Mobile Website - Please test

Sully · 11-05-2008 7:53pm #1

Evening folks,

Okay well over the last while we have been working on a version of Discover Tramore for mobiles. The mobile version has all the listings and directions - we cut out a lot of the text from the site and other sections as the idea of the site is just to be a handy version for those "on the go" who want to sort themselves out before arriving or to get directions on their mobile.

Iv tested it out and no complaints so far. However, before we go fully live id appreciate if others could send their mobiles to http://mobile.discovertramore.ie and give me any suggestions or report any issues they encounter.

Thanks!

aidan_walsh · 11-05-2008 7:59pm

Teeny tiny on the top left hand corner of the screen in Mobile Safari, so very difficult to use on the iPhone/iPod Touch without zooming.

Works very well on my k800i's default browser though.

Sully · 11-05-2008 8:02pm

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Teeny tiny on the top left hand corner of the screen in Mobile Safari, so very difficult to use on the iPhone/iPod Touch without zooming.

Dont get ya? Iv been told it works grand on the iPod Touch?

aidan_walsh · 11-05-2008 8:11pm

Had to zoom in to be able to see anything.

Sully · 11-05-2008 8:13pm

aidan_walsh wrote: »

Had to zoom in to be able to see anything.

Thanks. Apparently this happens with all sites in the iPod Touch according to the lad who tested it? You have to double tap and it loads fully?

Id prefer it loaded fully anyway but I was of the understanding this is normal..

aidan_walsh · 11-05-2008 8:15pm

No, not normal at all. If the page has been created correctly, it should work full screen. Looking at your CSS you're using fixed sizing, Mobile Safari works using fluid sizing like any desktop browser. Its based on Webkit, same as desktop Safari.

Sully · 11-05-2008 8:18pm

aidan_walsh wrote: »

No, not normal at all. If the page has been created correctly, it should work full screen. Looking at your CSS you're using fixed sizing, Mobile Safari works using fluid sizing like any desktop browser. Its based on Webkit, same as desktop Safari.

Thanks, ill look into it.

Sully · 11-05-2008 8:22pm

aidan_walsh wrote: »

No, not normal at all. If the page has been created correctly, it should work full screen. Looking at your CSS you're using fixed sizing, Mobile Safari works using fluid sizing like any desktop browser. Its based on Webkit, same as desktop Safari.

Its now changed to 100% but its made little difference. With fixed sizing its worked okay in Safari btw.

Bob the Builder · 12-05-2008 2:36am

N95 - opera mini 3. Website is nice, everything is pretty okay with the big exception that none of the images are loading for some reason, other than the logo.

Sully · 12-05-2008 12:08pm

nevf wrote: »

N95 - opera mini 3. Website is nice, everything is pretty okay with the big exception that none of the images are loading for some reason, other than the logo.

Oops. Should be fixed now.

Anyone able to test it out on their iPhone/iTouch again?

matrim · 12-05-2008 1:58pm

N95 with built in browser.

Everything looks ok. The only issue is that logo \ images are all slightly too big so you have to scroll over slightly to view them fully.

All the main text appears ok with having to scroll across.

It might also be a good idea to do a redirect of the main site (www.) to redirect mobile browers to this site. (although give the user a link to go back to the full version if they want it)

Sully · 12-05-2008 2:20pm

I tested it out on my Nokia 5300 Xpress Music (the phone that was never released to the Irish market afaik

). I noticed there was a bit of scrolling involved for the text and for the images. Is this a problem do you think? Its easy enough to scroll on my phone, so it didnt bother me to much.

As for the main site, ill look into that when im happy this is completed.

Im considering removing the website address from listings as there not mobile built. Would you think this is a good or bad idea?

Eoin · 12-05-2008 5:19pm

The very first thing on a mobile site should be a skipnav link to an anchor further down the page, so the user doesn't have to scroll down to the main content.

About the iPod Touch/iPhone - I am quite inclined not to treat it as as a mobile device, given that it's primarily designed to access standard pages, not mobile ones. When I use my iTouch, I never use the mobile version of a site because it can render full sites so well.

Sully · 12-05-2008 6:01pm

Well.. they pretty much get the main content straight away on all pages? The navigation is at the bottom of the page..

Eoin · 12-05-2008 6:04pm

Purely personal preference, but I would swap that, therefore giving the user the option of going directly to the navigation, or being able to get straight to the content by selecting a skipnav link. Some touch screen devices make scrolling quite easy, but it can be a bit of a chore on some blackberrys.

Sully · 12-05-2008 6:11pm

Well when you first go to the site your presented with a navigation. If you select "Accommodation" your given a list. At the top of the page is a "Back" link to bring you back to where you came from. At the bottom if the navigation. This strucuture is on all pages. You select the B&B or Hotel, and your instantly given a full description and at the bottom of the page you have a picture which has a link to view more pics.

I just dont see what would the point in having the navigation at the top of an accommodation section or an individual listing? Sorry, im a bit confused as to the advantage

Eoin · 12-05-2008 6:18pm

Sully wrote: »

Well when you first go to the site your presented with a navigation. If you select "Accommodation" your given a list. At the top of the page is a "Back" link to bring you back to where you came from. At the bottom if the navigation. This strucuture is on all pages. You select the B&B or Hotel, and your instantly given a full description and at the bottom of the page you have a picture which has a link to view more pics.

I just dont see what would the point in having the navigation at the top of an accommodation section or an individual listing? Sorry, im a bit confused as to the advantage

I meant the global links:

Home
Restaurants
Nightlife
Activities
Accommodation
Transport

If these were in small font across the top of the page like so:

skip> | Home | Restaurants | Nightlife | Activities | Accommodation | Transport

Then the user can immediately select one of these without having to scroll down, or alternatively press the skipnav link and be brought directly to the content. Best of both worlds really.

On many blackberry devices, you use the scrolling wheel to move down the page, as well as to cycle through the links. So, to get to the bottom of a page, you scroll down, but as you do so it will highlight every single link along the way. This can be quite cumbersome, hence my suggestion.

Sully · 12-05-2008 7:14pm

Either im not explaining myself well or im still confused as to your point but when you go to the site you are immediately without being given any content provided the links. You select which one, and if you make a mistake you can click "Back" to get the navigation again. I just dont see the point in having the navigation at the top or a link at the top to bring you to the navigation at the bottom? The back link brings you to the index which has the navigation.. Sorry, tad bit confused!

drunkmonkey · 12-05-2008 7:22pm

I'm using the site on an LG KU990 (Touchscreen)

Works perfect, the links work when I touch the screen and all the pictures display....

Sully · 12-05-2008 7:25pm

Thanks

Eoin · 12-05-2008 8:03pm

Sully wrote: »

Either im not explaining myself well or im still confused as to your point but when you go to the site you are immediately without being given any content provided the links. You select which one, and if you make a mistake you can click "Back" to get the navigation again. I just dont see the point in having the navigation at the top or a link at the top to bring you to the navigation at the bottom? The back link brings you to the index which has the navigation.. Sorry, tad bit confused!

It's pretty standard to have global navigation at the top of a mobile page, as you want to limit the amount of scrolling that a user has to do. However, you also don't want the user to have to scroll through lots of links to get to the content.

This is what a skipnav link is for - it's the very first link on the page which goes to the start of the content on the same page.

See this example below - if the user wants to go to the content, they just press the first link. If they want to navigate throughout the site, then the links are conveniently placed also.

<a href="#main">skip&gt;</a> | <a href="home.asp">Home | Restaurants | Nightlife | Activities | Accommodation | Transport

<a name="#main"><h1>[B]Page Header[/B]</h1></a>

Main content goes here. Main content goes here. Main content goes here. 
Main content goes here. Main content goes here. Main content goes here. 
Main content goes here. Main content goes here. Main content goes here. 
Main content goes here. Main content goes here. Main content goes here. 
Main content goes here. Main content goes here. Main content goes here.

Sully · 12-05-2008 9:56pm

Im fully aware of the code and what it does, I just dont see the difference it makes on this site - as iv said countless times. Iv tried to explain it but I dont think your understanding me very well..

Eoin · 12-05-2008 10:08pm

Don't get snippy, I am trying to explain my point as best I can.

At the moment, your site navigation is at the bottom of each page, right? So, to get around the site, a mobile user has to scroll all the way down through the content. This is cumbersome on many mobile browsers. My suggestion means that a user can either immediately get to the content OR the site navigation with a minimal amount of scrolling.

Using the back button on a mobile isn't always as quick as it is on a desktop browser, and also you generally want to minimise the number of pages a mobile user has to make (without having overly large pages).

Sully · 13-05-2008 12:32am

eoin_s wrote: »

Don't get snippy, I am trying to explain my point as best I can.

Im not

At the moment, your site navigation is at the bottom of each page, right? So, to get around the site, a mobile user has to scroll all the way down through the content. This is cumbersome on many mobile browsers. My suggestion means that a user can either immediately get to the content OR the site navigation with a minimal amount of scrolling.

Using the back button on a mobile isn't always as quick as it is on a desktop browser, and also you generally want to minimise the number of pages a mobile user has to make (without having overly large pages).

Yup, but the "back button" isnt the browsers one. Its a link at the top of the page bringing you back to the navigation on the main page.. just in case you click onto the wrong page.

cgarvey · 13-05-2008 3:32am

I assume Sully's layout better matches the typical use-case. User gets to front page, selects area of interest from the global nav. Next page has links the user has expressed an interest in. They can click on those links (presumably to a non-mobile-oriented site?!?), or they can scroll down to navigate elsewhere. The point is that the information the user will most likely need is presented first.

If I want a pub in Tramore, I click on Nightlife. I am more likely to want the list of pubs first, than the global site navigation.

As an aside, I don't see the "Back" link.

darkstar_tfd · 13-05-2008 8:33am

Long story on short :

- website is loading allright
- design seems ok ( this is relative )

Sully · 13-05-2008 11:43am

cgarvey wrote: »

I assume Sully's layout better matches the typical use-case. User gets to front page, selects area of interest from the global nav. Next page has links the user has expressed an interest in. They can click on those links (presumably to a non-mobile-oriented site?!?), or they can scroll down to navigate elsewhere. The point is that the information the user will most likely need is presented first.

If I want a pub in Tramore, I click on Nightlife. I am more likely to want the list of pubs first, than the global site navigation.

As an aside, I don't see the "Back" link.

When you select the area of interest, nightlife in this example, your given links to each of the listings in that section. You select which pub you want to read about and are presented with their listing information (still on the mobile site). At the top of the page is a "Back" link which brings you to the catagorie index (Nightlife in this example) which lists the businesses and navigation.

darkstar_tfd wrote: »

Long story on short :

- website is loading allright
- design seems ok ( this is relative )

Whats the longer story? As its a mobile site, I didnt make it to flashy. Its simple so its quick to load, easy to use. I assume you dont agree?

Any suggestions appreciated.

darkstar_tfd · 13-05-2008 11:51am

For the longer story I need to much time ( describing why sometime its okay to have a wap version, why encoding is important and why not using display block can damage some layers - read as div ).

And time is what I do not have right in this moment

But I will come back later with more details, if I will have some available time.

Sully · 13-05-2008 3:41pm

Id appreciate if you could take the time to give me the feedback, as it is important to get this right.

Mobile Website - Please test

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