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Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-01-09 13:28
I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Especially when I wanted to browse Mabination at the mall.
It's very difficult to view this site on a mobile device and I was wondering if a mobile version could be made within the context of vBulletin or if that's possible with the new forums we are possibly moving to.
Do we get enough mobile traffic to warrant this? I only ask because I see mobile as a growing platform and thus in the interest of future users and following technological trends, I feel that a mobile version could be beneficial.
Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, is it possible?
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Osayidan wrote on 2012-01-09 14:07
With vbulletin it's not worth trying since we're switching soon, though it is possible.
With xenforo it's even more possible though I'd have to look at it once everything else for the move is done.
I know for both vbulletin and xenforo there's 3rd party services that make the site mobile friendly, but in all the cases I've seen it involves either me paying a large sum of money yearly, or you guys having to pay for the app in either android or apple app stores. What the app does is replace the interface entirely in a format that's more suited for mobile, it's not web browser based. I doubt there's enough mobile traffic for it to be worth the investment in those apps right now.
Another option is making a mobile-friendly theme and having the forum detect mobile devices and force that theme. Problem is making the mobile theme, since I don't have a smart phone and have no intention of getting one, so I won't really be able to test. If there's some kind of emulator that's good for developing and won't cost me anything to get then that solves that problem, but I don't know of any.
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Kingofrunes wrote on 2012-01-09 14:12
Quote from Osayidan;729583:
With vbulletin it's not worth trying since we're switching soon, though it is possible.
With xenforo it's even more possible though I'd have to look at it once everything else for the move is done.
I know for both vbulletin and xenforo there's 3rd party services that make the site mobile friendly, but in all the cases I've seen it involves either me paying a large sum of money yearly, or you guys having to pay for the app in either android or apple app stores. What the app does is replace the interface entirely in a format that's more suited for mobile, it's not web browser based. I doubt there's enough mobile traffic for it to be worth the investment in those apps right now.
Another option is making a mobile-friendly theme and having the forum detect mobile devices and force that theme. Problem is making the mobile theme, since I don't have a smart phone and have no intention of getting one, so I won't really be able to test. If there's some kind of emulator that's good for developing and won't cost me anything to get then that solves that problem, but I don't know of any.
There's plenty of emulators out there in fact. There's Android Emulators for example which are completely free! It's not too hard to install either.
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/emulator.html
I've actually used this to test older Android models for some of the sites I work on. Also there's a free ipad emulator.
http://www.ipad-emulator.com/
Also
http://www.testiphone.com/
See how easy it is to find free emulators? They are everywhere!
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Osayidan wrote on 2012-01-09 14:18
I'll bookmark this page for when all the other stuff is done for the migration to xenforo then 0:
If I can make it for free like that then it doesn't matter how much mobile traffic we get, and it might encourage more of it.
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Episkey wrote on 2012-01-09 14:28
This is an excellent idea. I was thinking the exact same thing a few days ago!
I'm glad to hear that it's possible. Because, I would definitively browse a mobile version of Mabination.
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Helix wrote on 2012-01-09 14:51
I like this idea. It'll make browsing here on my phone so much easier.
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Chockeh wrote on 2012-01-09 20:02
I'm always posting from either my ipod or my phone, so this is a great idea.
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Science wrote on 2012-01-09 20:13
Yeah this'll be great. I hate having to zoom in 9001x every time I want to click on a thread when I'm browsing from my phone.
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Remistalk wrote on 2012-01-09 21:13
A mobile version of Mabination would be awesome.
I go here whenever I'm bored, even during class if the teacher is boring. ._.
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Nyo wrote on 2012-01-10 13:07
The archive view of the forum is quite nice for mobile devices. It's not perfect, but there's always a link to the original thread in archive view.
http://mabination.com/archive/index.php
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Jelly wrote on 2012-01-10 13:21
Eh, I've been on Nation from my phone for a week since its the only source of internet I have at the moment an it's not really that bad, sure you have to zoom in a lot but, eh.
If its able to be made on xenoforo then I'm all for it.
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Micho wrote on 2012-01-10 16:26
It'll be a nice addition but not needed I browse on my iPod touch and iPhone when I'm at school or when I'm not on the computer, it's still good enough without a mobile version.
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Yoorah wrote on 2012-01-10 23:24
I think the mobile theme option is how it's usually done. :P SMF even has this build in, IIRC.
Good to have, if it's not too much trouble to do. :3
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Herro wrote on 2012-01-11 01:06
Quote from Osayidan;729592:
I'll bookmark this page for when all the other stuff is done for the migration to xenforo then 0:
If I can make it for free like that then it doesn't matter how much mobile traffic we get, and it might encourage more of it.
also if you do plan to do that, i wish to join you on this lil project. (Mostly because i need more experience making apps...)
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yanmoyiie wrote on 2012-01-11 03:37
Quote from Osayidan;729592:
I'll bookmark this page for when all the other stuff is done for the migration to xenforo then 0:
If I can make it for free like that then it doesn't matter how much mobile traffic we get, and it might encourage more of it.
Another option is making a mobile-friendly theme and having the forum detect mobile devices and force that theme. Problem is making the mobile theme, since I don't have a smart phone and have no intention of getting one, so I won't really be able to test. If there's some kind of emulator that's good for developing and won't cost me anything to get then that solves that problem, but I don't know of any.