Lay out Issues on Desk tops and laptops and on Mobile phones

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   Greensleeves Hubsposted 3 years ago

   I have noticed a problem with the sequencing of Hub capsules when viewed on different devices. I always use a desktop or laptop computer to compose and read my pages, and I frequently use text capsules side by side, with one tinted blue or grey to emphasise that the two blocks of text are separate. This format makes for an attractive layout.
   
   On a larger monitor, with these capsules side by side, the natural tendency will always be to read the left capsule first. Then the right. And so that is how I would arrange the content, so that the left side text will be read BEFORE the text in the right capsule.
   
   But looking at the mobile / cell phone preview facility, I see that on a phone screen, the text in the left sided box will be placed lower on the screen and will be read AFTER the text in the right capsule. In other words, the order of reading the text will be very different for mobile users to those who read on a larger screen. That will often lead to the hub appearing disjointed or illogically sequenced.
   
   There is a secondary issue with this, which is probably not solvable. If there is an association between the two capsules I might refer to the right side capsule as the text 'opposite' or 'on the right'. On a phone screen, these references will also be rendered inaccurate.
   
   As far as the main issue is concerned, I would certainly want the facility to have side by side text capsules retained for larger screen users - it helps make HubPages by far the most readable and attractive of all sites of this kind. But could the layout sequence at least be redesigned so that the left side capsule viewed on a desktop or laptop, will be viewed first on a cell phone device - the sequence in which it would be intended to be read?
   
   Many thanks, Alun (Greensleeves Hubs)

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      The Examiner-1posted 3 years ago in reply to this

      I have a desktop and I usually read the 'tinted' text first anyway since the left one is longer. So instead of moving the page down and going back I just read the right one first and then the left and then move the page down. I did not know that there was supposed to be any order.

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         Greensleeves Hubsposted 3 years ago in reply to this

         It's not that there is 'supposed' to be an order Examiner-1; it's just that it is normal to read the left side first, just as it has always been normal for one to read the left page of a book first. I'm sure that most people would do this on a large screen that allows these to be placed side by side. But on a phone screen, the right side capsule gets placed first on the screen. It would be helpful if the right side capsule was placed second on the screen. Thanks, Alun.

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            The Examiner-1posted 3 years ago in reply to this

            Perhaps you should take a survey.
            Is it seen this way on all phones: as in phones made before a certain year or lower than a certain price.

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               Greensleeves Hubsposted 3 years ago in reply to this

               I don't know, but I'm guessing it is always seen this way simply because the screen on a phone isn't really big enough to have two columns of text side by side, so one has to go above the other. Personally I never use a phone for Internet connections, because I've never understood the appeal of reading text off a tiny little screen!! - it was only when HubPages introduced the option of a phone preview as well as a desktop preview that I realised how differently a hub may look on the two different devices. Cheers. Alun

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                  The Examiner-1posted 3 years ago in reply to this

                  These days they have so many different mobile phones: up and down, sideways, Smartphones, and so on. Some may see it differently.

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   Marie Flintposted 3 years ago

   I know I try to save right text formats for bullet or numerical summaries. If used this way, there is less concern for the order in which side-by-side texts are read. Good luck with your issue!

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      Greensleeves Hubsposted 3 years ago in reply to this

      If the sequence isn't changed by HubPages then it may be we will have to consider the layout of hubs much more carefully in future in the way you suggest, to ensure that the right-sided column of text (or indeed a photo on the right side of a hub) can fit logically into the article before the text which is next to it on the left side. But hopefully the sequence can be changed in the way I suggest. Thanks for your good wishes Marie. Alun.

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         brakel2posted 3 years ago in reply to this

         This happened to me on an Iphone, and .It did create a disorganized hub. Layouts of these different ways of reading a hub create some issues.

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            Greensleeves Hubsposted 3 years ago in reply to this

            Thanks Brake12. Once upon a time when we all read newspapers and books, everybody saw the page(s) laid out exactly in the way the author intended. Now with a variety of electronic formats, it's much more difficult to be sure how an article will appear to a reader, and to ensure each section of text as well as photos etc are viewed in the right order.

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