UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums General Suggestions and Feedback Mobile Internet theme

How about creating a new default theme for mobile devices? Seems a lot of people access forums via their iphone, mobile or other device and a few people seem to request a theme that would be tuned for such devices..

I would go farder. I would love a mobile internet template.

Styles just would not cut it all the way. But it would require a major makeover, lots of html is still generated in code instead of in the templates.

Well, unfortunately it'd be well more than a style; and a theme would involve heavy changes to the template files... And at current we don't have support for multiple sets of templates...

Maybe something to add for 7.4 or 8?

Certainly a growth area and something that would help improve the UBB lead on the rest!

I agree, a mobile template becomes more important every day. It would be a good beginning to have an option to switch the template folders.

well, i'm sure once we start supporting multiple templates, that'll be the first one pushed out

There is some additional work there, not all HTML comes from the templates, so that will need a makeover too.

I am getting quite a few requests mobile friendly access here lately. I think on down the road this would be a nice feature to be able to offer the community.

Mike

Yes, hopefully when the GUI get's an overhaul it will be an easy quick thing to do.

*nods* well it is becoming mainstream now so it may be something to look at I know I access mine from my phone when I am out and about.

Dunny

Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but was wondering if this is something we might see in Version 8?? Mobile is really mainstream now and we have people on mobiles checking in lots already...

i'm working on a Tapatalk solution for 7.5.6 right now

i contacted them to get API access and all went well.

will have something in a coupla weeks of spare time

With the current trend from the wireless companies. going to eliminating unlimited usage accounts and reducing bandwidth usage for things such as graphics by reducing the resolutions. Is this not a moot point for now?

Granted the migration may take a year or two or three!

i don't see it (tapatalk) as anywhere near moot

YMMV

Maybe tapatalk is a great application. I have never used it.
But I was addressing the topic, "Mobile Internet theme"
in general.

In the southeast USA area most all of the wireless providers have eliminated their unlimited plans. And have reverted back to a minimal usage plan with a pay per use fee.
In addition to try to conserve bandwidth they have reduced the resolution of video/audio and any regular media delivered in general to wireless devices.

Does not someone see this as restricting the usage(need) to develop a mobile device theme?

My 2 cents worth.

browsing a forum using a mobile theme or tapatalk is a drop in the bucket of internet bandwidth used compared to watching videos or any so-called 'media rich' sites.

apples/oranges, imho

i don't get what you are driving at

Well in Florida. The trend recently has been to force users to reduce bandwidth by AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.
The reason being is that some local events have over taxed the cellular towers due to concentrated usage of large groups of users in a small area.
The end result is instead of the service providers spending capital funds to increase their capacity. They have elected to reduced the allowed bandwidth usage rates. And their pricing tiers have increased.

Maybe it is a Florida thing?

There is that sick green thing again.
Heh,Heh,Heh.

Ruben, Mobile is just beginning to hit it's stride here in the states so hold on to your hat with what you are going to see in the near future. Swipe your mobile device to pay for purchases, scan a QR code to get company information or coupon.

I think that Providers weren't really ready for the amount of traffic.

Google and Facebook are battling right now to see who is going to come out on top in the Local Mobile battle for usage and usefulness.

Readers are being manufactured to scan your mobile device for payment. I hear that select Starbucks is already using it.

Phone Manufacturers are pushing the "smart phone" giving great deals. Pretty soon it will be harder and more expensive to have the older type "dumb phone".

So service providers are going to have to step it up. There will be some problems here and there, like in one are a WI they just switched from 3G to 4G and it was a nightmare for some users, but technology dictated the switch.

I can see a need for mobile theme, sure. Not for the bandwidth, but to work well on the miniature screen. Sure, my Nexus1 is bigger than my previous phone, but it is still really small. I can see removing things such as shoutbox or even most of the islands form a mobile skin at minimum, but even some of the nav elements could go. My stuff could be cut in half, for example.

No, I don't see it as reducing the need. I do everything on my mobile. As it is, many of our users (and we only have a few hundred) access from iPhone and Blackberry.

Your analysis completely ignores users placing their mobile device on a wifi network.

Cool. I just had a user email me about this today.

I just got a iPhone 4 and would love to have a theme for our site. More and more of are users are asking for one...

SD, I'm assuming you haven't had any free time yet, but I'm still looking forward to your solution. Have you gotten anywhere with it?

I just started noticing this in use on some of the forums I frequent that are using vBulletin.

i've had some time and have written 50% of the code, but got involved elsewhere and the project has languished for a bit.

when i get back to it, the code skeleton just needs some skin on it and i might then need a couple beta sites as test.

Let me know if you need help testing it SD

SD, you know my group is always game to try to break things for you. I mean test things..

In Europe and here in the UK mobile use is huge, and the market place for pushing apps and traditional sites onto the mobile platform is serious business.

I for one would welcome the ability to have a usable theme for UBB on my iPhone (other mobile platforms are available :))

I find trying to access my site via mobile to be clunky at best; and being on the move a lot there is a regular need to be able to do this for moderation / post approval needs. I can't always rely on my nominated Mods being available to do these tasks for me.

I dont think data use/bandwidth issues enter into it over here. Most providers include an allocation for data use now, even if several providers have had to "re-word" their fair-usage terms.

Just my two-penneth worth to chip into the discussion

Any update on this SD?

not really

too many projects going right now

Can I just add that many mobile users are asking me to change to another forum script purely so they can have proper access on their devices... I won't switch though but I'd love to see this introduced

Our mobile traffic has grown by 600% in this past year! I'm actually on my iPad right now researching on why our iOS users are having frequent crashes whilst in our message boards. I firmly believe a mobile template would be hugely beneficial!

I completely agree. In our last newsletter blast over 25% of the emails were opened on their iOS device. Being able to click though to a mobile optimized pages would be a huge benefit.

I use my android phone every day.

We have requests weekly for Tapatalk.

I just had my first request for this, too ...

I really want to update my site; I hope this upgrade comes through quickly, and I hope that something like this is an option. It'll help me keep people connected that have migrated more toward Facebook ...

~Sue