Lack of interest Live refresh / Spy for New Posts block

[Alpha1]

It would be very useful to have the new posts sidebar block refresh, so that users do not need to refresh the page to see what's new.
Not only is this useful, it also gives a interactive and modern feel on the main forum index.

 

[Alpha1]

Such live refresh function could probably be powered by integration with PubNub or similar services.
https://www.pubnub.com/products/global-data-stream-network/

 

[RobParker]

We used to use @digitalpoint's Spy addon and since moving to XF2, we've had lots of users request that it comes back.

I think there's a definite (maybe surprising) interest there from users.

 

[dougiemac]

Interested! Love DigitalPoint Spy.

 

[karll]

I can't believe this has been closed with 'Lack of interest'! This absolutely belongs in XF core! Wake up, it's 2019! You cannot seriously expect people to CLICK A BUTTON to see new posts!!!

 

[Alpha1]

I agree. It's simply not of this time to have a static website.

 

[Kruzya]

Static site - when used only POST requests without any AJAX, in my understanding.

 

[RobinHood]

I've put my foot down and reclassified my old 'like' as a 'love', to give the proposal a bit of extra welly now the we have a reaction system

 

[Alpha1]

Static site - when used only POST requests without any AJAX, in my understanding.

Back when static pure html sites where the norm, and dynamic sites (server side scripting language (php, asp, etc) where content is pulled from the database) became more prominent, the distinction static vs dynamic sites was made. I was purposely referring to this, because the terms were accurate within the perspective of that time. solid html sites were being replaced by database driven sites. Now we see the internet have made another great leap to more dynamic websites that load new content inline and live refresh.

To be fair xf does have alert polling which has enriched XF.
It would enrich XF a whole lot more if the team would implement live refreshing content.

 

[dougiemac]

You can always pay for it to be converted to XF2.x like I did for my site.

 

[Alpha1]

True, but having it in core does not only provide the functionality. It also shows addon developers the standard to release similar functionality. If XF releases a live refreshing new post widget, then addon developers will soon follow with live refreshing widgets with new content from their addons.

 

[Kirby]

I like the idea, though I don't think it would have a big impact:

As of now, the majority of traffic is mobile and thus the sidebar and its widgets are buried way down at the end of the page below the main content - almost nobody is scrolling down that far.

 

[Alpha1]

You can place widgets wherever you like. What's new is a widget page so if the widget would get a full width version it could be used there as well.

 

[Kirby]

I am fully aware that widget can be used everywhere

Regarding the What's New page:
Do you think the majority of users does keep that page open, especially on mobile where working with multiple tabs/windows is even more convoluted than on dektop?

Because if they don't, and I would expect most users simply access this page to follow a link to content in the same tab/window, it does not seem to make any sense to me to implement refreshing on that page if time on page is only a few seconds anyway.

What would happen if a user want's to follow a link and just in that moment a refresh kicks in and the link is gone/scrolled down/etc., wouldn't that be annoying/bad experience?
To avoid that it would probably require kinda complex heuristics to attempt to predict navigation attempts and postpone updates if you want to have page parts updated automatically.

Just showing some kind of indicator that new content is available (which is what many news sites are doing) might be less problematic.

 

[Alpha1]

Yes, many people just keep it open and wait for the next interesting thread to get activity. Thats what people do on my XF1 site. Once there is something of their liking they click the link and go read. There never is any issue with clicking a link. Even though I have it set to a refresh of 3 seconds so there must be plenty of simultaneous actions happening. I never had a complaint about it. Not on XF with the live feed addon, nor on vb with digitalpoint spy.

 

[Alpha1]

Just showing some kind of indicator that new content is available (which is what many news sites are doing) might be less problematic.

This is also an interesting concept though. That could work for sites that do not have continuous new content.