4 replies to this topic

[idzine4u]

I'm trying to make my sites better compatible for mobile devices. Many of my clients don't want to invest in a mobile dedicated site and quite frankly I don't know much about making my sites mobile friendly. Most of my sites appear ok on the phone with only a few things out of place. Do you have any software that helps with this?
I did find an app that claims to make sites appear exactly the same on ALL devices. However when I contacted them about my sites that were already published, they asked if the HTML and CSS code produced a fixed layout or if it is scalable for screen size.

I have no idea how to answer that question! Can you help?


Thank you!

[Jeremy]

We don't have any software to help with this.

There is this article you can look at to see how to make an iWeb site more mobile friendly;

http://www.allabouti...s-iphone-ready/

[roddymckay]

The most cost effective way from a clients point of view is to use a responsive design that works on all devices. That way they only need to pay for one version of the site.

jQuery mobile takes all the hard work out of this if you happen to like the style. Example...

http://mobile.ezmacwebdesign.com/

Responsive designs use percentage rather than fixed width and @media rules to change the layout for different devices/screen widths. This demo was made using Rage's WebDesign...

http://www.ezmacwebd...demo/index.html

It illustrates quite a few of the techniques used in responsive design.

If you are using iWeb, here's a way to create a smart phone version of your site...

http://www.iwebformu...obile-iWeb.html

Adapting a fixed width site for mobiled devices isn't realistic but you can pay attention to user input buttons such as navigation and other hyperlinks. Make them finger tip size.

Smart phone users are often downloading via compromised cell phone networks and are up against data transfer limits. Keep the content to a minimum and optimize your files for faster download using an app like WebCrusher.

[idzine4u]

That's great article, thank you.
Regarding my previous post, do you know if the HTML and CSS code produce a fixed layout or if it is scalable for screen size when using iWeb to design the site and then publishing it with SEIntellingence and web crusher?

[roddymckay]

There's three main ways to create mobile compatible sites..

[1] Build a separate site for each type of device and use browser sniffing or device width to load the appropriate one.

[2] Create a fluid design whose content expands and contracts.

[3] Use @media rules to change the styles for various device widths. This is responsive design.

iWeb can only create a fixed width website. Every iWeb html doc has this in the head...


<meta name="viewport" content="width=980" />