Going Mobile with WordPress

Shelley KeithManager of Web Communications & Marketing

Southern Arkansas University

● about.me/shelleykeith● Teaching faculty to use email since 1994.● Since 2005 only Web staff on campus of

~3600 students & 400 faculty/staff. ● Sixth year on the HighEdWeb conference

program committee; chaired regional HEWEB event last 3 yrs.

● HigherEdExperts presenter – OpenSource CMS Fair: WordPressMU, April 2010.

● Technical reviewer for Apress book Beginning WordPress 3.0 by Stephanie Leary released in June, 2010.

● Launched WPMU in May 2009. Alone.

Me. Shelley. @sk140

o.0

2011 vs 2010● 240% increase in mobile visits● 237% increase in mobile pageviews● 13% increase in average mobile time on site● Top mobile referrers: Google, Facebook● 40% direct traffic

The push

155 Admissions applications completed on mobile devices

She came out of nowhere captain!

To boldly go...

Caveats● no coder● minimal budget● WP Network

The Project

Criteria● Minimal "touch"● Flexible "touch"● Reuse work● Comparable features● Multi-platform● Visible growth● Responsive support● Easy to update

SCIENCE!

Plugins

Some plugins are seamless & work beautifully...

...others, not so much.

● WPTouch*● WP Mobile Detector● WordPress Mobile Pack● Wapple Architect Mobile● WordPress Multi Site Mobile Edition● Weever Apps● PluginBuddy Mobile*

Plugins

Mobile detectionTheme switcherAnalyticsAdmin interfaceLast updated Dec. 2010

WordPress Mobile Pack

Site-wide activationCarrington MobileLink to/from mobile versionNo per-blog customizationLast updated in 2010

WordPress Multi Site Mobile

Spockitty is not impressed.

Mobile Apps

Mobile Apps - NativeShoutEm Mobile by Conduit MobileRoadie BiznessApps

Monthly Price $29.90 - $119.90 $0 - $79.95 $99 - $499 $39 + $10/each iPad, Android, HTML5

WordPress Integration Plugin, RSS RSS RSS RSS

Targeting All users All, Geographic All, Geo, Platform, + All users

QR X X Unlockable Content Integrated Scanner

Badges/Gamification Badges X Unlockable Content, Badges

X

Reviews Yes Yelp, CitySearch

Events .ics import & internal system

EventBrite, Google Cal, Facebook Events

Internal, Artistdata, SongKick

Internal only

HTML5 Web App Coming Soon Yes Yes Yes

iOS iPhone, iPad coming soon iPhone iPhone, $499/mo iPad iPhone, iPad

Android Yes Yes Yes Yes

Other Windows, Blackberry, Bada

Windows, Blackberry Blackberry

WappleWeeverWPTouch Pro

Mobile Apps - Web

Responsive Design

Le sigh.

● Frameworks○ Genesis○ PageLines○ HeadWay○ Whiteboard○ Catalyst○ WooFramework

● Standalone themes○ Responsive○ Business Lite○ iFeature

Responsive Design

the needs of the many...

...become a hot mess.

@sk140