Mobile Design??? (XARA Design Templates for Mobile Devices?)

[tomcadman]

1) Does Web Designer 9 have XARA Design Templates for Mobile Devices?

2) If not, when will XARA finally add these? I'm finding that regular web sites created in XARA web designer are too big (file size) for mobile devices. They take too long to load (even with optimized images.)

3) Otherwise, anybody know a good cheap OFFLINE mobile design editor?

Most regular websites suck on phones!

Thanks for any info you can direct me to.
-Tom

[gwpriester]

If every mobile device was the same aspect ratio, and same size, there would be a template.

Create a smaller page for your website.

I have created several to a width of about 480 pixels.

Keep your mobile site lean, with larger text and larger buttons and fewer photos and extraneous graphics.

Then test your site on your mobile device. But not using a WiFi connection, but using your mobile devices mobile connection.

And yes, large websites on mobile devices do suck.

[jamesd]

Hi Tom, I have made a mobile template for xara you can download it here http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...686#post469686 you can preview it here, it was made in v8 but with the new html5 features in v9 it should load even quicker

[tomcadman]

Thanks, James. I will d/l and check it out!
Thanks, Gary- good basic info

P.S. There are plenty of online utilities which make you use their server to post mobile sites.
I was hoping for a link to a cheap/free OFFLINE utility, so I can design and then upload to server of choice. No monthly fees!

(Actually, I was hoping XARA Web Des 9 would include such functionality. I can already do pretty much everything else it does, but in earlier XARA version.)

-Tom

[pauland]

Why is there this thinking that mobile design requires special templates?

You can think of it as a very small desktop with a BIG mouse, so no small buttons.

Also imagine that the internet is ten times slower, so no heavy graphics.

Imagine your user is in a hurry so don't wast their time with fluff.

That's basic mobile design in a nutshell.

[gwpriester]

Well stated, Paul.

[jamesd]

Why is there this thinking that mobile design requires special templates?

You can think of it as a very small desktop with a BIG mouse, so no small buttons.

Also imagine that the internet is ten times slower, so no heavy graphics.

Imagine your user is in a hurry so don't wast their time with fluff.

That's basic mobile design in a nutshell.

Paul, you are dead right... nor do people need to use any of the templates in the designs gallery, but they still do

[Liann]

I need to design a mobile site for a customer that already has a website. How do I go about that? Is there a special coding, do I name the site something different from the original desktop site? I already know about the design aspect. I would like to know about the technical side. Can someone assist, please?

Thank you,
Lisa (Liann)