Tapatalk support for SB forums?

[jens198]

Hi,

since a few weeks I'm using a special app to read and browse forums on my iPad. It is easier than navigating with Safari. The app is called Tapatalk.

Can the forum admin have a short look at the plugin, which must be installed?

Further infos for forum-admins can be found here: http://www.tapatalk.com/faq.php

Jens

P.S. Wrong forum, can the admin please move it to the Ground zero forum?

[Furia]

We are using Taparalk in our VU forum and it is a very good App for reading the forum and keeping up to date on all post.

The pluging to be installed in the forum is free, but the Ipad/Iphone users have to install a cheap app.

Would be great if we can have this option avalaible in Steelbeasts forums.

[Homer]

We need to hear arguments for why tapatalk should be added to our site. After taking a closer look at this app, there are quite a few downsides and we need to be convinced that it will be worth it.

[Ssnake]

Tapatalk seems to create an extra layer between forum and the user's browser, pestering people without the app to buy it in a rather annoying manner, and rendering advertisement where there is none on SB.com (and SB.com is supposed to remain ads-free).

So far it doesn't sound very attractive to me.

[jens198]

Hi Ssnake,

I havn't seen any ads while I browse forums with tapatalk. It's the same content I see when I browse the groups on my PC, just with a special interface that makes navigating a lot easier.

The only form of "advertisment" for the app is a little hint when you enter a tapatalk supported board with Safari (on the iPad) for the first time. The hint just tells you that this board supports tapatalk.

From a users view I havn't found any disadvanteges. The great advantage is the very userfriendly way to read any navigate the forums on your mobile device. I don't know how many times i clicked on the name of the topic-creator instead of the topicitself when I use Safari to read newsgroups.

Jens

[Homer]

Here's what we will be basing our decision on:

Positives:

1. Easier to post and read from cell phones and tablets.

Negatives:

1. tapatalk costs money for the full client. $2 - $4

2. tapatalk has a free client that does not allow posting, and shows people ads. Our content, and their ads/revenue.

3. If we ever start to show ads on the site to pay for a permanent game server or something, this would bypass google ads and deny that possible revenue.

4. A really annoying message pops up for every mobile visitor that tapatalk is available for this forum, and they can download and buy the client. I've run into this a few times on other sites on the ipad. It will annoy the shit out of people that don't want to pay for tapatalk for whatever reason.

5. There's a chance it won't work with the mods on this site.

6. It's just one more thing that could break due to a vbulletin update.

Again, we would like more input about its merits other than "it's nice". Like, how many of you out there would actually use it if we were implement it?

[Furia]

We are using Tapatalk in our Virtual Unit forum and so far nobody has complained or said anything negative about it.

PC users get no messages.

Ipad users get that message informing them that Tapatalk is avalaible for ths forum.

I have Tapatalk in my Ipad and it is a great tool to manage forums, specially large ones like this ones.

Regarding the "publicity" I have seen no publicity in our site at all so I am not sure what you mean.

If I open my forum with a PC no publicity. If I open my forum with my Ipad using Safari I get no publicity, if I open the forum with Tapatalk I get no publicity and if I use another mobile device like my smartphone (with no tapatalk) I get no publicity so I am not sure what kind of publicity you mean.

Feel free yo visit our public area in our forum. We have tapatalk enabled. Please let me know what kind of "publicity" you get and how.

3Reg Tizona Public Forum

[ChazFarote]

We use Tapatalk in our website too. I use a Droid3 and I love the app. I did pay for the client though. The only add is when you fire up the app, but none while browsing forums.

My buddy manages the site and he likes the plugin. I don't know how these things work but he likes it.

For me the forums look a lot better in Tapatalk than through the browser in my phone.

This part is a little annoying though: When you go to the website using the mobile browser it pops a window telling you the forums use Tapatalk and then wants to send you to the Android Market to download it, even though I already have it.

Overall I love the app though. Hope this input helps.

EDIT: lol just noticed this was one of downers lol sorry. Anyway, if you set up a poll I'm for using it. But then again I'm mainly a lurker.

[ChazFarote]

So my buddy that runs my clan's website wrote some comments after I told him this discussion was going on here. Here are his responses:

Positives:

1. Easier to post and read from cell phones and tablets.

Tapatalk makes viewing the forums much easier. It will make your serious and casual forum users more active. Everyone has a smart phone now and Tapatalk provides a very clean and user friendly browser. This has helped forum activity on our forums for sure.

Negatives:

1. tapatalk costs money for the full client. $2 - $4

Tapatalk costs $2.99 for the iPhone. This is a one time fee and they are good about providing updates and trying to implement new features based off of input from their customers

2. tapatalk has a free client that does not allow posting, and shows people ads. Our content, and their ads/revenue.

I've never used the free client, in my opinion the free client is pointless. I think that your userbase would probably feel the same and be willing to pay the few bucks for an ad free app and ability to post. This app is also great for admins. It has moderation capabilities as well.

3. If we ever start to show ads on the site to pay for a permanent game server or something, this would bypass google ads and deny that possible revenue.

The paid client does not have any adds on the client side. Neither the free or paid app will add any ads to your website. If there are ads on the free client I would think they are at the startup of the client side.

4. A really annoying message pops up for every mobile visitor that tapatalk is available for this forum, and they can download and buy the client. I've run into this a few times on other sites on the ipad. It will annoy the shit out of people that don't want to pay for tapatalk for whatever reason.

This pop up only shows up one time assuming you do not clear your cookies after each visit. This pop up is not really an ad. It is to notify mobile users that they can view the forums on the tapatalk client instead of using safari or whatever mobile browser they may have. It is way easier to navigate the forums with this app vs scrolling and zooming the full site on a mobile browser.

5. There's a chance it won't work with the mods on this site.

Our website has many mods installed. Tapatalk has not had any affect on any other mods. Zero conflicts. The only thing you change with anything on the website is add a line of code in a specific template on the website. You dont have any product to upload. There is no way of being able to tell tapatalk is even installed other than the notification pop up the first time you view the site ( this pop up will ONLY show up if you are on a mobile device.)

6. It's just one more thing that could break due to a vbulletin update.

I know this feeling, but I have never had any issues with this mod for the most part. When i say this i mean we have had one time where there was a slight malfunction. When Vbulletin had a major update the tapatalk client was not ready for it and it stopped showing unread posts on the client. This was fixed within a couple days with a quick update.

The installation process is very easy. All you have to do is download the zip file for Tapatalk. You unzip it and it will have a folder named mobique. Upload the whole folder the root of your forum directory

ex: example.com/forums/mobique

Once you have the files uploaded you have to go to a template(make sure you use your parent style so that the change takes effect on all styles) and add a line of code.

You have to register your website on the tapatalk website.

Then you're all done.

Anyway, Chaz asked that i give an admins perspective about this mod so I wrote him a post. I tried to register for the forums, but i think I am still in the moderation waiting list. Hopefully this will help yall make a final decision. If you have any questions feel free to have chaz relay the message or post it in this thread and I'll read it.

here is the vbulletin.org link for the mod. This is a good starting point to get everything installed and it has screenshots and a nice tutorial. Do not rely on this thread for updates tho. Tapatalk will email you anytime there is an update and they will provide you a direct download link for the update. Just unzip it and upload/overwrite the files in the mobique folder and then you are good to go.

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=232437

As an admin i use this app every day. It's very handy.

[Doc]

Maybe you can use the Forum Runner -Reader for vBulletin Forums, the Testversion is for free and the other costs 1,59 €. But I haven't tested it, maybe someone else?

[jens198]

Sorry to bring this up again. But is there a final decision if the board will support tapatalk? Thanks!

Jens

[Ssnake]

For the moment, we have no intention to do so.

[Snappy]

I've Tapatalk on my Nexus7 tablet, and it works I suppose, but I'll be honest, I can see the benefit, maybe the iPad applet is better, but AFAIK, I like the browser interface better.

I paid for it, maybe I need to learn to use it more fully, maybe in a cellphone it has more use, but for me, Tapatalk isn't the cat's ass. Now I know not to go looking for SB forums in that applet.

ps I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks 'apps' are a bunch of baloney either. Give me a real program to run, with 100's of features, not a hundred little 'apps' and icons on my device, doing a hundred tiny seperate features...

Snappy

[Ssnake]

We considered it, but decided against this for a variety of reasons (maintenance, PHP compatibility, security, and the fact that it adds "free" advertisement to our content).

SteelBeasts.com is to remain ad-free, just like our YouTube videos. We can afford to not sell out. We don't want third parties to monitor our visitors. In short, we're conservative dinosaurs, and not ashamed of it.

[Snappy]

I'm a Albertasauraus myself Ssnake. Roar.