Making a Mobile Site

[zaricpp]

I have been looking around and was wondering, how do you create a mobile site? I mean designing one, not just using one of those online tools. If anyone knows any websites that have tutorials or anything it'd be great. Thanks.

Zaricpp.

 

[DHDdirect]

There are a few ways to go about it, one being a whole seperate website and just forward mobile users to this website, the other is to use css to strip down the site/images/adjust widths etc, and a third option is to use javascript show/hide to hide mobile sections of your site from large screens and vice versa.

Anyway you decide to work it, the best tool out there to detect mobile browsers is Tera-WURFL. You may decide you want PCs to use one site, mobiles to use another, and iPAD users to use yet another, this tool will determine that for you and even give you users screen res.

 

[ronaldroe]

Here's a couple of great write-ups on media queries:

http://webdesignerwall.com/general/the-wall-is-redesigned

http://blog.bloop.co/the-practicalities-of-css-media-queries-lesso

 

[DHDdirect]

I think you'll find just like css3, media queries don't have wide enough support quite yet. Not sure if it'll ever happen.

*** actually i'll rephrase that. it may be not necessarily because it's not supported but because that even small cheapo phones like my sony-ericsson with a 320x320 screen will try to render websites like the big boys. For instance, with the Opera Mini Simulator you have to change the settings before it will use the mobile device media query.

 

[Helen Sutliff]

Jquery is where you need to start with regards to technology for the design i suggest a read through trends http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/13/mobile-web-design-trends-2009/

How to build a site for mobile this is a great resource http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/11/03/how-to-build-a-mobile-website/