Where's reader screen?


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Hey,

The reader mode is still available, it didn't go nowhere

When you open a page, the browser will check whether it can be opened in reader mode. If it can be then the reader mode icon will appear at the right of the address bar.

Not all king of pages are supported though.It doesn't support for example tables, so you can't open those kind of pages in Reader mode.:)

9181

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Thank everyone for your replies. I'm glad to hear that Maxthon hasn't ditched this feature.

At the same time, Maxthon is making a big mistake in its user interface. Features should just disappear when they can't be used on a page. People like me think it's gone entirely. The Reader Mode icon should always be wherever it crops up. Then there's no confusion about what's happening. The user clicks the icon and a short message says, "Not all Web pages provide Reader Mode. This is one of them." Make sure its obvious it's the fault of the page and not Maxthon.

I wrote once that the first rule of Maxthon is don't talk about Maxthon. Jeff and his team have put together a wonderful product, but they have also done their best to disguise what's great about. The product's name is Maxthon Cloud, but where in the menus, tool bar, or setting do you find anything about a cloud. Well, it is in the synchronize menu, but that's a stretch for a lot of people to find it or to make the connection. I can see someone saying, "I don't want to sync my browser data. I want to see what I've saved in the Cloud." How is he supposed to know that SkyNote is an integral part of the cloud. Even if some functions are redundant, the interface should include them to make sure the user sees a feature in at least one of them. Change the name of SkyNote to CloudNotes. No one else has this ability. Maxthon needs to not simple make it work but let people know where it is and how to use it. I know some people who have do idea they are supposed to click the avatar to do some settings. They are amazed when I show them. What about the avatar even hints that its something anyone should click on.

Final point: No matter where the controls for a feature are in other parts of the interface, they should also be included in the menus. If someone doesn't see a control or feature staring him in the face, they will turn to the menus. It they don't find it there, they may think someone was fooling them or just gave incorrect information. Then it's back to Chrome. What a shame!

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I think you make a good point regarding page reader, perhaps it should appear but as inactive on those pages where it doesn't work.

Regarding your other points, nicole(melovescoffee), is preparing a wonderful help desk that will cover many of Maxthons features. It should be released within the next few weeks.

Maxthon cloud is much more than just Skynote. For example, Cloud Push which allows you to send files, tabs directly to your other devices or directly to your friends. You can find that from the star drop down menu in the address bar. These and other great features are well described in the help desk, be sure to look for it!

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  • 2 weeks later...

joemax replied at 2014-7-24 00:05 back.gif

I think you make a good point regarding page reader, perhaps it should appear but as inactive on tho ...

I expect the help desk will be ...uh, helpful when it's ready. I'm looking forward to it.

There is another great point about user interface contained in the title of a book by Steve Krug that all developers should read and then read a second time. It's called 'Don't Make Me Think." Krug makes the point that the user should never have to try to decide the meaning of an icon, go searching for guidance for using a program, or -- Reader Mode is a case in point -- wonder why that icon that was in the address bar on the last page isn't there on the current page.

Interface inconsistencies such as those for Reader Mode or the Cloud undermine all the hard and inventive work that has gone into creating such features. It's as if Leonardo di Vinci had painted the Mona Lisa and then covered it with a thick cloth, carried it deep into a forest, and then waited for people, who didn't even know the painting existed, to find it and tell him what a wonderful painting he had done. I don't understand why Maxthon's developers--and I'm including you, Blood Chen -- want to work as hard and as brilliantly as they do and then don't want to go running into the streets shouting, "Look! Look what we've done! Isn't this great?" I understand there is a place for modesty, but modesty goes too far when it interferes with the user's ability to get the most out of Maxthon.

The developers should particularly examine how the Cloud interface is presented. After all, the cloud is one of the hottest topics in computing and, for god's sake, it's in the name of Maxthon Cloud Browser! How can the developers allow it to remain such a mystery as to what the cloud does and what you have to do to use it. Really, the developers should halt all further development with Nitro and any other technically gee-whiz products until they've looked at Maxthon's interface and put the same energy and determination into fixing the interface that they do into creating a browser that will run a few millisecond faster than Chrome. Please. :funk:

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Interesting view you have there. Although I don't agree with all of it. There's no need for RSS/Reader/sniffer etc to show on every page, the same reason that the secure lock/logo isn't. If there isn't any need for it, it becomes superfluous and just clutters up the UI. Otherwise you have a line of blinking icons in the address bar lighting up whenever they're relevant.

If that was the case then the UI would be full of useless info. IMHO a good UI gives the user as much info as they require without bombarding them with useless stuff.

I think it's asking a bit much for everything to always be self evident, sometimes you need to read up, or try and see what happens. The whole Win8 Metro UI debacle, was in part due to peoples ineptitude to try and learn, mainly because they were so used to something they were doing to for the past 17 years they find it hard to change. If they bothered to learn how/why the changes were made, then it becomes 2nd nature. I've been closing Metro apps using the swipe down gesture (with a mouse!) ever since I learnt it, even though you no longer need to. And I was someone who was at first confused about it.

Will definitely have a look at the book though, thanks :)

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