Using my smartphone to browse my favorite blogs and shops is convenient, especially when I’m stuck in a waiting room without any good magazines. While I was at the dentist with my son yesterday, I decided to check on this blog, to see what it looks like on a mobile screen.
Well, I had looked at it before, but I decided to look again. I loaded GeekMomMashup.com and waited for it to load. Then I scrolled down, which took quite a while, because the three-column design was forced into a very long single-column view. The flow of content and widgets was nearly unrecognizable, and the overall effect was messy and disorganized. I could hardly find anything, and I know exactly where to look! Not good!
I did some quick searching on “how to make a mobile version of a blog,” and other variations on those terms, and I ended up at MoFuse. It took just a few minutes to set up a free account, plug in my feed, and claim a MoFuse location for my mobile version. Easy!
And for even more mobile blog fun, I designated a new subdomain of my blog (m.geekmommashup.com) and pointed it to my MoFuse site. Then, I added a snippet of automatic mobile detection code (provided by MoFuse) to my blog, which sends visitors on mobile devices directly to the clean, lean, mean, mobile layout. Finally, I added a mini-mii version of my blog header, and voila!
It seems to be working, and it was quick, easy, and free. You can take a look from your mobile device at m.geekmommashup.com, or by taking a picture of this code (yes, that’s how it’s supposed to work, but I haven’t tried it myself). Or, you can enter your number here and have the link sent directly to your phone.
WELCOME! I can't teach you how to monetize your blog, but I can offer you some mostly intelligent conversation, moderately geeky tech talk, very funny mom stories, with the occasional rant thrown in for sanity. I'm so glad you're here!
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Stuart 09.24.08 at 7:54 pm
*waves hello to Heather*
I have been wanting to do this for a while. Managed to get the MoFuse account set up, but having problems getting the custom domain working. Hehe but thank you for the idea, sooooo much easier than the wordpress plugins I have tried.
*gives Heather another 5 gold stars*.
Stuart
Stuarts last blog post..Canon EOS 1000D - First Impressions
Lizzie 09.26.08 at 8:45 pm
such an informative post! thanks!! I am a blackberry addict and am glad to see how easy this can be done. now i know who’s blog i’m checking out in the dentists waiting room, yours!
Lizzies last blog post..Need I Say More?
GeekMom 09.27.08 at 9:00 am
@Stuart: Thanks for the stars! To get the custom domain to work, you have to get into your control panel where your domain is hosted, and add a subdomain for the mobile site. Then tell MoFuse where that is, and wait a little while (they say it could take up to 48 hours or something, but mine worked within 15 minutes) for everything to get sorted out. I’m not an expert on the domain stuff, but let me know if you need more help.
@Lizzie: I’m so glad it was helpful. It’s really easy to do. Thanks for visiting!
Emily 10.03.08 at 3:14 pm
I just have to say this is a great post i am on my way to make a mobile blog now! Thanks