Work on PG (or how I spend my spare time)

Currently I am looking at what to do with users who don't have Flash installed on their computers.

During the recent upgrade of the pictures stuff we switched to using a Flash uploader. This was chosen to allow us to develop using AJAX methods, so that when you do an upload the page changes without you going forward through the site. This also allows the user to do multiple uploads and show a progress indicator.

Sadly under the assumption that most users would have Flash installed to watch YouTube clips of skateboarders messing up I didn't code anything to gracefully tell a user they don't have Flash installed. This came up through Feedback from one of our users telling us it didn't work anymore from them. I was a little dismissive of the situation at the time, but on further investigation I think the way it works if you don't have Flash currently is actually quite bad, so looking at sorting that out.

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Originally Posted by Conrad

Currently I am looking at what to do with users who don't have Flash installed on their computers.

During the recent upgrade of the pictures stuff we switched to using a Flash uploader. This was chosen to allow us to develop using AJAX methods, so that when you do an upload the page changes without you going forward through the site. This also allows the user to do multiple uploads and show a progress indicator.

Sadly under the assumption that most users would have Flash installed to watch YouTube clips of skateboarders messing up I didn't code anything to gracefully tell a user they don't have Flash installed. This came up through Feedback from one of our users telling us it didn't work anymore from them. I was a little dismissive of the situation at the time, but on further investigation I think the way it works if you don't have Flash currently is actually quite bad, so looking at sorting that out.

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I use home PC, where i can download whatever i like, my work PC is a different issue!

Yeah there is the issue that I think Flash can be a little bit troublesome on UNIX as well. I am hoping to put a method in to still allow uploads without Flash, but no promises until I have a good look at the guts of the code.

hi Conrad

is there anything you can do about map pointes that overlap each other?

i remember at Bridgnorth there were 3 pubs all using what appeared to be one pointer - which of course, when scanning a map, looks like there is only one pub - is there anyway of off setting them a little on the largest scale zoom (i know lower zooms its impossible)

Right well I have just uploaded some fixes so hopefully people without Flash installed will be able to make sense of the pictures again now, sorry to anyone previously effected.

Maps, still thinking about that to be honest. It is definitely possible to do what you are asking, just not quite sure how at the moment. When we display them we display them by longitude and latitude, so it is hard to know how many degrees to move them to make them show. I remember I have looked at some enhancements that change multi-points so that they show as one bulbulous point with a number on them though, so maybe something like that is the solution. Will keep it in mind and may have a little play, as it feels like it is the sort of thing that may be corrected with a couple of lines of code.

Agree about map pointers, in fact I have deliberately off set some in Chichester and Portsmouth to show there is more than one pub at that location

On same subject, when adding or changing location, the pointer comes up with a X near base, which in the past I have located at exact site of pub, however when seen in map view, no X and thus pointer is not precisely correct

OK, I know it is only a few doors away, but would it be possible to do away with the X and just place pointer point on exact location, or should I just do this anyway? :confused:

Seperating the pointers is on my list to look at when I redo the maps.

We don't actually code the x, that is supplied by Google whose maps we are showing. It appears to show you where you are about to drop the pointer, once it is dropped it lands there. I just checked it and this does seem to be working for me, the only times it moves are when I change the scale or switch between map and satellite view which is just an artifact of the maths they do, sadly unavoidable. So from my perspective, I would definitely say drop it with the x where you want it and I don't think we can remove the x, although as the pointer is being lifted I also don't think we should.

Hi Conrad

Is it possible to pick up a pointer for a bad pub in say, Blowich, and drop it in the North Sea?;)

I can't remember who it was now, but one of our members was telling me through feedback how they were tempted to drop one of the Manchester Football clubs into the river on another sites maps.

We do offer a certain amount of protection from this, although I can see room for some sort of satisfaction feature to amuse bored people on the site.:)

Think of it as therapy - bad pint or bad service - you can chose - drop the pub in the sea, the arctic, the moon, or Death Valley:D