Mobile themes versus responsive themes

In the past, most site owners who wanted a mobile-friendly site would use a separate mobile theme for the site with a design specifically for mobile devices. Some would also use different mobile domains. In fact, this is what those plugins we learned about in the last chapter are doing.

If you’re using a mobile theme, you tell WordPress to switch themes if the visitor is using a mobile, and stick to the desktop theme if he/she’s using a—yes you’ve guessed it—desktop PC.

A responsive theme, on the other hand, uses the same theme and similar styling for both sites, but uses a combination of a fluid layout and media queries to make the layout and content different on different-sized devices. It doesn’t just work for mobiles; responsive themes can change the look of a site on tablets or on really large screens, too.

Note

Responsive design—key terminology

To get to grips with a responsive design, you’ll need to understand the following:

• Fluid layout: This is a...