New Gallery experience (with new image viewer like on the new search page) coming soon

Salvatore IoveneArny
• AstroBin Beta Testers •28 replies•485 views
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Dear members of the AstroBin Beta Testers group,

soon I will begin asking users to test the new UI for the gallery.

As for the new search pages, there are a few main driving forces:
  1. Migrate more and more pages to the new (since 2020) single-page web app on "app.astrobin.com", which means faster navigation
  2. Enable, in the not-so-far future, a native iOS/Android app (as the single-page web app can be repackaged as a native app, while all the legacy monolith pages cannot)
  3. Make the UI more modern, as AstroBin approaches its 15th birthday


The changes in the look and feel, this time, are not drastic, and the most obvious thing is the usage of the new image viewer (like on the new search page).

The changes are explained on this blog post:
https://welcome.astrobin.com/blog/introducing-the-new-astrobin-gallery-experience

PLEASE NOTE: this is not a change that will be forced on you, and the classic/legacy pages will remain available. However, you'll definitely be missing out if you don't enable it, especially due to the performance benefits of staying on the same web app instead of switching all the time.

As of this changes, the following parts of the website are on the new UI:

 - Uploader (main image, revisions, uncompressed data source, same XISF/FITS for plate-solving purposes)
 - Subscriptions
 - Constellations
 - IOTD queues
 - Notifications and notification settings
 - Equipment database
 - Marketplace
 - Search
 - Galleries
 - Images

The following, instead, are still on the monolithic classic web app:

 - Forums
 - Groups
 - Explore IOTD/TP/TPN
 - Private messages
 - Astrophotographers list
 - Contributors list

If you have any feedback based on the blog post before I ask some of you to ask, don't hesitate to let me know!

Thanks!
Salvatore
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Brian Diaz avatar
Brian Diaz avatar
hi

i like it , it is look more modern , minimalist and dynamic 

congrats
Christoph Lichtblau avatar
Christoph Lichtblau avatar
Looks great to me Salvatore. A clear improvement.👍🏼

Cheers, Christoph
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Alien_Enthusiast avatar
Alien_Enthusiast avatar
This new UI looks amazing!

I was always dreaming that one day AstroBin will have an app.

I think this will play a crucial role in popularizing AB.

Thank you for all your hard work!
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Arny avatar
Arny avatar
very clear and modern design, from what I can see in your blogpost - and even better news that it paves the road for an app!
But I must have missed how to use it on my profile - is there a link for testing yet?

Arny
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Second sentence in my top post I this topic:

”soon I will begin asking users to test the new UI for the gallery”
Paul Puntin avatar
Paul Puntin avatar
Hi Salvatore,

I've been testing the new gallery UI and have a couple of comments.

1. On the old UI, if your image was in the IOTD queue you could click on the information icon and it would come up with the stats. On the new UI, there is a line saying your image is in the IOTD queue but if you click on the information icon it takes you to the generic IOTD web page. How do you look at your IOTD queue stats in the new UI?

2. On the old UI, there was an icon under the follow icon which showed if that user was also following you. This information does not appear to be in the new UI. Could a button be added next to the Follow button to say if they are also following you?

Apart from the above, the new UI seems to be working great!

Paul
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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Hi Paul,

thanks for the feedback!
Paul Puntin:
How do you look at your IOTD queue stats in the new UI?

In the menu (3 dots) you have "View IOTD/TP Stats"
Paul Puntin:
Could a button be added next to the Follow button to say if they are also following you?

You can see your "mutual followers" i.e. people who follow you and you follow them. The link is on your header image in your gallery.

If you or anyone else has more feedback, please let me know!
Thanks!
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Arny avatar
Arny avatar
Hi Salvatore,

I have been using the new gallery for a few times now - great improvement, just needed to get used to the slightly different approach. But really great.

Minor issue I have not figured out yet:
- how/where can I add a new revision to an image? I might be blind, but could not find a button for that as the actions menu seems to be gone. Where can I find it?

Arny
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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Hi @Arny,

the menu is next to the image's title:

Arny avatar
Arny avatar
Salvatore Iovene:
the menu is next to the image's title:




... so I felt stupid for a second - but then again not:
on my screen there are no three dots?!

Link to image: https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=7ed7t6#gallery

I am on a Google Chrome browser latest Version 
Chrome ist auf dem neuesten Stand
Version 131.0.6778.205 (Offizieller Build) (arm64)

On a Mac Mini latest version MacOS Sequoia v15.1

BUT: Safari Browser DOES show the 3 buttons and thus the menu (only I hardly ever us Safari ...)

Arny



Chrome:


Safari:
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Ah, it's that very long file name that pushed it off the page! I'll deploy the fix now. Thanks!
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Arny avatar
Arny avatar
Salvatore Iovene:
Ah, it's that very long file name that pushed it off the page! I'll deploy the fix now. Thanks!



Ahhh, that explains - thanks for fixing it, Salvatore!

And by the way: it did not work on Safari - only when I went into my gallery not logged in it would not show the filename and thus the menu. I rechecked again logged in - its identical behavior across both browsers

Arny
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Yeah I recognised you weren’t logged in in safari because the screenshot shows your image but the menu doesn’t have the edit entries.
Arny avatar
Arny avatar
just checked - the dot menu and thus the actions menu menu work perfect now - thanks Salvatore!

Another minor thing, but more a feature than a bug:
- when editing the image I get asked every time if I want to save "new" the setup, which is just 1 filter I tried out - possible to ask only once?

A buggy thing on hoover over images, but probably unrelated to the new gallery:
- I like to offer a starless revision to appear when hovering over the image
- that works fine - until you go from the very first revision for the main image to a new revision B, C ... - no matter what I do I can't get the starless to hoover over again.
Example: https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=g1r0fy and https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=g1r0fy#gallery 

Arny
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Arny:
- when editing the image I get asked every time if I want to save "new" the setup, which is just 1 filter I tried out - possible to ask only once?

I have it in my list to add a checkbox that says "Don't ask again for this image", thanks!
Arny:
A buggy thing on hoover over images, but probably unrelated to the new gallery:
- I like to offer a starless revision to appear when hovering over the image
- that works fine - until you go from the very first revision for the main image to a new revision B, C ... - no matter what I do I can't get the starless to hoover over again.
Example: https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=g1r0fy and https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=g1r0fy#gallery

I don't understand this. Are you trying to say that you cannot change the hover image of a revision? (in which case I'd ask: are you editing the revision or are you editing the project?)
Or are you saying that once you click around to other revisions, then you go back to the one with the starless hover, it doesn't do it anymore? (in which case I cannot reproduce, can you give me a detailed sequence of clicks?)
Miguel G. avatar
Miguel G. avatar
Hi Salvatore,

I'm not sure if this suggestion fits into this thread or not. Sorry for the latter smile
I'm aware that showing the plate solution on an image when hovering is configurable when the user uploads the image. I was wondering if this setting could somehow be configured from the user's perspective, independent of the setting of the uploaded image. For me personally, I don't like to see the plate solution when hovering the mouse over the image. I always have to separate the mouse to get rid of it. It's not a big deal, but for me at least, it would be quite convenient to have a "don't show plate solving overlay" or similar setting when viewing any photo.

Is this possible and useful?

m
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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Hi Miguel,

I do like the idea to let you choose if you want to see the plate-solving annotation on mouse-hover, or at the click of a button.

It's easy to do and I'll add it to my list.

Thanks!
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Arny avatar
Arny avatar
Salvatore Iovene:
Arny:
A buggy thing on hoover over images, but probably unrelated to the new gallery:
- I like to offer a starless revision to appear when hovering over the image
- that works fine - until you go from the very first revision for the main image to a new revision B, C ... - no matter what I do I can't get the starless to hoover over again.
Example: https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=g1r0fy and https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=g1r0fy#gallery

I don't understand this. Are you trying to say that you cannot change the hover image of a revision? (in which case I'd ask: are you editing the revision or are you editing the project?)
Or are you saying that once you click around to other revisions, then you go back to the one with the starless hover, it doesn't do it anymore? (in which case I cannot reproduce, can you give me a detailed sequence of clicks?)




Yes, I cannot get a new or existing revision image to hoover over another image, unless it is the first image revision A.

Use case was (on example https://app.astrobin.com/u/afjk?i=g1r0fy#gallery)
- I uploaded revision A plus a hoovering starless revision B
- then found out I had the image horizontally flipped, so uploaded into the same project 2 new, flipped revisions E and D 
- but could not get rev E to hover over D
- tried to fix it by removing hoovering image, have no hovering at all, but no success

In effect hovering a starless version over the stars version is only possible, if I never update the main star version image - whoch beats the idea of working with revisions ;-)

Hope that helps to understand the issue.

Arny
Bogdan Borz avatar
Bogdan Borz avatar
Hi @Salvatore Iovene ! Thanks for the modification, looks nice. I am beginning to like the new version more I guess, lol : ) !

All best,

Bogdan
JohnHen avatar
JohnHen avatar
Hi Salvatore, 
a great new fresh look.
A few comments:
- when clicking the likes received for an image: The old version showed a time stamp when the like was received plus it showed whether the person is a 'friend'. The new UI only shows the name.
- the pictograms of images in the staging area are quite darkened with a huge lock on it such that an image is hard to recognize.
- download times appear longer in the new version.
I am aware that some of the above may be due to my browser etc. But that is what i noticed.
CS, John
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Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
- when clicking the likes received for an image: The old version showed a time stamp when the like was received plus it showed whether the person is a 'friend'. The new UI only shows the name.
- the pictograms of images in the staging area are quite darkened with a huge lock on it such that an image is hard to recognize.

Thanks, I'll take care of both!
- download times appear longer in the new version.

This might have been a momentary network issue. In theory, opening images should be faster with this new UI, because each time you click, you're only requesting the image data, instead of all the HTML and CSS every time. Download of actual images (like JPEG) is unaffected by the UI changes.
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starfield avatar
starfield avatar
I tried adding an image that I was a collaborator on to a collection and received an error.   Seems to be functioning as designed, since I didn't post the original image.    Since I collaborated on the project and it was in my default gallery I expected to be able to add it.

WR 134 and Sh2-101: A 6-panel Collaborative Mosaic - AstroBin

Thanks,  Steve
Salvatore Iovene avatar
Salvatore Iovene avatar
I tried adding an image that I was a collaborator on to a collection and received an error.   Seems to be functioning as designed, since I didn't post the original image.    Since I collaborated on the project and it was in my default gallery I expected to be able to add it.

This has nothing to do with the new UI as it's the same as the classic one, but it's a valid point so I'll take it as a feature request and add it to my list!
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JohnHen avatar
JohnHen avatar
Some additional observations:
- in the old version it was possible to see on another users image who gave likes. That seem gone in the new version
- besides an image of a user there is the name which, when clicking, leads to the users gallery and dangerously close by is the "unfollow" button that could be accidentally hit instead. How about a security step asking "Do you really want to unfollow" in order avoid an "unfollow" by accident?
- below an image there are other images listed under "Images in the same area". They appear sorted by number of likes. Would it possible to alternatively (with a mouse click) sort them by publication date?
CS, John