Questions Regarding Advanced Title Fields

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This topic contains 41 replies, has 2 voices, and was last updated by Michael Samson Michael Samson 5 years, 2 months ago.

Viewing 15 posts - 16 through 30 (of 42 total)
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  • #20275
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant

    Hi Ernest,

    Did you ever see my last message above? This was the only remaining detail to perfect the filter. If this is something you can do it would be great. Otherwise we can just leave it as-is.

    Btw, at this point I am more concerned with completing the other items in this thread that you said you’ll be doing in the next plugin updates. I only mention it here as I don’t want to forget about it myself.

    ~ Michael

    #20285
    Ernest Marcinko
    Ernest Marcinko
    Keymaster

    Hi Michael,

    Yes, I did read it, and I tried a few different solutions without luck. The main issue is, that detecting mobile devices on the server side is very difficult, almost impossible. There is a mobile detection class implemented within the plugin, that I was testing this with, for most cases that works. Please note, because this is a server side detection, simply resizing your browser to a mobile size window will not change anything. It will only work on real mobile devices only (mostly android/apple phones).

    Change the $title_limit_mobile variable for the mobile version of the title limit.

    Best,
    Ernest Marcinko

    If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)


    #20298
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant

    Hi Ernest,

    I appreciate that you tried to do this via server-side mobile detection, but this is not the best solution for my needs. Let me explain why…

    The main issue with this method is exactly what you were talking about above, the difficulty of detecting mobile devices server-side. This solution must be extremely consistent in order for us to use it. It would have to work perfectly in all situations, which cannot be guaranteed via a method like this.

    The other more pertinent reason is that this is not really a “mobile” issue. It is a sizing issue related to screen sizes and search result card proportions. As you know the plugin automatically determines the size and number of cards based upon the available screen space. This means that there are several popular screen sizes that will have cards that are too small (and would require the lower word count), but are not considered mobile devices. Some examples of this are the 768px width (iPad), 600px width, and 480px width. All of these sizes will not accommodate the 20 word count that I want to use for the larger screens.

    This is why when I first wrote to you about this that I was speaking about a cut-off point at 768px, because I already worked out the math and knew this is where the lower word count would need to begin. We cannot base this upon mobile detection. It must instead be based upon screen size (viewport), just as we do with css media queries. This way we can be absolutely sure of when the lower word count will be used, and define this to a specific cut-off point that works best.

    If you are willing to try this, this is the approach that would work…

    We would need two new settings. The first would be a cut-off point in pixel width (max-width) that the lower word count would apply to. We would set this to 768px, and that would mean the lower word count would apply to all devices with a width of 768px and lower. Any screen widths above 768px would use the higher word count. The second setting would be the lower word count itself, where we would define the maximum number of words to be used on the smaller screens.

    Beyond the reasons I described above, the other reason this will work better is it will not be dependent upon server-side detection. Instead it will use client-side detection just like css media queries. This will work every single time no matter what kind of device the user is using. It is also more flexible because we can define the cut-off point, and not worry about what devices are considered “mobile.”

    I know I’ve asked a lot of you here, but if you can go this one last step it would be exactly what I need to make this work. I also think this is a better approach for anyone else that makes use of this filter.

    ~ Michael

    #20307
    Ernest Marcinko
    Ernest Marcinko
    Keymaster

    Hi Michael,

    I am afraid this would need an additional custom javascript and CSS code as well in combination with the previous one. It shouldn’t be too complicated though, but definitely some decent work to get it right. I don’t think I can do this one for you, I am sorry (I am really far behind my development work at the moment), but I can recommend a service that may be able to help you out (I am not sure if I recommended them before). They are a team of dedicated WordPress developers, so far I have not heard any negative feedback.

    Best,
    Ernest Marcinko

    If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)


    #20312
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant

    Hi Ernest,

    That’s not a problem, as I have other ways to work around this. I don’t think I would have wanted to complicate this with separate JS. It’s preferable to have this all controlled from the single filter. So even if you were willing to do that work I wouldn’t have wanted to make it more complex.

    What I’m probably going to do here is use your server-side mobile detection in combination with a smaller font-size starting at 768px. This way those in-between screen sizes are taken care of. Up until now I’ve had only the one title font-size in place for all screen sizes. I’ll just make a smaller font-size to help alleviate this problem.

    Btw, I actually have my own outsourced team of developers that I already work with. But suffice to say those hours are very expensive. This is why I appreciate your help so much.

    My thanks again for all your help developing this filter. I look forward to showing you everything in a few more weeks.

    I’ll keep an eye out on your next updates for everything else we covered in this thread.

    P.S. I have installed the mobile detection option and tweaked my responsive css to work well with it. I thought you’d like to know that the mobile detection does in fact work in Chrome’s emulator. I also found that the mobile detection is including tablets like iPads (so it is not limited to phones). This meant I was able to keep a slightly larger font-size for those devices since the lower word limit applied. The only thing I have left to do is test this on the real devices, which I will do after the next deployment. This is all working quite nicely. Thank you Ernest! =)

    All my best,

    ~ Michael

    #20316
    Ernest Marcinko
    Ernest Marcinko
    Keymaster

    Hi Michael,

    You are very welcome, and thank you for the heads up! Let me know if you have any other questions/issues.

    Best,
    Ernest Marcinko

    If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)


    #20363
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant

    Hi Ernest,

    I wanted to follow up with you regarding the latest plugin update. I installed the update yesterday and have tested the items related to this thread. Thank you for including my requests in this update so quickly!

    Adding Comments to the Content-Type Filters

    The comments content-type filter is working nicely in the new location (with all the other content-type filters). I set up the filter again and tested it, and it is working properly. Thank you for this.

    …..

    Bug Related to the No Results Container

    This was the item that was really troublesome, so I am glad you worked on this. The initial problem with the no results container incorrectly appearing does appear to be fixed. I tested this by going to the last page of search results on multiple searches and flipping back and forth between the last two pages. I did not see the no results message this time, so your fix did work. However, there seems to be a new problem in its place.

    New interrelated problem…
    Auto-Search Function in Repeating Loop When Reaching Last Page of Search Results

    When you reach the last page of search results the auto-search function initiates and never stops unless you leave the last page of results. I’m referring to the same function that occurs when you change search settings (the search automatically starts). Normally when you reach the last page of results it is simply the last page and nothing else should happen. This problem seems to be related to the fix you just implemented for the no results container. As soon as you reach the last page the auto-search starts and is almost impossible to stop. This is particularly problematic on mobile devices where it causes all kinds of ajax errors on the page. I noticed this issue while testing on mobile, but it is occurring on desktops as well.

    …..

    Just a reminder about this item below, when time permits…

    Missing Label Options for Filter by Format and Filter by Categories

    Thank you for letting me know. I will have to cross-check this as well, and make sure to include the options missing in the next release.

    I’ve listed this here again so we don’t forget about it. I also wanted to let you know that what is specifically missing are the label text options for Filter by Format and Filter by Categories. Both of these are under this settings screen: Front-End Search Settings > Categories & Taxonomy Terms. I think the reason this was never included is because both of these filters are setup in the same screen.

    …..

    Unless I am mistaken I think that covers everything left in this thread. Thank you again as always! =)

    ~ Michael

    #20370
    Ernest Marcinko
    Ernest Marcinko
    Keymaster

    Hi Michael,

    Thank you very much for the feedback!

    Bug Related to the No Results Container & Auto-Search Function in Repeating Loop When Reaching Last Page of Search Results
    I did actually encounter this issue during testing, and it should be patched. I tested this by creating an error in the results counter, and returning the incorrect number of results. Whenever no result is returned after 2 tries, it stops and removes the no-results button and loader.
    Can you please make sure that all caches are cleared? This was implemented into the main script file, and that tends to be cached heavily by browsers.

    Best,
    Ernest Marcinko

    If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)


    #20373
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant

    Hi Ernest,

    I’m glad you saw this issue as well. I am constantly developing and deploying changes here, which means all the caches are cleared many times over. I’m referring to caching at every level; our CDN, server-side, my local browser, etc. Trust me, this issue is still there. I’m very careful about clearing all the caches during deployments here.

    ~ Michael

    #20374
    Ernest Marcinko
    Ernest Marcinko
    Keymaster

    Hi Michael,

    Thank you for the feedback.

    I have tried various configurations, but I am still not able to replicate this for some reason. I have also tried to go step-by-step on the code execution process, but it works as it should on my end. I must be overlooking something here.

    Is there a chance that you have made any changes to result templates (or using custom template files), especially the keyword-suggestions.php and the no-results.php files in the ajax-search-pro/views/results directory?
    I am asking, because the plugin script is looking for an element with the class name ‘asp_nores’ in order to make sure that the incorrect results are returned, to stop the loop – and that HTML is coming from one of those files. If there was any change in those files (the class name removed), that would explain it.

    Best,
    Ernest Marcinko

    If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)


    #20375
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant

    Hi Ernest,

    I’m sorry to say I have not changed any of the template files in the plugin. The only changes we have made to the plugin are via various filters, most of which you know about. I have never modified any of the template files in the plugin itself.

    I can provide you with my configuration if that helps (using the export function).

    ~ Michael

    #20376
    Ernest Marcinko
    Ernest Marcinko
    Keymaster

    Hi Michael,

    Let’s try that, if I can’t look at it, then this is probably the best option.

    Best,
    Ernest Marcinko

    If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)


    #20377
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant
    You cannot access this content.
    #20379
    Ernest Marcinko
    Ernest Marcinko
    Keymaster

    Thank you!

    Well, this works on my end, but since I have a completely different environment I am not surprised. I have tried to change a few options to somehow replicate the conflict, but no luck, no looping with the automatic load more feature.

    Please let me know if there is any way I can access a test/live enrionment via FTP and back-end to see this issue directly. Otherwise I can only hope that it either pops-up during testing, or perhaps someone else reports it as well.

    Best,
    Ernest Marcinko

    If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)


    #20380
    Michael Samson
    Michael Samson
    Participant

    Hi Ernest,

    Our environment isn’t even reachable via FTP. It is a Docker container deployment on AWS ECS. The only way to interact with the codebase is in our repo.

    I can’t provide you with access to our repository for obvious reasons. I could maybe let you into our development site, but you wouldn’t be able to change anything. None of the code can be manipulated from the site itself.

    I’d prefer we find another way to diagnose this… Are there any steps/tests I can run on my end?

    ~ Michael

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