Update 11/2/09: due to some problems (see comments) we have turned off the plugin for the time being.
We’ve recently installed software that will display our site in a modified, faster to load (and we hope improved) format for modern browsers like those used in iPhones, iPod Touches and Android phones, among others. About 2% of our site’s visits are currently from iPhones and iPod Touches, and that’s likely to increase.
However, there have been a few reports of problems with the new mobile theme. Some users cannot turn the theme off (and view the site as a standard browser would), other users have seen the mobile theme even while using a standard browser (this should be detected automatically).
This software is quite new, and as is typical, it isn’t perfect. In fact, I just updated to a newer, and presumably somewhat bug-fixed version at 7:30am Pacific time today.
I wanted this post to both inform people of the changes and collect any feedback or problem reports you might be having. Use the comments in this post for any feedback.
how can I switch to the normal display?
love, scroll to the bottom of the page and there is a switch button that turns the mobile theme off.
Ah, but I am having the same problem as others have reported in that turning it off doesn’t always seem to take effect. It just took me two “turn offs” to have it stick.
Wow! Just tried TV by the numbers on my iPhone and its great! This is so great thanks Bill and all the TVBTN staff!
Cool! Just waiting for the blackberry love (:
Doesnt’t load on Symbian browser (Omnia HD) or Windows Mobile with Opera 9.5.
i can’t view the mobile version on my ipod touch!
I’m just getting the normal format on my Android.
Ausiello recently installed this and I personally think it’s fantastic. It gets the information out there, even if the colour scheme is a bit bland. I view quite a lot now from Twitter on my iPhone (am now even) so I’m loving it, yeah
The new version worked fine this morning on my Touch.
I get the “mobile” version on Mac (Firefox, Safari, and Flock).
The primary reason we added it in the first place was requests from Twitter users who really wanted it to be “faster” when they clicked the links. It truly does make that process faster.
As someone who visits your site and links on my iPhone frequently thanks for doing this. It’s working great for me.
Thank you, Kevin. You were actually the proverbial straw. Also thank the folks who created the great plugin:
http://www.bravenewcode.com/
And thank Wordpress for making it so easy to add stuff like that on
I check the site frequently on my IPhone as well, and it looks great. Thanks!
I have noticed a problem though. When you look at the charts (blue and white stripes) the ratings numbers are cut off and only shows the show names and time-slots. Hope you can fix this soon, thanks!
Junior G., I see what you mean. With the blue/white versions (mine) you just need to tilt your iPhone and go into Landscape mode, though I will try to be more conscious of narrowing the tables, there’s nothing we can do that will get them to display well in portrait mode.
Bill’s version of the table (see Saturday overnight report) doesn’t work in portrait or landscape mode well. I narrowed it by
50100 pixels and viewers still didn’t show up in landscape mode. It could be narrowed more but then will look kind of crappy on the site itself. We produce these table differently, and I combine Rating/Share into one column where Bill is using two to simplify copy/paste. My guess is Bill will just nuke the “share” column and figure out how to get it to work on all platforms.edit: but note, there are some tables (weekly cable ratings, DVR Live+7 numbers) that you’ll probably need to view in the site’s normal mode. There’s just too much information in those tables to get them to format well in a scrunched space.
Note to Bill: I had to narrow the table to ~415 pixels to get it the whole thing to display on the mobile version in landscape mode.
I tried it on my G1 (Android) and it looks like the full site to me. but everything works fine that way.
Hey this is nifty.
I have Iphone 3G, the search feature is very helpful. Without it I couldn’t find the Chuck thread.
I was unable to switch it out of iphone mode though.
Thanks for the update. It is cool and well organized.
Ugh, personally I hate this mobile version. I try turning it off and either it works and takes me to tvbythenumbers vs Nikki page or it doesn’t work and stays on the same page I’m at. It really does load faster but I miss the regular page.
Perfect! When I’m out of the office and on the run, I start checking the numbers on my phone around noon!
1.) the search feature is still available, you need to select the “down arrow” in the title bar
2.) Fringefan, indeed, I am experiencing the same problem as you — I can’t turn off “mobile’ at the post level, only at the home page level, and when I turn it off there, it brings up TVbytheNumbers vs. Nikki Finke post from a few weeks ago
3.) The latest version seems buggier than the version before. The problem above didn’t exist with the version I installed on Friday.
I don’t suppose there’s any chance in hell of there being a Web OS version for the Palm Pre/Pixi, will there? Pweeaaaaasssseeee???
Patrick, never say never, but while the iPhone and iPod represent more than 2 percent of our visits, the Palm OS is currently at 3/100ths of a percent. We get more visits from WII (4/100ths) and PS3 (6/100ths). Android is 13/100ths of a percent and Blackberry 14/100ths.
But I see your point.
Patrick Murphy, and to be clear, *we* didn’t develop this software, we’re just the happy beneficiary of it, so we don’t control what happens with it.
Actually, I just tried this out with the resident browser on the Pre & it’s good. The regular site loads fine.
In the words of Emily Litella, “Never mind!”
Actually, I just tried using the resident browser on the Pre, and the full site comes in fine. Of course, I tried to leave a comment with the phone, and I guess the site receives a lot of “malicious” activity from the IP address my phone goes through. (Sprint) :-O
Ah, well. At least I can read it on the go. So I got that going for me, which is nice.
Patrick, never say never, but while the iPhone and iPod represent more than 2 percent of our visits, the Palm OS is currently at 3/100ths of a percent. We get more visits from WII (4/100ths) and PS3 (6/100ths). Android is 13/100ths of a percent and Blackberry 14/100ths.
I find this fascinating. Of those you listed (you didn’t include Symbian), Blackberry has the highest market share, yet it’s way behind iPhone/iPod. It would be interesting to see how many Blackberry users there are on this site who never visit it from their phone, vs iPhone users who do.
[i]I find this fascinating. Of those you listed (you didn’t include Symbian), Blackberry has the highest market share, yet it’s way behind iPhone/iPod. It would be interesting to see how many Blackberry users there are on this site who never visit it from their phone, vs iPhone users who do.[/i]
That’s a very interesting point. The main reason I chose the Pre over the Blackberry Tour (besides my brother giving the Pre glowing reviews) was that there were complaints about the resident browser on the Tour. (not many other complaints about the Tour, though) Of course, I probably could have downloaded Opera for it, but Palm did me good the prior two years with the Centro, so I didn’t want to change brand names.
I’m also getting the same problem as other people who are getting the Mobile version and trying to turn it off only pushes you back to October and the Finke article. Trying to go to the front page then just gives you the mobile version again.
I’m disappointed that there hasn’t been any kind of acknowledgment that this is a problem or that it’s being looked at. Unless I’ve missed it (I’ve hardly used the site because I find the mobile version so off putting to use in a browser).
A mobile version may be cool but it’s pretty disastrous to bring it in at the expense of the main site working.
Not good.
As a regular iPhone visitor, thanks for the mobile option, the full site takes slot of work to navigate on the phone.
Wow! Delurking seems to have fixed it… I can see the main site again. Interesting.
Sherbert, we know its a problem (and so do the developers I have looked at the support forums), but it’s not our software, we don’t control it.
Our option is only to turn it off (which we may) until it gets fixed, or leave it on.
Thanks for the reply.
I’m sorry I was so negative. It is a cool and useful thing.
Sorry fans of the plugins who ARE NOT having any problem, but the issue where people might be getting the mobile version in their regular browser is too big of a problem to ignore. I’ve turned off the plug-in for the time being.