Going Mobile? Some How-tos - GoFuckYourself.com

harvey · 06-30-2009, 02:17 PM

Going Mobile? Some How-tos

Unless you live under a rock in another planet with no intelligent life, you must be aware by now that Mobile Content is the "next big thing". There's a lot to say about this conception, personally I find it very difficult to understand. While computer and TV screens are going bigger and bigger and then even bigger, mobile content is going a million steps back. Then again, many people, especially younger people mesmerized by "coolness" likes this way of content delivery, and there's money to be made off. So... time for some Mobile issues.

First of all, if your site is well done, you won't need many changes. When I say well done, I mean proper XHTML with both HTML and CSS validating. If you went with a cheap designer that provided some half made product... well, now you have to pay again for a whole new content delivery tour. If your designer used tables... well, whole new tour. If your designer can't make proper CSS (even if validating), well... whole new tour. Take it as a learning, pay twice for the 'cheapo' (hopefully cheap) and continue reading.

Design for Mobile is a whole new different thing. it's easy and simple but it has to be made TO THE "A". Content organization and logical flow is key, and so is CSS. As you may imagine, there are not much options with mobile design since its screen doesn't allow it. However, you can be as complex as you want. And.... fail. Mobile design is about simplicity, in essence it's like 94/95's design, only that without the tables.

Once you have a logical structure (you can draw it on paper or make a graph flow for visual help), you can apply the CSS. Personally, I'd use 3 or 4 style sheets and offer them as options. Since my html has to be PERFECT and I'll use DIVs, I can change everything in a snap via CSS, hence your mobile customers will be able to choose whatever they like.

An idea for organization would be something like this:

the size of this screen is the one you should aim for since it's the most common: 240x320. However, you can serve different style sheets and detect screen sizes or be smart and use liquid layouts. The choice is yours.

As you may see, this very basic design uses logical semantyc XHTML. It's simple and to the point, yet it uses some content display that allows you to maximize content delivery using as little space as possible

Another thing to note: Don't rely on fonts! NEVER! Most mobile devices won't include any of the fonts you usually will rely on, like Times, Verdana and such. The user has to install them.

For devices using Windows Mobile, it's a great idea to offer the fonts you want to display in your site so the user can download them.

Obviously, you can use something as Facelift, Flir, AnyFont, whatever, but it's always a nice idea to deliver the regular fonts for your site as well.

So now we need to display content.

In adult business, you'll want to display photos and videos rather than text. How to do it AND DO IT WELL is a very tricky question. Personally, I'd use any kind of tool based on JQuery or Prototype to build AJAX apps, but you can do it with php or simply with HTML. The better you do that, the better you'll do with your mobile site. As a tip, think about this: most people doesn't have an Iphone, yet everybody loves it. So... why not serve your site emulating Iphone? It's relatively easy for someone that knows what is he/she doing, and your members will love the slick modern design

Finally, something so basic that it's borderline ridiculous yet many people doesn't do: add a bookmark link.

Of course there's a lot more to mobile content delivery, but for now, I hope this helps to any one willing to enter this competitive market

who · 06-30-2009, 03:09 PM

Er... thanks... ?

d-null · 06-30-2009, 03:16 PM

well written, harvey, good job on it and thanks for the food for thoughts

GrouchyAdmin · 06-30-2009, 03:17 PM

I remember 'going mobile' with WML nearly 10 years ago.

Woop de fucking doo.

The fonts are good, also mention that things like JS, flash, etc are not to be relied upon.. so ytmnd may not work that well.

harvey · 06-30-2009, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by who

Er... thanks... ?

if you want.....

anyway, another thing I forgot:

when you make the move to mobile you'll need to transcode all your videos. Doing it the long hard way you may spend months, however, you can use ffmpeg to transcode all your videos to a whole new size, format, name or anything you may want.

Something as simple as the line below:

Code:

$ ffmpeg -i video.mpg -ar 22050 video.mp4 -t 90

will convert video.mpg to a 22050 bit rate mp4 in 90 seconds clips, all done in your server. So, painless and efortlessly you'll have all your videos converted in matter of hours, just save them to your mobile folder/site and you're set

harvey · 06-30-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrouchyAdmin

things like JS, flash, etc are not to be relied upon.. so ytmnd may not work that well.

Good point. That's when it comes mobile detection, most modern phones work well, but some older/weider phones have problem, so in those situations it's better to serve a no javascript version (unless you put everything inside a Java applet, that seems to work fine)

GrouchyAdmin · 06-30-2009, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harvey

Code:

$ ffmpeg -i video.mpg -ar 22050 video.mp4 -t 90

will convert video.mpg to a 22050 bit rate mp4 in 90 seconds clips, all done in your server. So, painless and efortlessly you'll have all your videos converted in matter of hours, just save them to your mobile folder/site and you're set

Don't forget to set your codec for the video. Implying mpeg4 is not always that great, since there are several different codecs.

Code:

ffmpeg -i video.mpg  -vcodec mpeg4 -ar 22050 video.mp4 -t 90

FlexxAeon · 06-30-2009, 03:30 PM

Good info! I've been promoting mobile for a few years now and I've found that while it used to be that you had to really "dumb down" your site for it to fit mobile devices, mobile devices are making leaps & bounds to becoming smarter. Thanks to Apple for leading the pack... your iPhone/iPod is more like a "netbook" than a phone. So your best bet is to meet them somewhere in the middle with some clean, simple code and a little thought in your layout.

Check this thread I posted a while back https://gfy.com/fucking-around-and-business-discussion/870088-whatcha-gallery-morphs-iphone.html

davecummings · 06-30-2009, 07:00 PM

Harvey is THE mobile god!!!!! He rocks!

GTS Mark · 06-30-2009, 07:41 PM

Good info!

Deej · 06-30-2009, 07:42 PM

youre a bad man Harvey

harvey · 06-30-2009, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrouchyAdmin

Don't forget to set your codec for the video. Implying mpeg4 is not always that great, since there are several different codecs.

Code:

ffmpeg -i video.mpg  -vcodec mpeg4 -ar 22050 video.mp4 -t 90

right as usual. But you're the code master, I'm just a designer

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlexxAeon

Good info! I've been promoting mobile for a few years now and I've found that while it used to be that you had to really "dumb down" your site for it to fit mobile devices, mobile devices are making leaps & bounds to becoming smarter. Thanks to Apple for leading the pack... your iPhone/iPod is more like a "netbook" than a phone. So your best bet is to meet them somewhere in the middle with some clean, simple code and a little thought in your layout.

Check this thread I posted a while back https://gfy.com/fucking-around-and-business-discussion/870088-whatcha-gallery-morphs-iphone.html

truly noted and good stuff to add to this post

Quote:

Originally Posted by davecummings

Harvey is THE mobile god!!!!! He rocks!

well, thank you

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrinkingHARDEST

Good info!

thanx as well

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deej

youre a bad man Harvey

what did I done?

Sebastian Sands · 06-30-2009, 10:38 PM

bookmarked, thanks

harvey · 07-01-2009, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian Sands

bookmarked, thanks

no prob, hope more people can add info to this since I've noticed many webmasters think the mobile thing is something weird and difficult. Fight the myth!

Jack Sparrow · 07-01-2009, 10:27 AM

If anyone wants to help me develop imobileporn.com into a blog which shows short sponsor videos, and has the right banners on them to make some money from it, lemme know.

Im looking for someone who can do it all.

06-30-2009, 02:17 PM	#1
harvey Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: 127.0.0.1 Posts: 9,266	Going Mobile? Some How-tos Going Mobile? Some How-tos Unless you live under a rock in another planet with no intelligent life, you must be aware by now that Mobile Content is the "next big thing". There's a lot to say about this conception, personally I find it very difficult to understand. While computer and TV screens are going bigger and bigger and then even bigger, mobile content is going a million steps back. Then again, many people, especially younger people mesmerized by "coolness" likes this way of content delivery, and there's money to be made off. So... time for some Mobile issues. First of all, if your site is well done, you won't need many changes. When I say well done, I mean proper XHTML with both HTML and CSS validating. If you went with a cheap designer that provided some half made product... well, now you have to pay again for a whole new content delivery tour. If your designer used tables... well, whole new tour. If your designer can't make proper CSS (even if validating), well... whole new tour. Take it as a learning, pay twice for the 'cheapo' (hopefully cheap) and continue reading. Design for Mobile is a whole new different thing. it's easy and simple but it has to be made TO THE "A". Content organization and logical flow is key, and so is CSS. As you may imagine, there are not much options with mobile design since its screen doesn't allow it. However, you can be as complex as you want. And.... fail. Mobile design is about simplicity, in essence it's like 94/95's design, only that without the tables. Once you have a logical structure (you can draw it on paper or make a graph flow for visual help), you can apply the CSS. Personally, I'd use 3 or 4 style sheets and offer them as options. Since my html has to be PERFECT and I'll use DIVs, I can change everything in a snap via CSS, hence your mobile customers will be able to choose whatever they like. An idea for organization would be something like this: the size of this screen is the one you should aim for since it's the most common: 240x320. However, you can serve different style sheets and detect screen sizes or be smart and use liquid layouts. The choice is yours. As you may see, this very basic design uses logical semantyc XHTML. It's simple and to the point, yet it uses some content display that allows you to maximize content delivery using as little space as possible Another thing to note: Don't rely on fonts! NEVER! Most mobile devices won't include any of the fonts you usually will rely on, like Times, Verdana and such. The user has to install them. For devices using Windows Mobile, it's a great idea to offer the fonts you want to display in your site so the user can download them. Obviously, you can use something as Facelift, Flir, AnyFont, whatever, but it's always a nice idea to deliver the regular fonts for your site as well. So now we need to display content. In adult business, you'll want to display photos and videos rather than text. How to do it AND DO IT WELL is a very tricky question. Personally, I'd use any kind of tool based on JQuery or Prototype to build AJAX apps, but you can do it with php or simply with HTML. The better you do that, the better you'll do with your mobile site. As a tip, think about this: most people doesn't have an Iphone, yet everybody loves it. So... why not serve your site emulating Iphone? It's relatively easy for someone that knows what is he/she doing, and your members will love the slick modern design Finally, something so basic that it's borderline ridiculous yet many people doesn't do: add a bookmark link. Of course there's a lot more to mobile content delivery, but for now, I hope this helps to any one willing to enter this competitive market __________________ This post is endorsed by CIA, KGB, MI6, the Mafia, Illuminati, Kim Jong Il, Worldwide Ninjas Association, Klingon Empire and lolcats. Don't mess around with it, just accept it and embrace the truth

06-30-2009, 03:16 PM	#3
d-null . . . Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NY Posts: 13,724	well written, harvey, good job on it and thanks for the food for thoughts __________________ __________________ Looking for a custom TUBE SCRIPT that supports massive traffic, load balancing, billing support, and h264 encoding? Hit up Konrad! Looking for designs for your websites or custom tubesite design? Hit up Zuzana Designs Check out the #1 WordPress SEO Plugin: CyberSEO Suite

06-30-2009, 03:17 PM	#4
GrouchyAdmin Now choke yourself! Industry Role: Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 12,085	I remember 'going mobile' with WML nearly 10 years ago. Woop de fucking doo. The fonts are good, also mention that things like JS, flash, etc are not to be relied upon.. so ytmnd may not work that well. __________________ AIM: GrouchyGfy

06-30-2009, 03:30 PM	#8
FlexxAeon Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,765	Good info! I've been promoting mobile for a few years now and I've found that while it used to be that you had to really "dumb down" your site for it to fit mobile devices, mobile devices are making leaps & bounds to becoming smarter. Thanks to Apple for leading the pack... your iPhone/iPod is more like a "netbook" than a phone. So your best bet is to meet them somewhere in the middle with some clean, simple code and a little thought in your layout. Check this thread I posted a while back https://gfy.com/fucking-around-and-business-discussion/870088-whatcha-gallery-morphs-iphone.html __________________ flexx [dot] aeon [at] gmail

06-30-2009, 07:00 PM	#9
davecummings Confirmed User Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: San Diego Posts: 2,922	Harvey is THE mobile god!!!!! He rocks! __________________ Dave Cummings www.davecummings.com www.davecummings.tv San Diego Email--- [email protected]

06-30-2009, 03:09 PM	#2
who So Fucking Banned Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: ICQ #23642053 Posts: 19,593	Er... thanks... ?

06-30-2009, 07:41 PM	#10
GTS Mark Vrume Mark Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 20,912	Good info!

06-30-2009, 07:42 PM	#11
Deej I make pixels work Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: I live here... Posts: 24,386	youre a bad man Harvey __________________ Deej's Designs n' What Not Hit me up for Design, CSS & Photo Retouching Icq#30096880

06-30-2009, 10:38 PM	#13
Sebastian Sands Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: ICQ: 211-417-740 Posts: 5,223	bookmarked, thanks

07-01-2009, 10:27 AM	#15
Jack Sparrow Almost goners.. Industry Role: Join Date: May 2008 Location: Netherlands Posts: 11,420	If anyone wants to help me develop imobileporn.com into a blog which shows short sponsor videos, and has the right banners on them to make some money from it, lemme know. Im looking for someone who can do it all.