What's "new"?

[Alan W]

Some of you may have noticed the word "new" appearing on some of the tabs for Chihuahua puzzles:



This is for the benefit of people (like me) who aim to play every daily puzzle. It is intended to alert you when there are currently-open puzzles that you haven't yet played.

It won't always be accurate if you play on multiple devices.

If you never see this "new" message, it may be that your version of Chihuahua hasn't yet updated. Give it a day or two.

Please let me know if there are any problems with this new feature.

[les303]

I've been waiting for someone to make a comment.
I was getting a bit worried that it was just me having one of my moments as i was not absolutely certain if it had always been there & i had failed to see it or simply forgotten about it.
So i am relieved to learn that is a new feature.
A wonderful user friendly innovation that only enhances my enjoyment of the game.

[cmh]

I played the UK 4pm game just after it opened (yesterday) but it shows as new this morning. The same happened yesterday morning. It doesn't bother me but it was a bit puzzling.

[cmh]

I've just realised it does that every time that I log out and then back in again so I assume that is the proper function that you intended Alan. Sorry - just my usual lack of technical computer knowledge!

[Roddles]

I have no problem with the new new tags. But while we are discussing changes to the interface, I'd like to bring up an issue that has plagued me for a long time. I play on an 8" Samsung tablet in touch mode. My problem is the Submit arrow that sits behind the letters on the input cross. On my touch screen, it is very difficult to hit a letter for input without also hitting a submit arrow. In trying to put in a longer word, I tend to find that I have input a shorter accepted word on the way to completing my longer input, and then my next selection that i try to put in is the start of a new input string. In some instances, it is very difficult to get a large word input before it gives up entirely, telling me that the string of letters I have put in on the way wasn't accepted. Then I have to start again. I have learnt that if I am very careful I can get a full word in, but it does require extreme care. When I started with Chihuahua one of the goals I set myself was to get a high percentage score, but this problem has meant that I have to give that aspect of the game up. I generally get a score now in the 70-80% range, even if I have never tried to submit an unaccepted word.
It may be that my tablet is over-sensitive; or that my touch is quite clumsy. I'd like to know whether I am the only one who has this technical problem, or are there others. I would dearly like to see those input arrows disappear, but only if it is a general problem. I've lived with it for years and can do so into the future.

[pat]

I've occasionally submitted a nonsensical 'word' due to those arrows but as I couldn't care less about my percentage rate it doesn't bother me. I play partly on a larger Samsung tablet on which the game is unstable and buggy, but using the pen that came with it I can to some extent reduce the problems such as the game reducing to an unusable size at the corner of the screen. Using the pen I find it quicker to double tap on the last letter of the word to submit it rather than move to the 'Submit' button, so I wouldn't like those arrows to be removed. The drawback of doing it that way is that when I move to the 7-by-many puzzle I forget that the arrow isn't there and add the letter to the word again instead of submitting it.

[Linda]

I always play on a desktop computer and use the keyboard to input the words.  As I'm a touch typist I just find this method quick and simple.  Have tried playing on various tablets but I prefer the use of a 'proper' keyboard and a large screen.  Showing my age, I guess! 

PS The New tabs are a useful addition to the game but did they have to be maroon?! 

[Hobbit]

I always play on a desktop computer and use the keyboard to input the words.  As I'm a touch typist I just find this method quick and simple.  Have tried playing on various tablets but I prefer the use of a 'proper' keyboard and a large screen.  Showing my age, I guess! 

Oh Linda once again we are totally in agreement   I trained as a secretary when typewriters weren't plugged in & Pitman was in demand

[Linda]

Me too, Pen, although I was never taught shorthand - I can scribble pretty quickly, but even I have trouble deciphering what I've written and my 4s look like my 6s which can cause a few problems when passing on phone messages!

Do you have any strong feelings about the maroon New tabs?  I only ask because I have an aversion to dark purple(ish) shades and wondered if we have this trait in common as well?! 

[Hobbit]

I can see how confusing 4s & 6s might be a problem!!
Maroon is one of my least favourite colours I have to be honest but I don't feel as strongly as you!  I hate brown more   Prefer a nice shade of red

[Linda]

Prefer a nice shade of red

My very favourite colour is a cherry red!  Most of my favourite clothes over the years have been that shade. 

Brown is usually very drab and I'm not keen on orange or green.  I wonder whether Alan could change the New tab to a nice red shade if we asked very nicely? 

[cmh]

Linda - I expect that your aversion to brown and orange comes from being young in the 1970's! The wages from my first Saturday job were spent on a brown skirt and polo neck from Chelsea Girl (which I think was a chain and not just in Leeds).  This was ironic because I had chosen my High School place ( or at least I had tried to influence my parents choice!) largely on the fact that the uniform was maroon whereas the nearest High had a brown uniform! I do like green however. In my career in car sales so many customers thought green cars were bad luck but I always told them I had owned quite a few green cars and had only had accidents in blue ones!

[Hobbit]

Brown is usually very drab and I'm not keen on orange or green.  I wonder whether Alan could change the New tab to a nice red shade if we asked very nicely? 

It's worth a try Linda - you never know   He might be susceptible to flattery!
Christine is spot on about browns & oranges.  My school uniform was red jumper & black skirt & blazer so not too bad.

[lilys field]

I suspect the appeal to a color change would have to be based on cyber/cognitive/intellectual grounds. No idea how that would work.

On subject of colors, much closer to my comfort zone,  their appeal changes don’t they?  Depending on how they are mixed, or adjacent.

Like that deep dive into the New brown maroon—definitely jolting. Definitely needs a companion color.

Hoping Alan’s supply of headache remedies is inexhaustible.

[Alan W]

Hoping Alan’s supply of headache remedies is inexhaustible.

Actually, changing colours is easy. Solving problems like Roddles' premature submissions is difficult.

I went for maroon simply because that's the colour of the type when the time the puzzle starts is displayed. So I made that the background for the "new" icon.

Maybe it could be the same colour as the background for error messages when a word is rejected:



Apparently this colour is sometimes known as guardsman red - I don't know if that appeals to you, Linda?