Viewing PDF's in full screen mode
Using FS Memories - there are ways you can view an image file in full screen mode.
BUT when viewing a PDF file there does not seem to be a way to display the pdf in full screen. A lot of screen real estate is wasted when viewing pdf files. I know they can be downloaded and then viewed in full screen mode - but that should not be necessary. Am I missing something?
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I like this idea!
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As far as I know, FS has not re-invented the wheel in the form of yet another PDF viewer: I believe it uses whatever your browser is set to use.
Yup: finally found a PDF Memory to test with. I have Firefox set to "always ask", and that's what it does when I go to open/view the PDF: it asks whether I want to use Firefox's viewer, Adobe's stand-alone viewer, or just save the file to my computer.
I haven't used Firefox's viewer, so I don't know if it has a full-screen mode. Adobe's freestanding viewer doesn't seem to have one (or if it does, it's too well-hidden for a mere mortal like me to find).
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yes- I understand that - but FamilySearch has the pdf viewer in a small sub window - that doesnt allow the pdf viewer to use the entire screen - only the entire sub window.
the pdf viewer can only use that sub window - and the rest of the screen is wasted
if FS put the pdf in a full screen window - it would show the full screen - regardless of any functionality of the pdf viewer.
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@Family Bible, what I'm trying to tell you is that that's a browser setting. It doesn't do that for me, and it's not something that FamilySearch has any control over.
I just tested the "Open with Firefox" option, and it opened in a new tab, not a "sub window".
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ok - thanks - I will play around
but what Im saying is - FamilySearch is very much is in control of the size of the sub-window. and they could program it so that if you click on a full screen icon - it opens a full screen sub window - so that regardless of any browser or pdf settings it would still work consistently.
Im just saying the current sub window is very poor use of screen real estate especially for pdfs. and FS is very much in control of that.
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Um, no, FS is not in control of any aspect of that sub window. As I said, I don't get any sort of sub window, of any size, for anything to do with PDFs in Memories. That's 100% your browser's doing, not FS's.
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can you send us a sceen shot of what the initial screen looks like when you furst go to the page of a pdf memory?
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you are right that what a browser does when it encounters a pdf - is not in control of FamilySearch - it can display in a sub window, it can create a new tab, or it can download the pdf or potentially other options based on configuration settings. Yes - you are right about that.
BUT all I am saying ,is that for those of us who have our settings so that it displays in place (screen shot below) - when it display in this way - instead of the new full tab you refer to - the layout below of the screen ends up having a large portion of the screen wasted with white space. and the design of that screen below would have to be in control by Familysearch - though you are totally right that it may not display this way due to settings on the browser etc. but when it does display this way - it has way too much white space (boxes in red)
and the box in yellow what I referred to as the sub window.
I just wish the screen below had a better design that actually uses more of the real estate to display the pdf.
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@Family Bible Your yellow box is not quite in the right place. It should include the control bar just above your current yellow box as well. That is part of the embedded PDF viewer that the browser supplies. But that's just a minor point.
Although I'm somewhat sympathetic to your hopes, you need to realize that this screen is a Memory viewer, not just a PDF viewer. Those Previous and Next buttons at the top let you cycle through all the Memories for a person. Those might be PDFs, images, stories, or audio. As you cycle through them, the screen stays mostly intact, with the Memory viewer (what is in the adjusted yellow box) adjusting based on the Memory type, and the other metadata being updated for the current Memory. It sounds like you want the PDF viewer to be something entirely different from all the other Memory viewers, but that would create problems for the requirement to allow cycling through the Memories.
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@Family Bible asked: "Can you send us a screen shot of what the initial screen looks like when you first go to the page of a pdf memory?"
I've already done so: the screenshot above is my initial view. I can get rid of the dialog box by clicking "cancel", which leaves basically a big blank.
(Not my relative. I don't seem to use PDFs on FS.)
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I'm really not just talking about pdfs - but for my configuration - I can get a full screen for an image so thats why I was focusing on pdf .
I just think the screen is poorly designed (uses way too much white space) over all - whether its pdf, image or story,
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yes - I noted the same - when I changed my configuration - a big white blank screen
and the blank screen to me makes it even more confusing . . . though as you allude to there are ways to get it to show in a different tab - and that is nice to know - thank you for that tip.
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when an image file is being shown on the page - there is a full screen icon- and it works.
thats why I was focusing on pdf - that doesn't have that icon. Why cant it have such an icon??? - that then takes it to a new FS screen that allows the pdf to show in the entire screen. (though of course depending on browser config)
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