Once mobile has been set up for testing, you'll be able to use this article to help you with configuration options.

Once it's ready to go live and we check the "enable" box, your site's mobile theme will load automatically for visitors using a handheld mobile device. But while you're in testing, you will access your mobile site in one of two ways:

  • Method 1: By adding /m to the end of your URL on your smartphone
  • Method 2: By going to the online configuration tool in your desktop site (System Admins only)

    Method 1: Adding /m to the end of your URL / saving as an "app"
    For example: http://www.digitaldeployment.com/m

    From here you can poke around and it should stay in mobile view while you test and check it out. (Note that if you click the "view full site" link, however, it will go out of mobile view and you'll have a hard time getting back.)  If you're on a iPhone using the native browser, you can also save a link to the mobile view to your phone's "home screen" and then it will behave like an app. To do this, use the boxed arrow icon in the bottom bar of your browser, then choose "Add to home screen."

    Method 2:  Using the online configuration tool
    To use this method you must be a System Admin. If you're currently a Site Admin, you can upgrade yourself by going to Commands > My account and adding the System Admin role. This will allow you to access the menu for configuring mobile. (If you're a System Admin, you'll see a black menu that runs across the very top of your site.)

    Once you're a System Admin, use the upper black admin menu to go to DD > Mobile > Configuration

    In this area you can see a live preview of mobile on the right, and you can even interact with it and poke around the site from your pretend mobile device! (Note that the online preview isn't quite as accurate as using a smartphone will be.)


    In the upper left of the configuration area you'll see an option to upload an icon (this is what's used for your home screen if you save the site as an "app") and a background graphic. Feel free to play around with it a bit and upload replacement images, if you'd like. Note that the more links you include on your start page, the less room you'll have for branding on that page. The dimensions required for both images are listed.


    This is also the area where you'll find the "Enable" check box. This is the box we (or you!) will check when you're ready to have your mobile them engage automatically when visitors come to it on a handheld device.


    The last checkbox allows you to enable or disable log in controls in mobile. If you don't have member only content you'll likely want to disable this so mobile visitors aren't trying to log in.


    On the right is the preview. While it's not perfectly accurate, it's pretty darn close, so you can easily use it to move around your site while you're setting things up.


    Configuring your start page buttons


    The start page vertical navigation links (the light buttons at the top) are fully customizable with the exception of the "View Full Site" button, which is static. Note that these links only appear on the start screen. The dark grey buttons across the bottom are persistent throughout the mobile experience and will stay put as you browse. Note that if you enter them manually (for example, taxonomy/term/51), do not add a leading or ending slash.


    To customize these links, scroll down in the DD Mobile configuration page until you see this area:


    The three things you will want to set are:


    1. Title - the title of the button. Note that you can give the links any title you'd like, but longer titles may get cut off. (You can experiment with this to see what works for your content.)
    2. Redirect to - the taxonomy term or post ID you'll want to go to when the button is clicked. Note that this is an autocomplete field so you can start typing the title of the landing page or post, and choose from the options that appear.
    3. Icon - There are approximately 300 icons to choose from, just click on the black circle or existing icon to scroll through the options and choose one.


    Setting the sitewide footer buttons


    If you scroll down just a bit farther you'll see the Sitewide Footer Navigation section, where you can set the Title, Redirect and icon for two of the four footer buttons. 


    Note that the Start button and the Sitemap button are locked and cannot be edited ... although you can change the icons. (This is because those two links are critical if visitors are to be able to navigate your site fully.)

    A few last words about how mobile functions: every "block" of content that your site displays gets a position and a display mode in mobile. So, for example, a typical landing page will have a region (block) for Overview, a region for posts (and their subtypes), a region for pods, and possibly a region for profiles. We configure mobile to render those regions in whatever order makes sense, and in whatever display mode is best for the content. In our experience it usually works best to put the pods at the end of the page, for example - but we can customize it to work best for your content.


    These standard features are included and handled in the following ways:

    • Subterm landing pages - the mobile theme correctly displays a term view featuring one or more subterms. The subterm title, overview and a "more" button direct you to the subterm page.
    • Left navigation menu - the website’s left-column navigation is accessible by clicking the icon in the upper left of the page that looks like three stacked bars inside a circle. The menu is revealed as the page content slides to the right. The active navigation term is highlighted in the mobile theme color, and an additional ‘Back’ button is also available at the top of the menu. Clicking it returns you to the last page visited.
    • Full post display - images within the full post display are limited in their maximum height, so that they don’t “take over” the entire screen. Functionality has been enhanced for maps, images, and videos that appear within this display. Depending on the user’s configuration of their mobile device, PDFs are either opened in an additional tab or downloaded using the user’s default browser to be viewed separately.
    • The ‘This item appears in:’ menu now is available on any post that appears in one or more terms of your site. When viewing a full post, it is accessible by clicking the three stacked bars icon located in the top-left of the page. The menu is revealed as the page content slides to the right. An additional ‘Back’ button is also available at the top of the menu. Clicking it returns you to the last page visited.


    Display mode options include:

    • Carousel - The auto-sliding carousel (like you may have on your desktop site) was eliminated in favor of an iOS inspired swipe control with dot navigation. Each dot represents a slide/post in the carousel. This navigation intuitively informs the user of the number of slides, which slide they are viewing, and which direction to swipe to navigate through the remaining slides.
    • Primary content - shows full content (typically used for Overviews and full post display)
    • Teasers - Teaser content is trimmed to display the first 150 characters. When there is more to read, an ellipses (“...”) is appended to the end of the trimmed content, and an arrow is appended to the right of the title. Both visual cues emphasize that there is more content to read and, by clicking anywhere on the teaser, they will be will taken to the full post. In this display, image thumbnails are small and consistent.
    • Mini Teaser - mini teasers show only image, title and subtitle, and click through to the full post.


    Please keep in touch using the ticketing system with any questions, and the forums for any great ideas you may have for new features.