should a mobile variant state that it is online

[TXAlba]

Would you advise that a mobile variant state to the user that it is a mobile variant they are viewing?
and is there a way to let a mobile user see the full website on a mobile device?

Any advice on this gratefully received.

[dutchim]

If the mobile version has everything that the full version has I don't see a reason why.

You could publish just the full website to a subfolder and link to that one from the mobile variant.

[gwpriester]

I don't think you need to inform your visitor. She/he will know if the content on a mobile devise is easy to see and navigate that it is probably created for mobile devices. And as such as long as the content they are seeking out is available, that is what matters.

When you see an actual full browser site on a mobile device it is obvious and onerous because of everything, including the navigation being so tiny and inaccessible.

[pauland]

Would you advise that a mobile variant state to the user that it is a mobile variant they are viewing?

Definitely not. Usually mobile sites have a design that is clearly different to that of desktop versions - the content should reflect the smaller device size and slower downloads.

If the mobile version has everything that the full version has I don't see a reason why.

There's no reason that a mobile version should have all of the content that a desktop version has. There's every reason that the content should be more focused to the core reasons that someone should visit the site using a mobile device.

A mobile site should be a distilled version of the desktop site, taking into account the smaller screens and in particular the requirement for larger buttons and different navigation.

[TXAlba]

There's no reason that a mobile version should have all of the content that a desktop version has. There's every reason that the content should be more focused to the core reasons that someone should visit the site using a mobile device.

A mobile site should be a distilled version of the desktop site, taking into account the smaller screens and in particular the requirement for larger buttons and different navigation.

My point exactly, the mobile version of the main site is slimmed down, with lesser valued pages not even shown, no links to them or through the menu. So the main site has more content. On about 6 pages of this 68 page site, there are details on the main site that are in a small font, in a section that is labelled "The Small Print", but on the mobile site the text would be too small to see and would not pass googles mobile usability test if it were included, i could make it larger but then the mobile variants page would be too long and the "small print" too large.

This is the main reason for my question.

I could make statement that more detail about the products are available on the 'main site' viewable on non-mobile devices, i could i suppose make it a popup too. My other option is to make the 'small print' available through the faq pages but i would rather not do that.

[pauland]

i could make it larger but then the mobile variants page would be too long and the "small print" too large.

Put the small print on a page of it's own and put a link to it wherever it's relevant. Make the text large enough to read.

[Acorn]

In Xara, when you have Variants, they are all included in the same downloaded Document Object Model (DOM) even through the assets are not displayed to the mobile viewer.
The concept of the DOM here is important as each Variant is set in its own DIV tag within the HTML tag of the page. Even if you're "on the phone", it all has to download.
Also, these days, coders suggest all JavaScript, also part of the DOM, is loaded last. Basically, everything has to download before the page is fully functional.

Now compound things by having four Variants to a page and make it all a Supersite where all the pages end up in one large and beefy HTML download.
Oh, and throw a large number of HiSlider pop-ups or large images on layers and watch your viewers drift away.

Although we have Variants, consider publishing separate sites and using some simple JavaScript to cross-link if the viewer is looking from a browser on a PC. it is not as slick but Variants have always struck me a a fairground's Hall of Mirrors.
Variants work very well when all the content is for mobile as the overall payload has been designed to be lightweight; it is the inclusion of a fuller main site that is the killer.

Acorn