Plugins that will make our site mobile

Now that we've identified how we need our mobile site to work, let's have a look at some of the plugins available and how they might match up to our criteria. Once we've done that, we'll have a go at installing and configuring two of the most popular mobile plugins.

Note that this list is taken from the plugins available in the WordPress plugin repository at http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins in June 2012. As plugins are added to the repository and sometimes removed, the list may change over time.

Plugin	Link	Features	Pros	Cons
WPtouch	http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wptouch/	Detects mobile User Agents and converts site content to a simple mobile-friendly layout by using a mobile theme. Premium version includes more advanced customization and iPad support, at https://www.bravenewcode.com/product/wptouch-pro/.	Reliable and popular. Can be used with no customization—works immediately. Customization options for colors, logo and menu icons. Use a different navigation menu from the desktop site—useful for different mobile navigation. Display widgets.	Limited customization available—makes it difficult to carry through branding or styling to mobile site. Doesn't resize image files for mobile devices. The mobile menu has to be set up even if you want the same menu as in the desktop site.
WordPress Mobile Pack	http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wordpress-mobile-pack/	Detects mobile User Agents and uses a mobile switcher combined with a number of mobile themes which you can choose from. Can be integrated with the WP SuperCache plugin for speed.	Flexibility—can be used as a switcher. Customization options via an options screen or by editing the theme's CSS. Relatively fast to load on mobile devices.	Limited customization options. Displays widgets.
Wapple Architect	http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wapple-architect/	Uses a third-party service to make existing theme mobile-friendly Detects User Agents—which one it targets can be configured. Requires a free license key.	Works with existing themes, so can carry styling through to the mobile site. Resizes images for speed on a mobile site.	Requires a license key, although this is free. Displays widgets.
Mobile Press	http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/mobilepress/	Detects mobile User Agents and uses a mobile switcher combined with bundled themes to render the mobile site.	Switcher allows flexibility to use with your own theme.	Doesn't display menus—so limited use for sites with a static home page.
WP Mobile Detector	http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-mobile-detector/	Detects User Agents and uses a switcher to display a mobile theme. Comes with seven pre-installed themes. A premium version is available with more customization options.	Switcher can be used to switch to your own mobile theme. Seven mobile themes give a degree of choice.	The bundled themes are limited and not very attractive. Doesn't display widgets. Colors and logos can't be changed without upgrading to the premium version or editing the theme CSS.

Note

A mobile switcher is a plugin (or functionality within a plugin), which detects when the site is being viewed on a mobile device and automatically switches to a theme which the site administrator defines. It normally detects the User Agent to do this.

A User Agent is an application, which accesses a website. Generally, this refers to a browser, but it can include screen readers, spiders, or any other application or programs that access websites.

Having looked at some of the most popular plugins and how they work, let's try setting two of them up—WPtouch and WordPress Mobile Pack. WPtouch is the most widely used mobile plugin.

WPtouch is used on a huge proportion of WordPress sites, and so the chances are that if you use a mobile to browse the web, you've seen it on some sites without even realizing.

WPtouch has a premium version with extra functionality, but here we will be working with the free version, available at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wptouch/. As of January 2012, this plugin had been downloaded nearly three million times, so that's a lot of websites!