Replies

1. 
   stevieray | Apr 15, 2022 07:30am | #1

   I'm a magazine editor. Our site is like FWW's. You don't have to download the PDF but that's what you see when you click on article headers in our online table of contents. You can of course then download it.
   Formatting for phones and laptops and such is expensive and not in the wheelhouse of most small magazine editorial staff. We can't do it. FWW has greater resources, but obviously this is something they can't manage either.

2. 
   user-7627473 | Apr 15, 2022 11:12am | #2

   The FWW PDF option is a powerful and useful tool - and I've never had any downsides. If you are saying you are trying to read a PDF doc on a smartphone, that doesn't seem reasonable at all. I typically open them on a tablet and the present themselves scaled to my screen.
   That said having done a fair amount of graphic design over the years - why the PDF button is orphaned AFTER the article is beyond me. You have have to scroll past several other unrelated entries to find it...it should be located at close of the article ideally. No "good" reason for this... poor layout design.

3. 
   lat_axe | Apr 15, 2022 12:21pm | #3

   Would you try to read the magazine - or any A4 size illustrated book such as those from Taunton - on a teeny phone screen? You'd need some super-vision akin to that of the Superbloke fellow (which might mean having to wear your underdogs over some lurid coloured tights)!

   Certain kinds of information are suited to certain kinds of physical media. How-to articles with lotsa illustrations need to be a certain physical size to portray an integrated info-set that's visibly clear to even 73 year olds who's specs are out of date.

   Also, those smart phones are evil and, when I'm dictator, will all be melted down with the cars, in a ritual fashion, to make solar panels and bicycle part.

   Lataxe, typing on to a 32" monitor.

1. 
   rob_ss | Apr 16, 2022 03:40am | #7

   :-) :-) :-)

   You can't very well carry a 32" monitor with you when you go to the toilet...

   Well, I suppose you can, and doubtless within 5 minutes of this being posted someone will have created a YouTube video showing how to install such a bog-reader, but sometimes the phone is the easiest option, especially with some phones being fairly large.

   It's interesting to note that the mass transmutation that would be required to convert the contents of phones and cars into solar panels in any quantity would also completely solve the problem that doing so was intended to fix... ;-)

4. 
   thebardowl | Apr 15, 2022 04:44pm | #4

   I'm gonna jump into the fray in defense of those who read--at least occasionally--articles, stories, even--gasp!--whole books!--on their phones.

   First, some phones have screens nearly as large as my iPad Mini. Second, some people have become accustomed to doing darn near everything on their phones, and have no difficulty in the least reading on their phones, much as I don't have difficulty reading an old paperback novel, in spite of the smaller, less comfortable format, at least in the eyes (ahem) of some.

   I am--at this very moment--reading (and even replying) on my phone. And it's not one of the super-sized variety, nor do I have the visual acuity of an eagle, hawk, falcon, or owl. The forum is formatted to be mobile-friendly, and works well.

   I have a PDF reader app on my phone that, once the PDF is downloaded, does a good job of formatting and presenting it in a way readily readable even on my phone. But--and here's why I think the OP has a good point--having that app (or a similar one) is, for many, necessary in order to be able to readily read PDFs on one's phone. Meanwhile, many articles that I access online are already formatted for mobile, and are (generally) very easily read.

   Not being a web tech expert, I cannot comment on the difficulty of preparing/reformatting, etc., of articles for mobile devices, but I can say this--I'm pretty sure mobile devices are here to stay. And for many, reading on mobile devices is also a habit "here to stay".

   I should concede, however, that many of the illustrations cannot be easily viewed/reviewed/used; screen size does, ultimately, matter, it seems.

5. 
   lordulrich | Apr 15, 2022 08:17pm | #5

   While we are talking about the format, on a lot of articles with tables (like tool tests) the table gets laid out across the fold between the pages. When viewing as a pdf it gets hard to figure out what you are looking at on the second page. Something as simple as adding the headings to the second page, even if on the far right would be a huge improvement.

1. 
   lat_axe | Apr 16, 2022 03:23am | #6

   My Lord,

   I yam surprised that your underlings have not supplied you with the 32" 4K monitor along with instructions of how to read the magazine format in two page view (with the option to show the front page as a one-off single page view). This can be done from the comfort of your throne, you know!

   The double page spreads are then laid out perfekly for your old peepers to scan, including the small details that the author of the how-to text forgot to mention. Also, one can click on the "+" button of the PDF reader for an even closer view, perhaps of the unfortunate wart on the maker's nose, as he operates a table saw in a dangerous fashion or applies the 11th coat of some goo or other.

   One may then also more easily find a fault, such as the grain going the wrong way for 3 inches or a bit of a chisel-slip in the end of a leg. I know that we lordlings enjoy finding a fault as this allows us to make our spurious authoritative barks about imperfection. :-)

   Lataxe, probably with notions above my station.

1. 
   lordulrich | Apr 16, 2022 07:41am | #9

   Sure I could use a desktop and dual screens to read the magazine in my leisure time but I already spend my work hours at a desk and don't want to spend my leisure hours at a desk reading.

   Also there are 2 places I look at fine woodworking on the phone that dual screens are a problem. I am unwilling to give up limited shop shelf space to enough screen space to layout a full 2 page spread as it is tight enough as it is. The other is the store when comparing the options they have.

   I am familiar with zoom, the issue is when you get zoomed in on the second page and don't know if I'm looking at line 6 or 8 and if that is machine x or y. All I suggest is a minimally invasive consideration that not everyone looks at the articles in a full 2 page spread these days.

6. 
   rob_ss | Apr 16, 2022 03:57am | #8

   I thought this might provoke some interest.

   What is I think being missed in the comments is that the magazine already does excellent responsive formatting - I'm not asking for the PDF to be different, rather that for paying users, the whole article be displayed online in the responsive format rather than just half - the work has almost all been done by that point and it would significantly improve my user experience.

   In the demographic for which I care, the majority of internet access is using a phone - they are not the demographic most likely to be woodworkers, who tend to be wealthier, but the trend to increase phone use is growing.

   I have access to a large screen TV, 24" computer monitor, 13" laptop monitor and a large format phone. I consume almost all my media on the phone save where there is a need to type, in which case I usually use the laptop. It's just the way things are - the laptop has better sound, bigger screen etc, but the phone is always with me and if I'm bored, out it comes. It also synchs with my bluetooth ear defenders in the shop. I am not unique in this, and more and more people are joining the phone revolution. Doubtless we'll be first against the wall when Lataxe rises to power ;-)

1. 
   lat_axe | Apr 17, 2022 03:24am | #11

   Rob,

   When I am Supremo, anyone found gabbling into a prattle box whilst ignoring those around them, or failing to cycle at least 27 miles a day in a considerate manner, will be sent to the landfills to dig out all that valuable stuff they threw out 20 years ago. Why waste good human labour by sending them to the despatching-wall, eh?

   I will also insist that the only music allowed in the workshop will be BBC Radio 3, played by a wood-encased radiogram containing valves and Wharfdale speakers of at least a 12" diameter.

   As to watching tele in the bog 'ole ...... . That will be classed as "deviant behaviour", punished by confinement in an Aussie dunny of floorspace 3' x 3' with not even an old copy of a woodworking magazine to use (one way or another).

   Anyone caught watching a Youtube woodworking video will be sent to a re-education establishment, so that they can be cleansed of all those dangerous notions of how to use a tablesaw or a router. It'll be cheaper than all the hospital treatment for chewed off fingers and spear wounds from a kicked-back table leg. Oh yes it will!

   ********
   Luckily, I am far too lazy to be a dictator. Also, the job is likely to be taken by another fellow in a year or three, as the "voters" are all being programmed at this very minute. Nothing will be allowed then, except cheering for The Great One as he picks your pocket then makes you dig up more coal.

   Lataxe, practicing senile-ranting , at which I intend to become expert.

7. 
   john_c2 | Apr 16, 2022 09:57am | #10

   I use my 10" tablet for most things these days. I use my desktop a bit, mostly for archiving and storage. I read a bit on my phone, but only when I don't have my tablet with me. My eyes are getting old enough that I just don't attempt some thing on the phone.