Our “Tips Central” blog series spotlights WPtouch Pro-powered sites built and maintained by designers, developers and site owners like you. Read about other designers, developers, and site owners’ experiences with WPtouch Pro and get ideas for your own projects. Our experts also provide their recommendations for additional site enhancements using WPtouch Pro.
Site URL: leeannbrady.com
Site Designer: Kelly Brady
License Type: Developer
Twitter: @drleebrady
How long have you been using WPtouch Pro?
I believe we launched the site in May 2011. We initially used the free version of WPtouch and soon after upgraded to WPtouch Pro. Besides the enhancements to my mobile site, I liked the idea of having access to support.
Why did you choose WPtouch Pro to power your mobile site?
I’m not a good front-end designer and I needed a solid, functional mobile capability for blog posts. I’m not a theme developer and certainly not a mobile theme developer. The plugin I chose needed to support embedded video but not clash with a complex, free theme framework we currently use. I really liked the look and feel of WPtouch Pro right out of the gate so nothing had to be done except setting a few preferences in the WPtouch Pro admin panels.
What do you like most about using WPtouch Pro?
“Fire and forget.” WPtouch Pro doesn’t cause problems, doesn’t require a lot of maintenance, looks very nice, and keeps up with iPad/Android and other mobile display formats.
What improvements would you like to see included in future WPtouch Pro updates?
I’d love to see a theme wizard or other easier parameters made available so that I could change some of the look and feel a little if I want to without having to learn more about your mobile themes. I’d also love for you to include — or to offer at a small fee — a set of ready-to-go mobile themes that vary the look and feel a little.
OUR TIPS CENTRAL SUGGESTIONS FOR leeannbrady.com
Note: Links to support documentation are available exclusively to current WPtouch Pro customers who are logged into bravenewcode.com.
1. Extend non-mobile theme styling.
WPtouch Pro’s styling options — including its fully customizable child theme feature — will allow the non-mobile theme’s styling elements such as header, navigation bar, and content area background color to be carried through to the mobile theme. Small changes such as these can help solidify brand continuity across platforms.
WPtouch Pro’s Mobile theme styling options
2. Add social links.
WPtouch Pro’s menu can be customized to include the social links from the “Stay Connected” homepage sidebar on leeannbrady.com. Up to three items can be added to the default WPtouch Pro menu or a custom WordPress menu can but used for maximum flexibility. Icons can be added to maximize recognition.
Support Documentation: Using a custom WordPress menu
Adding custom social media icons
3. Enable advanced functionality.
It appears that the non-mobile theme for leeannbrady.com uses custom post types, custom page templates, or a combination of these to display content such as the “Dental Articles” landing page. WPtouch Pro can be set up to access these functions from the non-mobile theme so they are available to mobile devices.
NOTE: Complexity of this setup varies with the complexity of the non-mobile theme.
Support Documentation: Enabling Custom Post Type Support
and Creating a Custom Page Template
WPtouch Pro’s Custom Post Type support
4. Include Google Translate functionality.
The non-mobile site uses a plugin that adds a Google Translate tool to the site footer. That plugin’s code can be included in the Custom Footer Content field in WPtouch Pro’s General settings and will appear on the mobile site experience.
Custom footer content support
5. Add startup images for iOS Web-App Mode.
When activating iOS Web-App Mode to complete your online experience, WPtouch Pro offers options to include images for a variety of screen sizes and resolutions, including Retina displays.
Support Documentation: iOS Web-App Mode
Web-App Mode loading screen options
Are you interested in having your WPtouch Pro-powered site featured in our “Tips Central” series? Please drop us a note through our contact form to inquire.