Mobility

I’ve finished up on a new Wordpress plugin called TxTu is_mobile(). The Wordpress plugin can be used to detect mobile browsers on your Wordpress blog. You can install the plugin in your Wordpress site and use the available is_mobile() function in your templates to detect mobile devices.

Continue reading: TxTu is_mobile() Wordpress Plugin

TxTu Is Mobile is a Wordpress plugin that enables you to check if a visitor of your Wordpress blog is using a mobile device like for instance a Nokia, Sony Ericsson or Motorola mobile phone.

The plugin is extensible enough to allow the inclusion of other mobile devices. You can also turn off mobile device checking by enabling or disabling it in the plugin’s configuration screen.

Download: txtu-is-mobile.zip
Current Version: 1.0.2
Updated: June 24, 2008
Size: 10.47 KB
Downloaded: 14 times

Installing the plugin

The procedure for installing the plugin is the same as any Wordpress plugin. Just unzip the file into the /wp-content/plugins/ directory. Then go to the WordPress Admin panel and click on “Plugins”. From the list of plugins look for the plugin named “TxTu Is Mobile”. Click on the “Activate” link to enable the plugin.

Once the plugin is enabled, go to “Settings / is_mobile()”. There are currently two options that you can configure.

The first option enables or disables the plugin. The other option is a comma separated list of strings that is tested to identify your blog’s visitor. You need to update the list to include the unique string that will identify the different mobile browsers that visit your site. Don’t worry about creating a complete list. You can always add them later.

How is it done

The is_mobile plugin works by comparing the “user agent” string of the browser of your blog’s visitor. If any one of the strings you inputted in the “Mobile Browser Strings” parameter is found in the visitor’s user agent string then the is_mobile() function of the plugin returns TRUE. Otherwise it returns FALSE.

You can use the is_mobile() function in your Wordpress theme to check if the visitor is a mobile user and perform actions based on the function’s return value (e.g. load a different stylesheet for mobile browsers, load an image with a different size for mobile devices …) The possibilities are limitless, just use your imagination.

If you need help just post a comment here and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

It looks like that Gameloft, a Java mobile game publisher, is not waiting for Sun’s Java for the iPhone. because they have just announced that they will be creating 15 games for the iPhone this year using Apple’s just released SDK for the iPhone.

The iPhone games will only be available for purchase once the Apple Store, featuring third party applications that can be downloaded to your device via WiFi or EDGE, launches in June 2008.

Continue reading: Gameloft to develop 15 iPhone games for 2008

I’ve managed to do some updates here at txtu.com. Besides tweaking the layout, I’ve activated my “Text Message of the Day” (TMOTD) feature on the sidebar. The TMOTD is randomly generated everytime a person visits txtu.com.

Along side the “Text Message of the Day” is a 2D barcode that you can scan using your mobile phone’s camera. It beats the hell out of having to type in the text you want to send as an SMS on your cell phone.

If you don’t have a 2D barcode software installed on your mobile phone and you own a Nokia or Windows Mobile cell phone, you can download the free software from Quickmark. You can find the instructions and link on the SMS page.

If you want to share some text messages, just post it as a comment for now on the SMS page and I will check on them.

Here’s a list of projects that is currently available for download on my site. Feel free to browse (not that it’s a long list since I currently have only one project to share with you ).

WordPress Plugin

• TxTu Is Mobile a WordPress plugin for detecting mobile devices. You can use the plugin’s provided is_mobile() function to detect a mobile browser inside your web site template. For example, you can check if the visitor to your web site is using a mobile phone and if so load a different stylesheet. Go to the TxTu Is Mobile project page to find out more information.
• TxTu Set Image Class is a WordPress plugin for processing images on your posts/pages. Go to the TxTu Set Image Class plugin project page to find out more information, download the plugin or read the installation instructions for TxTu Set Image Class WordPress plugin.