"Back to Top" title link should be included in all Dreamwidth styles by default.

[marahmarie]

Title:
"Back to Top" title link should be included in all Dreamwidth styles by default.

Area:
styles, journal navigation

Summary:
Right now a "Back to Top" link (meaning "back to the top of the page") is included in only some Dreamwidth styles by default. Certain styles, including Transmogrified, lack this link altogether. Include this link in all styles by default to make journal navigation quicker and easier.

Description:
This suggestion is to improve journal navigation site-wide.

Right now a "Back to Top" link (meaning "back to the top of the page") is included in only some Dreamwidth styles by default. When you click this link, which is usually located at the bottom of the journal's Recent View page, it makes the page jump back to the top, by linking to the journal's title.

Certain styles, including Transmogrified, lack this link altogether.

Including this link in all styles by default will make journal navigation quicker and easier. Users who don't want this link visible in their journals can add a simple CSS command to the custom CSS box (display:none) to make it disappear.

There is no other solution to wanting to jump back to the top of a journal's Recent View page very quickly except to include the "Back to top" link in all styles by default.

The only drawbacks are it will require time for Dreamwidth's devs to add the link and corresponding s2 code to all styles and to ensure that it displays correctly without jamming up the rest of each style sheet's CSS.

Poll #5516 "Back to Top" title link should be included in all Dreamwidth styles by default.

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 50

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
29 (58.0%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
2 (4.0%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
2 (4.0%)

(I have no opinion)
17 (34.0%)

(Other: please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[fyreharper]

Or press the Home key, or hold down Page Up on your keyboard, or choose a style that has the link... (I'm not actually arguing against implementing this - just pointing out that other, currently-functional solutions do exist. Personally, I have no idea whether my journal's style has this link, which means I must not use it much.) And a simple CSS command is only simple if you know CSS at all - which I don't - but I'm sure if it was something that really bothered me all that much I could find instructions somewhere.

Just out of curiosity - if it's simple to hide the link, how easy is it to create it?

[ninetydegrees]

Just out of curiosity - if it's simple to hide the link, how easy is it to create it?

It involves editing layers so not easy.

[marahmarie]

That's what inspired this - hacking it in required s2 that I don't know how to write (foxfirefey gave me the code for my journal) that I think is invalidating my journal's HTML. And just to add the code you have to first set up a custom theme layer, then edit it, then compile, then make sure it came out OK...so yeah, not that easy.

And I'm not a keyboard navigator, myself - I know the shortcuts, but I normally don't use them - and I love my custom CSS so much, that I would not want to switch styles to get the link by default (the only way I would switch styles is if I could port the custom CSS to another DW style, which is a little beyond my coding ability or the amount of time I have free to code, unfortunately)...

[matgb]

Theoretically, the CSS for any DW layout can be used on any other layout with a few adaptions, but transmog, being one of the earliest, has a few unique ways of doing things.

When my brain is working, I might port your CSS across to my layout, when I finally get it submitted I want to submit several colourschemes. But it won't be for awhile, and may not be possible without too much effort.

[marahmarie]

Oh, thank you! That would be so awesome. :) *jumps for joy*

[matgb]

To hide it, you need one line of simple code in your CustomCSS box, which I can walk you through in 2 minutes flat. Probably less, it's a copy/paste job.

To add the link, you need to understand S2, understand Layers, understand Styles, understand Overrides, and probably have someone tell you what code to add where.

I can walk you through it in about an hour and a half. Possibly. If you can read code reasonably well.

FWIW, on my netbook keyboard, for which I do 99% of my browsing, both Home and Page Up are hidden buttons that require pressing Function at the same time as somewhere else, my muscle memory refuses to learn it and it's a real PITA.

I have actually hacked my registry to turn CAPS LOCK into a Home button because it's probably my most used button when browsing DW normally. Teaching someone how to hack the registry? I ain't even going to go there.

We have a huge amount of duplication on a standard Style output page, I think adding very useful nav links in an accessible way is a net benefit to the site.

[fyreharper]

Thanks for the info! I really did mean the "out of curiosity" - coding, CSS included, is just outside my realm of experience, so I wondered what was involved.

I'm not sure I have even a Fn-based PageUp/Down on my netbook. Don't know if this'll be useful to you, but space works as page down and Shift+space works as page up for me.

As for the suggestion itself - sounds like it'll be useful to people :)

[matgb]

Shift+space works as page up


OOOOHHHHHH!

That's brilliant, how did I not know that worked? I use space all the time (sometimes causes problsm if the carat's on a poll or something, but mostly it's good), but shift space'll really help, my keyboard fingers know how to shift press something.

I taught myself CSS to make my LJ look pretty. I basically think I suck at it, which is, technically, still true. But apparently I'm really good at explaining how it works to others, I suspect because I'm barely past the "I understand this now" stage for most things.

I regularly do some coding work for others just so I can learn stuff, IIRC I helped the OP add a 'top' link to her journal just because it was an interesting challenge. I learnt stuff, therefore it was good.

[fyreharper]

Glad I could help! ^^

Makes sense that that stage would be good for explaining things to others; you probably still remember what the weird confusing bits are ;p

[arethinn]

Home and Page Up are hidden buttons that require pressing Function at the same time as somewhere else

On our laptop this turned out to be changeable in the BIOS settings (so that F6 was F6 by default, and not brightness control or whatever the hell). Have you checked there?

[marahmarie]

Off-topic, but this: "I have actually hacked my registry to turn CAPS LOCK into a Home button" made me LOL - it made me recall the time I pried the CAPS LOCK key off and taped down the remaining stub so it wouldn't get in my way - I left that keyboard like that until I threw it away years later. Hacking the registry to alter it is actually easier than learning s2, but anyone's mileage may vary on that. :)

[azurelunatic]

My smartphone lacks these particular keyboard-based navigation features.

[fyreharper]

Good point! Can you tell I seldom read from there? ;)

[zvi]

I think it should be added to more styles, but I'm not sure all styles (I'm thinking specifically of Brittle and EasyRead, which are sort of odd styles with not terribly flexible layouts) should include it.

I certainly think it's a good idea for Transmogrified.

Since the link is already in Tabula Rasa, most styles do include such a link.

[cesy]

+1

[azurelunatic]

Additionally (my "with changes") the comment page navigation box should be at the bottom of the page as well as the top of the comments section on all styles, if it isn't already.

[marahmarie]

Well, at least one of my suggestions, flew, lol. Thanks for your votes. :)