Using a different template for mobile version of site

Prior to the Mobile Era, and prior to Wide Screen monitors, (and even according to a Site Point book I have) 960px was basically a “standard.” Then came wide screen monitors (and Windows Vista) and designers gravitated to 1050px. It’s a better format, I think. So now the claim is that “nobody is using PC’s anymore” (a fallacy) and we should be designing for Mobile first. Bunk!

which with the window-arrow keys gave you 960px width for each of the two apps you had open next to one another - still a bit too wide for the available height but at least still not wider than the height (which makes the content far less readable). Wider formats were more common before wide screens became available as you couldn’t fit two apps side by side so there was little point in not using the full screen width.

Of course a lot of people still don’t design their responsive sites properly - I still see lots of supposedly responsive sites that are broken at 950px width - only briefly as I always start looking for a properly constructed alternative straight away.

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Wow, the Sitepoint forum does not allow me to resize the fonts! Imagine that! Not too “user friendly.”

Anyone using an ipad would not be able to read it. The text is just too small. and you could not use your finger (touch device) either.

Screen dump from iPad Mini 2

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What is your point? Sitepoint didn’t create the forum software so why are you holding that over them? You did create your site, you are responsible for your direct action/in-action.

Also, the forum scales to mobile/tablets just fine and is very readable without zoom.

Lastly you actually can scale your font by altering the text scaling in the browser settings on mobile.

Default:

Scaled: (note how the UI didn’t break)

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Not sure if you realize how condescending that reply is. I am trying to help and that comment makes me feel like I am the one needing help, because I am too stupid to read your mind and know your level of knowledge from a forum post.

What limitations are there that cause you to think you need something else for your current needs? Because, responsive techniques are the ones you should probably be using, if all that is changing is the layout.

My suggestion still stands. You’re going to have to filter out what the user’s ability is (the device, window size, etc.) to view your site and change the layout. That is mostly what responsive is all about. However, if you want to use PHP to make the “layout choice” and possibly do some sort of graceful degradation, you’ll need something similar to the libraries I linked to.

If you could point out what it is you are stumbling upon with responsive or with PHP, maybe we could give you more detailed help.

Scott

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???

I use Firefox, and text-only zoom works just fine on SitePoint.

Normal

110% zoom

150% zoom

I seem not to have explained my point very clearly. It’s not that the photos themselves overlap - there’s no problem with that as a design. I was referring to the fact that the photos overlap the text at even a slight zoom level.

Normal

110% zoom

150% zoom

There you go making blind assumptions again :slight_smile:

I ran a successful packaging business for over 35 years employing around 35 people and have dealt with the biggest firms in the UK during this period. I know exactly how to please customers and clients alike which was borne from hard experience and also listening to experts in the field. I didn’t always follow their advice to the letter either but I never ignored or admonished them for saying things I didn’t like to hear. The most important piece of advice I can give you is to listen to people who know and that all people matter.

What you do with the advice you receive is entirely up to you as everyone likes to break the mould but as I said in my last post your foundations must be sound.

By all means be unique and inventive but also be wise. The challenge is to do the best you can for the medium that you are using. Basic rookie errors should be avoided at all costs and without meaning to be rude your page is littered with those i’m afraid. Overlapping or hidden text at any size other than the size you want people to see at is a big faux pas.

I believe you were given the key to that answer in the very first reply.

Apologies if sound advice sounds like a bashing but sometimes the truth hurts and is not palatable .It was not meant to come across as a bashing. All you needed to reply was 'thanks for the advice and I will look into the issues you mention" and the thread would have run its course much earlier.

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If you had read this thread from the beginning, you would know that this site is still under construction, and the reason I asked the question was for the purpose of creating a mobile friendly version with a simplified design.

However, this design DOES WORK for iPad using @media and a few CSS modifications. I know this, because I have already tried it on my local host copy.

Obviously, you haven’t been following this thread and have made some assumptions.

I’m abandoning this thread. It’s obvious that no one at Site Point is interested in answering the question that was asked, but are only here to push an agenda and criticize anyone who doesn’t do everything THEIR WAY. I see nothing wrong with creating a different MOBILE version of a site, where the original design does not lend itself easily to adapt for mobile. I know that it is being done using m.mysite.com. I just don’t happen to like that method because it has certain drawbacks. I’d prefer to use the same URL but provide a modified/simplified layout for mobile.

Used to be at Site Point people were interested in providing answers to technical questions and not ridicule users and criticize their designs.

None of you have provided a sample of your own work to establish credibility. Do you actually design anything? Have you ever built even ONE site? Provide the proof. Let us see how your work stacks up.

Have a nice life. I’m gone. I’ll never buy another Site Point book (and I have several from the old authors). I won’t be visiting this so called “Forum” again either.

It was answered in the first reply. @s_molinari, who posted that, has since offered further assistance, if required.

I’m sorry you feel that way. The forum is full of highly-experienced members willing to share their knowledge free of charge, in their own time. There is a wealth of experience here to draw upon.

I would consider you would have grounds for complaint if members failed to point out issues which might return to haunt you at a later stage, but not for people offering constructive comments. The link you posted was not strictly necessary to answer the question you asked, so it was a natural assumption that we were supposed to consider the site and the issue together.

I hope you find support elsewhere which is more to your liking.

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I am once again reminded of this little story…

A master was trying to explain something to a student. Now this student
was not a brand new student, but a senior student who had learned many
things. He had knowledge and experience aplenty to draw upon. But each
time the master tried to explain something new to the student, the
student kept trying to hold it up against his own notions of the way the
world is and how it ought be, and he was unable to see the lessons in
what the master was trying to teach him.

Finally, the master poured a full serving of tea into his own cup, and
into the cup of the student. Then he told the student he wanted to give
to him some of the tea from his own cup. He began pouring tea from his
cup into the student’s cup, but the student’s cup was already full, and
all the tea from the master’s cup spilled out over the cup onto the
surface below.

The student said, “Master, you can’t pour anything into my cup until I
empty it to make room for what you are trying to give me.”, and the
master replied “Yes I know.” “And I can’t give you any new thoughts or
ideas or perspectives on life’s lessons until you clear out some
thoughts that are already teeming in your mind to make room for what I
have to teach you.” Then the master paused for a brief moment, meeting
the student’s eyes with his own knowing look and calmly but sternly
said: " If you truly seek understanding, then first, empty your cup!"

The student pondered for a moment with a look of absolute bewilderment.
Then a look of enlightenment came over him, followed by a smile, and a
look of receptiveness. The master started to explain again, and this
time the student saw what the master was trying to say.

:smile:

Scott

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Glad I missed this one.

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I’m not :frowning: . My popcorn got cold.

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The human mind is not like a teacup. Its capacity is limitless. It is capable of storing an infinite amount of information. It can never overflow. Rather, the human mind expands as we receive new information. Yet the old information is always there to be called up on demand, to be used in our logical thinking to compare and weigh against new information, so that we may make judgments about things in our world, or in solving problems for ourselves.

We do not “empty” our minds. Nor should we. Only in certain cults do some people try to “empty” their minds.
There was no new information or knowledge presented in this thread. And, I made it known in my original post that the site was still under construction

Web designing is a process of solving problems as much as it is a creative process. The only rules ate those that tell the browser how to display what we create. Yes, there are some “best practices.” How I solve a problem may be quite different than the way someone else would do it. That doesn’t make my way wrong, or your way right. I find that it is not uncommon for a site to have a “mobile only” version, as well as a PC version…

It seems that Web designing for some people has become an exercise in “political correctness,” whereby we must cover for the person that doesn’t know how to use their computer. It is being “dumbed down” so to speak, so that we have to hold hands with each and every user so that they have a “good experience,” even if that user is not the target of the particular site. as in this case, where the target audience is the industrial market, where users are computer savvy, and not likely to be scouring the Net on an iPhone to make a major purchase of equipment for their company.

For the record, I tested this site for code validation today at W3C and received no errors (once I had fixed my page break typos, which were pointed out, and a typo in the URL path to one of the photos (amazingly, it still worked without fixing those errors).

I also tested it at Google for page load speed and Mobile. Again, received a good score (it will be higher once I complete the optimization). Passed 5 of the parameters tested.

I do thank you for passing on the info regarding the PHP Class for Mobile Detect. Once I familiarize myself with that code, I will test it, but I believe that is what I needed.

You have completely missed the point - the issue is not with the amount of information the human mind can hold but rather the prejudices that the person has that ensures that they will ignore any new information that contradicts their beliefs.Only by emptying their mind of prejudices can they evaluate the new information properly.

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There is a typo in the.header that was missed.

Metal Fabricating Corporation, Cleveland, OH - Indudstrial metal Storage units

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Well said! :thumbsup:

Scott

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My point about font sizes is probably more relevant to the computer-savvy, to use your term. They’re the ones who will know how to set the default to a size which suits them, and how to zoom it if they develop cataracts or other eye condition, break their reading glasses on their way into work, or whatever the cause may be.

The bottom line is that no matter your audience, unless you are actually, physically in control of the machines they use to access your site, you cannot know the conditions under which they will be viewing. To my mind, a broken layout looks unprofessional and gives me a poor impression of the company; if you think otherwise, so be it.

Once again, I’m merely trying to present facts - as much for the benefit of anybody else who may read this thread at a later stage as for you. What you do with the information is, of course, up to you.

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Except that my layout isn’t “broken.” And, the text size, as displayed, is sufficiently large, and of sufficient contrast (unlike many sites, including this forum, where the color is so light that it is barely visible - what is with this fascination with light gray text color?).

Still waiting for sample of sites YOU have designed. Or have you designed any? Have you ever build ONE Website?