2010 04/01

WPTouch Plugin Makes Your Wordpress Site Mobile Friendly

By Erica Mueller
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Filed in: Blogging, Reviews, Software, Wordpress

With the rise in smart phones and touch screen devices comes the need to make our information available to the masses in a mobile manner. Some site owners may hire a developer to code a special branded mobile-friendly site, but these custom designs don’t come cheap, and often take a while to get up and running.

When I saw that ProBlogger.net now has a mobile friendly version of the site I was curious. However, I figured he’d gone the custom route and probably paid top dollar for something custom.

I was wrong.

This week, my friend Courtney (@theappleofmyeye) sent me the link to a Wordpress plugin and asked if I’d ever heard of it. Turns out, it’s the same plugin Darren uses for ProBlogger.net. And, it’s free!

I immediately downloaded and installed it on my blog and set to work updating all the settings and testing it from my Palm Pre. I’m ecstatic. Within five minutes I had a mobile-ready version of my site!! (If you have a smartphone or touch phone, check out EricaSays.com)

Get It!!

WPTouch is a free plugin that takes about 5 minutes to set up. It creates a fast loading, easy to navigate version of your site. The admin control is very easy to use, yet detailed. It allows you to change backgrounds, icons, and which pages show on your mobile site. It will also allow you to choose whether to show categories, tags, or both, add a search feature, and upload custom icons (You can build you own here).

Do any of your favorite sites have mobile friendly versions? If so, do you visit them from your phone?

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Nicholas Z. Cardot

I just recently installed this on my blog and I absolutely think it's terrific. It really makes life simple for mobile users.

EricaMueller

Yea, I couldn't be more pleased! Seeing my site look so nice and clean on a mobile device, after very little work was a thrill!

Thanks for stopping by!

Nicholas Z. Cardot

I'm visiting your site on a normal web browser right now but when I get a chance I'm going to have to look you up on my phone just to experience it. Great site by the way. I'm glad that I've connected with you and found your material. Keep up the terrific work over here.

Nicholas Z. Cardot

Angie

Never thought of making my site fit in a mobile phone screen. Interesting!

Gordie

Do you need to make your site narrower at all?

EricaMueller

Not at all! It does everything for you!

Courtney Velasquez

Isn't it cool!

Chris H

Great, isn't it? I've used it for a while and really like it.

My only problem is that if I have adsense or chitika ads in a post that are wider than an iPhone screen they get cut off... still trying to work that one out.

EricaMueller

hmmn. Haven't tried with the ads. The only ads I currently have in posts are banners at the bottom. My Palm Pre is doing great at resizing everything. Nothing cut off yet.

And yes, it is fantastic! I don't know how many people will actually visit my site via. mobile, but I figured some people might find the plugin useful so I wanted to share it. :-)

Chris H

Yeh, it seems to work really well with images. It's JavaScript ads it (or it might be my phone) seems to struggle with. I have to say, though, I'm very impressed with the plugin as a whole!

You've just reminded me that people visiting via mobile decides don't get counted in my stats! I'll have to find a way to fix that :)

Patty Reiser

Totally cool! I have toyed around with at .mobi domain name I have but that was it.
My concern for my main blog is that it is heavy on the photos, I'm a photographer, go figure. Do you think it will convert well to mobi? I have a Blackberry so I am off to go check out your mobi site.

EricaMueller

Patty,

I try to use images in most of my posts, and so far, they have come thru wonderfully in the mobile version. You'd probably just want to make sure you're web optimized (72ppi) and you should be fine!

Kristile L. Cain

I've been using WPTouch for quite a while on my own site and I love it!

Kris
http://littletechgirl.com

EricaMueller

I just visited yours!! I love the way the social icons on the side of your site also show on the mobile version. Very nice!

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