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Mobile Version?

neodanneodan
edited October 2010 in Vanilla 2.0 - 2.8
Is there a mobile version that automatically kicks in when a vanilla forum is viewed on a phone?
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    it's only a matter of time... that's when Vanilla will really shine i think
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    glowglow
    i made a theme for my website that fits nicely to mobile screens thanks to css3 media queries. if you want to take a look it's http://www.juslisen.com/forum/ (try resizing your browser)
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    shinseijoshinseijo New
    I'm thinking that I may end up tackling that, unless someone beats me to it of course. Right now I'm making a mobile version of my site - and next up is the forum. It's going to be a custom solution, but if there is enough interest I'll see what I can do about hooking up with a programmer to create a plugin.
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    AdrianAdrian Wandering Spirit Montreal MVP
    I think there is major interest in mobile theme--but no one has really tackled for the community. Personally I know I would like one that allows admin functionality. It would be sweet to moderate the community from the iphone wit constant pinching. I know its a big job, but I'd be happy to help if I can. :)
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    edited October 2010
    i made a theme for my website that fits nicely to mobile screens thanks to css3 media queries. if you want to take a look it's http://www.juslisen.com/forum/ (try resizing your browser)
    good job that works very well!
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    @adriansonline

    maybe we should start a mobile development group? i know theres a few more developers around here that see the benefit of a mobile version of Vanilla, and it would be a huge contribution to the community... i can get something going if you are willing to help get things going
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    AdrianAdrian Wandering Spirit Montreal MVP
    @raize sure, what did you have in mind from me? Did you want me to raise funds to get it made or did you want us to try and program it? If we go the paid route, this is what we could do. We list what we want, and I will get a quote from Vanilla Team. We can then set up a chipin to get it created by the Vanilla Team. I am sure we could get a few people willing to pay 2-5 bucks for a quality (supported) plugin---and those donating would make it "our" gift to the community. I have been in talks with Vanilla team and they would be open to this. The other option is for us to try and figure it out, but I will be honest I am self-taught PHP, so it may take me a bit longer. But if others join in to program it could work. Were you thinking we create a group on Github or Google Code?
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    shinseijoshinseijo New
    Are we shooting for a mobile theme plugin (activate it and it would serve off a mobile version of the site based off of the viewport size), or a stand-alone Vanilla app like Wordpress?
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    AdrianAdrian Wandering Spirit Montreal MVP
    edited October 2010
    @Shinseijo I was thinking like WPTouch. Coming from the world Wordpress I guess I'm biased. I like the fact with WPtouch that the interface can be customized. It's also super that you can turn on/off mobile view. Nevertheless at this point anything would be awesome. Personally I want to get something that makes administering the forum on a mobile much easier. In a perfect world an IPhone/android app would be amazing but that is beyond my skill set.
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    edited October 2010
    I'm in favor of a vanilla:mobile development fund. Can you find out a ballpark figure if we were to ask the Vanilla team to do it and pm me the amount? We'll go from there and do what we need to do to get it done. I think it will benefit tons of people

    I think wptouch works on two levels.. it detects the mobile browser, then kicks in a mobile optimized theme which displays the content in an easy to consume layout. This is probably the same thing that we would need for Vanilla... a mobile version that you can use to read and participate in discussions (bare bones) which is synched in real time with the full size forum community.
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    AdrianAdrian Wandering Spirit Montreal MVP
    edited October 2010
    Okay I will get a quote and let you know. Once we know wr can decide to start a fund drive or if it might make sense for us to bite the bullet and develop it ourselves.
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    Sounds good, keep me posted.
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    shinseijoshinseijo New
    Ok, so here's what I'm thinking - I need to find out if I can use the default.master to use mutiple stylesheets within vanilla. If it does work, an iPhone specific stylesheet can be used for the front-end of the forums. JQuery Touch can be used to add page transitions and such.

    If we're going to do something with the dashboard, the issue that I'm seeing is finding a way to get access to applications/dashboard/design using this method. I don't know a lot about PHP, but maybe someone who does might be able to find some useful hooks for a plugin, or think of a better method that lets us swap the dashboard's stylesheets for a mobile version.
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    AdrianAdrian Wandering Spirit Montreal MVP
    @shinseijo I want to wait to see what the cost is before I spend considerable time on building it ourselves. I am not a PHP expert either, so it might be faster to pay to get it made.
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    edited October 2010
    I don't think we need to worry about a mobile version of the dashboard. Most admins don't mind managing the forum through their desktop. It's the front end we need to focus on for mobile users, so what you said about the default.master sounds good... if we can build a mobile "theme" then its all down hill after that, because we can get Vanilla to automatically use a different theme depending on what browser the person is using
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    AdrianAdrian Wandering Spirit Montreal MVP
    edited October 2010
    @raize I think front admin functionality should be there even if basic. From my view, I use my iPhone a lot to manage blogs. Right now the forum is not as easy to manage ;)
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    I use the Wordpress iPhone app sometimes too, but managing a blog is a lot different then managing a forum. You can make posts right from the front end, and there are no comments to approve on a forum.

    What can you do with the Wordpress app that you can't do via the front end of the forum?
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    AdrianAdrian Wandering Spirit Montreal MVP
    edited October 2010
    @raize we are speaking the same language it was just late here ;) I meant front end admin like if you are out and about not near your computer and spam makes it thru somehow or a post is flagged you want to be able to take immediate action. Or if you want to set a Annoucement on your board it would nice to be able to do it without a desktop. Right now, as you know Vanilla on iPhone requires lots of pinching and scrolling to do simple tasks. Really all we need is a mobilized version of the default theme.
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    RaizeRaize vancouver ✭✭
    @raize Really all we need is a mobilized version of the default theme.
    I'm glad we agree :)
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    shinseijoshinseijo New
    edited October 2010
    Let me get to work on that. This weekend I'll see if I can get the default.master to serve off a separate iphone.css based on the viewport size. If I can do that, then I can restyle the forum for all users (admins included). So in the end, the theme would support desktop and mobile browsers. Let me play around some and see what I can come up with. I'll keep you guys posted in this thread.
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