The "I'm on mobile" player...ever had 'em?

[Elena 546]

But why on hell people would want to write posts when on mobile, when it is so difficult to do it? I wouldn't do anything else than read on mobile (and this only if I get too bored at the doctors or something). Otherwise, PC or laptop all the way, because it is far easier on eyes and fingers!

 

Edit: I agree, mobile sucks. So wait until you arrive to a computer.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Elena

[Deacon Frost 196]

I can't write out replies on mobile. I have tried. The best I can manage is writing my post out in a notepad program, then copying it, plopping it into the reply and posting. It always comes out like half the size I thought it was and for some reason my creative muse just doesn't flow as well when I am on my phone. 

 

But some people have very active lives. I'm a single parent. This summer we had some family obligations that involved traveling. I was away from home for almost 3 weeks total over 2 trips. My options were to post from my phone or leave all my writing partners completely without replies for that entire time. So I did the phone posting. For some RPers that kind of rush is their ENTIRE life. They get maybe 10 minutes or 30 minutes in a lunch break at work to write a post. They come home, cook dinner for their kids, start cleaning the house. Write a post while using the toilet because they have a handful of blessedly quiet moments. 

 

I hate phone posting with a bloody passion. But I will respect and try to accommodate the people who do it. Because I get that life gets busy sometimes and you need to steal moments for yourself whenever you can. So if my board is completely broken on mobile view, @jordanand I will be busting hump to try and figure out how to fix it. The review we got was Arceus was very helpful in that regard. Our board isn't perfect but we've got a couple phone posters who are doing alright and keeping up without to many problems. 

Edited February 8, 2019 by Spirit Caller

[Dragon 673]

1 hour ago, Elena said:

But why on hell people would want to write posts when on mobile, when it is so difficult to do it?

 

A lot of people don't have a choice, for various reasons. Some families live on budgets that are too tight for internet services, some have to choose between owning a computer or a cellular device - the latter of which is arguably much more 'must have' in the current social climate. My source of income requires that I have a mobile device, but I could get by without a lap/desktop if I had to choose between one or the other. 

 

Like @Spirit Caller said above, a lot of people just don't have lifestyles that allow them that sort of free time. But people still deserve to be able to indulge the little things in life - those hobbies that help them cope with the stress and constant on-the-go. I hate posting mobile if I don't have to, but sometimes its the only choice I have. 

 

Roleplay changes with society in its own way. Its important for sites to change to accommodate that. We're in an era where mobile-friendliness is pretty crucial, and that isn't going away. 

 

If a site has policies that make mobile participation difficult, then they have to either decide to accommodate - things like, perhaps allowing users to time stamp as the first line of their post, rather than in the title so its easy to fix if forgotten - or, to be purely blunt, they have to decide that they don't value mobile players enough to work with them. In that case its fairest, for all parties involved, to just state that from the start. 

[Rhindeer 217]

Some editors can be a pain in the ass with mobile, especially depending on the device. I can edit posts a LOT easier with my iPhone than I could with my Samsung. Don't know if that's just a "user incompetence" thing (very possible!), nor do I know if things have become easier in later versions of that phone, but for the life of me I just couldn't scroll in text editors so once I wrote a post, well, I just had to live with the errors! xD I had the same issue when I posted from my Nook tablet (also an Android device). With my iPhone, that's not an issue anymore--so what I'm saying is that editing posts COULD be a legit issue dependent upon the device they use. They're not all created equally, all with different pros and cons.

 

The Tapatalk app makes things even easier for me as a mobile poster, but not all sites have the capability to utilize that app. And it still couldn't fix the scrolling issue on my Android devices.

 

But yeah, I'm writing from a laptop now, but 80% of the time I post from my phone. I'm not home all the time, I spend 40 hours a week at work, and I can phone post while on breaks or while cooking or cuddling in bed. It's just easier. Usually if I'm on my laptop, it's to game or do art or do something technical that's easier to do on a computer.

 

I dunno! More and more people use mobile, so it's important to make yourself accessible to them, if you value them as players. Otherwise, your player base is gonna be a lot leaner.

[moony 21]

Speaking as someone who does not often post from mobile, but I have been known to from time to time... I wonder what forum host you're using. I play almost exclusively on JCINK and have noticed that it's incredibly difficult to edit titles on the mobile version of sites I'm at. If it's a subtitle, I genuinely can't (I can't even VIEW subtitles on mobile unless I tell my phone browser to view the desktop version of the site) make any changes while mobile. I can't imagine other board types have it any easier. 

 

Honestly not listing a date seems like a small thing, and if I had a player who was unable to use a desktop to edit a time in, I'd either edit it for them, or get the date and add it to the timeline myself without fussing with the date stamp. Perhaps instead of requiring it be in the title/subtitle specifically you can ask these users, when they do forget, to just add it to the body of the post? Regarding the issue of them using the wrong tense, that's something you should absolutely request that they edit - just be aware that it *is* difficult to edit on mobile. I'd recommend trying to browse, post, and edit on mobile yourself sometime, to understand the difficulty your users are going through. They should definitely edit the tense to conform with your site, but maybe give them a little more leniency in the length of time you give them to edit (or if it's just a sentence here or there, maybe let it slide with a gentle reminder). 

 

It's very easy to say "wait to post!" but for some people (myself included), life doesn't allow for that and we take intermissions where we can. I work a ten hour shift four days a week and then come home to a husband and two dogs that I want to spend time with - what free time I do have is often taken up by moderating an RP, moderating Twitch channels, and spending time with friends. There are days, and even weeks, where the only posts I ever get in are via my phone. It's slower, it's a pain, but I'm able to POST damnit, and in a busy week, sometimes that's my only goal. 

[Muse 121]

As a graphic designer in 2019, if your theme or website isn't responsive for various screen sizes, it's time to make it that way. It really is. That sounds harsh, but I tell this to clients on a regular basis, too. Just do it. You won't regret it.

 

If folks aren't on their phones, they're on an iPad or something similar. People read and even write replies on non-desktop style devices (I write on the cloud, using Dropbox Paper to write replies both on my phone and my desktop instead of writing in the reply box just in case I lose it). 

 

Yeah, it's a pain in the butt and coding work and all that, BUT, it's just time. Small screens are so actively used that it's silly to expect folks to NOT be using them to read and write on their fun RP sites they joined as a hobby on their mobile devices. It's one of the first things I look at in an RP board—does it work on my phone? If not, then, nope, I can't write there because I can't read or post or edit.

[Brie 51]

I do probably 80% of my posting from my phone via a word editor aptly called Werd. I love it, use it so much I pay $5 a month to be able to store bits of stories and have a darker background. I just write the post like an extra long text, copy, add reply, post. Boom. Done.

 

That said, some sites are extraordinarily difficult on mobile. My recommendation is to try it on mobile and see if they physically can edit because often buttons are broken or only half coded when it comes to mobile use. Heck I have a skin up for a WIP site where the top NEW TOPIC button doesn’t work, but the bottom one does. So they may actually not be able to click edit. Just try and if you actually can use it (in desktop and mobile settings on the phone), then they’re making excuses. If you can’t you might need a new, simpler skin like myself. Which hurts my heart soooo much cause it’s a beautiful skin, but alas people actually have to be able to use it.

Edited February 9, 2019 by Brie

[Icewolf 258]

I recently bought a tablet so that I could use the internet while my partner uses the computer, and it's a generic android one. It is awkward. One of the things I suggest to people is dropping posting templates, espeaically those that have hovers and hidden content because they don't work on the android's browser. I've not really used it much for rp (so far it's been more of a digital radio, than anything else), but it is no where near as easy to use as the laptop, but it is better than the phone because it's a bigger screen. I don't know how people can use mobile devices for serious rp though because of the difficulty of using them.

[Guest LOVE ME AND DESPAIR]

Honestly, it just sounds to me like they're using mobile as an excuse to circumvent your rules. If someone is capable of using email or GDoc or some other form of text writing app, they can insert code in around a post if simplified mandatory templates(ie your code is cut down to a simple custom bbcode but if it's like a whole code it's totally understandable they can't input that bit) are required, put dates, make edits if something is in the wrong PoV or tense, etc. then C&P it into the post field on the board. I have done all those things while only being able to use my phone(used a variety over years including a non-smart flip phone) or a wonky tablet that froze at random intervals(so glad to have a new one) on different forum hosts.

 

Stuff that is actively problematic on a mobile layout like hovers, dropdowns, weird coding issues that actively won't let you edit a topic are a different story. You need to see if something is making it impossible for mobile users to actually edit posts, but if that isn't the case I'd say you're probably being given the run around by players who just don't care enough, or are too lazy/don't want to make edits, to follow your rules.

[Brie 51]

Another thing I literally just remembered while making character groups in my upcoming board, on JCINK you legit have to change a setting when you make a character group or they can’t edit their own titles/descriptions. If you’re using JCINK make sure all your member groups are set to allow that to happen before you assume they’re fibbing to get out following the rules. ☺️

[Guest Bekah]

A lot of our members use mobiles or tablets to access our forum. As previously mentioned, the best thing to do is to drop hovers and make posting templates optional. I love using templates and creating them, but I do understand that they are a hassle for a lot of members in one way or another. Maybe attempt to view the site using your mobile phone or tablet, just so that you can be sympathetic towards their concerns.

[Foxypaws 44]

I'm on Proboards! I've tried my very best to make my site mobile friendly. I went back and checked myself though and I didn't have any problems editing or anything. I'm pretty sure it's just the particular players though, honestly. They seem keen on doing whatever they want and then just...not editing.

One of them is writing whatever they want in terms of setting when doing replies. For example, the setting might clearly be indoors before sunrise and they'll write that their character is wading through snow. It's happened multiple times now.

[Brie 51]

Then I'd crack down on that hard, give warnings, and if they still don't listen, kick 'em.

[Karebear 20]

I have an inside "mobile" tester. My mod posts off of her phone often and I check with her if all things are available to her within reason.

That being said, that's no excuse for not following the rules. That doesn't fly in the least. 

[Byrn 102]

On 2/14/2019 at 4:53 PM, Foxypaws said:

I'm on Proboards! I've tried my very best to make my site mobile friendly. I went back and checked myself though and I didn't have any problems editing or anything. I'm pretty sure it's just the particular players though, honestly. They seem keen on doing whatever they want and then just...not editing.

One of them is writing whatever they want in terms of setting when doing replies. For example, the setting might clearly be indoors before sunrise and they'll write that their character is wading through snow. It's happened multiple times now.

 Then I would perhaps venture to say this has absolutely nothing to do with them being mobile users? So maybe the OP shouldn't have been, 'ugh mobile users' and more 'ugh dinguses don't listen'. 

In my experience, I've had a lot of mobile users and they have justified complaints because they're writers too with just as much right to be present as a member. Outside of the simple shout out that some things are hard to read or don't work, I've never had problems with rules being broken. However, when I did notice a trend in there being more, I skipped griping about them and made extra special efforts to make my site mobile friendly.

Edited February 18, 2019 by Tartle