Hi,

I'm evaluating Sitespinner Pro primarily for the development of web sites for mobile devices. I've found the preview in various screen sizes, but all that does when moving to a larger size is put more padding around the page content.

The SSPro web site says...
"...you can also view what your page will look like on different mobile devices and resolutions." Does this just refer to the mobile preview screen size, or can I see what it will actually look like on a Blackberry, for example?

Also, one of the announcements refers to a number of styles being created in order to make the content fit a number of different mobile devices (courtesy of the Opera engine I think). Is this all happening behind the scenes in SSPro?

Its damn clever if it is!

ukwebguy

quote:

The SSPro web site says...
"...you can also view what your page will look like on different mobile devices and resolutions." Does this just refer to the mobile preview screen size, or can I see what it will actually look like on a Blackberry, for example?

It is mainly the screen size. We have to hope that the Blackberry is comparable to other devices of similar size -- it does no harm to check your pages on a real Blackberry!

SS Pro uses CSS to control the appearance of the content on different devices. Typically your browser will look at the media type, and use that to decide which of the two CSS styles to use -- desktop or mobile.

The only reason Opera gets involved is with preview -- it has a Small Screen Rendering (SSR) mode which is helpful to view your mobile version from your desktop. But once you have published your site, Opera no longer has any connection with it. Of course you can still view your Site in standalone Opera using its SSR mode.

Ah.. I see. by 'different devices' you mean two devices - LARGE (a PC) and SMALL (a phone). Not different devices as in the difference between a Nokia, a Sony Ericsson and a Blackberry. Without a detailed knowledge of the most bought phones on the market and their screen sizes, producing a mobile web site that works on even most phones is just down to pure chance then?

ukwebguy

No, I wouldn't go far as to say that. If your site looks good in preview, then there is a good chance it will look good on a real mobile with the same screen size.

But there are no guarantees. If it is important that a site look good on a particular mobile, then I suggest test and optimize for that mobile. Chances are the site will still be presentable on other mobiles -- it just may not be perfect

Maybe I'm chasing the Holy Grail here - one thing that would help is to create an 'accordion' layout (which expands to fit the available width) - is this possible in SSPro - I haven't found out how yet?

{:0)
ukwebguy

Have you checked out dynamic positioning? More on the subject in SSPro Tutorials here.

Roma - thank you for that tip - I think I've seen enough in my evaluation - its a lot of tool for the money. Worth it even just to generate some XHTML and CSS layouts which I can then hand code to finish.

Kind regards and thank you all for your help
ukwebguy