We've released a major patch to the new DU software

[EarlG]

Last edited Fri Dec 1, 2023, 04:13 PM - Edit history (4)

Since the new software was launched last month we've taken everyone's feedback on board and made some changes. I mentioned before Thanksgiving that we would have a big patch coming after the holiday -- we released it today.

CHANGES OF NOTE

Tabbed navigation
The most significant change is to the nav system at the top of the page. Originally we wanted DU4 to be much improved for mobile users, but after launch it became clear that the "one-size-fits-all" approach of the two-button navigation system wasn't working well for everyone. So the two-button system has been replaced with a more traditional DU3-style tab navigation system. This change will happen on both desktop and mobile.

All Forums page
One of the post-launch requests was to bring back a page which lists all forums. Under the two-button navigation system we linked people to the category pages, but with the tabbed navigation system we're bringing back an All Forums page. Please note that this page is not currently finished, so it just provides links to the main forums and categories at the moment. The next job on our list after this patch is to complete this page so it displays every forum on the site.

Sidebar collapser
A number of people asked for this and we've been able to do it. There is now a new button at the top right of the sidebar box where your username, member info, and forums list are (this is for non-mobile users).



This button collapses the left sidebar and stretches the width of the rest of the screen elements to fill the gap. We think this will be particularly useful for people on smaller laptops and tablets. Note that because the left column is required to show ads, this feature is for Star Members only. Also note that it only works on Default Mode and Night Mode, not Skinner Mode.

Share By Email
This is a new share option found at the bottom of OPs. It's easy to use but requires a little explanation so I'll probably make a separate post about it.

UPDATE: I've posted a thread in DU Community Help about the new Share By Email function.

Reverted Greatest Page layout
The Greatest Page has been adjusted to provide the traditional DU3 view, with most recently recommended threads on the left and most recommended in the last 24 hours on the right hand side.

Dozens of small styling changes
We've done a lot of work on tightening up the layout, font sizes, and spacing. This work will likely be ongoing, but for now we think the changes are an improvement. We've also been able to do things like restore usernames to the Trending and Greatest sections on the home page, and add the site search button to the header on mobile devices.

THINGS TO KNOW

If things don't look right for you after the update and you are on a device with a keyboard, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and click your browser's refresh button. There's a good chance this will fix the problem.

As usual, a big update like this could cause unforeseen errors. If you spot a bug or problem please report it in the DU Community Help forum.

Thanks for your patience while we continue to work on the site!

-- The Administrators

[SheilaAnn]

1. Hi Earl G. and many thanks for all that you and your crew are doing. The site is wonderful and I look forward to

whatever new and exciting things you come up with. Thank you again.

[Goddessartist]

2. Thanks so much!

I love the new DU and look forward to the updates.

[dweller]

3. And there it is

😳



✌🏻

[relayerbob]

4. Wow. Much better!

Thanks, much appreciated!

[Hekate]

5. I was startled and wondered what happened -- thanks for the explanation & TY for all you do

[flying_wahini]

6. Love the tabs

Thanks for all your hard work!

[malaise]

7. You're simply the best

😀😀

[lastlib]

8. I lie this WA-A-A-AY better!!

WTG, EarlG and Elad!! - - - - - - - - - -

[NewHendoLib]

9. Looks/works great

Thx

[littlemissmartypants]

10. Rolling with the punches. Thanks for all of your hard work, EarlG! ❤️

[MiHale]

11. Looks awesome...love it! Thanks for all the work.

[CrispyQ]

12. Nice improvement!!

Many thanks!

[Initech]

13. Yes!!! The tabs are so much better!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

14. Thanks EarlG, in spite of the omission of a coffee warming clicky thingy.

[we can do it]

15. NICE!!!

[Tesha]

16. oh! nicely done!

Thank you!

[Shermann]

17. Looks to be an improvement over the "phone-y" interface! nt

[TeamProg]

18. Thanks, I think I'm going to like this. Definitely like that Sidebar Collapse option. nt

[Picaro]

19. Thank you!

[emulatorloo]

20. Thanks for improving the tabbed navigation at the top of the page. Means fewer clicks to get where I want.

Much appreciated!

[redqueen]

21. Great updates!

Still looks sleek on mobile and navigation even easier

[Comfortably_Numb]

22. I'm nobody, but I have an opinion, I found myself on DU probably only 10% of the time that I spent before the update.

I fully intended to renew my star membership and I wasn’t for making threats. I wondered if lower engagement meant less ad revenue, so I was conflicted. That said, I LOVE the patch. It’s the DU of old, but better. Passive props to EarlG and crew.. easy navigation and familiar. Thanks

[3Hotdogs]

23. Earl, any chance of adding a search bar to the website?

[EarlG]

27. There is one...

Do you see the little magnifying glass in the top right corner? If so give it a click and see what happens. If you don't see it, please let me know.

[3Hotdogs]

47. Now, I've embarrassed myself.

[EarlG]

53. No worries

It is something that we've only just included in the last month or so

[Yonnie3]

24. Oh no, changes !!11!!!1

I like them. I think folks will get used to these quickly.

[Susan Calvin]

25. I like it a lot. nt

[Mosby]

26. Love it so far, thanks!

[IronLionZion]

28. Thank you, this is much better

it's much easier to find stuff now with the tabs

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

29. Who do I send a screenshot to?

Top is black, with the links in royal blue and nothing is emphasized - impossible to use unless I squint

[EarlG]

34. It sounds like your browser might have cached some of our old files instead of using the new ones

Try visiting each of these files. If you are on a device with a keyboard, after each file loads, hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and then click your browser's Refresh button. (If you're not on a device with a keyboard, just visit each file.)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/du4css/du4.css
https://www.democraticunderground.com/du4css/skinnermode.css
https://www.democraticunderground.com/du4css/nightmode.css

That may work to force your browser to download the latest versions of the stylesheet files...

Otherwise, you can email me a screenshot at [e-mail]

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

51. Now I can see what everyone is talking about

It looks friendlier.

Clear your cookies, cache and reload the page.

[canetoad]

66. Same thing happened to me

Windows desktop. Solved by signing out, clearing cache & cookies and restarting browser.

Looks excellent. Thanks for your efforts.

[Richard D]

30. Much Better!

Easier to work with and more friendly.

[TalenaGor]

31. YES!! I love it thank you!! nt

[jcgoldie]

32. sweet

Love that sidebar collapse button.

[Liberal In Texas]

33. Cool!

Thank you !

[highplainsdem]

35. Bravo! And thanks!

[CousinIT]

36. NICE! Thanks EarlG! n/t

[flashman13]

37. Can anyone tell me why on my phone the site extends beyond the right side of the screen?

[EarlG]

38. It's most likely an incorrectly sized ad loading in

Is this happening on a specific page, but not on other pages? Or is it on all pages?

[diane in sf]

39. Thank you!

[NutmegYankee]

40. You Rock!

Thankyou! The sidebar collapse and tabbed navigation is awesome!

[KatyaR]

41. Thank you for the tabs!

The boxes were just too...well, boxy. They took up way too much space.

We appreciate you!

[Wild blueberry]

42. Thank you for all your great work! All administrators!

Thank you.

[PatSeg]

43. Oh thank you

That is much better. I like "Posts" having its own tab. Much easier.

You've done a great job. I love DU4

[intheflow]

44. Thank you for making the front page all one font again.

It wasn't a HUGE deal for me, but I'll admit it bugged me whenever I saw the two fonts juxtaposed. Felt like a coding mistake. I know you liked it, EarlG, so thank you especially for changing it back.

[Scottie Mom]

45. Not very attractive. EOM.

[Quixote1818]

46. The only change I would like to see is a separate tab for non-political videos

For the latest videos tab. I have zero interest non-political videos and I use that tab all the time as I drive a lot.

[EarlG]

56. Do this...

In the "filter bar" near the top of the Latest Videos page, click the "Relevance" drop-down menu and change it to "Political", then click the "Go!" button. Once you've done that, you'll only see political videos on the page. The software should remember your setting when you come back to the page.

[Quixote1818]

80. Wonderful. Thanks nt

[Lulu KC]

48. Thank you for turning off the blinks on my subscriptions!

It was driving me so insane I sometimes considered a DU break. I would have missed you, but it irritated me that much. Many thanks.

[Lulu KC]

89. Oh no now it's blinking again

[NameAlreadyTaken]

49. 9 tabs are too many. Should eliminate the

5 least popular tabs and add a "Favorites" tab which van be customized by the user.

[sheshe2]

50. Thank you.

Looks great!

[Paper Roses]

52. I tried DU4 and went back to DU3. I'll wait a few days to go to DU4.

I note that the replies are positive so that is good news. This old timer has problems with change so I'll wait a few days to switch to the "new and improved". Thanks for all the hard work.
I've been around since 2005 and have seen many changes. Now I find some of them beyond my understanding. Glad this new---revised -- is getting good reviews.

[DFW]

54. This is the first time in weeks I've signed in from the desktop, and NOT been forced to:

Make my choices about cookies and then being asked to sign in. Yippee!

If this works from the mobile phone as well, I'll be cheering.

[EarlG]

57. Sorry about that

Unfortunately it's somewhat out of our control -- the cookie banner is an EU regulatory requirement that is placed by DU's ad provider. It's supposed to disappear after you click it once, but apparently a lot of EU DUers were having a similar problem, and unfortunately our ad provider was unable to reproduce it. However, if this patch has had the unintended side effect of fixing it, I'll take that as a win.

[DFW]

64. Don't gloat too early.

I just got back in from Utrecht, and the whole trip back to germany, I had to contend with this annoyance the whole way home, no change from the past weeks. A desktop doth not a cell phone make. But maybe tomorrow, I'll have better news. Where I am doesn't seem to make a difference, by the way. This being a typical week, I've been in Germany, Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. I just got home to Düsseldorf, and have to work tomorrow, too, but that's here in Germany, not too far from Düsseldorf, so I won't have any miracle breakthroughs to report, I'm afraid.

[EarlG]

68. Do you ever use a VPN?

If you can use a VPN to get a US IP address while you're in the EU, that would most likely solve it. I only suggest this if you already use a VPN... if you don't, it would obviously be a pain in the butt to try to figure that out (and you shouldn't have to -- it should work properly in the first place). But if you do use one, it might work as a temporary fix.

[DFW]

73. Come to think of it, Dallas sent me a VPN link to our Texas network

They just sent me a gadget I am supposed to hook up with them on the phone. First disadvantage is that it would only work here at the house, and second, I haven't had a free day when I'd be awake long enough to get with them on this. My job is usually crazy work schedule October and November, but this year, there has been no let-up, and there doesn't look to be until I leave for the USA (December 26). Both James Bond and Jason Bourne would have gone on strike long before now.

However, WHEN I do, I'll monitor this, and get back to you if there is an improvement.

[Emrys]

78. Hi EarlG, I was a UK-based DUer with this problem (presumably in the same boat as those still in the EU!)

I was forced to click on the cookie approval banner on each page load.

I was able to fix it by deleting all DU-related cookies, then logging in again. I've had the banner appear once since then, but it hasn't reappeared since I clicked my approval, so it's now working as intended.

You might want to pass that on to your ad provider.

[sinkingfeeling]

55. So this is the new DU4 format? No more 'settings' to be in 'Skinner mode' or not?

[EarlG]

59. The "My Stuff" button has been replaced with the "My DU" tab

If you click that, a menu will pop open with your DU stuff -- Journal, Bookmarks, Profile, Account Settings, etc.

Skinner Mode can still be found in Account Settings. We've updated things so that Skinner Mode now uses the DU3-style tabs too.

[MontanaMama]

58. LOVE LOVE LOVE the tabs.

Thank you.

[Easterncedar]

60. Applause and thanks!

I appreciate the work you do to keep this place going. It makes the whole world better.

[Mr. Sparkle]

61. I have to say it looks great.

even the temporary yellow banner on the front page. It feels clean ,fresh and easily accessible.

[wendyb-NC]

62. Thank you

Today, I knew something has changed when I opened DU. Something looked different. Sure enough, there was your email. I like these changes, Thanks, again.

[Sogo]

63. I love the new layout of the home page.

It looks more refined and finished, i.e., no longer like a work in progress.

Thank you!

[questionseverything]

65. The blue boxes draw my eyes up when I'm trying to read and gives me a headache

I have to cover the top with a napkin so I don’t get a headache 🤕

[EarlG]

70. For the next round of fixes

I think we will include an Account Settings option so you can turn the "sticky header" off and have it scroll with the rest of the page. Obviously some people like having the tabs available all the time, so they can be clicked wherever you are on the site, whereas others prefer to have the tabs scroll off the top of the screen. I think it would make sense for it to be optional.

[HighFired49]

114. The color bothers

The intense blue bothers my eyes, also. Maybe a half-tone of the existing color would work? Otherwise, the site is awesome! Great work!

[DinahMoeHum]

67. Looks great. Thanks, guys!

[greatauntoftriplets]

69. Thanks so much, EarlG.

Having all those tabs on the top are great. This solves the problem I've had of finding various functions.

[claudette]

71. I like it

Fewer clicks needed. Thank you. 😊

[UpInArms]

72. Thank you for all that you do (which is considerable)

[kanda]

74. Looks great!

Thank you!

[Lucinda]

75. ❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️

[Cha]

76. I gotta say.. I am so

happy about this!! TY EarlG & Elad!

That "My Stuff" was making me crazy b/c it would be Yellow so I would click it and there would be No Replies 1/2 the time.

Now when Posts are Yellow.. there's replies.

And, I like My DU & The Greatest!! More like the Convenience of DU3.. So we have the Best of both Worlds..

[WarGamer]

77. GREAT WORK!! Thanks!!

[justaprogressive]

79. Ahh that's better

thanks for all your hard work on behalf of all of us!

[fargone]

81. my phone view of homepage has degraded

When DU4 first appeared the view on my phone of the home page cropped off about 3 characters along the right edge of the titles and text. Once I went to a forum the right edge was normal. Yesterday the new version gave me a home page with three full columns wide with text so small I cannot read it. If I go to one of the tabs the left column disappears but there is still a narrow column on the right. The text is a little bigger but still to small to comfortably read. I cannot find the purported sidebar collapser. I dumped the cache and cookies from my phone and restarted it to no avail. I also went into settings and switched to large fonts. That also had no effect. So from my current standpoint the newest update is a big negative.

[EarlG]

91. I can tell you that the issue with the homepage is unfortunately related to an ad

We have been trying to track this down for some time but have not yet found the solution. What's happening is that when viewing the home page with ads, somewhere on the page at least one ad placement is not respecting the screen width, and an ad that is slightly too big for the page will load in. When this happens, the section of the page that the ad is in will stretch out to the right, just beyond the edge of the screen.

We're still working to figure out what is causing this problem and when we do the issue will be resolved. Unfortunately until then, there's a chance that sometimes certain sections of the home page will appear slightly too wide.

As for the other issues, I'm a little baffled. You won't see the sidebar collapser on the phone because the mobile version of DU doesn't use a sidebar -- but from what you're describing, it sounds like you are getting the desktop version of the site on your phone. What kind of phone are you using, with what browser? If there's any way you could send me a screenshot to [e-mail], that would be a big help.

[fargone]

112. Screenshots

Phone is android, Samsung Galaxy 10 using Chrome. Screenshot of home page. You can see how small that would be on a phone screen. Note also that the Trending and Latest lists are in the middle but they are repeated in the left column which is itself split down the middle. There is an add lower down that appears to span the width and cover up other text.
When I open Latest Threads the left column disappears. the text is a bit larger but still smaller than it used to be. An additional column of things remains on the right. I don't think that was there before but am not absolutely certain of that. It takes up about 20% of the width which I imagine would reduce the text size of the threads somewhat. Opening a thread, the text is very small. The list of replies is even smaller and half the width of the reply list is taken up with 3 columns of useless data that can be found by opening a reply if for some reason you want that data. I feel like a bit of an outcast as almost everyone else is zooming along with the new new version. I appreciate that you have looked at my special case.

Rich R

https://imgur.com/a/hQrvBsT
https://imgur.com/a/QQV6SJM
https://imgur.com/a/oKNSmob

[EarlG]

113. Curious. See how there are two Trending/Greatest sections on the homepage screenshot?

That’s because two versions of that section exist in the code, but only one will be displayed depending on the size of your device (because there are different layouts for different sizes).

The fact that both sections are displayed in the screenshot suggests to me that your device might still be using a cached, older version of our stylesheet which does not contain instructions for how to deal with the new tabbed layout. That’s why you’re seeing both sections (among other things).

Try the instructions at the top of this page to clear your browsing data for democraticunderground.com:

https://community.qlik.com/t5/Official-Support-Articles/How-to-Clear-All-Browser-Cache-or-for-specific-site/ta-p/1710298

When you return to DU your browser will then be forced to download new files from our server, which means you should get the new stylesheet.

Please let me know how it goes…

[fargone]

115. It may have worked!

I had cleared history, cache, and cookies before with no effect. I added site settings, that I did not know were there, it appears to have solved the problem. Looks good right now. Thank you and I hope I do not have to get back to you any time soon.
Rich Roehrdanz

[EarlG]

116. Hey, great

Glad to hear it!

[ClearSky24]

82. Why don't you just...

bring back the DU3 design back. That was the real deal.

Even DU4 is starting to look like a clone of DU3.

I'd bet that the popularity of DU would skyrocket.

[birdographer]

83. Love, love, LOVE

the new top tabs!!! Nice and compact. The entire top banner area is so much cleaner. Great work on all of it!

[calimary]

84. So far, so good - I think. But I'm no techie on business like this.

I'm just glad those here who understand and know what they're doing are in charge of this.

[SledDriver]

85. Liking it so far!

[wysimdnwyg]

86. Thanks!

I really like the latest changes. Many thanks for all of the hard work you guys do.

[byronius]

87. I love it.

Great job.

[mahina]

88. Thank you!

[2naSalit]

90. Thank you!

[JoseBalow]

92. Es bueno!

Gracias!

One FYI - I notice that Inbox (0) link is highlighted in yellow when there is a new reply to a post, but there are no new messages in the inbox. Not sure if that's intended or not, or something on my end here.

[EarlG]

94. Hmm thanks for the heads up

I haven't noticed it myself yet but I believe it could be happening -- it's possible that it's related to a different issue which we'll be uploading a fix for soon. I'll keep an eye out and see if I can reproduce the problem.

[JoseBalow]

96. No problemo!

[EarlG]

98. Btw

I can confirm I was able to reproduce this. We should have a fix for it shortly.

[A HERETIC I AM]

93. Well, this blows.

The whales, not the format.

The format sucks!

[Wednesdays]

95. Looks awesome to me

Thanks for all your efforts!

[NowISeetheLight]

97. Awesome

The new tables on top are great. Thank you!

[SouthernDem4ever]

99. Great Job - site is looking great!

[democrank]

100. Hi EarlG

I absolutely love this place . Although I’m not very tech-savvy and don’t understand many of the new features, I appreciate all your efforts. Thank you.

[Srkdqltr]

101. Wonderful!! I did not realise that it could be better.

First thing I did was get rid of the left side stuff. I'm happy.

[dweller]

102. Minor glitch noticed

In the far fetched circumstance that I receive a reply on a post, the post tab turns yellow, as it should, but the inbox tab also lights up yellow … even as it still says (0) for mail …

Minor for sure but consistent



✌🏻

[piddyprints]

103. Wow, EarlG!

I took it off Skinner Mode to take a look. It's so much better that I might just leave it this way. Thank you!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

104. Wow, lookin good... THANKS!! 👍

[LittleGirl]

105. I like it!

I really hated that flashing yellow box. Drove me nuts!
Thanks for your updates and fixes.
I really like the new home page!

[TomSlick]

106. EarlG. Thanks for all your work.

[sarchasm]

107. Thanks for everything you do!

[HuskyOffset]

108. Two thumbs way up, thx for your hard work! (NT)

[dutch777]

109. Thanks for listening and the good work!

[mntleo2]

110. Lookin' Good!

I have been on DU for more than 20 years. During that time I "lived" through many different platforms. Yeah for my old self it takes some time to get used to it. But really I always know that under those new versions, it is the same ol' DU with another pretty face.

Love, Cat in Seattle

[Shermann]

111. A few fine-tuning issues from the perspective of a UI designer

The MY DU tab is a bit odd and breaks the newly established tab language of the DU interface. It turns yellow when you hover over it but is inconsistent about displaying a tab page when clicked. Instead, the user gets a pulldown menu of buttons. At this point, the yellow color becomes persistent until the pulldown is closed, which breaks the language of yellow meaning focus. I would redesign this pulldown to be a tab page the same as the other tab pages.

The other issue is unnecessary shortcuts. If you go to MY DU/Trash Can, there are these nonessential shortcuts to account settings, star membership, bookmarks, etc. These are readily available under the MY DU menu and not needed here. Redundant shortcuts can be helpful when strategically placed but there are just odd.

[EarlG]

118. Hey

I just wanted to say thanks for this post, I didn't reply at the time but I did read it and I was able to incorporate some of your suggestions into the latest patch that we just released.

[lostnfound]

117. Most productive developers, damn good and fast.

Y’all are just fabulous. Thank you for all you do.
I’d been missing the ease of greatest by time and now that you mention it, missing missing the user names — but did not complain because what do I know? I’m happy they are back.

You fix stuff before I even realize it was bugging me.