Web geeks - help!

[Arks]

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here.

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here

Well I'm sure not on the fence. I disagree with about every point in the article. In fact, I think it's just written by someone who can't build a responsive theme so they're trying to get people to stick with the outdated methods the author CAN manage.
1. It Defeats User Expectation.
Take blogs as an example. There is a widely accepted "standard" design for blogs - header up top, content to one side, sidebar to the other.
Are they saying having it look on the phone just like it does on the desktop is that important? If so, then NO mobile-optimized site will ever be acceptable, and users will have to scroll horizontally to see those side bars. I think that makes for a much worse mobile user experience than having a responsive theme rearrange things so they're easier to access and read.

2. It Costs More and Takes Longer
$45 for a responsive WP theme is a huge bargain. Cost is definitely not a barrier.

3. Non-Responsive Designs Usually Work
Again, if you're going to make the mobile user work with a site optimized for a desktop screen, that's not a good thing. Yes, you can use a regular website on an iPhone, but all the pinching and spreading and horizontal scrolling is no fun.

4. There is Often No Load Time Benefit
So they're saying that since a responsive theme loads at the same rate as a regular site, you should give up all the benefits of a responsive theme and just use a regular site? Nobody switches to a responsive theme because they are looking for a load time benefit. People switch to responsive because it's responsive!

5. It's a Compromise
Sure, but still a whole lot better than maintaining separate desktop and mobile versions, especially if you're paying someone to maintain them for you.

 

[Madeleine]

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here.

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here

Well I'm sure not on the fence. I disagree with about every point in the article. In fact, I think it's just written by someone who can't build a responsive theme so they're trying to get people to stick with the outdated methods the author CAN manage.
1. It Defeats User Expectation.
Take blogs as an example. There is a widely accepted "standard" design for blogs - header up top, content to one side, sidebar to the other.
Are they saying having it look on the phone just like it does on the desktop is that important? If so, then NO mobile-optimized site will ever be acceptable, and users will have to scroll horizontally to see those side bars. I think that makes for a much worse mobile user experience than having a responsive theme rearrange things so they're easier to access and read.

2. It Costs More and Takes Longer
$45 for a responsive WP theme is a huge bargain. Cost is definitely not a barrier.

3. Non-Responsive Designs Usually Work
Again, if you're going to make the mobile user work with a site optimized for a desktop screen, that's not a good thing. Yes, you can use a regular website on an iPhone, but all the pinching and spreading and horizontal scrolling is no fun.

4. There is Often No Load Time Benefit
So they're saying that since a responsive theme loads at the same rate as a regular site, you should give up all the benefits of a responsive theme and just use a regular site? Nobody switches to a responsive theme because they are looking for a load time benefit. People switch to responsive because it's responsive!

5. It's a Compromise
Sure, but still a whole lot better than maintaining separate desktop and mobile versions, especially if you're paying someone to maintain them for you.
.

Agree with most everything except I am just a tad disappointed that the side panel DOES disappear on the tablet. No scrolling or pinching brings it back. So, there shouldn't be any really important info in the side panel that can't be found elsewhere.

 

[EmptyNest]

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here.

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here

Well I'm sure not on the fence. I disagree with about every point in the article. In fact, I think it's just written by someone who can't build a responsive theme so they're trying to get people to stick with the outdated methods the author CAN manage.
1. It Defeats User Expectation.
Take blogs as an example. There is a widely accepted "standard" design for blogs - header up top, content to one side, sidebar to the other.
Are they saying having it look on the phone just like it does on the desktop is that important? If so, then NO mobile-optimized site will ever be acceptable, and users will have to scroll horizontally to see those side bars. I think that makes for a much worse mobile user experience than having a responsive theme rearrange things so they're easier to access and read.

2. It Costs More and Takes Longer
$45 for a responsive WP theme is a huge bargain. Cost is definitely not a barrier.

3. Non-Responsive Designs Usually Work
Again, if you're going to make the mobile user work with a site optimized for a desktop screen, that's not a good thing. Yes, you can use a regular website on an iPhone, but all the pinching and spreading and horizontal scrolling is no fun.

4. There is Often No Load Time Benefit
So they're saying that since a responsive theme loads at the same rate as a regular site, you should give up all the benefits of a responsive theme and just use a regular site? Nobody switches to a responsive theme because they are looking for a load time benefit. People switch to responsive because it's responsive!

5. It's a Compromise
Sure, but still a whole lot better than maintaining separate desktop and mobile versions, especially if you're paying someone to maintain them for you.
.

Agree with most everything except I am just a tad disappointed that the side panel DOES disappear on the tablet. No scrolling or pinching brings it back. So, there shouldn't be any really important info in the side panel that can't be found elsewhere.
.

What? you mean your new site? I see everything of your site on my tablet and i phone?

 

[Madeleine]

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here.

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here

Well I'm sure not on the fence. I disagree with about every point in the article. In fact, I think it's just written by someone who can't build a responsive theme so they're trying to get people to stick with the outdated methods the author CAN manage.
1. It Defeats User Expectation.
Take blogs as an example. There is a widely accepted "standard" design for blogs - header up top, content to one side, sidebar to the other.
Are they saying having it look on the phone just like it does on the desktop is that important? If so, then NO mobile-optimized site will ever be acceptable, and users will have to scroll horizontally to see those side bars. I think that makes for a much worse mobile user experience than having a responsive theme rearrange things so they're easier to access and read.

2. It Costs More and Takes Longer
$45 for a responsive WP theme is a huge bargain. Cost is definitely not a barrier.

3. Non-Responsive Designs Usually Work
Again, if you're going to make the mobile user work with a site optimized for a desktop screen, that's not a good thing. Yes, you can use a regular website on an iPhone, but all the pinching and spreading and horizontal scrolling is no fun.

4. There is Often No Load Time Benefit
So they're saying that since a responsive theme loads at the same rate as a regular site, you should give up all the benefits of a responsive theme and just use a regular site? Nobody switches to a responsive theme because they are looking for a load time benefit. People switch to responsive because it's responsive!

5. It's a Compromise
Sure, but still a whole lot better than maintaining separate desktop and mobile versions, especially if you're paying someone to maintain them for you.
.

Agree with most everything except I am just a tad disappointed that the side panel DOES disappear on the tablet. No scrolling or pinching brings it back. So, there shouldn't be any really important info in the side panel that can't be found elsewhere.
.

What? you mean your new site? I see everything of your site on my tablet and i phone?
.

I don't see thE rigHt column on my tablet.

 

[Copperhead]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY

 

[OnTheShore]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

As I understand it, the problem with trying to run concurrent mobile and desktop/laptop website designs is in trying to identify the user agent accessing your server so that the appropriate set of pages can be returned. This is because there are so many different mobile browser agents, constantly changing, new ones coming along all the time.
To answer your specific question, it is often hard if not impossible to distinguish between tablets and phones. For example the iPad and iPhone both use the same operating system and browser application, so your server can't tell them apart.
But the context within which the article against responsive designs was presented was that of "mobile first." In other words, create a dedicated mobile website -- which is the one returned by default -- and then offer the full desktop/laptop site as the option (rather than the other way around). It seems to me that this might actually be easier in that the list of desktop/laptop browser agents is perhaps smaller and more stable than the list of mobile browser agents, so easier to have your server check for them and offer up the desktop version if appropriate, otherwise offering the mobile version by default.
The other issue with the responsive design approach that I don't recall being addressed in the article, is that the priorities of a mobile user vs. a desktop/laptop user might be different -- in otherwords, the information that they are trying to find. Even this may already be "old school," but think of the desktop/laptop user sitting at home planning their trip ahead of time, vs. the mobile user who is already on the road and just entered your state/region/town who is trying to find a place to stay, or who already had a reservation with you but is trying to get directions, or make contact.

 

[EmptyNest]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

Yes it shows up as a mobile site on a tablet, but you can just click on full website to see everything.

 

[Arks]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.

 

[EmptyNest]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.
.

Yes Arkie you are correct. A responsive theme if done properly should not require any enlarging of the screen.

 

[EmptyNest]

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here.

As we are on the topic. I just read this article. It has me on the fence now....see it here

Well I'm sure not on the fence. I disagree with about every point in the article. In fact, I think it's just written by someone who can't build a responsive theme so they're trying to get people to stick with the outdated methods the author CAN manage.
1. It Defeats User Expectation.
Take blogs as an example. There is a widely accepted "standard" design for blogs - header up top, content to one side, sidebar to the other.
Are they saying having it look on the phone just like it does on the desktop is that important? If so, then NO mobile-optimized site will ever be acceptable, and users will have to scroll horizontally to see those side bars. I think that makes for a much worse mobile user experience than having a responsive theme rearrange things so they're easier to access and read.

2. It Costs More and Takes Longer
$45 for a responsive WP theme is a huge bargain. Cost is definitely not a barrier.

3. Non-Responsive Designs Usually Work
Again, if you're going to make the mobile user work with a site optimized for a desktop screen, that's not a good thing. Yes, you can use a regular website on an iPhone, but all the pinching and spreading and horizontal scrolling is no fun.

4. There is Often No Load Time Benefit
So they're saying that since a responsive theme loads at the same rate as a regular site, you should give up all the benefits of a responsive theme and just use a regular site? Nobody switches to a responsive theme because they are looking for a load time benefit. People switch to responsive because it's responsive!

5. It's a Compromise
Sure, but still a whole lot better than maintaining separate desktop and mobile versions, especially if you're paying someone to maintain them for you.
.

Agree with most everything except I am just a tad disappointed that the side panel DOES disappear on the tablet. No scrolling or pinching brings it back. So, there shouldn't be any really important info in the side panel that can't be found elsewhere.
.

What? you mean your new site? I see everything of your site on my tablet and i phone?
.

I don't see thE rigHt column on my tablet.
.

What do you have? I can see our sidebars on my iphone in vertical position. You should be seeing your entire site.

 

[Arks]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

As I understand it, the problem with trying to run concurrent mobile and desktop/laptop website designs is in trying to identify the user agent accessing your server so that the appropriate set of pages can be returned. This is because there are so many different mobile browser agents, constantly changing, new ones coming along all the time.
To answer your specific question, it is often hard if not impossible to distinguish between tablets and phones. For example the iPad and iPhone both use the same operating system and browser application, so your server can't tell them apart.
But the context within which the article against responsive designs was presented was that of "mobile first." In other words, create a dedicated mobile website -- which is the one returned by default -- and then offer the full desktop/laptop site as the option (rather than the other way around). It seems to me that this might actually be easier in that the list of desktop/laptop browser agents is perhaps smaller and more stable than the list of mobile browser agents, so easier to have your server check for them and offer up the desktop version if appropriate, otherwise offering the mobile version by default.
The other issue with the responsive design approach that I don't recall being addressed in the article, is that the priorities of a mobile user vs. a desktop/laptop user might be different -- in otherwords, the information that they are trying to find. Even this may already be "old school," but think of the desktop/laptop user sitting at home planning their trip ahead of time, vs. the mobile user who is already on the road and just entered your state/region/town who is trying to find a place to stay, or who already had a reservation with you but is trying to get directions, or make contact.
.

...create a dedicated mobile website -- which is the one returned by default -- and then offer the full desktop/laptop site as the option...

Well sure, if you build a dedicated mobile site it will always be better than a responsive one-fits-all responsive site. I can't imagine anybody questioning that.
If you then build a dedicated desktop/laptop site you'll have much more control than with the responsive themes that like to lock you into the multiple vertical columns they can then rearrange for vertical scrolling.
The whole point of responsive is that you're only building one site that works on all platforms, and by using a $45 WP theme you're doing it cheaply. If you have the time and knowledge, or the money to pay someone, to build and maintain two versions, that's definitely the way to go.

 

[Copperhead]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.

Ok, so maybe I had the wrong definition of responsive. I thought by responsive it automatically adjusts to the screen? Full site, full view which on my phone, my site looks like a mini version! But then CL, just informed me privately that my slider does not cover her entire monitor - all the ones we have viewed it on it does, so now it is back to the code to see what is wrong.
Newbies to this forum - this is why this site ROCKS! So much info, so much help understanding all aspects of this business.

 

[Arks]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.

Ok, so maybe I had the wrong definition of responsive. I thought by responsive it automatically adjusts to the screen? Full site, full view which on my phone, my site looks like a mini version! But then CL, just informed me privately that my slider does not cover her entire monitor - all the ones we have viewed it on it does, so now it is back to the code to see what is wrong.
Newbies to this forum - this is why this site ROCKS! So much info, so much help understanding all aspects of this business.
.

Ok, so maybe I had the wrong definition of responsive. I thought by responsive it automatically adjusts to the screen? Full site, full view which on my phone, my site looks like a mini version!

If your full site just looks like a mini version on the phone, you don't have a responsive theme. Showing the whole page in a mini version is the native way my iPhone's web browser shows all websites, then you have to pinch and spread and drag around to read things. That's NOT responsive.
The responsive theme I use automatically senses you're on a phone and reformats the page layout, moves things around as needed so it doesn't have to shrink text.
Like if the desktop version of your site has 3 columns displayed side-by-side, the responsive theme will stack the columns on the phone, so the 2nd column displays below the first, and the 3rd below that. The full width slider is resized to fit the full width of the phone screen, but smaller images, like a "free Wi-Fi" image, are not shrunk in the same way. They are kept large but displayed above or below text, rather than beside it like on the desktop.
All text is large and readable. No pinch and spread needed and as I mentioned, my own responsive theme doesn't even respond to pinch and spread.

 

[Madeleine]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.

Ok, so maybe I had the wrong definition of responsive. I thought by responsive it automatically adjusts to the screen? Full site, full view which on my phone, my site looks like a mini version! But then CL, just informed me privately that my slider does not cover her entire monitor - all the ones we have viewed it on it does, so now it is back to the code to see what is wrong.
Newbies to this forum - this is why this site ROCKS! So much info, so much help understanding all aspects of this business.
.

It looks ok on my tablet. You do have a random piece of code on the homepage, tho. <br> is right above the gray box on the left with all your booking/rez info.
I have to scroll up and down but not left & right.
But it does require expanding it to read. But so does mine.

 

[EmptyNest]

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??.

Great job, Maddie! I am a picture person, so do wish that there were more room photos. Or, am I missing something??

One photo per room. I wish the rooms were bigger so I could take multi-angle shots, but they are just too dang small. In almost every photo I am jammed up in the corner trying to get all of the room. So, really, there is nothing over on the other side behind where I am standing.
Absolutely no bathroom photos, no one would stay here. You know the closet in 'my' bathroom at your place? That's the size of my bathrooms. The whole bathroom. It's not awful when you're here, but it would be off-putting in a photo.
None of the rooms photo well and my best bet for photos would be to remove the room doors and take photos standing in the hallway. Why remove them? They are hung backwards. They open up into the room instead of against the wall!
.

I totally get that and understand about the baths. We had a teensy bathroom recently at a place where we stayed on the coast. (No photo of the bathroom on the website.) But, because of the tidal marsh view and quiet of the place, I would totally stay there again even if that was the only room available. My bigger beef was that there was only one chair in the room! ;-)
I think you can still "invite" people into the room with photos that convey what the room is about, even if it doesn't show the entire room. Like this VA B&B room photos.
.

I have a large monitor, I wonder how their home page looks on a small one?
.

CL, while we are on the subject of websites, was wondering if you could give shed some light on mobile sites.... What is the most important things to cover on them? I know they need to be more direct - but how much is too much/not enough? Could you provide a couple of links of ones you think have done it right?
Thanks bunches.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.
.

Well...If it is a reponsive theme you are using...you have your entire website visible. Don't have to cut out a thing. Here's one I just finished that is a new Responsive theme. Actually the same theme as Madeleine's but the beta responsive one.
I don't know if these are "done right"...but are ones I just did using go mobi from my hosting company
Here is one mobile site If someone pulls up their Normal site, it is automatically sent to this one.This one just uses a google calendar for availability. Can't convince her otherwise :-(
This one is another go mobi one. They have the old Twenty eleven WP theme...still can be seen on mobile phones, but they insisted on a mobile site as well. Fine.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling that I feel people will give up and move on. The 2 mobi sites are what I think of doing - but I absolutely will be using our ResKey for booking! And contemplating using it in place of a rooms page - that is one thing I am wondering about. I want to give enough info, but keep it to the must haves.
Question... If I do create a mobi type site where it automatically transfers, does it do this only for phones or does it also change for other devices such as tablets? TY
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.
.

Our site is responsive and you can view it on the phone, it just takes a lot of enlarging & scrolling...

My site uses a responsive theme that doesn't need, or allow enlarging or horizontal scrolling. It turns everything into one long vertical scroll and everything is quite readable without needing to enlarge. At least, it's that way on my iPhone and iPad.

Ok, so maybe I had the wrong definition of responsive. I thought by responsive it automatically adjusts to the screen? Full site, full view which on my phone, my site looks like a mini version! But then CL, just informed me privately that my slider does not cover her entire monitor - all the ones we have viewed it on it does, so now it is back to the code to see what is wrong.
Newbies to this forum - this is why this site ROCKS! So much info, so much help understanding all aspects of this business.
.

CH You just need to resize your image to fit into the header slider I believe. the demo site shows the slider image to be 1500 x 600. Yours is not so you have black space showing up. And your navigation is not showing on some pages which means something is off. Your theme IS Responsive, but somehow you have overwritten or not set it up correctly so it is not showing the way it should

 

[Madeleine]

Anyone using a WP redirect plug-in they like? Found out that once I delete the old page the redirects I did thru the cPanel stop working.
Never mind. I tried a couple until I found one that works.