[RFC] Include mobile style

[MichaelC]

-1
The focus should be on getting users a better mobile browser experience.
Admins/Moderators would still be able to access the ACP/MCP from a non optimized mobile style.

Once we get a good working mobile style for our users we should focus on getting better mobile moderation tools. I think admin tools can be ignored for mobile styles all together.

-1. As an administrator and/or Moderator it is sometimes imperative to take care of something immediately. What you are suggesting is that one would have to wait until one is at an actual computer which could sometimes be hours or even days before one can effectively take care of an immediately pressing issue. Either the mobile style should be complete or complete enough to provide basic moderator and administrator actions such as warnings, locking, moving, etc. Leaving these things out would make it half as useful, as Arty already mentioned.

+1, however the ACP currently wouldn't support multiple styles without re-structuring it. I think moderation tools would be enough for now?

[callumacrae]

It would obviously have a "Disable mobile style" thingy, too.

[Danielx64]

Modern browsers by definition support JavaScript.

Well my phone support javascript but I have it turned off since it slow everything down at times and in some case, lock my phone up.

[ecwpa]

I've been trying to make my current theme mobile compatible using bootstrap and I would say it's almost impossible to make a proper mobile theme without javascript. I mean, you can, but what about embed videos? I managed to handle that issue using a library called jquery.fitvids.js but there's no other way to do that without JS unless the bbcode system is completely redone first.

[Derky]

I'm prepared to develop this. I already have a half-developed style which would need updating for jQuery Mobile 1.1, colouring to make it look like prosilver, and completing. You can see it here (there are a few obvious bugs and missing features): http://phpbb-mobile.com/forums/index.php?style=8

I would rather see some @media-tag magic to our current prosilver style, so *all* styles will automatically become mobile compatible:
http://www.bariswanschers.com/blog/usin ... y-new-blog
http://webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/css3-media-queries
http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/20 ... atching%29

I know you can make the bandwidth lighter with removing stuff in a seperate style, but I think developing this in the current style in stead benefits us way more, because:

• Not another style to maintain when developing (prosilver/subsilver2/mobile..)
• Inherited and based on styles will automatically benefit
• No seperate MODX or extension instructions/files needed for another style

[callumacrae]

Just did some tests to show how important a dedicated style is:


I loaded two pages, one mobile and one not, at exactly the same time, and recorded the time it took for the onload event to be fired. I wrote them down immediately (so 46.14 corresponds to 4.72). They're on my laptop (Mobile Safari doesn't tell me how long it took that I know of), but it is over a mobile connection.

The mobile page uses jQuery Mobile: http://phpbb-mobile.com/forums/index.php?style=8
The non-mobile page uses Prosilver, and is using phpBB 3.0 - phpBB 3.1 will take longer as it uses jQuery and has more stylesheets: http://phpbb-mobile.com/forums/index.php

Prosilver SE:
46.14, 06.87, 17.40, 05.24, 36.20, 05.39, 06.96, 04.57, 05.17, 15.77 (average 14.97)

jQuery Mobile:
04.72, 04.96, 05.75, 03.42, 10.45, 03.70, 03.45, 01.94, 03.24, 08.65 (average 5.028)

Prosilver SE: 95.18KB
jQuery Mobile: 53.30KB

Time taken is slightly more accurate than size, as it takes into account how many documents there were, too: most of the delay is latency on various documents. jQuery Mobile was designed to have less of them.


This cannot be considered scientific or fair, but Area51 (running 3.1) took an average of 19.03 seconds to load over 10 requests. The latency on the original document was actually less, so it would probably be slightly more.



Adding more to prosilver (such as adding additional mobile CSS to it) will slow it down further.

[naderman]

I think the problem with a separate mobile style is more that it becomes difficult to decide which device is presented with which style? What do you do about tablets? Having a single style with @media queries allows more fine grained control. At the same time you are right that for simpler mobile devices that is a lot of overhead.

[callumacrae]

I'd say it'd be better to give tablets the desktop site.

In addition to the usual "Go to mobile site" and "Go to desktop site" links in the footer, it might be worth having a script check what the width of the screen is an offering to redirect the user if the screen is small.

As long as the useragent list is actively maintained, I can't see there being any problems.

EDIT: Actually, bad idea. My iPhone is 640x960, and there are still a few people still using 900x600 monitors.

[callumacrae]

If we do decide to go ahead with jQuery Mobile, how do the colours on this look? http://jquerymobile.com/themeroller/?ve ... 0120619-54

Ignore the content, it's just the colours and font and stuff.

[Meis2M]

i think mobile style is Necessary for phpBB. many people use mobiles and tablets to discover in internet.
is it possible use a system automatic switch to mobile style if user come with a phone?