Mobile Site Beta

Micah
Micah
edited May 2011 in General Archive
I've been working on making the site more friendly to mobile devices. The mobile site is in a half-done, half-functional state, but I was wondering if anyone is interested in taking it for a spin. I've been using it on my iPhone, and I quite like it.

Honestly, at this point I'm not really looking for feedback. I know it's got a long way to go and I'm still working on it. But, it's actually kind of useful now, and I am curious to know if people think it's going in the right direction.

If you're interested, just drop a note here. I'll take a handful, not necessarily chosen fairly or randomly, and enable the mobile site for them.

*Note*: I'm going to make this beta invitation for *Ascendant only*. This will be a little extra perk for our Ascendant members. The final mobile version will be for everyone, but Ascendants get a sneak peek.

*Note 2*: The site will look normal until you log in on your mobile device. Then it will switch to the mobile site.

*Note 3*: Since it's not obvious, once you choose a campaign, click the little arrow in the top right to jump to tabs in your campaign.
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Comments

  • AdamAntium
    AdamAntium
    Posts: 2 edited May 2011
    I'd love to help. I've been using the regular site from my iPhone a lot and...ease of use it isn't. :) I'd be happy to help test the mobile site.

    In fact, I'm posting this from my iPhone...
    Post edited by AdamAntium on
  • Shammond42
    Shammond42
    Posts: 65
    I too would be happy to test the mobile site on my iPad.

    Thanks,
    Steve
  • RobJustice
    RobJustice
    Posts: 178
    I'm in.

    I have a Droid X, rooted, running 2.3.3
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Ok, I added AdamAntium, shammond42, and RobJustice. Give it a spin.

    Note: If you're on a non-standard browser like Dolphin on Android it may not work yet. I have to autodetect the mobile browser and it's not working yet for some 3rd party browsers.
  • RobJustice
    RobJustice
    Posts: 178 edited May 2011
    While I don't use a non-standard browser... Would you like me to try the site with some various android based browsers eventually?

    Alternative Browsers I have installed:
    Dolphin
    Dolphin Mini
    Opera
    Opera Mini
    Skyfire
    Post edited by RobJustice on
  • GandalfThePlaid
    GandalfThePlaid
    Posts: 2
    I'd be happy to test as well. I can throw my Droid Eris at it as well as a tablet (ASUS Transformer) if ya like. (Stock browsers.)
  • Thig
    Thig
    Posts: 6
    signed in on my samsung intrepid running winmobile 6.5, would love to try it out!
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Ok, added GandalfThePlaid and Thig

    I'm not really looking for reports on which browsers work. Realistically, I'm not going to make any special fixes/changes to support different browsers. I'm using some cross-browser compatibility tools that should allow it to work well in Safari and the Android browser. If it doesn't work in browser X then oh well...

    Mainly I just need to find a list of all the possible mobile browsers and add them to the list of browsers that default to the mobile site. If you hate the mobile site, you can always click on 'Full Site' to go back to the original one.

    So...any initial thoughts?
  • Quietlyscheming
    Quietlyscheming
    Posts: 2
    I'd love to take a sneak peak and help wherever I can. I use my iPhone pretty regularly, especially while running my games.
  • RobJustice
    RobJustice
    Posts: 178 edited May 2011
    I think it's totally on the right track. There is, obviously, work to be done but whats there is already an improvement from browsing the standard site on my phone.
    Post edited by RobJustice on
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Added Quietlyscheming

    @RobJustice - Ok, cool. That's what I'm looking to hear. I agree that it's already more useful for quick lookup of info. I need to add campaign search plus some more basic editing, but it will never be as full featured as the main site. I intend it to be useful at the table for basic, immediate tasks. If you're writing and designing a whole layout and such, that's something to do at a regular computer.
  • RobJustice
    RobJustice
    Posts: 178
    Yeah, I'd only ever imagine using it for basic browsing. I'll very likely just setup a wiki page for Mobile Notes that I can go in an edit from my phone and later transcribe into actual pages instead of dealing with actual editing.

    I actually like the mobile browsing a lot. Seems faster. Little more intuitive.

    Also, the site works fine with Dolphin (HD\Mini) and Opera (Normal\Mini) but doesn't kick to the mobile version for Skyfire. There are a few graphical oddities with Opera but nothing that effect usability.
  • DarthKrzysztof
    DarthKrzysztof
    Posts: 132
    I'm game. If I'm not using all that 3G bandwidth, why am I paying for it? :P
  • Highmoon
    Highmoon
    Posts: 1
    I'd like in. I mostly go online on my iPod Touch and this is one of the reasons my pbp campaign has been slow (I can't really reply via my iPod).
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Added Darthkrzysztof and Highmoon
  • Farlingdale
    Farlingdale
    Posts: 6
    Hi, I wouldn't mind trying this out on my iPhone.
  • gnunn
    gnunn
    Posts: 423
    I'm definitely interested, though when DreadGazebo recently made me a forum mod, my status changed from Ascendent to complimentary... I still seem to have ascendant functionality, but I'm also getting notifications prompting me to become ascendant... will the mobile site still work?
  • Idless
    Idless
    Posts: 58
    I would like to try

    I got a HTC with Sense 2.6.27

    I think ;)

    ...Troels
  • RobJustice
    RobJustice
    Posts: 178
    Having used it a bit more, I've got to say I really dig the setup. It's quick, easy to navigate, and great for reading off my phone.

    I have had some trouble jumping between pages though. It takes a couple seconds for the "Loading" prompt to come up, leaving me to wonder if I clicked or not.

    Also, Editing just doesn't work. The box is way to small and it doesn't scroll. I know its not meant to be used to edit, but since the option is there I figured I'd play around with it.

    Again, this is all on a Droid X (2.3.3). Others may have a different experience.
  • AdamAntium
    AdamAntium
    Posts: 2
    I love the setup. It's convenient, intuitive, easy to navigate. I started using the forum and noticed two issues:

    One, the button for newer posts is actually labeled "Older." That threw me for a loop.

    Two, using the iPhone touch screen, I couldn't scroll down the collapsed list without accidentally expanding a post.

    I'll add comments as I use it more often, but it's really many steps above browsing the full site. Thank you for your work!
  • DungeonMasterLoki
    DungeonMasterLoki
    Posts: 332
    I'd love to give it a spin. I already use a Mac and a PC at the table (usually with severl OP links open in tabs on each. Having it available on my iPone 4 would be a distinct boon.

    Planejammer Panopticon: Central Hub for the Planejammer Campaign Series

    Current Active Games: Planejammer: Catch My Drift! (Starfinder)  | Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 | Planejammer: Beyond The Sky (Pathfinder 1e)

  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    I just pushed a big update. There are many more editing controls, plus I added search.

    I'm trying to figure out a way to inject a little color, especially for campaigns that have a banner. But overall, it's coming along quite nicely. I really hope it will be ready for everyone in the next week or so.

    Also, added everyone else to the beta. Give it a spin. Anyone else looking to give it a try?
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    There are still some things I want to do with the mobile site, but my question at this point is: Assuming we made no more changes and just launched it as is, would you find it more useful than the existing non-mobile site? In other words, in it's half-done state right now is it still easier to navigate than using the main non-mobile site?

    I ask because that seems like a good way to determine if we're on the right track. For me personally, I really like the mobile version as-is and have no desire to use the non-mobile version when on my phone. I just want to know what others think.
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894 edited June 2011
    Anyone have any thoughts? I'd like to open the mobile site to everyone, but if there are any showstopper bugs or really bad usability issues then please let me know.
    Post edited by Micah on
  • Shammond42
    Shammond42
    Posts: 65
    I like it for browsing the wiki on my iPhone. I don't have a real need for that, however.

    It isn't great on my iPad. It doesn't really take advantage of the extra real estate -- I don't suspect you were aiming for that. At the moment, I would use the normal site on my iPad over this one. It works pretty well.

    Steve
  • GandalfThePlaid
    GandalfThePlaid
    Posts: 2
    No way i'd hit it with a phone as a GM, but as a player I could see taking the time and effort if I wanted to look something up. On a tablet however I do like it as a GM. The lack of the right hand nav so I'm not zooming to get it off the screen is nice. With current release I would never edit with it as the edit windows are just too small to work with for me. So I just had my tablet identify itself as a desktop anytime I wanted out of the mobile version to go update something. Then I'd switch the user agent string back to get on the mobiile version again.
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Yeah, editing kind of sucks, but I don't think it will ever be nice on a tablet. Editing/authoring a wiki page on a tablet is pretty awful. Then again, any sort of long-form text input is similarly awful.

    I think we'll focus our efforts on making the mobile app a nice utility for quick lookup and use at the table, while the main website is where you'll do the majority of your editing.
  • FrankSirmarco
    FrankSirmarco
    Posts: 250
    I'd love to give it a try on my iPhone. I've accessed the html site on my phone in the past, and it is a bit unruly, so trying out a mobile app would be nice.
  • OPAdmin
    OPAdmin
    Posts: 53
    Added FrankSirmarco. Give it a shot and tell me what you think.
  • FrankSirmarco
    FrankSirmarco
    Posts: 250
    Thanks, Micah. I'll give it a good going over this week and let you know what I think.
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