What's new on DU4

[EarlG]

Last edited Tue Sep 19, 2023, 02:25 PM - Edit history (1)

Since we began the open beta test earlier this month we've had two rounds of bug fixes, and things are going well. We still don't have a firm date for the final launch, but at this point we're hopeful that DU4 will be here sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we're opening it up again for another round of testing.

Aside from a variety of code and text fixes all across the site, here are some of the important changes we've made since the first round of testing:

LARGE FONTS
There is now an option to increase your font size in Default Mode and Night Mode. Go to My Stuff > Account Settings and scroll down to the Visual appearance section to find it.

SITE SEARCH BAR
Added in the previous round of fixes, there is now an easy way to get to site search -- click the magnifying glass icon found in the main site navigation bar at the top of every page, and site search will appear. (Only available on non-mobile devices.)

ADDITIONAL SHARE OPTIONS
The Share button at the bottom of OPs now includes additional options for sharing to Reddit, Mastodon, and Pinterest, as well as Twitter and Facebook. The new sharing options could use some additional testing so please let us know if they are working (or not) for you.

EDITORIALS & OTHER ARTICLES
This forum was originally scheduled for retirement on DU4 but after discussion with forum regulars we've decided to keep it. It is now located at Issue Forums > Editorials & Other Articles. If you want a quick link to it in your left column navigation, simply subscribe to the forum.

OTHER FIXES
Here are some other fixes of note:

• Fixed issue with pinch-to-zoom on certain mobile devices (we hope -- please let us know if you are still having a problem with this)


• Fixed issue with highlight tags displaying wrong color in Night Mode


• Fixed issue with post form scrolling too far on landscape mobile devices when the virtual keyboard was touched


• Fixed post footer buttons not displaying correctly on certain devices


• Fixed blocked members not appearing on Topic Forums About pages


• Fixed issue with site logo not centering on mobile devices

AND FINALLY...
Here are some useful links:

• Complete list of DU4 features


• DU4 Bug Reports forum (bug reports only, no general questions please)


• DU4 Questions & Answers forum (questions only, no bug reports please)

Thanks for your patience while we continue to work on DU4

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Thank you, my dear EarlG! This sounds great. Glad to have it back! ♥ nt

[George McGovern]

2. Large Fonts!

Hello EarlG. Thank You for the new option to choose Large Fonts. My old eyes sure do appreciate it!
George McGovern

[kiri]

6. Good example

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Now none of the youtube videos on the RHS open in DU via FF or Chrome--they work fine in Edge and usually in Brave.

My refresh icon has gone missing.

It was working; you broke it. Really, Bro, you should not do this.

[EarlG]

12. That's a DU3 issue

Nothing to do with this beta test.

What is your “refresh icon”?

[Pepsidog]

3. Thank you for all the work you and others do to keep site up and many sane..

[kiri]

7. Not broken until you...

TY for nothing. Had to change my default browser from FF to edge (ugh) just to open DU.
Why did you do this?

How can I restore my refresh page icon? In 30 yrs it never disappeared before DU's machinations.

Really, did you spend nites thinking about how to screw up with users? You suceeded!

Oh, user error. Blame the victim. I await the non-apology and blaming me.

And how much MONEY $$ did DU spend to achieve this fiasco? Donations from loyal followers supported this? Please explain.

[Ptah]

8. Oh my!

[walkingman]

4. Excellent job - love the "Skinner mode"

[Hortensis]

5. Thank you, guys! Fonts, search, "Editorials etc," all appreciated.

[TygrBright]

9. THANK YOU for the large fonts! YAY!!

FWIW, I have no trouble logging into DU and/or viewing fora on Firefox, Epic, Opera, Aviator, or Edge.

However, when I click on a post in the "Video & Multimedia" forum in Firefox, I had to manually disable various NoScript blocks, and then reload the page 2x to get the video to show and run. Also, in Firefox the embed window is very small compared to the other browsers, and the "My Notes" button very large.

I hope this is helpful information.

Thank you AGAIN for the excellent large fonts!

appreciatively,
Bright

[EarlG]

17. Hard to pinpoint this one

I can't reproduce what you're seeing in Firefox. Video embeds and the My Notes button look normal.

If you're using content blockers then there's always a chance they could mess up the layout in a way that isn't intended. However, that would potentially only affect layout issues (like getting a small embed window instead of the correctly sized version).

When it comes to the NoScript blocks and having to reload the page to see the video, that doesn't sound like a layout issue. When you open a thread with an embedded video, the video is loaded into your browser directly from the source (YouTube) in an iframe. Inside that iframe is YouTube content, not DU content, so if you're getting errors at that point it's most likely to do with the way your browser configuration is handling the direct connection between your browser and YouTube.

But like I said, unfortunately this kind of thing is difficult to pinpoint, because we can't account for all the different browser extensions and custom configurations that people use when they're browsing the Internet.

[TygrBright]

18. Yes, I kind of figured it might be a browser config issue on my end, thanks.

Firefox has a lot of available plugins, etc. and updates every 3-4 days. Keeping its configuration optimized for one thing leaves security vulnerabilities for other things, and so forth. One reason why I only use it for a couple of things, and have Epic as my primary browser.

It's just a guess, but the other people having difficulties with Firefox are experiencing some of the same problems.

I don't know if there's a way designers can accommodate all of Firefox's myriad options... but I imagine you guys have done your best to optimize it.

helpfully,
Bright

[FakeNoose]

10. Best comment EVER on "DU4 features list page"

Thanks EarlG! Love this....

[Kali]

11. hee hee

your link to DU4 Questions & Answers forum goes to the features page

[EarlG]

13. Oops

Fixed, thanks.

[Hekate]

14. Hurray for large fonts. I'm hunting for Editorials so I can subscribe, but need a link

I’ll keep looking, in any case, until the goes on in my brain.

[Hekate]

16. Found it...

[electric_blue68]

15. Thanks for the continued work on du4, and updates. thanks

[piddyprints]

19. I have Skinner mode on.

Looks good on my iPhone and MacBook, but the font is tiny on my iPad. Tried turning on large fonts just for goofs, even though it says it doesn’t work in Skinner mode. The posting window looks normal to me, at least while I’m typing this, but everything else on the page, including the preview window, has tiny fonts. Is there some reason for this?

BTW, thank you.

[EarlG]

20. A couple of questions

First, I just made a small tweak to our code so please let me know if it's still happening.

Second, if it is still happening:

The DU4 font size in Skinner Mode is coded to be the exact same font size as DU3. So there are a couple of things we can check here.

1) If you look at DU3 on your iPad (the regular, current version of DU -- not the new test version), do the fonts also look too small?

2) On your iPad, do the fonts look too small on other websites, or just on DU?

[piddyprints]

21. It's fixed!

Thank you!

I’ll answer the questions anyway.

1) DU3 looks fine. I frequently have a tab open for each version for comparison.

2) The fonts look fine everywhere else.

Not sure if this matters, but I’m using Safari browser.

Thanks for the tweak!

[EarlG]

22. Glad it worked!

The only problem is that I now broke something else by fixing that

No worries though, the change needed to be made, so we'll be sure to keep it.

[piddyprints]

24. I remember well from my programming days.

At least you get to feel like a rock star for a few minutes.

Thank you for being so responsive.

[Random Boomer]

23. The styling is still rough

I hope that the UI/styling for the new site is still under development. The comments are more difficult to scan due to excessive white space around the post text. The options at the bottom of each post are also quite bulky compared to the simple text links on the original forum. There's more scrolling required to get from one comment to another, and their relationship to each other is more difficult to follow.

Any chance we'll have an option for adding our own personal style sheet? I'd love to create my own skin so I can get fussy with details that make my reading experience easier, according to my own fussy standards for good UI (designing UI was my job before I retired).

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

25. I can't reccomend an original post, but can reccomend the replies.

and when I click preview and go back to post my post is gone.

I use firefox as my browser.

Thanks,

[EarlG]

26. Please be more specific

What happens when you try to recommend an OP? What kind of device are you using? Did you switch to Dark Mode/Skinner Mode in Account Settings, or are you using default DU4?

As for previewing, you don’t need to go back to post. After you’ve previewed, just scroll down and use the post button at the bottom.

[piddyprints]

27. Can we have a "Latest Discussions" link on the home page

Like it is everywhere else, in the grey bar at the top? Is that a big deal?

[EarlG]

29. The "Enter Discussion Forums" link

at the top of the home page will take you to Latest Discussions, as will clicking Navigate > Latest Discussions on any page.

[piddyprints]

30. I know.

It’s just more clicks.

[SpamWyzer]

28. Perhaps

you see these as improvements, and since that is a matter of taste I feel justified in saying I find it "ugly". 20 years here and I guess I like what we had. Sorry. Not meaning to disparage your efforts, but your vision isn't one I see.

[DownriverDem]

31. Why?

What's wrong with the way it is? Daily Kos has a new layout, but you can still use the old one.

[cilla4progress]

32. Quite a lot of work -

thank you!