Editor size and apperance.

[Neopopulas]

I'm not 100% sure if this has been brought up before but its something i've been noticing for awhile and it just sort of leapt out at me because i was trying to edit two posts and the difference between the two were very stark.

I was wondering if it was at all possible - or if it even bothers anyone as much as it bothers me - to create some consistency between the editors? The size of the edit pane when you're just doing standard edits of a post are bound to change based on screen size, but even when screen size is always consistent, the editors aren't, which can make layouts a little tricky because the displayed result won't always be what it looks like in the end due to the difference.

For example the widest an editor pane will be is when you are editing the first post in a thread the editor is about 1222px

But when you are actually posting that first post in a thread (creating the thread, in other words), you end up with the smallest amount of editing space at 944px. This is of course because of all the moderation options on the right hand side so i'm not sure if there is anything that can be done about that one.

However (yes there is more!) when you are editing a post in a thread that already has posts in it (just standard replying to thread) you get 1030px

This is compared to when you are just replying to a post, and in that case you get 1130px

Now i'm sure these numbers probably depend entirely on the screen size, but i'm pretty sure that the ratio doesn't. I can see some reasons for this too. For example when you are editing a topic and its the first post IN that topic, you don't have the vertical side-bar. Instead you get title and tags and things like that.

When you are editing a post in a thread, you do have that sidebar with your name and icon, so that probably causes the pane to be narrowed. When you are posting a new topic, the moderation pane on the right does the same thing. However both editing a post in a thread and replying to a post both have the vertical sidebar, and yet they have different sizes.

When replying in a thread the entire pane is 1250px however the edit pane is 1130px. When editing a post (that isn't the first post) the edit pane is only 1030px.

Editor Pane Sizes

• Create A Topic: 944px
  Complications: Moderator options
• Editing the first post: 1222px
  Benefits: No extra sidebar, full width editor
• Editing a reply: 1030px
  Seems to have a lot more padding around the left sidebar (Username, icon, etc)
• Posting a reply: 1130
  Seems to have much less padding which seems to be entirely based on the fact that it doesn't show the username while you are posting as opposed to editing

In summary of this kinda rambling tale, i was just hoping if there was a possible way to have some consistency - hopefully towards the larger side - between editing panes. I can understand why some might be hard (posting a topic for example with all the moderator options on the side) but the others (editing a post or posting a reply) seem so close that i wonder why they aren't the same already.

[Eric]

This has been brought up, it's just on the lower end of the priority spectrum. They aren't the same because Invision Community's typical use cases don't involve pixel-perfect works of art as post content. There are a fair number of fiddly CSS bits revolving around responsive design that make this more complicated than it seems. Also, it's not guaranteed that all your fellow Weavers will have the same width screen, so even if the content width is all the same for you, it might not be the same for them.

[Neopopulas]

Fair points. It really doesn't hurt anything, its no doubt just my desire for consistency rearing its ugly head. So long as its been discussed, i'm happy to see how things go. It doesn't hurt anything for it to stay like this.

[Malkavian Grin]

Just wanted to chime in and say that I have also noticed this.

Is there a way to have the sidebar options (which seems to be the main offender to width differences) appear below the editor instead? It won't fix it exactly but I think it would help quite a bit.

[bwatford]

The biggest issue (I think) is there are multiple ways the site displays the editor based on screen size. 3 or 4 different configurations. So it is definitely something that will have to be looked at closely, and how any changes might affect how it displays in other sizes.

There is also the realistic case of, the more major layout changes we make to the Invision defaults, the more likely an Invision update is to break things. I have already had to update themes a couple times due to global changes in the code. and even now I have a few artifacts hanging around some themes that have crept up in the last couple updates on the mobile versions of the theme that need to be looked at and addressed.

I'm sure Eric will look at all that when he gets to that point, just passing along the information.