Jobos Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 It time we updated our Joomla website so have been looking around at different templates. One school caught our eye and I see it's using a template from Yootheme. It looks the business and the head and myself both agree the design is just what we are looking for but the only problem if you can call it a problem is that the template is not responsive. How much of an issue would it be if the site is not responsive? Our current site is responsive and I don't like the way it looks on my mobile so to me it's not important but would like to hear the views of others? There is quite a lot on google about this and a very quick read shows I'm not the only one who doesn't like responsive websites.
smidsy Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 I have just recreated our school website using the responsive Purity III template from https://www.joomlart.com/joomla/templates/purity-iii and the newest 3.5 version of Joomla. The administrator back end for the template was pretty easy to make changes with and we have created the following: Roskear Primary and Nursery School - Home. I like the way that the template resizes for smaller devices and I have tested this on my tablet and phone where it still displays well. A larger proportion of users are now using mobile devices so I think it is quite important.
jdoyle Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 I suppose it depends on whether you care what visitors to your website see and the impression it leaves.
Arreks Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 Are parents likely to look at your School's website on their phones? probably not. Should it be responsive anyway? probably. Media responsiveness is quickly becoming a standard in web development, if you can.. you should.
elsiegee40 Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 Are parents likely to look at your School's website on their phones? probably not. Should it be responsive anyway? probably. Media responsiveness is quickly becoming a standard in web development, if you can.. you should. Actually I'd say they're more likely to look on their phone or tablet than on a computer these days. So many people don't have landlines and their only internet access is through their mobile device. I believe also that Google is starting to penalise sites that aren't reponsive which be another reason to make sure your site is.
LosOjos Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 It's very important, yes. If your website isn't responsive, then it's not going to work well on mobile devices. If your parents try to access your website via their phone/tablet and it's not responsive, they're going to come away frustrated. If they're frustrated, they're not happy. End result: wound up parent ends up calling the school because they couldn't get what they wanted from the website, or potential parent goes elsewhere because they couldn't easily access information on your school. Extreme cases maybe, but your website may well be many people's first impression of your school; don't disappoint. As for "not liking responsive websites" - sorry, but this only shows your misunderstanding of what that means. A responsive website simply formats itself for the screen space it has; that's it. If you don't like the format, that's a separate issue.
AJWhite1970 Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 Our old website was unresponsive and the PC/Mobile view ratio was 80%/20%. Our new site is written completely in html5 and is fully responsive and in the 6 months since it went live the view ratio is now 65%/35% in favour of mobiles and tablets... 1
spadam Posted June 17, 2015 Posted June 17, 2015 (edited) It's important! I thought that all Yootheme templates for at least the past couple of years now were fully responsive anyway. Are no e of these suitable for you? Edited June 17, 2015 by spadam
sonofsanta Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 It's important now, absolutely, both because mobile devices are such a common way of quickly checking information and because Google is now prioritising sites that are mobile-ready. But in two years time, let alone five, it'll be absolutely essential. If you're redoing your site now, do the job well enough that you don't need to revisit it till next decade.
localzuk Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 Are parents likely to look at your School's website on their phones? probably not. The majority of our web visitors come via tablets and phones. Having a responsive site is not just about "looks" it is about functionality. Is the site easy to navigate and read if it isn't responsive? Designing a site to be responsive is pretty easy, especially with the various pre-made frameworks like Bootstrap that are available now. Or with Dreamweaver CC having the ability to show different devices. Our website, for example, is currently terrible on mobile devices. Our new website will be fully responsive. 1
Jobos Posted June 18, 2015 Author Posted June 18, 2015 I can honestly say I wasn't expecting such a push towards responsive websites. Thank you everyone for your input which is duly noted. Tomorrow when I'm back at the school I will look again at the different templates available.
sonofsanta Posted June 18, 2015 Posted June 18, 2015 Just checked our analytics over the last month: Windows 53.14% iOS 28.54% Macintosh 10.89% Android 6.20% Chrome OS 0.47% Windows Phone 0.45% Linux 0.18% BlackBerry 0.10% (not set) 0.03% So a third of our visitors are on mobile platforms. That's a big chunk. We went with a new responsive design about 6 months ago.
Jobos Posted June 19, 2015 Author Posted June 19, 2015 Not having a responsive website doesn't mean mobile uses won't be able to access your site, it just means they will need to scroll more. Here is a website checker. Have a look at a few local schools not forgetting your own and you will soon see it they are responsive or not. MobileTest.me - Test your mobile sites and responsive web designs
LosOjos Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 (edited) Not having a responsive website doesn't mean mobile uses won't be able to access your site, it just means they will need to scroll more. Here is a website checker. Have a look at a few local schools not forgetting your own and you will soon see it they are responsive or not. MobileTest.me - Test your mobile sites and responsive web designs I don't think anyone stated they wouldn't be able to access your site, just that it'd be unpleasant to use. You'll be hard pushed to find anyone worth their salt telling you not to make a responsive website, and if you do I'd seriously question their reasoning. EDIT: also, if you're using Chrome, tap F12 then click the device icon and you can emulate lots of popular devices Edited June 19, 2015 by LosOjos 1
localzuk Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 I'm quite surprised that you're so keen on producing a site which isn't responsive to be honest. In the multi-device world we operate in now, targeting your website at a single size/format seems a little odd!
Marshall_IT Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 Yes, if for nothing else other than the fact that Google rate responsive website higher than none responsive sites and you certainly don't want your site doing down the rankings.
3s-gtech Posted June 19, 2015 Posted June 19, 2015 I like our current design, and really don't fancy doing it all again. That said, we've managed to add some responsive elements to it already today and it's definitely more mobile friendly already. We'll just nibble away at it bit by bit - the original theme was made for Joomla 1.5 so it's had a fair bit of hacking about now!
zag Posted September 21, 2015 Posted September 21, 2015 as a part time web developer, this is essential these days.
plastic_robot Posted September 22, 2015 Posted September 22, 2015 Responsiveness is absolutely important these days, especially when the site is more than likely to be someone's first impression of your school. Related to responsiveness, what are people's opinions on navigation within a school website? On some school websites, I find it quite time consuming and frustrating to locate the information I am seeking. Does anybody else share that view, or have that worry about their website?
Arthur Posted January 4, 2016 Posted January 4, 2016 You have to implement Bootstrap Algorithm Framework for responsive website. You don't have to use Bootstrap. There are plenty of alternatives.
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