Managing XenForo on mobile only ?

Old Nick

Old Nick

Well-known member
Do you think this is possible?
(I no longer have a PC and I don't think I'll get a new one anytime soon).

I had a little fun with a demo and for now the only small drawback found is the identification of Less elements that I could do thanks to the browser development tools and that seems impossible to do on mobile.

Do you see anything else that could be penalising in managing XenForo only on mobile? (in a classic, basic way).

It would be a Cloud version of XF.
Thanks !
 
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Old Nick said:
@MySiteGuy, true. But…

…my previous forums I only manage them via PC and I cared about the appearance only via PC while 70% (or more maybe) only visit the web by mobile device. And I think it was a mistake and even wasted time to worry about how a widget is displayed on PC when it is most often displayed on a mobile screen.

Since I no longer have a PC, I thought it would be an opportunity to focus on using a forum like the vast majority of visitors.

Yes, there are inexpensive solutions to find wider and more comfortable screens for the back-end but if I can do without them then I would. And it seems highly playable so...
Click to expand...

You must also look at pages per visit, visit length and bounce rates to get an accurate picture of your visitors.

Mobile users average about 2.25 visits per page. Desktop users average about 4 pages per visit.
Mobile users average about 11.66 minutes per visit. Desktop users average about 18.33 minutes per visit.
58% of mobile users leave without visiting a second page. 48% of desktop users leave without visiting another page.

Basically, desktop users engage with the average website far more than mobile users, so it's not a good idea to ignore them. On forums especially, since posting rates tend to be higher with desktop users, and the same can be said with other conversion types, such as percent of users who buy a product.
 
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This is how i'd do it.
I'd initially set it up on my parents computer with a usb hard drive.
I'd return once a week to sort things out that need to be done via computer.
I'd then get some app like PWA or tapatalk.
 
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Interesting stats, thank you.

I probably expressed myself badly or maybe it's still confused for myself but I don't want to discriminate users via PC, I told myself that since the majority of visitors are generally via small screens, I might as well put themselves from their point of view to create and organise a forum...

It may be an unfortunate idea, I don't know. Anyway, XenForo is so made that anyway, with the basic style, no matter the size of the viewport then the display is good for the user.

In absolute terms, I imagined myself to be a better forum manager if I managed everything via mobile since I am closer to users from the point of view of user experience. It's probably wrong said like that, literally. But there is a "je ne sais quoi" lying around in my head... 🤷🏻‍♂️

—-
The initial question had a technical basis (I no longer have a PC) so maybe I'm trying to convince myself...
 
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Old Nick said:
It would be a Cloud version of XF.
Click to expand...
The cloud version is a premium service. Expensive, but good for people who have the money.

You might get @MattW to setup a server for you and the monthly fee for his site would be a better price.

With the money saved, you could afford a Chromebook quickly.

The 3 year cost of xenforo cloud starter pack is $2160 + tax. You could sure get a lot of paid help for that price by a smaller provider like him.
 
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It is true that the cost of XF Cloud is not negligible but I like the all-in-one concept, moreover I am currently, at least in a few weeks, more able to release €55 per month than €500 or €600 (XF licenses and hosting) at once with the obligation to buy a PC for even FileZilla (even if a priori we use it very little normally).

However, your reasoning is right on the substance.
 
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Old Nick said:
Do you see anything else that could be penalising in managing XenForo only on mobile? (in a classic, basic way).
Click to expand...
I have my forum added as a PWA on my phone. A lot of the times I manage it using my phone. I havent really had anything where "oh I need a computer to do this" other than perhaps editing code templates just because a touch screen is finicky.
 
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Yes, it seems, given the different answers, that not much is complicated to manage XF from a smartphone. For a few days I have been playing on a demo and I must say that it is even pleasant, some fields are difficult to fill in the style properties but nothing serious.

1717260979638.webp

These fields could take all the available width for example.
 
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Old Nick said:
Interesting stats, thank you.

I probably expressed myself badly or maybe it's still confused for myself but I don't want to discriminate users via PC, I told myself that since the majority of visitors are generally via small screens, I might as well put themselves from their point of view to create and organise a forum...

It may be an unfortunate idea, I don't know. Anyway, XenForo is so made that anyway, with the basic style, no matter the size of the viewport then the display is good for the user.

In absolute terms, I imagined myself to be a better forum manager if I managed everything via mobile since I am closer to users from the point of view of user experience. It's probably wrong said like that, literally. But there is a "je ne sais quoi" lying around in my head... 🤷🏻‍♂️

—-
The initial question had a technical basis (I no longer have a PC) so maybe I'm trying to convince myself...
Click to expand...
You're asking about two separate things, both of which are important:
  • Design and UIX for the typical user experience. This can include both front end theme work and back end template changes.
  • Admin configuration. This is entirely in the back end.

If you are designing for the front end, you are absolutely correct that you should prioritize the mobile experience. For many audiences, mobile now makes up the majority of viewports and ensuring you have a great theme that is mobile friendly is important. I would actually argue that in 2024, we should be designing our communities to be mobile first, and then desktop second.

At some point you will need to make changes and adjustments in the Administrator Control Panel. That can be hard to navigate only on mobile.

On a final note, it's usually recommended to configure Google Analytics or some other analytics tool, which can give you definitive metrics on mobile vs tablet vs desktop for your audience.
 
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AjayJunkies said:
On a final note, it's usually recommended to configure Google Analytics or some other analytics tool, which can give you definitive metrics on mobile vs tablet vs desktop for your audience.
Click to expand...
GA4 loses CWV points, which is a height! I haven't used it for some time. On the other hand, I always use GSC which allows you to see from which devices the queries are made, which amounts to about the same thing, if a user makes a Google query on a smartphone then he will visit your site on a smartphone.
 
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