Temporarily hiding mobile variant

[yjs]

Is there a way to temporarily hide a mobile variant? The main (desktop) version needs to go live right away, but I'll need to do quite a lot of tweaks on the mobile version before publishing. Ideally I'd like to do this alongside work on the main version, but with the public seeing only the desktop version for now, and this status (live desktop variant, hidden mobile variant) should remain while I make and publish changes to the desktop version.

[gwpriester]

Save your site. Then save your site with a new name, for example Desktop only. Delete the Mobile Variant and publish.

If you have already published, delete the files from the Mobile Variant.

[yjs]

Thanks, would that mean that just the changes are republished or the whole site?

[gwpriester]

Correct because the copy you are working with does not have a mobile variant so there is no mobile update.

[yjs]

Correct because the copy you are working with does not have a mobile variant so there is no mobile update.

Sorry I wasn't clear. What I meant was: if I
a) create a dual variant site (S1) and save
b) Save with a different name (S2), remove mobile variant from S2 then publish S2
c) edit S1, save again to S2, remove mobile variant from S2 then publish S2

- will I be republishing the whole of S2's desktop version, or just the changes that I made to the desktop version? Thanks

[gwpriester]

Good question. I am not sure.

Do you want to have the mobile site up at the same time? This gets very messy. You can stop sharing the mobile variant (you will have to do this page by page) but then any changes you make to the main variant will have to be made manually to the mobile variant.

[yjs]

Good question. I am not sure.

Do you want to have the mobile site up at the same time? This gets very messy. You can stop sharing the mobile variant (you will have to do this page by page) but then any changes you make to the main variant will have to be made manually to the mobile variant.

I want to publish only the desktop site at this stage. The site will then need many many minor updates (structure and content) and I'd rather not have to republish everything if I just change a few words. The mobile variant will go live much later, but I would like to start experimenting with that now.

A better alternative would be to have both versions on the live site, with just the mobile version in a password-protected directory. But this would necessitate a way to force all users to the desktop version, where they would see a message saying that the mobile version will be available soon. Not sure if this is possible?

[gwpriester]

Probably best then to just publish a main site and not the mobile variant until it is ready.

You could create a mobile variant but do not link to any of the pages and just have a small announcement on the mobile home page, site under construction or something to that effect?

[yjs]

Probably best then to just publish a main site and not the mobile variant until it is ready.

You could create a mobile variant but do not link to any of the pages and just have a small announcement on the mobile home page, site under construction or something to that effect?

Thanks but if I understand correctly this would mean that everyone with a small device would get directed only to the unready mobile version (graphics popping out of text panes and more all over the place etc) and would not see or be able to navigate the desktop version.

Yes, it's possible to forget the mobile version until afterwards, but I really want to be experimenting with it as I develop the main version.

So I think I will probably do as you suggested earlier - use two sites, publish only from the second and delete the mobile version from the second site just before each publish, and it won't be the end of the world if I'm republishing the whole site each time. Just thought there might have been a simpler way.

[behzad]

You can paste this to your home page when ready.

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
if (screen.width <= 480) {
document.location = "http://domainname.com/mobilename";
}
//-->
</script>

You can change the 480 px to 600 or 800 depending on your needs.