How to do mobile-ready sites in WordPress?

by MarkR

Posted: 11 years ago 8 replies

WEB DESIGN

I'm jumping into mobile-ready pages on WordPress (always ignored mobile users till now

). Starting with a simple landing page.

Is a plugin the best way to make a theme mobile-friendly? Does it work for all devices/OS's?
Is using a mobile-ready theme the way to go?
Is there any real difference between "mobile-optimized" and "responsive"?
I have a hard drive full of premium themes, some months old, some years old. Are they of no value if i want to make mobile-ready sites going forward?
Does "mobile-ready" site/landing page, mean I have to design separate pages/sites for desktop vs. mobile?
I have InstaBuilder, which has squeeze pages built into it. but It seems I have to build two different pages - one for desktop, one for mobile and let it switch as needed?

#mobileready #sites #wordpress

Istvan Horvath 11 years ago

There are several different approaches for mobile WP powered sites...
- plugins
- themes (with a script that recognizes the "user agent" and redirects automatically)
- apps - yes, there is solution to create an app out of any WP site!
- using responsive themes (WP 3.5 released today has it by default)

Many of those above can handle the 'landing page' too... although be careful: everybody thinks about zillion different things when they use nonchalantly the phrase!!!
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- MarkR 11 years ago
  
  Istvan,
  
  How are you? Somehow, I knew you'd tackle these questions. You are the WordPress Man.
  
  So, which method would you recommend? I'm pretty good with WP, but have no clue about mobile.
  
  Thanks
  
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UMS 11 years ago

1. "Best" is always subjective. There are WP plugins that will create an optimized mobile version of your website, but if you are using a theme that uses shortcodes and other non-standard enhancements, you may have issues.

2. Definitely is makes things easier, but you won't end up with a fully optimized mobile version of the site.

3. Yes. A responsive WP theme will respond to whatever the screen size is. The biggest advantage with this approach is that you have a single version of the website. The disadvantage is that responsive themes aren't fully optimized for mobile devices and can waste bandwidth (although this is becoming less of an issue with increasing mobile speeds and bandwidth limitations)

4. If those themes are responsive, then they can be use as is.

5. No

6. Not familiar with instabuilder, so can't offer an opinion.
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WPcrew 11 years ago

1. If theme is not already responsive, and it won't be, plugin is a way to go. But if you ask me, I would go with already responsive theme, cause plugin can do only generic responsiveness, I guess.

2. I would go with a responsive theme, yes.
3. When you say mobile optimized, it can mean that site has a separate subdomain for mobiles only, and that mobile user is redirected to a sites mobile version.
4. If themes are responsive, you can use them.

5. This really depends on what you on that landing page, but for most of the landing pages, I would say no, it would be just a different order of things (one item beneath the other, instead both one next to the other).

6. Never used it.
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- MarkR 11 years ago
  
  Thanks for the direction guys.
  
  If I don't want to duplicate pages, one for desktop and one for mobile, it sounds like investing in responsive themes is the way to go. Wish I could use the themes I already paid for though. Oh well, time to move on.
  
  Thanks
  
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  alexbardera 11 years ago
  
  I would definitely go for a responsive WordPress theme. Most quality premium themes tend to be responsive nowadays, and I think that this will become a general trend, despite the fact that it might make sense to use device-specific themes in some cases.
  
  You can use Responsive Test - Responsive Web Design online testing tool. to quickly test how a theme renders before buying.
  
  PS: I design responsive themes, so I might be VERY biased if you ask for a product recommendation. ;-)
  
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  "Keep cool."
  
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successmonster234 11 years ago

Woothemes do some great, responsive themes. I use their CANVAS theme quite a bit and it has functionality to create any type of site you want, check out their showcase here: WooThemes Showcase | Category Archive | Canvas
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- MarkR 11 years ago
  
  Alex, thanks for that site. It's great. Tells me what sites of mine have issues.
  
  Agreed, I love Woo Themes. I have most of them. I'll have to try Canvas soon.
  
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How to do mobile-ready sites in WordPress?

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