MobileFrontend/Feedback

Back to Mobile Design, back to Mobile Feedback

New Contact page puts "Technical Problem" feedback here.

Here is the main page for feedback on the mobile site. When providing a bug please let us know the browser you are using (e.g. default, Firefox mobile, opera mobile), the device (e.g. HTC Desire, iPhone) to make it as easy as possible for us to fix it!

Editing on mobile
From https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionnaire:Wikidémie/juin_2012#Mobile_view_as_default_view_coming_soon GaAs is absolutely right. By cons, on Wikipedia, I came to regret not being able to edit the page from my phone (to correct a typo) and it could be the case on Wiktionary too. Perhaps a special button (at the bottom of the page) to send a comment on a DDA (Wikidémie?) Automatically with a specific reference to the selected passage could serve as pseudo-contribution? Finally, it's just a wild idea, but I think it can be done. - Eiku (d) June 20, 2012 at 16:52 (UTC)

General
The font size is a little bit too small according to feedback from a friend Jdlrobson (talk)

Perhaps an "autohide scrollbar" on the side of the page in order to quickly scroll throughout lengthy articles. - usertesting.com iPhone user
 * The default scrollbar in the iPhone browser displays a thin scrollbar when scrolling but it cannot be used manually. Android allows a thumb-bar option on long lists. What can we do on iOS?

UI

 * The search box seems to be missing. Was that intentional? If not, let's put it back in.
 * Let's poll people on this. I see pros/cons to it. Tfinc (talk) 00:35, 21 March 2012 (UTC)


 * In the footer, I know there were some lingering issues regarding the text about CC and registered trademark. Could we shorten that text to: "Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Terms of Use". We can keep the Contact Us link there for now, but that will go away when we have the new Contact page ready.


 * I think you had a question about how to programmatically retrieve that text from the site - is that still a question? Nope.Jdlrobson (talk)


 * On the bottom line, could you make the text larger, and shorten each to a single word? So:
 * Contact  Privacy   About   Disclaimers

Fixed in cb5b870334b6bca8720541ce41b1a95fd2d4f680 Jdlrobson (talk)


 * Finally, the Feedback page for this beta and subsequent ones is here:
 * https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MobileFrontend/Feedback
 * So I assume we should direct comments from the Contact form to this page.

--Pchang (talk) 00:27, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

addressed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4720
 * Were dismissing the keyboard right after we enter full screen mode but before the user can type anything. MAJOR ANNOYANCE fixed in 8fa7d050277f6e32a799bf3ab369137529bfd940 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Find a page that takes a long time to load and tap search while its still loading. After it finishes loading try to type out the rest of your search. It wont work fixed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#q,4424,n,z Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Load this pl artice tap ref. Expand the 'Historia' section and tap [3] ref. You'll see that the X overlaps the text fixed in f06848cd5d9b0dd97aad30bff9e924e004e0bc25 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * If we can make the reference follow a user scrolling then lets do it. Having it jump is annoying (Fixed on browsers which have position fixed)
 * Arabic Wikipedia footer text is smashed together and is only in english
 * It says 'by SA 3.0more information'
 * The CC logo is also on the far left while the page text is on the far right fixed in dc928f66595ffa565e418859327dad5b45d41d0e Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Collapsing content it really jittery. It seems to happen in two steps rather then one making it visually distracting. (improved/fixed in aa8f47c010573309a02d911c6c72629c35e7d5ae)
 * A small subset of pages don't fit neatly into the beta window. For instance on en wiki "Boston Red Sox" works great for default but fails in beta mode

Copy text

 * Lets consider changing "Type your search here" to "Tap to search" .. Its simpler, shorter, and more correct as we see touch devices take over. This will also make it not scroll of the screen if a user uses a larger font. --Pchang
 * How about 'What do you want to learn today..." or something more friendly/inspiring and thought provoking. Jdlrobson (talk)
 * +1 to friendly/inspiring and thought provoking heather walls (talk)
 * I would propose 'What would you like to learn about?', 'What interests you?' or 'What do you want to read?' - I think it's important the placeholder is a question and is about a goal rather than an action that can be done (e.g. tapping or typing).
 * "Type your search here" font size appears to increase when transforming to the full screen search. Regardless of what it says, I think that the font of the full screen search "Type here" is bigger than it needs to be. It should be at least as small as the text that shows up in the search box before it transforms into the full screen search, I would prefer them both to be smaller. The user-entered-term font size can be larger if necessary. heather walls (talk) 22:49, 4 April 2012 (UTC) fixed in Change-Id: Ia85420152f16db539893e7481ca5278e685e7a92 Jdlrobson (talk)

Jump back a section

 * Does anyone actually use "Jump back a section" ? ... If not lets ditch it --Pchang
 * the jump back a section question is interesting... I tend to get annoyed about scrolling up a ton to get to something but I'm not sure I'm trained to use a link like that... so not sure I would (at least yet). (James Alexander)
 * I use "jump back a section" but I'd almost prefer if it was "close this section", or if there was another way to close the section from the bottom. heather walls (talk)
 * Some thoughts... I guess the way to think of this is what problem it solves. I suspect it is trying to solve the problem 'I want to go back to the contents'. People read vertically down the page. How often/likely is it that someone wants to re-read an entire section? The only situation where jump back a section might become useful is if I don't find what I'm looking for and need to find another section which might have the answer. The ability to jump back to the top of the page / contents page might be more useful in this situation. This could be done by sliding left to reveal a table of contents or a fixed positioned button in the bottom right corner/top right corner which allows me to jump back to the top of the page (a bit like tumblr.com)
 * Also another idea to throw into the mix. What if only one section can be opened at a time. e.g. opening a section closes all other sections? On smaller devices you only have space for one section anyway, however I guess this might be slightly different on an ipad. Thus opening the next section closes the last section providing a useful trick for those who need it... Jdlrobson (talk) 10:14, 28 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Change "Jump back a section" to "Collapse this section." This provides a way to collapse a section from the bottom of the section and reduces the amount of scrolling that is required. Based on user testing and comments from Erik Moeller.
 * See the usertesting.com video here.

I've not thought in terms of implementation yet but my current favourites are 1) making the downward arrow scroll with the section so that it is always present on the right of the section. Thus you use the same button to collapse the section 2) an arrow in the bottom right of the screen that jumps you back a section. Continuously clicking on the arrow will eventually get you to the top of the page. 3) I've also been thinking swipe gestures for feature phones but worry they might not be discoverable. For example a flick upwards or shake gesture might collapse the section you are currently reading. Jdlrobson (talk) 08:09, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Opera

 * Opera Mini on Android doesn't show the "Type your search here" text
 * opera mini doesn't support the placeholder attribute. The question is can users live without this or do we want to resort to additional code to give them this. Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Full screen search never shows suggestions fixed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/3522 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Full screen search shows awkward rectangular box when typing in text
 * yes this is most annoying but I can't seem to find a fix yet.. many of the mobile browsers do there own thing ignoring css for input focus :( Jdlrobson (talk)

Firefox Mobile
fixed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4355
 * Tapping a reference links scrolls you to the bottom of the page and then does nothing
 * which mobile device are you using... I'm failing to replicate this :-(Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Tapping full screen search zoom in too far. So far you can't see the '<'

Tfinc (talk) 00:39, 21 March 2012 (UTC) moved to bug https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=32081 94.195.128.200 From James Alexander:


 * the search location 'feels' a bit odd because it's basically right under my normal search box (in the right hand corner of the browser)


 * I personally really like the footer, much cleaner. Obviously I'd check with legal to make sure they're happy there (I assume so I don't think it's an issue). The other question would be that 1. The more information is right next to the cc-by logo and makes me think 'More information about the license' and not necessarily the other 4 links there. especially since the big chunk of text that comes up IS about the license, I almost didn't notice the other links you also have contact us twice


 * Love the references, love love love

Non-Mobile view (Desktop or other skin view) Feedback
This is feedback related to the Desktop view of the site once the plugin that may be indirectly affecting the entire site (site-wide settings, code bugs prevent site launch, etc).

Forces desktop view to SSL

 * 08 January 2013, Version 0.7.0 git clone dated 05 January 2013, MediaWiki Version 1.20.2: After enabling MobileFrontend's extension, from the Desktop view or any other view like the WPtouch skin (not in mobilefrontend view) when you click Create account or Login you are forced to an SSL version of the site (forces https://, where you were previously at http://). I've confirmed it is only with this plugin, and it happens with any skin selected.  Since we do not have SSL on our site, this problematic.  I peaked through a few PHP files in the MobileFrontend extension, but did not see any variables that stood out immediately. Happens in all browsers (IE9, IE10, Chrome, Chrome mobile in Desktop view). Eduncan911 (talk)

References Feedback

 * It was suggested that the height of the references window might be limited to 1/2/3 lines with text shortened and followed by a ... which when clicked would reveal the rest of the reference


 * I like the new reference system, but would appreciate if I could dismiss the reference by tapping anywhere the main body of the article rather than having to click on the little "x" button on the popup footnote. Wittylama (talk) 01:23, 27 March 2012 (UTC) Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Right now it also works to tap the reference itself a second time.--Eloquence (talk) 01:56, 27 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the feedback Wittylama! Jdlrobson (talk) fixed in "hide references on touchstart or clicking outside the reference box" - https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4402
 * Tapping on [citation needed] shows a pop up that says the same thing. Perhaps we should say 'Add one by visiting our desktop site' pchang (talk)
 * This was my thought... think of it as a placeholder for some cool mobile feature to allow people to add one Jdlrobson (talk)

Footer Feedback

 * Suggested that the whole footer should be clickable see bug 35512
 * Text in the last row (contact/privacy/about/disclaimers) should be larger, Wikipedia mark could be a few pixels taller, also. Also think I prefer "more" to be black instead of gray (yes, gray is my fault!) heather walls (talk) 00:22, 3 April 2012 (UTC) fixed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4171 and https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4172
 * Shadow on the footer does not follow the entire line, it is indented on both sides. heather walls (talk) 20:52, 4 April 2012 (UTC) fixed in Change-Id: I793253154b390f2ba2fdd1400e072ac9244ba5b0 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * It feels like the Wikipedia logo should link to the homepage. It feels like it should be clickable..

Beta Feedback from April 5, 2012
Great job on the mobile beta! Here's some feedback (on iOS/Safari). fixed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4401 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * From Howie:
 * Reference reveal:
 * Only way to dismiss reference is to hit "x". I'd recommend that a tap on the main content area dismisses the reference https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4402 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Landscape view is wonky (see attached). fixed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4406 and https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4407
 * Expand section:
 * Behavior appears unpredictable. Sometimes the expand takes up the whole screen, sometimes it takes up part of the screen
 * Expansion is jarring (not smooth). https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4404 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * My opinion: my expectation as a user is that expand would keep the section head in place and the content would expand underneath. I understand the rationale for having the section take up more of the screen (e.g., the whole screen) --> more content available.  But my eye needed to recalibrate since the location of the content changed. fixed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4403 Jdlrobson (talk)
 * Grey/White for different sections. Again my opinion -- I think lines would be better.  As a user, I wondered why certain sections were grey and others weren't -- made me question if there was something special about the grey sections.  I also think the section lines are a bit more clean. changed in https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/4774 Jdlrobson (talk) 14:34, 12 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Interaction of search:
 * The "x" shouldn't show when the user hasn't entered anything -- it should only be revealed when there's something to remove (see Safari's search)
 * I was personally a little confused by the back arrow and the difference between the back arrow and the "x" upon first load (i.e., nothing in the search box). But maybe is the "x" is conditional, I woudln't find it confusing.

Discoverability of Facebook style menu
(Originally raised in https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=38106) I tested the new beta layout with a couple on a couple of my friends and noted one thing straight away. If you don't know the Facebook app (or something else with a similar style), people seem to miss that these two icons are buttons that they can press. They need a subtle block line around them or something I think to increase visual feedback to the user.

Then again, how do people NOT know the Facebook app... weird friends.

Voiceover issues
(Originally raised in https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=38106) BTW. These buttons also don't have title attributes or anything else to give feedback to people using VoiceOver. We implemented that all for the phone gap app, we probably want to keep things like that in mind and not run into the same issues every single skin update......