In the lovely Pinafore client.

As a laptop user primarily, it's been an uphill battle getting good clients for #fediverse which recognize and respect the fact we have lots of pixels.

Responsive Design is great – I have started learning and practising it, understand the logic. Good stuff.

But, honestly – the internet has too much to offer for real work to be performed in a mobile device. Content creation, we need better software that allows us to use what's in our chosen platform.

Case in point, Wide Screen Displays.

Which I have made various attempts at getting improvements for. The default Mastodon web client is not very friendly to wide screens. Yes, there's the TweetDeck like AWI, and I have written and spoken to Eugen with some requests.

Here's the Mastodon web client, with the Advanced Web Interface (AWI) enabled. It defaults to those dreadful, skinny, non-resizeable columns. TweetDeck inspired, as Eugen was a Twitter user for many years and freely admits the AWI provenance. 😉

A proposal, presented.

Eugen and I chatted in a topic I started at his own instance. He couldn't understand my wish of having TWO wide panels in the AWI setting, yet those two using the full width of my screen.

Not much success there. 🙄😕

Then, a solution was found. Until, it broke.

Independently, I found a great way to use wide screens with the Collapsed Mastodon Firefox add-on. Worked wonderfully, and was so productive for me that I left aside #Pinafore, my client of choice – other than the small question of it using a single column content panel.

Here's what it looked like :

Shown above – Todon.nl's local timeline, via Mastodon web client. Browsed via Waterfox (Firefox family variant) with Collapsed Mastodon Firefox addon enabled. Two Wide panels chosen, other layouts possible, as desired. This is very unique and the most efficient workspace for Fediverse I ever had.

Writer's delight

That layout is perfect for someone reading and writing long form content, which is my case. It was possible, with Collapsed Mastodon, but changes in mastodon code starting at v.3.1.4 broke the add-on. What it did was no longer possible, so game over there.

Since AWI was no more...

...I now had no reason not to use the superior, fast, elegant Pinafore. Other than the OMG, so much screen area not being used, it's the very best client I know for the Fediverse instances. Mastodon and Pleroma are both supported.

There's the small question of maybe using a little MORE of my screen, though.

(centered on the screen. On my 1600 pixels wide display, that is using 600 pixels, about 40% of my screen's width. Only. Arghhhhh)

@nolan@toot.cafe is a talented programmer, and gracious in listening to the Pinafore users. He accommodated many requests to make Pinafore the best client for people using Screen Readers, for example.

Widen up the content panel?

Now, I am tinkering and trying things out. Posted some screenshots yesterday here, with a comparison – the current layout, and a tweaked, wider content panel, showing 800 pixels screen width.

Wowa! Much more information now. 50% of my screen in use!

This 800 pixels content panel was done by a on the fly css edit, manual. (I scrolled around in the css code until found the right property to change. Worked!!)

Sadly, hitting a Refresh wiped out my handy work. Oh, my.

Is it too wide? Maybe, it's a question of taste; it makes sense to me.

Twitter supports wide screens better

For comparison's purpose, I did some testing, and on the Twitter web client I was able to get this :

Screenshot above shows what their client can do, off the box, just by manipulating the provided controls. Screen scaling to 125%, and the font size reduced to the smaller setting. Snapshot taken in the Bravo browser.

Result? The central Content panel is shown here – at 750 pixels width.

Twitter does use the right side area for various boxes, like the Trending and Who to Follow shown. So it's not unreasonable that it has the width shown.

(Detail – my scaling up the whole screen in the browser was intended to collapse the labels for the icons in the left panel; which are superfluous for regular users, who know what they do)

Pinafore Responsive Layouts

Shows 3 classes of devices, see screenshot above.

• Mobile ( 320x480p) portrait/landscape
• Small Tablet (600x800p) 2 modes also
• Tablet (768x1024p) standard iPad res, 2 modes also

If we could get a couple of added new classes it would be wonderful. Could we, please ??

Desired new modes :

• Laptop with MDPI screen at 1280 x 800 p.
• Laptop with HiDPI screen at 1440 x 900 p.

With these two added, I would be able to see Pinafore in all its elegance and using my screen more efficiently.

I have spoken extensively with @lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me about getting this kind of support in place for #pleroma #mastoFE. He understands, and is working on it; being the only person maintaining that branch of Pleroma's FE project isn't easy, kudos to him.

Now, maybe Nolan could accept this request ? It would be wonderful.

Maximum Characters per line?

As Lanodan pointed out on a reply to the original Toot which is now this post, there are criteria for how many characters to display, per line.

We got to consider that too.

There is a time tested optimum width for text readability. The Write.freely blogs css code shows 50 em setting, for example.

I have been customizing my own blog, will try at up to 80 em like you suggested. That applies to a new wider Pinafore class of devices too — appreciate the insight!

Famous Last Words

Thank you all for the work you do in benefit of the many fediverse users.

#FediReporter on the crusade for better wide screen devices support.

(Uphill battle, but we shall persevere) #mastodev #UI #UX

Banner Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash – Thank you!

@rgx@write.tedomum.net

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A Powerful and Light, FAST client for Mastodon, etc...

Originally posted as a sequence of Toots from my account at Koyu.Space, this was well received, appreciated by the Pinafore client's Author and I think is quite informative.

There's a lack of good reporting and documentation on many projects in the Fediverse.

But Pinafore is beloved of its users – see screenshot above, from the #Pinafore fediverse hashtag. And some others below too. 👍🙂❤

From Toot sequence to Blog page...

I wrote the Toots un-edited, from the hip, and the sequence came out pretty good.

Now it's time to collate them and add some polish, some extra reference links, to make a shiny Blog post. And here it is.

Explainer – the 'Nomad Living' mention refers to my love of seeing the many instances in the Fediverse first hand, by myself, to learn about each and see their Local timelines.

The Instance we Choose to use in the Fediverse is Important — I have written about that in a popular post in my Tech blog.

The sequence follows, lightly edited for style and for in-line images placement. I have also expanded some sub-topics and added extra links.

Pinafore makes Nomad Living a joy

Adding one more to the list. 17 in it, CDrom.Tokyo joins at no. 18 spot. 😎

Many thanks to @nolan@toot.cafe">@nolan for the wonderful #fediverse #client that #Pinafore is.

The BEST, ask your geeky friends.

Speed, lightness. Functional and elegant Design. Free, not in your face design impositions.

No freaking character limits, Pinafore allows use of whatever your instance allows.

AND — it also accepts MarkDown posts, which are joy for me as a writer and content producer.

Same client, visits mastodon, or Glitch-Social, or Pleroma, or Misskey instances. All without leaving the same screen.

Power user?

For those with accounts in multiple instances – You can run multiple Pinafore copies -side by side in the same browser window, each tab a different instance.

Won't I get confused or lost, where am I?

No, no fret — Pinafore allows a big range of Themes, pre configured Colour Schemes so you can keep track of where you are, even in multi tabbed, multi instance moments.

Quick snapshot of the Colour Theme selection panel here, for illustration.

See this post with a full Gallery of #Pinafore Themes :

Pinafore client – A sampler of all the Colour Themes available

...at the little known Pinafore subforum at another instance.

#Recommended #Client — #Fediverse #nomad Friendly.

#FediReporter on the Beat. Frontline reports return...

And to find out more about #Pinafore ?

Visit the Author's blog post, written after one year working in the project.

One year of Pinafore

Read the Tea Leaves

Or, Ask me!

I love it, and be glad to oblige and answer questions. Reach me at my Writer's Lounge.

Also, check out the glowing user commentary — see : Pinafore Love – User’s Impressions from the Hash Tag

How To install Pinafore ?

Simple, visit Pinafore · Home — which is one of the various possible web hosts for Pina.

( More instances are also available, listed here for us geeks : Listing of Known Pinafore Instances you can connect to.

We really don't install Pinafore — you simply open the Pinafore instance in a Browser tab, and from that moment on, your client loads and communicates directly with the Mastodon (or Glitch-Social, or Pleroma) instance.

Client Side Data – session authorization, themes, etc...

No data is saved at the Pinafore home instance – it is all on the client side. Awesome, isn't it?

If you change to a different browser, even in the same machine, the logged-in instances list and your colour theme selections are not there yet. The price of keeping your data private. So, stick with a good browser and enjoy it.

Pinafore can also be run on mobile devices – simply open the site in your favourite Browser in the mobile. Save a bookmark and enjoy it.

It was tested and built from the ground up to perform well even in less powerful devices. In a good laptop or desktop, it flies.

This post brought to you by the letters MD, P and K.

Even Eugen R. recommended it! 😉😙

See screen capture below – from this Toot.

For those who might not know him, Eugen Rochko is the lead Developer in the Mastodon project. And that endorsement is important.

@rgx@write.tedomum.net

This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post – reach me at my Writer's Lounge.

R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^—top of page

Pinafore Client deserves a Discussion and Support Forum

A new Pinafore client discussions Forum is now online at Qoto's Discourse Forums

We now have a new sub-forum, dedicated to the powerful and fast Pinafore client for Fediverse instances — Mastodon, Glitch-Social, Pleroma are all supported.

I am a big fan of Pinafore, since first trying it. It is a popular client with power users, as it is FAST and Light, plus has elegant design, clean UI and many nice features. <!—more—>

Why a Forum ?

Forums are wonderful in how they can organize information (by Topics, sub-forums, etc), allow easy retrieval (unlike most Social Media), and Advanced formatting. At the modern Discouse Forums :

• Enhanced text MarkDown is fully enabled.
• Images can be easily copy/pasted or uploaded into any topic or comment.
• And images can be placed in-line — along the text, where they refer to.
• Unlike Mastodon, which only attaches them at the very bottom of any post.

They are un-matched in these features, and a pleasure for users who have experienced the presentation and discussions they allow. Plus :

• As an experienced moderator, a staff person can split any Topic if it goes into a tangent.
• This keeps the original topic focused, while exposing the new idea for it's own.
• Posts can be edited and enhanced, anytime. Unlike the frozen state of masto toots.

Meet the Author

Nolan Lawson is the author of Pinafore, and I have told him many times how I enjoy it. Never heard about Pinafore? See the author's word here.

As part of Fandom, I thought we could do more to support Great Software, and requested a new Project Forum for Pinafore at Qoto's Discourse Forum. The Qoto.org admin graciously agreed and created it, it's now opening for business.

An Introductory post was needed, so here we are. 🙂

#Pinafore #Discourse #Forum #NewUsers #Fediclient #Qoto

First Topic, in a brand new Forum.

Not only we have the new forum, but I have just collected a topic we discussed in our local feed — and made it into a prettier, formatted and in-line illustrated page.

The way a good manual page could be; and there's a need, the documentation available is very limited; so I plan to add to it.

Assigning Colour Themes to Allow easy Multi-Instances use in Pinafore Client

Please visit the Topic here.

Reading is Open to All. Register to comment, etc.

The Forum is publicly Visible (anyone can read) and open to new user registrations if you want to comment, ask questions about Pinafore or have any suggestions to the Author.

We will be sure to pass those along, and Nolan is very good with support, promptly responding when I had something to ask.

Many Thanks to Nolan Lawson (@nolan) and Dr. Freeman (@freemo).

Thank you to Coralie who inspired the toots discussion and now this post. Merci, mon amie.

#Pinafore #Discourse #Forum #NewUsers #Fediclient #Qoto

Follow Blog via your Fediverse/Mastodon account :

@rgx@write.tedomum.net

This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post – reach me at my Writer's Lounge.

R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^—top of page