I know this is late, but on time for Nexus One launch! If you are reading this post via iPhone/iPod Touch or your Android phone, you might have already observed that TechPP is now loading faster than before and looking different than usual.
We are now using WPtouch plugin for WordPress, which is an entire theme package for WordPress blogs. It is modeled after Apple’s app store design specs and promises to make the website load lightning fast on touch mobile devices, show the content beautifully, all while not interfering with the regular theme.
Update: We had to take off wp-touch due to compatibility issues with other plugins. We are currently trying to figure out an alternate and better solution, will keep you updated.
What’s hot?
I suppose this is really helpful for iPhone/iPod Touch and Android users as it speeds up the page load considerably and even the content readability seems improved. I was pleasantly surprised to see the way the images are displayed within the post. The installation and configuration was simple ans straight forward. In case someone loves to see the desktop version one can easily do that by turning OFF the mobile version at the bottom of the screen. The page load speed advantage may not be too apparent on a wifi connection, but it is pretty much evident on 3G, EDGE or GPRS.
What’s not?
Though the plugin provides an option to input our adsense ID and insert an ad on top of every post/page, it seriously hamper the advertising revenue. CPM based banner ads are no more displayed. For a site which gets considerable number of smartphone visitors, this is a big con.
Another negative is that the uniqueness which comes with the theme design is lost as the onus is just on the content and hence a generic theme is displayed for all iphone/android visitors. No logo, no favicon, no additional plugin features.
Over to you
I would love to hear back from you guys – do you like this? or do you prefer the default desktop theme? Do you see any improvement in page load time? Shoot your opinions!
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December 30th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
I am loving this dude, commenting from ipod touch, its super fast
December 30th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Personally, It’s always been my opinion that a blog should be more about the content and less about the design & graphics. I love the way WP displays with this plug-in. Bummer about the ads… NOT !
December 31st, 2009 at 5:09 am
Just tried this on my son’s ipod touch, seems to have loaded extremely fast. I still prefer keyboard and monitor for most of my day to days but it looks great!
January 20th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Raju, Did you test other WP plugins before settling on WPtouch? Wapple Architect and WordPress Mobile Pack both sound good. I’m trying to settle on one but finding it hard to track down anyone whose done a comparison.
January 20th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
I have tested them both and few other plugins as well. None of them (including WPTouch) worked for me without problems. WPTouch has problems with super-cache plugin, and Wapple Architect was a disaster (my site was down for nearly 3 hours due to that).
August 1st, 2010 at 12:44 am