What do WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!, and pretty much every other market-leading content management system have in common?<\/p>\n
Simply put, they\u2019re having just a little bit of trouble adapting to the small screen. As smartphones and tablets become more and more ubiquitous, the need to design websites that can adapt to different screen sizes grows ever more pressing. A poorly-optimized site alienates mobile visitors – and given that as of last year, 60% of Internet access was done on mobile devices<\/a>, that represents a huge chunk of your audience.<\/p>\n You\u2019d think that, in light of this, every major CMS on the web would have taken steps to address mobile technology – you\u2019d think every major platform would have jumped immediately to take care of the mobile problem, right? Unfortunately, you\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n The simple truth is this: the majority of content management systems haven\u2019t done as much as they need to in order to adapt to the mobile web. Most of the steps they\u2019ve taken have been cursory at best; doing little to address new devices on their own. In most cases, it\u2019s been community-designed plugins that have picked up the slack (more on that in a moment).<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, the CMSes of note have adapted to the new mobile era in only superficial ways,\u201d explains Mobiforge\u2019s Mark Anderson.<\/a> \u00a0\u201cThis is likely due to their legacy of being conceived at a time when common screen widths was the deciding factor in web design decisions. When the desktop was the only conceivable platform for web content to be viewed on. And when the concept of mobile web consumption was limited to niche WAP interfaces typically delivering narrow ranges of information.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Anderson, the tactics implemented by the majority of CMSes leaves something to be desired. They code in some light device detection that changes the template through which content is served, and call it a day. The problem with this approach is that \u201cit focuses almost entirely on keyword detection in the browser\u2019s user agent and rarely incorporates the real device detection capabilities that are now possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe template switching mechanism is also a poor solution to the problem,\u201d he continues. \u201cWhen template switching is not used, sites often opt instead for templates which use responsive web design (RWD) techniques. These try to redraw themselves given the screen dimensions they end up rendering on. And while RWD is a good stop-gap measure, and the savior of the garage web developer, it fails to actually adapt the web content served to suit the platform being using.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt fails to deliver content differently or make alternative choices possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Alright. Now that we\u2019ve spent a healthy amount of time bashing the measures CMSes have been taking to make content mobile-friendly, let\u2019s talk about what you as a webmaster can do to adapt your site. I mentioned earlier that there exists a host of plugins for pretty much every CMS that\u2019ll allow you to do just that – do a bit of research on the marketplace of your chosen platform, and I\u2019m certain you\u2019ll find at least a few.<\/p>\nGrowing Pains<\/b><\/h2>\n
How You Can Take Charge Of Your Mobile Website<\/b><\/h2>\n