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View Full Version : To all webmasters: Mobile-optimized website


gwinter
06-10-2005, 04:14 PM
We all know how useful and pleasant web-browsing on PPC can be when a website is optimized for the small device screen. PPCT is an example. But more often than not these optimized pages simply cannot contain all the information that the full version do. This is where a link to the full version of the page is needed. Again PPCT is a good example with the "Desktop version" link at the bottom of the page.

I was going over to microsoft's webpage, trying to download something. There are some URLs that I can easily recall. www.microsoft.com/mobile is one of them. But what do I get? Mobile version of the webpage which is very nicely done. But where is the link to the full version of the webpage?

Some search later, I was able to get to the page that I wanted. I decided now that I wanted to download the SDK for WM2003 (No, I don’t have broadband connection at my desktop at this time. Besides 80+ Mbytes is not really that large nowadays, even for a pocket pc). Again I kept running into the same problem.

Try getting more information on developing for mobile devices. See for example msdn.microsoft.com/smartclient, or about .NET Compact Framework at msdn.microsoft.com/smartclient/netcf. Each time you're being sent to an "optimized" webpage without any possibility to get to the full version of the webpage.

So to all webmasters, please, provide the option to bypass the sniffer function that serves up mobile-optimized pages. It would save a lot of hair-pulling. True, maybe the client will not able to render the page correctly, or at all. But please leave the decision on what page to load to the user.

Patrick Y.
06-12-2005, 02:59 AM
I'm not sure, but I think you can access the full page by just changing the identification of Internet Explorer with RegKing. I tweaked my Pocket PC so that the PIE is indentified as IE 6.0.

Darius Wey
06-12-2005, 03:45 AM
I'm not sure, but I think you can access the full page by just changing the identification of Internet Explorer with RegKing. I tweaked my Pocket PC so that the PIE is indentified as IE 6.0.

I think what gwinter is after is the ability to swap between mobile and desktop versions of a webpage without having to resort to registry hacks. If you tweak the identity of PIE to MSIE6.0, you effectively break the ability for a certain webpage to detect a mobile browser, and thus you'll always be presented with a desktop version of the webpage even if you want the mobile one on a specific occasion. I believe what gwinter is doing is a rant, rather than asking for a quick fix. :)

Patrick Y.
06-12-2005, 04:12 AM
Oops. :oops:

Steven Cedrone
06-12-2005, 12:36 PM
Sounds like a good rant too! I needed to download the newest version of Messenger for an older Pocket PC after a hard reset. Went to the Messenger page and was thoroughlly annoyed at what I was told I wanted to see! Plus, the damned download page had nothing for Pocket PC! Why? Because it insists that Pocket PC already comes with it bundled! Yes, it does, but it's an older version and can not be used any more! Sheesh! I know the software is out there, just point me to it! The Mobile versions of both the Messenger and Windows mobile sites are utterly useless! I too want to be able to easily get to the full site! And when you DO finally get to it, why isn't there a software upgrade version that can just be downloaded to a Pocket PC without the need for a PC or Activesync? Windows Mobile? More like Windows Mobile Most Of The Time But We Still Prefer To Have You Tethered To A PC To Do Even The Simplest Of Tasks! :wink:

O.K., rant over!