people out if they can try to explain things a bit, but I can't really do much by just being told something is worse, when the reasons it's worse seem to apply just as much to the desktop version, except for the addition of extra steps.

I'd also ask you to consider, again, how easy it is for "this is unfamiliar" to feel the same as "this is worse." Especially if it proves difficult to explain why it's worse.



Ghouls, vampires, werewolves... let's party.
Like before I felt like I was connected to the whole site because I could see a lot. It's not like that at all now.
That's a good description of what I had described as "claustrophobic." Generally speaking, desktop views rival mobile views as there are more options and things to see. It is what it is I guess. I wish it weren't.



I don't want the site zooming in for me though.
Can you explain why a bit, though? You had to zoom to read the posts. Now the posts are already zoomed. When I asked this...
What's that intermediate view of the page adding if you can't read any of it?
...it wasn't rhetorical. I'm genuinely asking. What's better about seeing a zoomed out assembly of stuff you can't read, as opposed to just being able to go right into reading it?

It's not easier at all or better in any way, quite the contrary.
See above. I'm perfectly happy to hear people out if they can try to explain things a bit, but I can't really do much by just being told something is worse, when the reasons it's worse seem to apply just as much to the desktop version, except for the addition of extra steps.
I don't actually have to zoom in the other way to see everything. It's just nice to see everything instead of my page being so limited. And the functionality is not nearly as good.



I don't actually have to zoom in the other way to see everything.
I don't follow. You could read posts zoomed out?

It's just nice to see everything instead of my page being so limited.
I understand, but I'd ask you to consider the possibility that this felt better more because of familiarity, given that to actually read posts and do most things you had to zoom in anyway. Especially clicking on tiny icons. And that's without getting into the time to load each page.

Logistically, it feels like this should clearly be easier. The "feel" of it is not unimportant, but if that's the primary issue, that's a really strong indicator that familiarity is the real explanation. Which is a totally real thing, but very different from it being objectively worse, since one will change and one will not, if that makes sense.

And the functionality is not nearly as good.
This, to be sure, is fair, and something I can fix and work on, if people want to work with me and help improve the mobile style through use. I can make it a priority, too. Some of it's a little overdue, even though the basics are mostly there.



Responding to reading posts zoomed out,

I would turn on my phone, go to safari, and I can see the entire front page and read everything in front of me without zooming in on it. I do zoom in on things but not because I have to.



Ghouls, vampires, werewolves... let's party.
Wish I could post a pic but I can't. For me personally, it's much easier and quicker to zoom in and out on what I want than this way.
One of the tricky parts of web development is that cumbersome ways to do things become ingrained, to the point where yeah, even those much slower or tougher ways are easier! Just not as easy as they would be without the benefit of being so much more familiar. This happens at offline offices and stuff, too, which have a way of doing things that's often wildly inefficient, but it's just how it's been done and everyone understands it, so that even "better" ways seem worse at first. This is super common.

That said, the stuff that's cumbersome because it's missing, that I can help with/fix over time. If we're talking about missing buttons that make posting easier, embed images, et cetera. I could definitely use some good, considered, real-world feedback about that.
A means to upload images for the mobile view and to post them is a necessity for many of the threads here. I don't like hotlinking because these images tend to not show up.



Let's take this to PMs or another means of communication.
LOL. Like smoke signals?
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Ghouls, vampires, werewolves... let's party.
Responding to reading posts zoomed out,

I would turn on my phone, go to safari, and I can see the entire front page and read everything in front of me without zooming in on it. I do zoom in on things but not because I have to.
I hold my phone horizontally so there's no need to zoom. I can see everything.



Responding to reading posts zoomed out,

I would turn on my phone, go to safari, and I can see the entire front page and read everything in front of me without zooming in on it. I do zoom in on things but not because I have to.
Well, the front page has giant text for the forum names and stuff, so that makes sense. But the actual core site functions requiring zooming, for sure, yeah? Reading posts and replying to them, clicking on icons, etc.

You specifically mentioned the posts filling the whole screen, for example, but I have to imagine you could only read posts while zooming in, which comes to the same thing. That's what I'm trying to understand.



A means to upload images for the mobile view and to post them is a necessity for many of the threads here. I don't like hotlinking because these images tend to not show up.
Fair, on the hotlinking.

You can upload images on mobile right now, though, just hit one of the reply/quote bubbles on a post, and the button will be right below the text box. It's just not on Quick Reply, though we can see about adding it there, too.



I hold my phone horizontally so there's no need to zoom. I can see everything.
I can't even imagine how this would work, at least not without hiding a ton of the site and losing that "I can see the whole site" thing we've been talking about.

I mean, some of this is just math. The screen is small, it's not going to be possible to see and use the site. Either you're zoomed out and can "see" things, but only the general outline and structure, or you're zoomed in so you can read them all and interact with them. I'll grant that it's going to feel different, especially if you've spent years getting used to it one way and now it's another way, but I'm not sure how it's even possible that anyone was accomplishing these two mutually exclusive things simultaneously on their phones.



You ready? You look ready.
Yeah, this breaks a lot of functionality for me.

I’m on a large mobile device (iPhone plus) so the mobile interface is just not needed for me. I get that it’s a first world problem and may cause you work, so I ain’t going to be a dick about it.
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Same response as before:

You could actually try the version of the site specifically built for the device you're using for more than a couple of minutes before giving up.

Obviously I can't make you, if you're simply determined not to. But that's obviously just a decision, rather than someone genuinely exhausting their options/not having any other choice.
I'd really appreciate you actually considering what I'm saying rather than just responding reflexively over and over and refusing to entertain any of it.