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What's new with the Web Action Team
Blogs go Mobile!
Bryon J. Noel
  • Author: Bryon J. Noel
Published on: June 24, 2011

Screenshot of how the mobile blogs look.
Mobile Blog View
With great anticipation I'd like to announce the release of the Mobile Blogs! We have completely restyled and reformed the Blogs for mobile devices.

There are some functions that may not work well from a mobile device, such as writing a new blog post. There are somethings that flat out do not work. Like uploading files from an iPhone. Unfortunately, that is a limitation of the iPhone and iPad's. Other mobile devices may or may not allow uploads. Other than this all the functionality of the blogs is available on mobile devices.

Beyond these we are still working out some of the minor bugs. So if you run into one of these "bugs", please let us know!

There's a lot that has been done to make the blogs mobile friendly. If something does not seem mobile friendly to you then we'd appreciate feedback. This will help us as we build more and more mobile friendly sites.

Tags: Blogs (16), Mobile (4)
Comments: 12
Comments:
by Jeannette E. Warnert
on June 24, 2011 at 2:48 PM
Thanks for making the blogs mobile-ready. A question: I noticed that the Web/IT Blog doesn't use the new and improved blog layout. Is that related to its readability on a smart phone?
Reply by Bryon J. Noel
on June 24, 2011 at 2:56 PM
The Mobile layout is completely different from the blog styles that can be selected. This is because mobile devices have such small screens and require the interface to be greatly simplified.
Reply by Karl Krist
on June 24, 2011 at 4:54 PM
Jeannette- were you viewing it on a mobile device, or on a desktop? Thanks for testing!
by Brenda Dawson
on June 24, 2011 at 4:40 PM
Do you have any numbers you can share about how much of ANR Blog traffic is from mobile devices?
Reply by Dave Krause
on June 24, 2011 at 4:47 PM
We don't capture this data right now, Brenda. We'll look into adding this to the stats.
by Brenda Dawson
on June 24, 2011 at 4:45 PM
OK, second question, possibly unrelated: What happened to the blog styles? Did the header images go away permanently? I notice the Food Blog has its old header and others that had photos don't anymore...
by Jeannette E. Warnert
on July 13, 2011 at 2:29 PM
People seem to like the mobile-ready blogs. One idea came up recently in a conversation - we need the ability to generate QR codes for the blog urls. I know that outside services are available, but it would be awesome to have an option right on the blog to automatically generate a QR code.
Reply by Dave Krause
on July 13, 2011 at 2:33 PM
We have one place where you can generate QR codes, but we have not added it to sites/systems. It's called "Permafrost," and it's a long-term, link-shortening system. You can access it through the URL squisher or by going here: https://ucanr.org/portal/permafrost/
by Brenda Dawson
on July 13, 2011 at 3:16 PM
Hey Dave, we've been using the URL squisher for "pretty" URLs in print publications, but now I see those are supposed to be considered temporary. What is the solution for writing out links in print? (I'm still of the opinion currently that any QR code should also have a written-out URL for accessibility.)  
 
And will we be notified if/when a previously squished URL is ... re-purposed?
Reply by Karl Krist
on July 13, 2011 at 3:54 PM
Brenda-  
 
We are *hoping* that the Squisher URLs will be permanent. But we can't guarantee it. Those URLs actually are based on how our server handles errors.  
 
SO- we have Permafrost...which will function as long as we have a ucanr.org domain. The Permafrost URLs are also very short, but there is a number involved. They would not be horrible in printed form. I can pretty much guarantee these will work for as long as I am here.  
 
As far as a QR code having a long-form URL next to it, good idea. The permafrost code that generates the QR code can be printed right near it.  
 
TL;DR- use the Permafrost URLs both in QR form and in printed form. They are short, easy to read, and won't go away. Don't panic about Squisher URLs, they are not dying soon.
by Brenda Dawson
on July 13, 2011 at 4:25 PM
ah-ha, thanks for explaining! I will try to reduce my (over?) reliance on squished URLs...
by ecommerce website designers
on December 9, 2011 at 2:49 AM
Exactly what I was going to say. So much like him, I thought it was him.
 
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