WordPress Mobile Plugins Review
A lot of users are browsing the web on their mobile phones, probably using an iPhone or the vastly popular Opera Mini. Although most mobiles are able to load normal websites, the web pages take a while to load completely. Also most people don’t have an unlimited data plan and are charged for internet access based on their data usage. With that in mind I’ve decided that its essential to set up a mobile interface for my blog. Over the last few days I’ve been testing several wordpress mobile plugins.
I’ve read about displaying the site as on Google Reader mobile or setting up setting up another domain but I really don’t want to divert traffic elsewhere. I’m just looking for a plugin that re-formats the page to be displayed on a mobile. Also an Important feature I’ve been looking for was to have an option to switch back to the Desktop version, because I think one size does not fit all and some users may prefer to use the desktop version based on the internet connection they have when browsing.
I’ve tried a few popular plugins and I’m just posting my opinion about them here which can be useful to you if and when you consider mobilizing your wordpress blog.
One of the very popular plugins I’ve tried was the WPtouch iPhone plugin by Dale Mugford & Duane Storey (BraveNewCode). I like the simple theme and although its meant for iPhone, iPod and android touch devices it also works on Opera Mini. Although it does not detect the default Nokia browser and the desktop site loads as normal. A cool feature is that It allows you to choose if you want to display an excerpt of the post on the homepage.
Now this is a really nice plugin if your focus is on the iPhone audience, but I want people on any mobiles to have a consistent experience irrespective of the browser they use. Also this plugin does not have to option to switch to the desktop site, so I had to skip this plugin.
Next I’ve tried the WordPress PDA & iPhone plugin by Imthiaz Rafiq. This plugin formats the page to a nice and simple theme. By default it displays post excerpt on the homepage. It also displays Tags, Categories, Pages and Archives on the home page.
Another plugin that was recently mentioned by fellow blogger Tycoon Blogger is Wapple Architect by Rich Gubby. This is a really nice alternative. To set up this plugin you need to register to get a Dev key to enable the plugin. One thing that I really like about this plugin is that it displays the option to change to mobile or standard view at the bottom of the page and once you select an option it remembers it. Awesome! This plugin offers you a selection of themes and you can insert a picture for the header or the footer to improve the design.
Although on testing some pages with Opera Mini I got the error xml parsing failed, not sure why.
I’ve tried to install the WordPress Mobile Edition by Crowd Favourite, and although I’ve followed the steps for installation, I kept getting an error saying WP Mobile is incorrectly installed. Although I must say that the Carrington Theme looks really cool.
Another very popular plugin is MobilePress by Aduity.
I really like the simplicity of this theme. This plugin also allows the use of other themes, and I managed to install the Carrington Mobile Theme with this plugin. Although the option to switch to standard version is removed if another theme is selected. Also I wasn’t able to edit the about page on the theme.
Also I noticed that even after selecting standard version I was being redirected to the mobile site, I know, it can be really annoying.
I’m not really satisfied with any of the options available, however for now I’ve decided to keep the MobilePress plugin, for its simplicity. If you do know of any other plugin that works better please do let me know and I’ll try it.
Tags: Blog, iPhone, opera mini, Plugin, Theme, Wordpress
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 11:25 pm and is filed under Wordpress, mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 10th, 2010 at 10:57 am
I was searching for mobile plugins. My search ends here. Thanks for the review.
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February 10th, 2010 at 11:12 am
I’m glad this review was useful to you.
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February 11th, 2010 at 8:34 am
Great write up. I think you did a great job covering the best of what is out there right now. I don’t there is a clear winner in this plugin category yet as many of these have some short comings. I suspect that very soon there will a better option for us to display wordpress blogs on our phones
Tycoon Blogger´s last blog ..Dramatically improve your blog in one night
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February 11th, 2010 at 11:22 am
Thanks. I really hope that there would soon be a perfect mobile wordpress plugin that appears nice on mobiles, works with the existing plugins like commentluv, tweetmeme and blogengage and is flexible enough to allow you to switch to the desktop site when required.
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February 11th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
I think its the time I should consider to install a mobile plugin for my blog. Thnx buddy you wrote this post at the right time for me. It will definitely help me to choose a mobile plugin for my blog
Loveish´s last blog ..60 Greatest Grunge Style Fonts
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selurus Reply:
February 11th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
You’re welcome buddy.
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February 12th, 2010 at 11:10 am
A nice comparison between different plugins for mobile. The ultimate decision lies with the webmaster as some like the one and others don’t.
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selurus Reply:
February 12th, 2010 at 6:52 am
I agree, the webmaster needs to consider whats best for his audience. You can’t please everybody.
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February 12th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
I hate browsing internet via mobile phone. Too small and hard to type.
Moreover it’s not user friendly..
Fazreen´s last blog ..To Learn or not – That is the Question
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selurus Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 1:51 am
Its a useful and cheaper alternative though.
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February 13th, 2010 at 7:21 am
Great work bro! because of the increasing mobile users….. your post will help us to give our service to them! thanks bro
Pubudu Kodikara´s last blog ..How To Turn Off Windows Indexing Service
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selurus Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Thank you.
Mobile internet users are increasing we shouldn’t ignore this audience.
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February 16th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Mobilepress is a good plug-in but unfortunately it throws up a lot of errors under Google Webmasters Tool.
I’m using and loving WordPress Mobile Pack @ the moment
Udegbunam Chukwudi´s last blog ..StrictlyOnlineBiz Goes Mobile With WordPress Mobile Pack
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selurus Reply:
February 16th, 2010 at 10:42 am
I’ve now switched to Wapple Architect. It pretty fine as well.
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February 19th, 2010 at 2:18 am
Do people use their mobile-phones to get to blogs that much?
Ok.. what if some certain site doesn’t have any of plugins listed above? My site then won’t load or it would be impossible for mobile-users to see it?
iWoodpecker´s last blog ..Dynamic Sidebar Plugin: Certain Widgets for Certain Web Traffic and Pages
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selurus Reply:
February 19th, 2010 at 2:46 am
ha ha. Not really. Most modern mobiles would be able to load your website, including a basic phone using Opera Mini.
A Mobile Plugin is basically just to enhance the experience of mobile users who generally have more expensive data plan so the theme does not need to have fancy effects. Plus some things that look awesome on PC wouldn’t work on the small screens and limited capabilities of a mobile.
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February 21st, 2010 at 12:26 am
Hi Selurus,
I don’t get into this area much, but I’m glad you reminded me not to neglect it. I have a very cheap old cell phone that I rarely use, but I need to remember that most people are getting into using their phones just as much as their PC or Macs.
Thanks!
@Ileane
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selurus Reply:
February 21st, 2010 at 9:02 pm
Thank you. I hope you find a suitable plugin.
selurus´s last blog ..Nashik Trip
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May 30th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Thanks buddy for sharing these plugins.
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