Mobile site?

afinch · Post by **afinch** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:33 am

Would it be possible to install a mobile style for the board? Several are available and easy to install. It would make the life of people who primarily connect through handhelds sooooo much easier. Right now the site isn't very friendly to mobile devices. I don't know if there's others like me who mostly use their smartphones for everything - but it's definitely a trend to consider.

Post by **lovezebs** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:25 am

afinch
I only use my phone, and manage very well with it. Don't even have a PC. How would a mobile site make things better? I ask, because I'm a real doodle head when it comes to anything technological.

afinch · Post by **afinch** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:32 am

lovezebs wrote: afinch
I only use my phone, and manage very well with it. Don't even have a PC. How would a mobile site make things better? I ask, because I'm a real doodle head when it comes to anything technological.

Oh, in that case you (and your eyes) would LOVE a mobile site. It basically renders to the size of your screen so that you never have to zoom in or out. Everything looks easy to read and you just need to scroll up or down. Try to look up phpbbs that have automatic mobile device detection.

Actually here's an example website. Try accessing the site from a PC and a mobile device, and then switch between the mobile and full versions on your phone. You will quickly see what I mean.

Post by **lovezebs** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 3:55 pm

afinch
I am as blind as a bat without my reading glasses, so any improvement would be a bonus.

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:33 pm

I have a Galaxy Note ii and the finchforum looks the same, functions the same as on my touch screen computer. Prior I have a other phones and never had an issue.

afinch · Post by **afinch** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 7:55 pm

First let me stress that I am saying these things as constructive advice, not as a criticism. I like this forum and so would like it to be up to speed with the minimum standards of the time.

cindy, saying that a website looks the same on a computer as on a mobile device is NOT a praise. In fact it is viewed as a negative in the world of web development. Mobile device screens are significantly smaller that PC screens and so require different rendering schemes to prevent the user from having to zoom in and out excessively.

If you go to google analytics and run a test, you will see that this forum scores a mere 57 out of 100 on mobile user experience. That is quite LOW.

See test results here: https://developers.google.com/speed/pag ... hforum.com

The website I gave as an example to lovezebs scores a whooping 94. And if you browse through forums and threads on this forum on your phone, then try to do the same for the other forum, you will see very clearly what I mean. It's so easy to browse threads and read posts without ever having to zoom into anything. Everything gets rendered to the size of your mobile device, and most of the design elements are streamlined to make the website fast enough for phone users. When I switch from other forums I frequent that have mobile versions to this one, my mobile user experience gets significantly harder (and often causes me to put my glasses back on). This is objectively reflected in the google analytics page, which scores the other sites at 90+ for mobile user experience, and this one at 57.

At the end of the day, this is no more than a friendly suggestion. If nobody finds merit to it, it can always be ignored.

KarenB · Post by **KarenB** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:37 am

I agree that a mobile version would be nice to have, and definitely easier to navigate. I was just talking about it with my spouse yesterday, so I find it interesting that someone else has brought it up today.

afinch · Post by **afinch** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 8:42 am

KarenB I'm surprised we're the only two who thought about this lol.

debbie276 · Post by **debbie276** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 12:50 pm

I use both computer and mobile and can't say I've really had a problem using the forum with either. It's a non issue for me

afinch · Post by **afinch** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:25 pm

debbie276 wrote: I use both computer and mobile and can't say I've really had a problem using the forum with either. It's a non issue for me

Have you used another forum that is mobile friendly? If not, that might explain why ;)

I'm sure when television first came out, nobody had a real issue with it being black and white. Would you switch back to a black and white TV now though, or a dichromic computer screen? And if a bunch of your friends had a club where they would meet to watch TV, and they were still using a black and white TV, would you not recommend color to them?

That analogy of course assumes they're not all colorblind of course lol.

debbie276 · Post by **debbie276** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:35 pm

All I'm saying is it is a NON issue for me and not a problem. It's kind of feeling like if we don't agree with you that we are too stupid to know the difference.

afinch · Post by **afinch** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:58 pm

Hey debbie,

Sorry if that's how I came across. I admit I was reluctant about bringing this up in the first place because I knew people might take it that way. This is not a matter of that at all. It's an issue of enormous convenience. And since many of us rely mostly on mobile technology nowadays, it makes sense to make things mobile friendly. And to show that it was not merely a matter of opinion, I provided the scores from google analytics. The truth is that we can't truly tell if something is better or more convenient (and to what extent) until we try it , which was my only point - intelligence and stupidity have absolutely nothing to do with it. That said, let's forget I said anything. Apologies for any unintended offense my suggestion may have caused.

I was just trying to help, but it's not at all necessary... Certainly not worth getting anybody upset with me over it

dutch · Post by **dutch** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 7:04 am

afinch....brilliant idea

Finnie · Post by **Finnie** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:25 am

dutch wrote: afinch....brilliant idea

Brilliant idea that she said to forget she mentioned it? Or brilliant idea to want the forum to be mobile friendly?

I totally see her point. I don't like surfing the 'net on my phone, because I always have to scroll side to side to read each line. Or else zoom it in or out to fit my screen. But when it fits my screen, then the font is too tiny and I can't click on links because my finger is too big so I click on other close-by links.

I guess I have not yet come across a forum that wasn't annoying in this way on my phone. (And since I don't like going on line with my phone, I have no idea whether the finchforum is easy or difficult.)

I should check and see.

I have noticed that Hoobly is easy enough to see on my phone, but harder to navigate. You have to load a lot of pages to move around in the site. The PC is still much better for surfing the net.

afinch · Post by **afinch** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:01 pm

Finnie, if you (or anyone) is curious to see how a mobile friendly forum would render on your smartphone, you can see the example I gave earlier.

afinch wrote: Actually here's an example website. Try accessing the site from a PC and a mobile device, and then switch between the mobile and full versions on your phone. You will quickly see what I mean.

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