vB5: Ideas about the floating bar (+suggestion)

[TLMD]

We all know navigating in vB5 isn't much fun at the moment. One reason is that the floating bar definetly needs some advanced functionality. Don't get me wrong: I like the concept of having a floating bar, however it has so much more potential.

V1: I have created a mockup that shows how the floating bar could look like with additional functionality. Of course this is based on personal preferences, so I am talking about features that I would like to see in the floating bar here, but maybe others have similar ideas/wishes regarding this. Anyway, feel free to give feedback or provide own suggestions about what you expect from the floating bar.




V2: Even better would be to include a "true" pagination. This is how it could look like:




V3: And this is a version with common icons included as well as better sized buttons:




JIRA (in case anybody wants to add comments/watch or vote): http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-10897

[DemOnstar]

I already tried that one http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-8999 back in April...

And there are a few others related..

http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-9559
http://tracker.vbulletin.com/browse/VBV-9807

[Mopar1973Man]

Good ideas but I still think the pagination need to to be return back to the old school way and not the type in box style. That one can be moved to the bottom if someone wants it.

[sadiq6210]

Good ideas but I still think the pagination need to to be return back to the old school way and not the type in box style. That one can be moved to the bottom if someone wants it.

+1.

[TLMD]

Good ideas but I still think the pagination need to to be return back to the old school way and not the type in box style. That one can be moved to the bottom if someone wants it.

This could easily be achieved if a "true" pagination is inserted between the previous/next page buttons. This is how it could look like (also edited in the initial post):

[Lynne]

That looks nice - I like your second version with the 'true' navigation back. I also think the floaty bar needs to be consitently used. It appears on some pages, but doesn't stay a floaty bar on all the pages and it needs to.

[Wayne Luke]

Some nice suggestions. I've forwarded them on to both Product Design and Development. My only concern is with real estate. It is very limited and having a lot of buttons provides a very cluttered user interface. Though there are ways around that as well.

For instance, unread and last post could both be icons. The search bar could be hidden and only available on click so it is an icon as well. The jump for "My Posts" is interesting. I visit another site where they have this in the actual post area for staff members so you can jump from staff post to staff post. This could be moved to the top right corner there as well.

[durruti]

Some nice suggestions. I've forwarded them on to both Product Design and Development. My only concern is with real estate. It is very limited and having a lot of buttons provides a very cluttered user interface. Though there are ways around that as well.

For instance, unread and last post could both be icons. The search bar could be hidden and only available on click so it is an icon as well. The jump for "My Posts" is interesting. I visit another site where they have this in the actual post area for staff members so you can jump from staff post to staff post. This could be moved to the top right corner there as well.

While at it Wayne, please also includes the following to be fixed;

[Wayne Luke]

Can't see what you assume to be wrong in the first picture. The issues in the second should be entered into JIRA. Neither seem related to the Floating Filter/Tool Bar.

[durruti]

Can't see what you assume to be wrong in the first picture. The issues in the second should be entered into JIRA. Neither seem related to the Floating Filter/Tool Bar.

People posted issues here and in JIRA and yet there still exist chances for them to be ignored. Who else am I suppose to rely on for a 100% assurance that my issue is properly reviewed by the developers if not for the support team? Need we to debate this and need I to provide evidences or why not just help a customer by posting the issues in JIRA as you see fit?

1. In the first picture, on the front page, when you click the redirect of this thread, it will lead to a blank page (hence the remark in the photo; "redirect not working").
2. I also noticed that in the original section, the redirect is locked, why the need for that? Is it just another bug?
3. Picture 2; the floating bar is not center.

[glennrocksvb]

I created a user script to enhance the floating bar.

1. It fixes the top pagination controls with the same bottom pagination controls in thread page (This is done everywhere there is a floating bar).
2. It has the go to top button.
3. Floating bar is more noticeable when in floating mode by having the same background as top menu nav bar.
4. The Subscribe button does not reload the page anymore and it is added to the floating bar. (New on v1.1!)

Get it on http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/175437

See screenshots for Thread and Forum pages:

[glennrocksvb]

This user script works on Firefox as a Greasemonkey script and on Chrome as an extension (just drag n drop the .user.js file to extensions page, chrome://extensions)

[glennrocksvb]

As with the other user script extension I made for Photo Slideshow, this one also uses the javascript lazy-loading technique for performance reasons. See more details at: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forum...79#post3987579

[glennrocksvb]

Found a bug where +Subscribe/Subscribed button states not updated on both places (at top and on toolbar) when clicked on. Fixed on v1.2.

[glennrocksvb]

I created a screencast video on how to install the Floating Bar user script extension on Chrome. It also shows how the enhanced floating bar works here in vbulletin and also in a live vb5 forum site. Here is the link to the video:

http://bit.ly/vb5fbarvid

[TLMD]

Glenn, you should start working with the devs again. Why did you leave?

Nicely done! Your navbar alternative definetly is a good workaround until the "real" navbar gets additional features! I hope this will not take like another year, since currently vB5 lacks basic features when it comes down to navigating the forum.

[glennrocksvb]

Thanks TLMD! I also hope that the floating bar gets redesigned sooner rather than later. As we all wait, I hope users will find my script useful.

Regarding your question, I found something else that is 10 times closer to where I live.

[Guest]

Would I be able to use parts of this script to add it to the templates of vB instead of installing a script at end user side?

[glennrocksvb]

You can try adding it as a template hook but you need to modify the script a bit as it was designed as a userscript extension. At a minimum, you need to remove the lazy script loader block and replace it with:

if (document.querySelector('.conversation-toolbar-wrapper')) {
    main();
}