Making Vanilla Responsive
Hey guys, I'm not sure if this topic has come up yet but Responsive Design is definitely something that should be looked at for use with Vanilla. By using "a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images and an intelligent use of CSS media queries," the forum could adapt to any size of mobile device. That would eliminate the need to create and maintain a separate mobile theme for Vanilla, while at the same time increasing the number of devices that Vanilla would be optimized for. Definitely something to think about, and it wouldn't be too hard since Vanilla is already somewhat structured this way for embedding.
Here is a good article in case you guys haven't read about it yet: http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2011/01/12/guidelines-for-responsive-web-design/
And here is an awesome gallery of responsive web sites (resize your browser to see them in action): http://mediaqueri.es/
Best Answer
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amwebby
New
Responsive isn't about mobile at all, it's about device screen size, about designing a site so it looks good in any resolution, from 320px wide to 2580px. It is technically very simple, using media queries to alter font sizes, images, menus and layouts based on "break points" for different screen sizes. Vanilla has the basic building blocks because, unlike most forums, it isn't based on tables, which tend toward fixed width and have elements like rows and cells that you can't easily dynamically reposition dependant on screen width as you can with divs.
Therefore it shouldn't affect the core development of Vanilla as it is a template/html5/css3 thing.
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Answers
sounds like an excellent theme experiment
Vanilla Wiki, Tastes Great! 31,000 viewers can't be wrong. || Plugin Development Explained
Plus one for me. I'm currently searching for a responsive forum and portal to replace my current system and none other than Ethan Marcotte pointed me here.
I found this theme at Vanilla Skins that they say is responsive, but there is no demo link so I haven't been able to test it out.. I think having a responsive forum is very important due to all the people on smart phones and tablets these days.. if it can be done with a theme, all the better!
Its not 100 % responsive...
But have a play. [link removed by me]
feel free to contact me for a demo link
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I dont think vanilla should go for responsive because their mobile theme does pretty much work and they should invest more time for 2.1
But yes, it could be on long term plan where we can have responsive custom themes vased on responsive views.
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Responsive isn't about mobile at all, it's about device screen size, about designing a site so it looks good in any resolution, from 320px wide to 2580px. It is technically very simple, using media queries to alter font sizes, images, menus and layouts based on "break points" for different screen sizes. Vanilla has the basic building blocks because, unlike most forums, it isn't based on tables, which tend toward fixed width and have elements like rows and cells that you can't easily dynamically reposition dependant on screen width as you can with divs.
Therefore it shouldn't affect the core development of Vanilla as it is a template/html5/css3 thing.
in my experience tables of old, are % based on size ( ok the table width is usually defined ) but theres no real difference.
But I agree with you, the issue from our point of developing a responsive theme, ie. 100% responsive is difficult because of addons.
they generally have specific element attributes in pixels, that would mean we would be forever helping users move a voting button or facebook like or advert to a reponsive position.
The only way forward, is to build a new segment within vanilla that themes and plugins follow responsive rules.
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The problem with tables is not so much the table width as the rows and columns, which are fairly fixed elements. I have developed some css tricks to hide columns at lower screen sizes and even played around with converting tables into display blocks but it is arduous: you can't simply set a table cell to slide onto the next row when the screen gets narrower as you can with a div.
But I digress. You're quite right, the problem is add ons. Responsive design is still not at a stage where you can rely on it so your idea of a responsive segment/sandbox, is the best way forward. Bring it on!
I think it would be xciting to see a sandbox area as u suggest.
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