Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

escondida · 2008-10-08 22:24:17

Hello,

I've been checking the forums a little more regularly lately, and one thing that I've noticed is that there is no button for forward or back when browsing search results, subforums, etc.

I know this is a trivial issue, but I believe it would make things just that slight bit more convenient to add this feature.

Therefore, I'm going to suggest that one be added as part of the pages-to-choose-from array at the top/bottom of pages.

Questions? Further thoughts? Comments?

koch · 2008-10-08 22:48:07

most browsers can do this, the side-buttons of my mouse can do this and my keyboard can control my firefox to do this.
IMHO there is no need for bloating the forum with stuff like that.

also there is this line at the top of the forum displaying where you are and at both, top and bottom, the pages of the thread you are in are displayed.
so at least i have 5 possibilities to go back or forward in history.

do you really need 6 ways to do this.

finferflu · 2008-10-08 22:55:55

koch wrote:

most browsers can do this, the side-buttons of my mouse can do this and my keyboard can control my firefox to do this.
IMHO there is no need for bloating the forum with stuff like that.
also there is this line at the top of the forum displaying where you are and at both, top and bottom, the pages of the thread you are in are displayed.
so at least i have 5 possibilities to go back or forward in history.
do you really need 6 ways to do this.

I agree, plus, I never understood what was the purpose of a "Back" and "Forward" link on webpages, where web browsers are all capable of doing that, at least all those I have used, and I'm not sure what kind of exhotic web browser would omit a back button. In text browsers, controls are keyboard oriented, so it is actually quicker to press the right button for that function than to navigate to the actual link.

Cerebral · 2008-10-08 23:57:09

I think the OP means "next page of search results" and "previous page of search results" - not actual back/forward buttons that navigate your browser's cache.

escondida · 2008-10-09 00:04:10

Cerebral, that's exactly what I meant. Sorry I didn't make that clearer. Thanks.

Procyon · 2008-10-09 00:12:46

This is useful for vimperator's "]]" and "[[" too.

Note that you can reduce the problem by setting how many topics/posts you see per page to max (75) in your profile / display.

zenos · 2008-10-14 03:06:08

+1

I was thinking about this today. I was also going to recomend subsections in the Desktop Environments forum. Give kde, gnome, xfce, *box, X11 their own space that way everything is not grouped together. It would make specific topics and questions easier to answer and respond to. For example if someone has a question about openbox they can post it in Desktop Environments/Openbox where it would be easier to find and get answered by openbox users.

Mr.Elendig · 2008-11-10 16:26:47

finferflu wrote:

koch wrote:
bhla bhla bhla
bhla bhla bhla

I think this is what she ment:
Pages: 1 2 3 4 => Pages: < 1 2 3 4 >

Personally, I think it's a good idea.

finferflu · 2008-11-10 16:50:09

My bad, I misunderstood, sorry.

OT: What do [[ and ]] do in Vimperator? I tried them, but I can't understand what they do...

moljac024 · 2008-11-10 17:51:29

I was always thinking that it's strange these buttons are missing.

Procyon · 2008-11-10 17:55:34

finferflu: they automatically follow the link that matches a pattern (by default something like "next" or ">>" I'm not sure)

Last edited by Procyon (2008-11-10 18:00:56)

ssjlegendx · 2008-11-11 03:25:46

joyfulgirl wrote:

I'm going to suggest that one be added as part of the pages-to-choose-from array at the top/bottom of pages.

I agree: this is a feature I've wanted for a while (though -- at this point -- I can do without it). If it is not implemented forum-wide, it could be "added" on an individual basis via a Greasemonkey script of one's own device.

TjPhysicist · 2008-11-11 04:29:23

ssjlegendx wrote:

joyfulgirl wrote:
I'm going to suggest that one be added as part of the pages-to-choose-from array at the top/bottom of pages.
I agree: this is a feature I've wanted for a while (though -- at this point -- I can do without it). If it is not implemented forum-wide, it could be "added" on an individual basis via a Greasemonkey script of one's own device.

can u point me 2 the exact script thtat works for you....thx.

toofishes · 2008-11-11 05:36:36

We don't customize our forum all that much. If punbb supports it, let us know what we have to configure and we might be able to turn it on.

ssjlegendx · 2008-11-12 03:18:20

TjPhysicist wrote:

can u point me 2 the exact script thtat works for you....thx.

I don't actually use or have such a script; I've contemplated writing one, but I'm not sure if I ever will.

Edit:

After making my original (now slightly-modified) post, I worked on some JavaScript to accomplish this task. I wrote code that can extract the thread ID and current page number from the URL (window.location.href), and I began working on part of the DOM modification needed to add a link for the next page. (Even the code I have needs some work and foolproofing.) I'm not certain if I will ever completely finish what I have and convert it into a Greasemonkey script, but I might.

Also, one should note that the PunBB Forums themselves have "Previous" and "Next" buttons. Based on their current list of plugins used (pun_bbcode, pun_e_mail_auth), I suppose this is a feature that is built into (at least the newer versions of) PunBB. Then again, the PunBB folks might have added this as a custom feature.

I've become accustomed to the lack of these buttons, and so using the individual page numbers for navigation does not especially faze me any longer.

Last edited by ssjlegendx (2008-11-12 13:46:39)

moose jaw · 2008-11-18 03:42:41

Heartily endore OP's suggestion, and note along with Procyon that this would make a real difference for browsing the forums with Vimperator, using "]]" and "[[" (especially on netbooks where small screen and trackpad can make it hard to land on those tiny little numbers).

u_no_hu · 2008-11-18 07:57:57

In vimperator C-a and C-x will do this from second page onwards.... it increments the last number of the url....

And punbb 1.3 supports this by default.

moose jaw · 2008-11-18 14:03:30

u_no_hu wrote:

In vimperator C-a and C-x will do this from second page onwards.... it increments the last number of the url....

Whoa, thanks! That is great to know.

Profjim · 2008-11-18 14:34:20

Here's a javascript that I've used successfully with lots of other sites. Not in a position atm to test it out here, but even if it doesn't work as-is, it'd be a useful starting point. This script evolved out of ones included with a FF2.* extension, I think it was "Next, Please!"

Apologies if the formatting is off. It was all compressed together in an old bookmarks file.

javascript:(function(){

    function image(re){
        for(var i=0;i<document.images.length;i++){
            if(re.test(document.images[i].src.split("/").pop())){
                j=document.images[i].parentNode;
                if(j.href){return Array.indexOf(document.links,j);}
            }
        }
    }

    function link(re){
        var h;
        for(var i=0;i<document.links.length;i++){
            h=document.links[i].toString();
            if(/https?|file/.test(h.split(":")[0])&&re.test(h)){
                return i;
            }
        }
    }

    function linktext(re){
        var l;
        for(var i=0;i<document.links.length;i++){
            l=document.links[i];
            if(/https?|file/.test(l.toString().split(":")[0])&&re.test(l.textContent)){
                return i;
            }
        }
    }

    function linkclass(re){
        var l,c;
        for(var i=0;i<document.links.length;i++){
            l=document.links[i];
            if(/https?|file/.test(l.toString().split(":")[0])){
                c=l.attributes.getNamedItem("class");
                if(c&&re.test(c.value)){
                    return i;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    function increment(){
        var i=location.href.split("/").pop().split("?")[0].match(/(?:(index|page|)(\\d*)\\.)?/)[2];
        if(!i){
            i="(1|2)";
        }else{
            i=(i-0+1).toString();
        }
        return link(new RegExp("/(index|page|)"+i+"\\\\.(html?|asp|php)(\\\\?.*)?$","i"));
    }

    function incrementp(){
        var i=location.href.split("?")[1];
        if(i){
            i=i.match(/&p=(\\d*)/);
            if(!i){
                i="(1|2)"
            }else{
                i=(i[1]-0+1).toString();
            }
            return link(new RegExp("&p="+i));
        }
    }

    var i,j,links=document.getElementsByTagName("link");
    if(links){
        for(i=links.length-1; i>=0; i--){
            if(links[i].getAttribute("rel")=="next"){
                j=links[i].getAttribute("href");
                if(j){location.href=j;return;}
            }
        }
    }
    i=undefined;
    if(/^(www\\.)?salon\\.com$/.test(document.domain)){
        i=increment();
    }else{
        if(/^bbs\\.archlinux\\.org$/.test(document.domain)){
            i=incrementp();
        }else{
            if(/^del\\.icio\\.us$/.test(document.domain)){
                i=linktext(/%C2%AB earlier/i);
            }
        }
    }
    if(!i){i=linkclass(/^next$/i);}
    if(!i){
        i=linktext(/^\\s*(\\[?\\s*next( \\d+( \\w+s)?| \\w+)?\\s*\\]?|\\[?\\s*next page\\s*\\]?|\\[?\\s*more( \\w+s)?\\s*\\]?|older( \\w+s)?|continued)(\\s*(>>?|%C2%BB))?\\s*$/i);
    }
    if(!i){
        i=image(/next\\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)/);
    }
    if(!i){
        i=linktext(/^\\s*(>>?|%C2%BB)\\s*$/i);
    }
    if(!i){i=increment();}
    if(!i){
        alert("Sorry, I could not find the next page of results for this page.");
    }else{
        document.links[i].focus();
        location.href=document.links[i];
    }

})()

Arch Linux

#1 2008-10-08 22:24:17

Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#2 2008-10-08 22:48:07

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#3 2008-10-08 22:55:55

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#4 2008-10-08 23:57:09

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#5 2008-10-09 00:04:10

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#6 2008-10-09 00:12:46

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#7 2008-10-14 03:06:08

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#8 2008-11-10 16:26:47

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#9 2008-11-10 16:50:09

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#10 2008-11-10 17:51:29

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#11 2008-11-10 17:55:34

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#12 2008-11-11 03:25:46

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#13 2008-11-11 04:29:23

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#14 2008-11-11 05:36:36

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#15 2008-11-12 03:18:20

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#16 2008-11-18 03:42:41

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#17 2008-11-18 07:57:57

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#18 2008-11-18 14:03:30

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

#19 2008-11-18 14:34:20

Re: Forums: Adding a "Previous Page" and a "Next Page" button

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