"Responsive Curve" mod package released

Started by Kindred, April 20, 2015, 06:38:08 AM

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Kindred

Hello all.

Over the last few weeks a big "buzz" has been spreading in SMF's forum and throughout the internet about a new "mobility-friendliness" check that Google has put in place. Based on the preliminary reports that Google has sent to some webmasters, many SMF forum owners were notified that their site is not "mobile-friendly".

Google has specified April 21, 2015 as the date when a new search algorithm will be put in place, although, as usual, the specific details regarding the algorithm have not been distributed.

Although we do not necessarily agree with this new policy, we recognize our users' desire and need to be "compliant", so we have worked out something which may help. While, Curve2 (the new default theme for the upcoming SMF 2.1) is already responsive and, as such, is "mobile-friendly", for SMF 2.0 that was not the case. The default theme for 2.0.x (Curve) is already four years old and, as such, it is not responsive, and would take a great deal of effort to make it into something fully responsive (and, in the process, would likely break many mods.)

So, in order to tackle this problem in the most efficient manner, giving admins the ability to meet some of Google's requirement while maintaining a compatibility with legacy templates and mods, we have released a MODification package which will bring some "responsiveness" to Curve. This will allow your 2.0.x forum not only to be accepted by Google's "friendliness test", but also to have a better display in mobile devices. This mod can be applied, as with any other mod, through the Package Manager in your forum's Admin section.

However, if you plan on using this, you should be aware of some potential issues and limitations:


  • This MOD adds basic responsiveness to Curve. The theme does not become "fully responsive".
  • Existing MODs which perform significant template changes might display poorly.
  • Existing Themes (especially Curve's variations) might be affected by these changes.
  • This MAY not affect MANY custom themes that use their own templates which use different coding from the Curve designs. Such themes will need to have the changes parsed, tweaked and/or manually applied within their framework(s).

For these reasons, the changes performed in this mod will NOT be merged in the official 2.0.x series releases, but will be released, and supported, as an official mod.

Please use the mod's support topic if you have any questions regarding the mod or any issues installing or using the mod.

The SMF Team
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Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

JBlaze

Looks good. Keep up the good work!

Quote from: Kindred on April 20, 2015, 06:38:08 AM
Although we don't necessarily agree with this new policy

For as long as Google remains the #1 search engine, it would be beneficial to everyone to adhere to their policies. Agree or not, it would do nothing but hurt a website to not be in compliance.
Jason Clemons
Former Team Member 2009 - 2012

Antes

Quote from: zilladotexe on April 20, 2015, 07:12:47 AM
Looks good. Keep up the good work!

Quote from: Kindred on April 20, 2015, 06:38:08 AM
Although we don't necessarily agree with this new policy

For as long as Google remains the #1 search engine, it would be beneficial to everyone to adhere to their policies. Agree or not, it would do nothing but hurt a website to not be in compliance.

Funny part in that, if you add meta tag & make sure width is not overflowing it accepts the site as "mobile friendly" :) I rather like to use "W3C mobileOK Checker"

JBlaze

Personally, I feel that any website that will be used by a good number of people should be mobile friendly. With the number of folks who do their browsing on the go, whether using phones or tablets, it would be silly not to be.

I find it frustrating when a site is not optimized for mobile usage, especially since I do most of my browsing on an iPhone 5s rather than my PC.

The web is constantly evolving, and I understand it's a lot of work to keep up with it all, but optimizing websites for mobile usage should be on the top of the priority list.

Disclaimer: This isn't a swipe at anyone, just my personal opinion
Jason Clemons
Former Team Member 2009 - 2012

jaideejung007


Kindred

Jaideejung007,

Almost completely irrelevant to this discussion.

zilladotexe,

See, the thing is - like anything else that is viewed, this is often a matter of perception. Something which I consider "mobile friendly" (in that it displays acceptably on a mobile device like my phone) might be very different from what you consider "mobile optimized" -- and both of those are likely to be different from what Google has decided to try and force to be a "standard" (and I say force, because they are attempting to force people, under pain of rank penalty, to do what THEY consider appropriate, rather than going through channels to make it an ACTUAL standard)
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Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

Deaks

~~~~
Former SMF Project Manager
Former SMF Customizer

"For as lang as hunner o us is in life, in nae wey
will we thole the Soothron tae owergang us. In truth it isna for glory, or wealth, or
honours that we fecht, but for freedom alane, that nae honest cheil gies up but wi life
itsel."

movierchives

Tried "responsive_curve_draft-1"

QuoteNot mobile-friendly

˟Content wider than screen
˟Links too close together

And yes using default curve

Antes

Quote from: movierchives on April 20, 2015, 09:03:48 AM
Tried "responsive_curve_draft-1"

QuoteNot mobile-friendly

˟Content wider than screen
˟Links too close together

And yes using default curve

Please post here with link to your site.

Looking

Anything helps but I think the bigger problem will be all the Mods people use especially things like Ad management which add to the bloat. It is also a daunting task, I've spent some months getting most of our sites to be responsive and we're still not there yet!

movierchives

Quote from: Looking on April 20, 2015, 09:13:03 AM
Anything helps but I think the bigger problem will be all the Mods people use especially things like Ad management which add to the bloat. It is also a daunting task, I've spent some months getting most of our sites to be responsive and we're still not there yet!

According to Google it doesn't even work here!

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.simplemachines.org%2Fcommunity

Antes

Quote from: Looking on April 20, 2015, 09:13:03 AM
Anything helps but I think the bigger problem will be all the Mods people use especially things like Ad management which add to the bloat. It is also a daunting task, I've spent some months getting most of our sites to be responsive and we're still not there yet!

That's actually not our side, mod authors should also update their packs with changes to fit it. But you can fix the issues related ad mods with adding "max-width: 100%". I still need some free time to look at most used mods and try some tricks on them.

Quote from: movierchives on April 20, 2015, 09:14:45 AM
Quote from: Looking on April 20, 2015, 09:13:03 AM
Anything helps but I think the bigger problem will be all the Mods people use especially things like Ad management which add to the bloat. It is also a daunting task, I've spent some months getting most of our sites to be responsive and we're still not there yet!

According to Google it doesn't even work here!

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.simplemachines.org%2Fcommunity

Lets give some time to site team :)

movierchives

Agreed I'm just surprised a fix was released that doesn't even work here

margarett

Quote from: movierchives on April 20, 2015, 09:33:30 AM
Agreed I'm just surprised a fix was released that doesn't even work here
It's not guaranteed that this mod will be installed here. It's not, at the moment

Only admins that have the desire to be compliant with Google's "warnings" AND whose current themes/mods will not be negatively affected by this should install it.
Se forem conduzir, não bebam. Se forem beber... CHAMEM-ME!!!! :D

QuoteOver 90% of all computer problems can be traced back to the interface between the keyboard and the chair


Kindred

It is not installed here...    which would be why that link "doesn't work"


Also - if you READ the original post, as Antes has already pointed out - Like with any mod - questions, concerns and issues belong in the SUPPORT TOPIC for that mod...  most especially not in this announcement thread
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Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

movierchives

#16
Quote from: Kindred on April 20, 2015, 09:50:39 AM
Also - if you READ the original post, as Antes has already pointed out - Like with any mod - questions, concerns and issues belong in the SUPPORT TOPIC for that mod...  most especially not in this announcement thread

I know, I just follow what you said

kindred edit - quote fail
Quote from: Kindred on April 20, 2015, 08:18:45 AM
Basically, the thread that Antes linked you to was posted an hour before you posted...

Please try to search - or at least read the announcements before making critical statetemnts

Kindred

which did not say "post your comments to the announcement thread".  I said READ the announcement thread... which, very clearly then instructs you
Quote from: Kindred on April 20, 2015, 06:38:08 AM
Please use the mod's support topic if you have any questions regarding the mod or any issues installing or using the mod.

So. If you have issues. Please post to the mod support thread, as linked in the original post and/or as linked from the mod download page.

(side note, however, installing on a CLEAN forum with no mods DOES result in a "success" from Google's algorithm.
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Украинi

Please do not PM, IM or Email me with support questions.  You will get better and faster responses in the support boards.  Thank you.

"Loki is not evil, although he is certainly not a force for good. Loki is... complicated."

movierchives

I got told I was wrong to post there because of this existing thread, I give up

ARG01

Quote from: movierchives on April 20, 2015, 10:48:24 AM
I got told I was wrong to post there because of this existing thread, I give up

Don't give up., Just follow directions.

Quote from: Antes on April 20, 2015, 09:04:53 AM

Please post here with link to your site.
No, I will not offer free downloads to Premium DzinerStuido themes. Please stop asking.

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