View Next and View Previous Buttons

[D_Hailsham]

Two Gripes

1. These work back-to-front: If I press the View Next Button, it shows me the topic above, not the topic below the topic I am reading. Exactly the opposite occurs for the View Previous Button.

2. I do a search, come up with a list of topics and open the first topic found. When I press View Next it does not take me to the next result from my search. To do that, I have to press the back button on the browser, and select the next item manually. A very long winded procedure; particularly if there many topics found by the search.

 

[Steve]

Two Gripes

1. These work back-to-front: If I press the View Next Button, it shows me the topic above, not the topic below the topic I am reading. Exactly the opposite occurs for the View Previous Button.

This is the right way. View NEXT takes you to the NEXT most recent post - if you pressed "view next" and it took you to an older post, I think you'd be equally unimpressed.

2. I do a search, come up with a list of topics and open the first topic found. When I press View Next it does not take me to the next result from my search. To do that, I have to press the back button on the browser, and select the next item manually. A very long winded procedure; particularly if there many topics found by the search

Again, this is correct. It navigates you within the sub-forum in which the topic appears. This is the way the forum script works.

If you want a simple solution, dont use the previous and next buttons. I never have.

 

[DIYnot]

Steve is quite right on both counts.

As Steve mentioned once you have left the search results to view a result, the links on that topic page are related to the forum in which that topic lives. Maybe it's something that can be incorporated in the future.

 

[Steve]

Steve is quite right on both counts.

as always.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Two Gripes

1. These work back-to-front: If I press the View Next Button, it shows me the topic above, not the topic below the topic I am reading. Exactly the opposite occurs for the View Previous Button.

This is the right way. View NEXT takes you to the NEXT most recent post - if you pressed "view next" and it took you to an older post, I think you'd be equally unimpressed.

It all depends on what you mean by "Next" and "Previous" In the context of a database listing "Next" usually means the one below and "Previous" means the one above. If you want to it to mean "Older" or "Newer" why not do so?

2. I do a search, come up with a list of topics and open the first topic found. When I press View Next it does not take me to the next result from my search. To do that, I have to press the back button on the browser, and select the next item manually. A very long winded procedure; particularly if there many topics found by the search

Again, this is correct. It navigates you within the sub-forum in which the topic appears. This is the way the forum script works.

I am sorry, but I must disagree. What you are saying is that this is the way the buttons work, so it must be correct.

In every database I have come across or been involved in, when a query has produced a sub-set of the database all navigation is related to the subset. To give an example off the top of my head: I have a database showing all the immigrants to England (it's only an example ) and perform a query for all from Albania. This produces a list. When I look at the details for one person and then press the Next button I expect to see the next Albanian, not an American or a Chinese or Zambian or who ever happens to be the next entry in the complete database.

If you want a simple solution, dont use the previous and next buttons. I never have.

But surely if the buttons were working correctly you would use them? So you are effectively admitting that they do not work correctly.

I must say that, when looking through a forum for interesting topics, I rarely use the Next/Previous buttons, preferring to use the back button to go from topic detail to topic list. This also gets round the problem, which I should have mentioned in my opening post, that, if I click on, say, the General Discussion link at the top of the page, e.g. DIYnot.com Forum Index > General Discussion, it always takes me to page one, even if I am reading a topic from page two, three or 195.

 

[Steve]

Think about it this way. You use google, dont you? When you search and view the search results, you have a listing of URLs. When you click on a result, it opens in the same window, therefore you have to go back to view the search results again. IF the link you click on opens a page with prev/next buttons, you dont expect it to open the next/prev search result from the google list, do you? No, because those prev/next buttons operate a function within that website!

This is exactly the same as the search on this forum. Its not a database, its a forum (though it may be based on a database). When you search a search engine (which is what the search function is), it produces a one-off list of results, which disappear once you navigate away from the page. Though clicking "back" may re-submit your search data and re-create the results, or the results may be stored in your browsers cache.

Perhaps an upgrade option to facilitate the features you describe, D_Hailsham, would be to view the search results in a little "review" section on the page - like where you post a reply so theres an overview of the selected topic below the search results, with an option to open it in a new window.

In your databases, does the list of topics start with the newest? IMO, "view next" works correctly in taking you to the next most recent post.

Anyway, as you say, most people prefer to click on the topics that interest them, making the prev/next buttons obselete.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Think about it this way. You use google, dont you? When you search and view the search results, you have a listing of URLs. When you click on a result, it opens in the same window, therefore you have to go back to view the search results again. IF the link you click on opens a page with prev/next buttons, you dont expect it to open the next/prev search result from the google list, do you? No, because those prev/next buttons operate a function within that website!

The flaw in your argument is that the sites produced by the google search are not under the control of google, whereas the results of a search on the Diynot site are under the control of Diynot.

Also, you can choose whether to open the result in the same window, a new window or another tab in the same window (Explorer 7).

This is exactly the same as the search on this forum. Its not a database, its a forum (though it may be based on a database). When you search a search engine (which is what the search function is), it produces a one-off list of results, which disappear once you navigate away from the page.

I am not sure why being a forum is a reason for it not to work properly.

You say that the forum uses a database to store the topics and I am hazarding a guess that the whole lot is stored in one database, rather than separate databases for each sub-forum (Otherwise cross-forum searches would not work.) When I click on the link to go to a particular sub-forum a query must be run which returns all entries for that forum. If I then open one of the entries and click Next/Previous it takes me to the Next/Previous record found by that search not the Next/Previous record in the complete database.

You don't "search a search engine", you submit a query to a search engine, which carries out the search for you and returns the results of that search. If you open up one of the results to see the detail and then ask to see the next record. You should see the next record from your query.

Perhaps an upgrade option to facilitate the features you describe, D_Hailsham, would be to view the search results in a little "review" section on the page - like where you post a reply so theres an overview of the selected topic below the search results, with an option to open it in a new window.

This would be a way round it but there is a problem here in that the overview does not show the complete conversation, only the latest page so, if you want to view earlier pages, you have to open another window or tab and view the topic there.

In your databases, does the list of topics start with the newest? IMO, "view next" works correctly in taking you to the next most recent post.

It all depends on how you have asked for the records to be ordered! Your system obviously asks for them in inverse date order (newest first). They could just as easily been ordered by name of original poster. I have yet to come across a system where View Next actually means Previous Record and vice-versa.

 

[bernardgreen]

I find the way they work is fine. They operate in the chronological order the posts have been posted to the forum

But I would like them to be at the bottom of the last post of a thread so that after reading that post I can click t ogo next or previous without having to scroll back to the top of the page.

 

[DIYnot]

But I would like them to be at the bottom of the last post of a thread so that after reading that post I can click t ogo next or previous without having to scroll back to the top of the page.

Done

 

[bernardgreen]

But I would like them to be at the bottom of the last post of a thread so that after reading that post I can click t ogo next or previous without having to scroll back to the top of the page.

Done

Very much appreciated.