Forum:Wikia is not displayed correctly on android tab

Forums → Ten Forward → Wikia is not displayed correctly on android tab (reply • watch)

As I understand it, Wikia is working on an Android app, but there is not one currently. Unfortunately you will probably have to wait until then. 31dot (talk) 20:19, May 23, 2013 (UTC)

I can feel your pain - the mobile web version is ugly and useless. As a workaround, you can request the "Full Site" via a link at the bottom of every page. This setting is not saved, but usually works for a while. -- Cid Highwind (talk) 21:01, May 23, 2013 (UTC)

I wouldn't necessarily agree that it's useless, however, I agree with you that it needs improvement and for that, we need your feedback. It would be great if you could tell us what you'd like to have improved on our mobile web, so that Memory Alpha can be displayed better and offer more quality to the user. As for the Android app: We currently have a reader app called My Wikia, which, for now is only available on iPad's. The Android version of the app is been developed and is suppose to be released later this year. Again, it would be greatly appreciated if we could work together on offering a better mobile display for Memory Alpha as the amount of mobile readers is increasing rapidly. Thanks! Cheers, Mira84 16:38, June 3, 2013 (UTC)

Sure. To start it off, it would generally be nice if the mobile site used the same (or a similar) design&layout as the standard one. Currently, "MA-mobile" is displayed using a generic black-on-white design instead of the custom MA one (white-on-dark-grey). This means that at least the "Theme Designer" settings, and preferably all additional CSS changes, should be used for mobile, too.

Then, responsive web design! It would be great if page layout was the same at least for bigger tablets. I have a 7-inch tablet, and the full site looks good enough on it. Layout should revert to a simpler version (with, for example, centered full-size images instead of right-aligned thumbnails) only if a smaller screen is detected, not generally.

Last but not least, it seems to be impossible to edit from the mobile version. While viewing/reading is most likely the most important use-case, there should still be an edit link somewhere. -- Cid Highwind (talk) 17:25, June 3, 2013 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the fast response. Just to elaborate on the things you pointed out.

1.& 3. The mobile skin we developed is intended to be fast, responsive and easy to read and browse. Because of that, we do not allow any custom css to be embedded onto the mobile skin. Also, editing is not supported with this version, as it's really hard to edit large article pages on a mobile phone, especially in Wiki Text. However, we're currently about to start the development process for a refresh of the skin and we'll definitely have some light editing in there (Editing article sections - to make it easier to edit on a phone, etc...) Also, we'll offer some customization as well, so that the visual part will be better for sure.

2. As to responsive web design: We genuinely try to offer the best mobile experience. We agree that tablets 7-inch and above should be served with the full site experience. If in your case the skin switches back to the mobile view, it means that we didn't optimized the user agent you're using for our mobile experience. I would kindly ask you to send me the name and model of your device so we can add it to our user agent list. Again, thank you very much for the response and should you, or anybody else from MA, have some feedback or wishes for the mobile skin refresh, please don't hesitate to let me know about it. Thanks! Cheers, Mira84 17:38, June 3, 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the information. My tablet is a Nexus 7, using up-to-date Android OS and Chrome browser. I might get back to you with further feedback later. -- Cid Highwind (talk) 18:15, June 3, 2013 (UTC)

I'm still being served the mobile instead of the full view occasionally. Please fix. --Cid Highwind (talk) 12:59, August 14, 2013 (UTC)

The good news is that Archduk3 and I are having a "meeting" (of a sort) with the mobile guys next Monday around Noon ET. As such, I'll make certain to bring this discussion up with them to ensure that it's covered off. -- sulfur (talk) 13:03, August 14, 2013 (UTC)

This is still not fixed. Sulfur, do you want to bring that up again, or should I ask directly? --Cid Highwind (talk) 13:33, October 14, 2013 (UTC)

I sent in a bug report myself, now. -- Cid Highwind (talk) 12:16, October 31, 2013 (UTC)