Folks,
The eagle-eyed may have noticed that I just changed the buttons. They are a different beast and don’t work 100% like the other ones. The plus is that they work on both desktop and mobile site and are standard – so no special tweaks to functions and css filed. So less work, less to go wrong going forward, and they are easy to setup and use on any new theme in the future.
On the other hand, there is no “jump to bottom” button; you will need to tap the down arrow multiple times. I’ll ask the plugin maker if that’s something that can be added. I just reduced the scroll time to 1 millisecond – so whenever you tap or click the button, it should move down one screen at a time, but quickly.
I can also change how many screens down/up the click takes you. Right now it’s set for 1 screen, but I can make it a half-screen, or 4 screens, or whatever I want. So I can force the down button to go most/all the way to the bottom and the up button go most/all the way to the top and not use the “jump to top” button.
So, that all said – what do you folks think, and what’s your vote –
- two buttons that go up/down a bit at a time, with a jump to top button,
- a top/bottom button that go 10 screens up/down (or whatever ends up being close enough to “top” or “bottom”).
- buttons as they are now, but add a “jump to bottom” button
greennotGreen
I miss the “bottom of the page” button, so my vote would be for the down arrow to move four (or at least multiple) screens at a time.
AlbertZ
I like the new up/down buttons, but I still prefer the “jump to bottom”.
Major Major Major Major
Glad to finally have buttons on mobile! I use Vimium so I’ve never used the buttons on the desktop though. Can’t comment on that.
It would be uh-mazing if the buttons scrolled comment-by-comment instead of screen-by-screen. Wouldn’t be too hard to whip up in javascript.
Alain the site fixer
@Major Major Major Major: I can adjust the percent of screen that the up/down buttons do. Right now, it’s 100% for one screen. I can change that, but I’m not going to introduce custom code if at all possible. I know you can do this in your sleep, but I’d prefer to stick with standard tools if all possible – less issues when new versions of themes, WordPress, plugins, etc. are released
rikyrah
Like the buttons – thank you. tried them on the computer.
will go see what happens on the phone.
rikyrah
They’re showing up on the phone too????
laura
Very buttony! It’s going to save some thumb mobility.
Alain the site fixer
I did just post at the plugin’s support forum about this need. Hopefully they’ll have something to say today or tomorrow.
Alain the site fixer
@rikyrah: not quite the smiles I was hoping for, but these dark days, that’s to be expected.
Elizabelle
Thanks for everything, Alain.
Although: another vote for the zoom to bottom of post button. I use it a lot, particularly on the longer comment threads. (Don’t need it for my MacBook, but it’s incomparable for the iPad. I don’t usually find it on the iPhone; that’s tedious …)
Fester Addams
I’ve been finding jump-to-bottom very handy (well, less hand-y actually) on the tablet.
Alain the site fixer
@Elizabelle: I use it all the time too on my iPad and iPhone. I’m hoping the plugin author is a saint!
JPL
@Elizabelle: Sometimes I’ll use recent comments to jump to the bottom on current threads.
dexwood
Jump to bottom, please. A very handy feature. Love the button addition to the mobile site.
Oatler.
Speaking for my mouse with the broken scroll wheel, those buttons are great.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
I vote for: buttons as they are now, but add a “jump to bottom” button
SiubhanDuinne
Another vote for a “jump to bottom” arrow to be added. For all the reasons @Elizabelle said.
ETA: Elizabelle and several others. I just want to be part of the three-million vote margin in favour.
01jack
Jump to bottom is the one I’d ever use. Scolding on my mobile is no problem, but I often return to a thread too a few new comments.
Major Major Major Major
@Alain the site fixer: Oh, I know, just spitballing :) I certainly wouldn’t recommend using custom JS on something with this many libraries flying around.
Alain the site fixer
@Major Major Major Major: Figured as much. Should the need arise, I’ll certainly reach out to you for some custom site work. It’s painful sometimes to work on an issue knowing that if it was custom, we could just make two changes and be done. But, boring and restrictive as they are, standards are a good thing too, as we’re learning every day of this new era.
trollhattan
I vote for #3. This setup is working fine in FF on Win10.
Thanks for your continued work!
FlyingToaster
Jump to Bottom, please; on my tablet, it takes for-fucking-ever to scroll to the bottom. If I want to add a comment from there, yarggggghhhh!
tarragon
@Alain the site fixer:
What are peoples thoughts about dropping the scrolling percent to a touch less than 100%. I always find that 100% scrolling makes me lose my place in reading.
Yeah yeah, I know, it’s at the top of the screen. But my brain wants one line of context or I have to check that I didn’t miss line.
The Moar You Know
Another vote for “jump to bottom”: very keenly aware we’re lucky to have this site in any form at all.
Lizzy L
Jump to bottom, please.
SiubhanDuinne
@01jack:
Oh, we’re all good at that.
Alain the site fixer
@tarragon: I like this idea a lot. I’m going to set it to 95% right now, let me know if that works better for you.
NotMax
Never use whatever buttons you make mention of, so no preference. Scrollbar addict.
That said, it can’t be all that difficult to whip up a kludge by adding some extraneous placeholder text as either within a [div] or else anchored, within and at the top of the footer in the same color as the footer background (so it is for all intents and purposes invisible) and use that ‘invisible’ text as a #unique-identifier target rather than a generic #bottom.
Alain the site fixer
@NotMax: Since the plugin is for WordPress, I suggested it jump to the Make a Comment form. I can always add the old jump to bottom button back in, but I’d prefer one solution, not a kludge of two.
bulletin 1147
Add another voice to the choir of jump to the bottom button, or ideally press-and-hold to scroll down quickly. I rarely comment, but for many like me, thank you for all you do.
guachi
I’m indifferent to the buttons aside from liking that they exist for others to use.
Major Major Major Major
@Alain the site fixer: @NotMax: It’s WordPress, there are anchors everywhere. But I’m for sparing Alain as much time writing PHP as possible.
Alain the site fixer
Man it’s nice to have buttons on the mobile site!
Alain the site fixer
@Major Major Major Major: I’ve got the anchor just need the button! Lol
LeeM
I like the new buttons. That will stop me from wildly flailing to scroll to the bottom of my tablet. any chance making them 50% greyer or more translucent?
Major Major Major Major
@Alain the site fixer: Take ‘../img/spsb-arrow-top.png’ and turn it upside down.
scav
taking up screen space for a button that only goes down one screen seems wasteful. Especially as going to the bottom is so common a task and difficult. So, Continued Huzzahs for the All the way to the Bottom Button and, at the very least, a jump screen button that saves several scrolls/swipes/ in one swell foop.
Alain the site fixer
@Major Major Major Major: ?
Alain the site fixer
@LeeM: after lunch I’ll make them a bit lighter. On desktop they’re great but too dark on mobile. Good idea
NotMax
Will again make mention that fail to see any purpose other than taking up space for the number of comments in the circle thingie. Redundant, as the number of comments is already included in the original post itself.
Betty Cracker
3
RobertDSC-iPhone 6
The buttons work for me and i”m fine with whatever the majority decides.
As always, thank you for your efforts in keeping the site going.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
PHP – Parietal Headache Producer.
:)
Alain the site fixer
@NotMax: it’s built into the theme. Last time I tried to remove it there was some side effect I forget so I’m sorta trained to leave it alone.
Alain the site fixer
@RobertDSC-iPhone 6: thanks!
Villago Delenda Est
Buttons need little kitty-cats like Kelleyanne Goebbels’ Woody Woodpecker coat.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: Every website should be written in Go! Lol
Elizabelle
@JPL: Thank you. Had forgotten that trick, and it works. Ta.
Jeanne
As a mobile site user I love the down and up buttons!
Jerzy Russian
@Alain the site fixer:
Yes it is. I vote for 4 buttons, with a move to the very bottom at the bottom of the group. Now if I could have the “reader view” feature work for comments, I could die happy.
beabea
Daily reader, almost never comment but delurking to say thank you for the arrow buttons!
@tarragon: Exactly what you said about needing that continuity between screens. And I see Alain already implemented it. Works great for me now. Thank you!
Alain the site fixer
@Jerzy Russian: I am so researching that. It’s not so documented what Reader view does. I’ve been trying some subtle structural changes but it always drops the comments. Anyone with ideas or know-how, speak up! It’s a Safari feature that is black-boxy
Hafabee
@Alain the site fixer: 95% working good for me — Win10/Chrome. Thanks for all the work!
Major Major Major Major
@Jerzy Russian: @Alain the site fixer: An all-the-way-down button on mobile would be amazing though.
tarragon
@Alain the site fixer: For me this is perfect. Thanks.
Another Scott
The buttons will be a great addition for mobile users.
I know you don’t want to change things much if you don’t have to, but is there an option to tweak the behavior a little on the desktop? Right now, the down arrow button only “activates” when the mouse button is released. So if you expect it will act like a scroll bar button (the longer you hold it down, the more it scrolls), you’ll be disappointed – it will just move one screen and won’t do that until you release the button.
Is there a way to change the desktop button behavior to make it act more like a scroll button?
Thanks again.
Cheers,
Scott.
Doug R
@Alain the site fixer: Yeah, they are hiding a bit of content in the lower right. Translucent would be better.
Calming Influence
Add another yes to the jump to bottom button idea.
Also, a FYWP button.
And I guess a FYDJT button too, what the hell.
Johio
I can’t see the down button at all in full screen chrome, running on an android tablet. It’s hidden behind a window button at extreme bottom right of screen that I can’t seem to get rid of. Any chance of shifting buttons up? Would also vote for a skip to bottom button.
Mike J
HinTN
@tarragon: Agree with this because buttons on my Android cover the text at the right when there’s a long winded mofo carrying on at the bottom of that page.
Yarrow
I would like a jump to bottom button for mobile. It saves a lot of scrolling when threads get long.
For desktop I’ll continue to use the scroll bar in the browser. I find that easier than these buttons. I do like the jump to top button and would maybe use a jump to bottom button on desktop.
Calming Influence
Test – comment-eating site test – 1,2,3…
? Martin
@Alain the site fixer: It’s pretty old, but this might help.
Understand that the point of reader is to strip all form elements from the page (hence its name) so it may be nigh impossible to override that behavior.
Major Major Major Major
@Mike J: Oh, goody.
Calming Influence
Add a “yes” vote for the jump to bottom button.
Also a FYWP button.
And maybe a FYDJT button, what the hell…
Calming Influence
@Major Major Major Major:
This only works in Australia.
Calming Influence
Test – FYWP -containing-comment-eating site test, 1,2,3…
Major Major Major Major
@Calming Influence: You have to be careful though, since the Coriolis effect spins it an extra forty-five degrees.
Another Scott
Cole got ahold of the buttons and changed them to his favorite pink color…
Cheers,
Scott.
HeleninEire
Baud’s gonna be thrilled about the mobile buttons.
? Martin
@Mike J: I had heard something similar on Saturday, also at LAX. The Marshals report the Judiciary, not the Justice Dept. That is, they work ultimately for Roberts, not whichever flunkie is the acting Atty General.
Either the Marshals are unaware of this (seems impossible) or they are hesitant to provoke an executive/judicial conflict (exp. when both groups are armed) and/or someone in the Judiciary gave them instructions to back off for now. Let us pray this sorts itself out soon.
This is the downside of electing a bunch of people that have no fucking idea how government works.
Alain the site fixer
@Another Scott: nah that was me. There are no color controls; these are graphics. The developer suggested to someone else to throw this color for a background property and so there ya had it. It’s gone and won’t return except perhaps in a couple of weeks!
Major Major Major Major
@? Martin: You say that as though there’s an upside.
Alain the site fixer
@? Martin: It reads the html code, parses out an expected structure, and then presents that. Quite clever; from my perspective, all I have to do is fool it into thinking that the comments are part of the important, to-be-read text. But that’s not so easy to do so far.
Alain the site fixer
@? Martin: forgot to say thanks for the link. I had some other old article about sussing out Reader’s functionality but I haven’t dedicated the neurons to the task yet.
Jerzy Russian
@Alain the site fixer: Thanks, you are an Officer and a Gentleman.
Calming Influence
@Major Major Major Major: :) Never ignore physics, even when you’re writing code.
Alain, I seem to be experiencing random comments bein’ et. I don’t think they’re in mod; do you think it’s the site, or is it operator error because I’m way more hungover than I realized?
Alain the site fixer
Folks, I’m doing two things:
1) Adding the old jump to bottom button (temporarily)
2) When the plugin is updated, I’ll add the new jump to bottom button t with the others.
This means: for mobile users, status quo re: jump to bottom: there will be NO jump to bottom button until the new one arrives. Should the plugin developer let me know it’s not going to happen, I’ll enlist the aid of Code Master Major Major Major Major.
Alain the site fixer
@Calming Influence: let me check. if they just disappear after you hit send, it’s usually auto-delete. when I find out it happens, I can analyze and solve . brb
Alain the site fixer
@Calming Influence: It’s not just you but thank you for mentioning it right now! Looking at the trash, I see TONS of valid comments, some even from FPers. WTF is going on?
I can’t promise any more time to look into it today, but it’s not just you – there are at least a half dozen regulars I saw in there. I will release yours in just a moment.
Jeffro
Just waiting on a new thread so I can thank Chuck Schumer for all the obstruction…;)
Meg
I like the scroll buttons for the mobile devices. Now I won’t accidentally hit a link when I scroll down.
Roger Moore
@Major Major Major Major:
Node.js!
StringOnAStick
Love the 95% screen jump button. I read a lot here on a Kindle and my thumbs are starting to act like repetitive strain syndrome in kicking in.
Gelfling 545
I like the scrolling buttons on the iPad. The swipe scrolling often brings unpredictable results so this helps. I’d vote for a bottom of page button too if this would not bung up other things too badly. Dont have a functioning computer at the moment so I can’t tell about that.
Burrowing owl
Lurker asking if I’m the only one for whom buttons are large, very dark, and cover up text.
Major Major Major Major
@Roger Moore: WHY WOULD YOU USE JAVASCRIPT FOR A SERVER ARGGHHGH
ahem. That said, Node is very effective for that sort of thing.
Calming Influence
Thanks Alain, there are only 2 missing on this thread, and they’re near duplicates with slightly different wording. Feel free to choose your favorite and delete the other :) (Or feel free to delete both; unlike my usual comments, they’re not all that brilliant and insightful .) ;)
jeffreyw
There are browser extensions that let you add a button for scroll to top or bottom for Firefox and Chrome. The Chrome extension overlays the page with a stationary button, placement, transparency, and style are all user set. The Firefox extension I use can be placed in the context menu for a right click-able button, or it can be placed in the toolbar at the top, or both. They are my go-to extensions for new machines, along with adblockers and nosquint.
Alain the site fixer
Folks – please be my eyes for the next day or two. Due to so many users having comments blocked recently, I have upped the limit of links in a comment. This is because of tweets in comments – they often have 4 links in them, and if someone replies to a comment with that tweet, well that’s one link over the line, Sweet Jesus.
So, upping the limit was an easy solution but it might bring on more spam. So if you start seeing a marked increase in spam comments, please use the feedback form and let me know. I’m not always around and don’t always notice things.
Mike E
The jump to the top is good and I don’t need/want the other two nav buttons; you can “hack” your own jump to the bottom by hitting any Reply button! Or, not
ETA I use droid chrome on my moto, predominantly
Roger Moore
@Major Major Major Major:
Because they want an interpreted language, and so much work has gone into optimizing the JavaScript interpreter that it has great performance.
FlyingToaster
@Major Major Major Major: The same reason that {unnamed financial institution} contracted with me to rewrite a piece of Perl shit in Javascript.*
Some clients are just fucking DUMB.
Note: I usually try to convince them to put functionality into PHP for the server side stuff, and leave me the client-side javascript. That keeps things fast, recognizable, and puts the various pieces of work where they belong: rendering here on the client, data security at the server.
* During my phone conversation with the Perl programmer, he had to break off to go pee in a cup. This for a programmer who never ever sees actual client data. That convinced me I should NEVER be an employee again.
SFBayAreaGal
Jump to bottom would be great
Roger Moore
@FlyingToaster:
If you care about security, why are you working with PHP?
Major Major Major Major
@Roger Moore: So does Python, which has the added benefit of not being one of the most ill-conceived modern programming languages. JS was completely unsuitable for anything except DOM manipulation until 2015. There was no reason to compound the mistake by making it a back-end language.
mai naem mobile
I like them Alain
rikyrah
Buttons good in IE, Chrome, Firefox and my phone.
Can’t wait to get home and see how they come up on the Kindle Fire :)
Jerzy Russian
@Alain the site fixer:
Damn you, good sir! Now I have an ear worm. I might as well fire up the iPod now and go all out on that album.
Major Major Major Major
@Jerzy Russian: Yeah it’s stuck in my head too, lol.
TriassicSands
Alain, first let me say I appreciate all the work you do on this site. That said, please get rid of those obnoxious (and much too large) buttons on the lower right screen. The mouse and browser or touch screen already provide better, more efficient ways to scroll down (or up). All these buttons do is take up space. The jump to the bottom button was much more useful. If you can get that back it would be great. Thanks.
Even if you can’t get the jump to the bottom button back, I vote to eliminate the three arrow buttons — they serve no useful purpose that I can see.
Formica
@tarragon: agreed, 90% or 95% instead of 100% would be dynamite for keeping one’s place. I find myself scrolling up a touch each time to find where I left off.
Calming Influence
Just so we’re covering all the bases, I will add the obligatory grumbling about site problems:
Oh, great, just what I need in my life right now, more feckin’ buttons… – GRUMBLEGRUMBLEGRUMBLE GRRRRrrrrr dammit – [“sheeesh, the crap I have to put up with…”]
OK, as you were.
waysel
Apologies for my timing, but two things I think would be great : 1) If ‘recent comments’ and ‘recent posts’ could scroll down the side as I scroll down in my reading, or at least be located at page bottom as well as page top. 2) If a listing of the last weeks worth of FP titles and authors could be available somewhere. I assume my desires would require mountain moving, but on the off off chance…… And #1 may serve as a ‘jump to top/ bottom’ effectively. I only ever use laptop or PC, so I have no idea of the hell that others may experience. Thanks ,Alain, for your valiant efforts.
rikyrah
He’s doing a REALITY SHOW FOR SUPREME COURT POSSIBLE NOMINEES?
WHAT THE PHUCK??????????
Major Major Major Major
@rikyrah: Everything Trump touches turns to shit. If you have dealings with him, he will humiliate you in front of everybody he can. Why would the Supreme Court be different?
Mike J
Cantwell just tweeted she’s a solid NO vote on Sessions.
Alain the site fixer
@Jerzy Russian: heh, my day is made!
PaulW
where’s the button that lets you win prizes?
gene108
@Mike J:
Called my Senior Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) office. His D.C. office is so flooded with calls, it went straight to voice mail and the voice mail is full.
Called the local office. He’s a No vote on DeVos, but still deciding on Sessions.
Edit: I told the lady, who answered, that I think Sessions would be a bad AG. She said she’d pass on the message.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@TriassicSands:
To piggyback a bit on what you said, I will add something that people may not be aware of: if you click on the time stamp beneath a commenter’s nym, that will move that comment up to the top of the current screen. So that can be a convenient way to move down the thread, because many comments take up less than a full screen. And it greatly reduces the need for scrolling, in my experience.
Elizabelle
And the down button is back. Thanks, Alain!
Ryan
I have an end button on my computer. Because I took sides in the IBM-Apple wars of the 90s. Does my vote count? Because not jumping to the end with a button is fine for me.
Roger Moore
@Steeplejack (tablet):
It also makes that comment the most recently clicked link, so the back button will then take you back to that comment rather than the previous page. This is very convenient if you want to follow the @commenter link to see what somebody is replying to without losing your place; it’s what we’re complaining about when saying the back button is broken.
Aleta
@Steeplejack (tablet): The information you occasionally give is always very helpful to me. And immediately understandable, because your writing is so clear. I appreciate it very much.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Roger Moore:
Good point. It has become automatic for me, so I forgot about that.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Aleta:
Thanks for the feedback. I feel less like an obsessive crank.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack (tablet): thanks! Great hint.
Alain the site fixer
@Steeplejack (tablet): nonsense, you’re an obstreperous crank! :) Seriously, your feedback is read, appreciated, and considered.
I’m planning on putting together some tips for commenters…any ideas you might have based on your, or others’, experience would be very appreciated.
Calming Influence
@Mike J: Good news. I’m extremely gratified that every day I’m having more and more trouble getting a person on the phone at Cantwell’s and Murray’s offices. I leave voicemails, but they are being flooded with calls.
(It just occurred to me that we might try calling their offices in Spokane, Everett, Yakima, etc. just to say ” I can’t get through to the Seattle office, and I’m calling you I because I think this is very important and want to talk to a human.”)
Aleta
@Steeplejack (tablet): No way. Your professional skill and care are easy to see.
Aleta
@Calming Influence: Great idea; will use.
James
Nice!
Suzan
I miss the old archives search function wherein I could find and read John’s must excellent “fuck it and registered Democrat” post. Maybe old lady nostalgia because that’s when I became a regular reader.
J R in WV
@Ryan:
I have a Acer Aspire E5 laptop, with Ubuntu 14.04 OS installed, and I surf with Firefox V 51.0.1 installed.
I have two different page-up/page-down buttons, a Home button that flies to the top and an End button that drops to the bottom. My space bar scrolls one page down, so that makes 3 page down buttons.
I’m not counting the “buttons” on the screen, or the scroll bar/clicks, which also can take me to the top or the bottom. While I appreciate Alain’s work to provide software buttons for moving the point-of-view up and down, they aren’t useful or necessary to me at all.
Do people really have computers without these standard looking buttons on my laptop keyboard? Really>? What did you intend to use your computer for, if not surfing? I know there are IT staff who surf here, I was once one myself…
I’ll stop now. Best wishes to all~!!!
JR
J R in WV
@Suzan:
Dear Suzan,
Bring up the Google search page, and type or paste in:
site:Balloon-Juice.com “fuck it and registered Democrat”
Then hit enter. For me just now, the top return was the post you were looking for.
Best wishes,
J R in West Virginia
Jim Bales
I am a mobile user would like option three (leave these three alone and add a jump to bottom)
Suzan
@J R in WV:
Thanks, wish I’d thought of that.
No One You Know
@Elizabelle: x2. And what you have is wonderful, for me, also. A relief, because I often note a link and want to go back after seeing what others have thought. I think this would help me do more than just zip through comments as if they were M&Ms. I can think them over, because the effort to navigate is so much easier.
Luc
They are great as is!
Gretchen
Maybe you could explain to us olds what “buttons” are. I have no idea what you’re talking about, never mind that the new “buttons” are different from the old.
Millard Filmore
This comment is not really a bug, it is an annoyance. I use Linux Firefox with the NoScript add-on. I also have a gizmo on the task bar that shows the CPU activity. With the balloon-juice java script turned off, the CPU is almost idle. Turn on the script, in order to post comments for instance, and “top” shows this:
top – 22:46:13 up 1 day, 13:55, 8 users, load average: 0.97, 1.07, 0.92
Tasks: 181 total, 3 running, 178 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie
%Cpu(s): 42.5 us, 4.2 sy, 0.0 ni, 53.3 id, 0.0 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st
KiB Mem: 3949084 total, 3139368 used, 809716 free, 180120 buffers
KiB Swap: 3906556 total, 198004 used, 3708552 free. 1530824 cached Mem
PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
14513 neal 20 0 1268492 723780 247168 R 69.9 18.3 13:54.34 Web Content
14448 neal 20 0 1598896 676536 245260 S 8.9 17.1 11:33.34 firefox
1217 root 20 0 530012 121832 108640 S 6.3 3.1 29:10.23 Xorg
4065 neal 20 0 605560 17340 12496 S 4.6 0.4 0:43.11 mate-terminal
2173 neal 20 0 528060 18476 13936 S 1.7 0.5 0:22.81 wnck-applet
2171 neal 20 0 481976 12364 10464 S 1.0 0.3 17:56.65 mate-multiload-
2129 neal 20 0 805324 25504 8188 S 0.3 0.6 0:13.06 mate-settings-d
2133 neal 20 0 465040 12488 7984 S 0.3 0.3 2:51.09 marco
12911 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.3 0.0 0:30.80 kworker/0:1
“Web Content” sucks up 70% of my CPU power??? Is that a Java Script bug? An unavoidable artifact of avoiding that other (spit) OS and trying to go through life with Linux?
BellyCat
On iOS Safari there is no need for a “to the top” button. Simply tap the top of your screen.
Personally, I find scrolling easier than using the up/dn buttons. — especially if holding phone in right hand.
Only one button is really worth tolerating (since they are too large, way too dark, and they hide the text), and that is jump to bottom.
As for the color, the shade that shows up when the page extents are reached would be a good shade for regular use. Extents shade would then go lighter or disappear.
Applaud the experimentation though!
Alain the site fixer
@Millard Filmore: I will investigate. I suspect it’s from ads.
Millard Filmore
@Alain the site fixer: Its a very minor thing, I can work around it. If you find it and fix it, great! Don’t break anything because of me.
Clem
Would be nice if there was a tweeter icon to twit posts to the twitter. It might be handy. I’m a lot more likely to twit a blog post if there is an icon handy.