6 ms·

Turn.js 4th Release is out and amazing

33 points by lsdafjklsd 14y ago

AlexFromBelgium 14y ago
Took ages before I figured out how to flip pages O.o
- calvin 14y ago
  Agreed. It looks nice, but it has poor usability. I tried common things like clicking the edge of the page, scrolling on my trackpad, and using keyboard arrows, but none of them worked to scroll it. Having to find and move a scrollbar to move the pages was not immediately intuitive.
  - techiferous 14y ago
    Interesting. The arrow keys worked for me to flip the pages. Google Chrome + OS X.
  - bhassel 14y ago
    Clicking the top corner of the page works for me, as well arrow keys (on Firefox + Linux). It did take me a bit too long to figure out though...
oliwarner 14y ago
Why on earth are people trying to hang onto the paper style? I get that publishers don't want to rehash all their print media just for digital downloads, but why do we have to shoe-horn that into some crappy, unneccessary page transition process?
- ivan_ah 14y ago
  I believe it is to re-inforce the idea of the book as the product. A book page flipper is not meant for you to consume the content (must be annoying reading and having to see the animation on each page flip!), but for you to consult the material all the time being reminded of the physical object.
- lsdafjklsd 14y ago
  What excites me, is that I used to have to do a lot of these types of projects using a flash based solution that you just banged your head against. This is all javascript, so the sky is the limit for customization. And he did a great job with the api, there are a ton of events to hook into, and it goes down to IE7. I don't disagree with your point about usability, but clients eat it up for some reason and this solution is very elegant and developer friendly.
- Detrus 14y ago
  It's only appropriate for the narrow use case of a print designer showing off their book/magazine print work. Otherwise it will be used inappropriately because it's a cool effect and might impress someone who hasn't seen it before.
ynniv 14y ago
I am amazed! But probably not in the way the author intended. The web is not paper, stop screwing it up. We fall on skeuomorphism because design takes time to coalesce on new forms, but good design will emerge. Skeuomorph designs age quickly, as Apple's annual interface overhauls show. Good digital design is starting to emerge[1][2]! Don't give in! [ 1 | http://www.readability.com/learn-more http://www.readability.com/learn-more ] [ 2 | http://demo.jimbarraud.com/manifest http://demo.jimbarraud.com/manifest ]
- CubicleNinjas 14y ago
  I want a browser with readability's interface. So wonderful to use.
- harrylove 14y ago
  Shows how much the book-as-technology is a given in our society. I'd bet two dollars that the first books had pictures of stone tablets with engravings on them.
CubicleNinjas 14y ago
Websites samples not working on Chrome 19. Had to reload 4 - 5 times. When they worked, it was a slideshow on my (relatively) new computer. Yipes-stripes.
ireadzalot 14y ago
I looked at the samples in your github project. All the samples there have jpegs as pages. Do you have something similar to the demo on the live site (html instead of image files)? Nice work.
- ckluis 14y ago
  Click on the steve jobs bio - its html5. You can click on the menu and highlight text.
fourmii 14y ago
Definitely looks nice, but it wasn't all that easy to use with a mouse. I take it you can only flip pages from touching the corner of the page, if anything this makes it less useable on a browser. And do we really need pretend paper on our browsers and devices?
ewest 14y ago
If your target market includes people that prefer physical books, make page turning much easier - or more obvious. You also don't present any good use cases - why would I want to spend $99 on this? What does it do for me that a plain website cannot? Consider presenting the benefits of your idea using your idea, like you did with the API docs, to demonstrate a practical use case. Apart from those things - great idea!
tastive 14y ago
Something funky happens with the font weight as I turn pages in Chrome. I'm unsure why I would want this service - perhaps I am not part of the target demo.
- jscheel 14y ago
  Chrome has some weirdness with it's text-aliasing when enabling 3d transforms. Sometimes it's fixed in the dev channel, sometimes not. I haven't really been able to find a pattern.
moe 14y ago
Documentation available only in... PDF format? Are you kidding me?
franze 14y ago
one question: when do i have to order a license, when can i just use the version i forked via github?
- ewest 14y ago
  Maybe when you want the features in '4th release' http://turnjs.com/get http://turnjs.com/get
vamsee 14y ago
Uh, where is zoom function?

33 points by lsdafjklsd 14y ago

AlexFromBelgium 14y ago

Took ages before I figured out how to flip pages O.o

calvin 14y ago
Agreed. It looks nice, but it has poor usability. I tried common things like clicking the edge of the page, scrolling on my trackpad, and using keyboard arrows, but none of them worked to scroll it. Having to find and move a scrollbar to move the pages was not immediately intuitive.
- techiferous 14y ago
  Interesting. The arrow keys worked for me to flip the pages. Google Chrome + OS X.
- bhassel 14y ago
  Clicking the top corner of the page works for me, as well arrow keys (on Firefox + Linux). It did take me a bit too long to figure out though...

oliwarner 14y ago

Why on earth are people trying to hang onto the paper style? I get that publishers don't want to rehash all their print media just for digital downloads, but why do we have to shoe-horn that into some crappy, unneccessary page transition process?

ivan_ah 14y ago
I believe it is to re-inforce the idea of the book as the product. A book page flipper is not meant for you to consume the content (must be annoying reading and having to see the animation on each page flip!), but for you to consult the material all the time being reminded of the physical object.
lsdafjklsd 14y ago
What excites me, is that I used to have to do a lot of these types of projects using a flash based solution that you just banged your head against. This is all javascript, so the sky is the limit for customization. And he did a great job with the api, there are a ton of events to hook into, and it goes down to IE7. I don't disagree with your point about usability, but clients eat it up for some reason and this solution is very elegant and developer friendly.
Detrus 14y ago
It's only appropriate for the narrow use case of a print designer showing off their book/magazine print work. Otherwise it will be used inappropriately because it's a cool effect and might impress someone who hasn't seen it before.

ynniv 14y ago

I am amazed! But probably not in the way the author intended. The web is not paper, stop screwing it up. We fall on skeuomorphism because design takes time to coalesce on new forms, but good design will emerge. Skeuomorph designs age quickly, as Apple's annual interface overhauls show. Good digital design is starting to emerge[1][2]! Don't give in! [ 1 | http://www.readability.com/learn-more http://www.readability.com/learn-more ] [ 2 | http://demo.jimbarraud.com/manifest http://demo.jimbarraud.com/manifest ]

CubicleNinjas 14y ago
I want a browser with readability's interface. So wonderful to use.
harrylove 14y ago
Shows how much the book-as-technology is a given in our society. I'd bet two dollars that the first books had pictures of stone tablets with engravings on them.

CubicleNinjas 14y ago

Websites samples not working on Chrome 19. Had to reload 4 - 5 times. When they worked, it was a slideshow on my (relatively) new computer. Yipes-stripes.

ireadzalot 14y ago

I looked at the samples in your github project. All the samples there have jpegs as pages. Do you have something similar to the demo on the live site (html instead of image files)? Nice work.

ckluis 14y ago
Click on the steve jobs bio - its html5. You can click on the menu and highlight text.

fourmii 14y ago

Definitely looks nice, but it wasn't all that easy to use with a mouse. I take it you can only flip pages from touching the corner of the page, if anything this makes it less useable on a browser. And do we really need pretend paper on our browsers and devices?

ewest 14y ago

If your target market includes people that prefer physical books, make page turning much easier - or more obvious. You also don't present any good use cases - why would I want to spend $99 on this? What does it do for me that a plain website cannot? Consider presenting the benefits of your idea using your idea, like you did with the API docs, to demonstrate a practical use case. Apart from those things - great idea!

tastive 14y ago

Something funky happens with the font weight as I turn pages in Chrome. I'm unsure why I would want this service - perhaps I am not part of the target demo.

jscheel 14y ago
Chrome has some weirdness with it's text-aliasing when enabling 3d transforms. Sometimes it's fixed in the dev channel, sometimes not. I haven't really been able to find a pattern.

moe 14y ago

Documentation available only in... PDF format? Are you kidding me?

franze 14y ago

one question: when do i have to order a license, when can i just use the version i forked via github?

ewest 14y ago
Maybe when you want the features in '4th release' http://turnjs.com/get http://turnjs.com/get

vamsee 14y ago

Uh, where is zoom function?