7 days of iPhone Day 4: Making mobile websites

Jun
15

This is a topic I've covered before in an article, and it's something which is necessary to revisit frequently due to shifts in methodology and standards. So far we've seen how to add "Touch icons" for when your site is added to the menu screen, and specific development techniques such as specifying telephone numbers which can be dialled straight from the site, what gestures are available, and how to use a specific stylesheet for the iPhone.

There are quick and easy ways to get your site ready for the iPhone however, with sites that provide automatic conversions such as Mobify. I think this particular example is quite clever actually as you can specify which elements from your site you want to keep on a mobile version and can change quite a few properties of the page in their designer view. They will also host the mobile version for you, and this is how they make their money by providing services such as analytics and custom branding. I've found you don't need to use this service though unless you need to - the interface includes source code for your design which you can easily copy and paste to use on your own server if you have one.

Whilst it is useful to see what people have done when creating mobile sites I don't plan on using the software myself as if you're used to programming and know how to code for the CMS you use then it's just as easy to code it yourself. Popular Open Source CMS's like Wordpress do include iPhone applications for adding content to your site, but there are also themes available which make your site look suitable for the iPhone.

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