No problems for me on a motorola q or a LG Dare.

Yes, as Noirin says it's down to the browser on the phone. Some older ones don't correctly support the style used.

You'd think the Storm would have a better browser... I did download a 3rd party browser and it worked well. Too bad the controls for that browser are almost unusable. I'll just have to wait for RIM to fix things...

Anyone else think it would be cool if the site had a mobile counterpart? Something like m.phpdiplomacy.com that optimized the display for a phone?

I understand that is way beyond the scope of the site, but I can dream.

That would be really neat, and would be a great long term goal.

Its not that far past the scope, and indeed if there are enough people interested (perhaps we should run a poll to find out if its worth the dev time?) writing a cut-down version of the site wouldn't be too hard...

using the T-mobil Google Phone I have minimal problems... the one issue I do have is that I cant scroll up/down on the msg boxes... but when there is a 'new' message, it does show up so I can respond... anyone find a way to be able to actually scroll up/down on the dialogue boxes?

figles - do you know why that might be a problem in the first place? (ps. the FB version of php does not even give that - so you cant even see the 'new' msg - you can only place orders or write messages without seeing the latest msgs from players)

I'd be interested in a cut down version. Currently I work from home (when I get work) so am online all the time, but I hope to be switching to a much more out and about role soon, being able to check and update effectively from Opera Mini would be grand.

Oh, can't really code, but can error check and beta test, not much of a developer, but can normally spot problems.

I'd be all for a mobile version. Make it blackberry compatible and I'm there!

Well, do consider what you feel is needed in a cutdown version. To be honest, I can't really think of anything in diplomacy that can go, other than the large gaps at the side of the page, and they're on their way out next release anyway...

If a series of web services were set up, then an actually mobile app could be written to make calls to the web services. Maybe later, during the summer, I could help with the web services and a series of mobile apps for the most popular phones and PDAs (Blackberry/Java phones, iPhone/iPod Touch, and Windows CE based phones)

It's useable on an iPhone

...and the mobile app would probably lose the map and just have a text list of where the units are.

I login with my BB all the time. No real problems.

Probably the simplest thing to do would be to put messages on a separate page and just put the text straight on the page (so you can scroll down the whole page). And having the map on a separate page might not be a bad idea either. I dunno.

A true mobile app could show either image (the large or the small) assuming the web service for the image sent image data. I have written web services that transmit images or audio. The key is to make certain the http stream is set for audio or image data.

po8crg: have you ever written a web service or a mobile app? I have. they ar emore than capable of handling image data.

Draugnar, websites, yeah, but not mobile apps. images yeah, but you'd need to rescale the map to fit on a smaller screen. And it depends how lowest common denominator you're going - if you want to work on a text-only B&W WAP phone, then you need a non-image option.

You clearly haven't written a mobile application before. Scale is irrelavent. I can draw a 1500x1500 image and have the mobile app scroll around on it. It's just J2ME Java fer cryin' out loud. It's easy to write scrollable image holders in a J2ME app. And on Windows CE, it is even easier.

Draugnar, you also have to take into account costs, I pay per Mbit DLd on my mobile, and it's a standard lowend Sony Ericsson. Personally, I'd rather not have to figure out a map image if there's a different way, and having text data would fulfill other ideals, like accessiblity requirements for screenreaders, etc.

And you still need a B&W option for images.

Sorry, I sometimes forget about costs. My company provides my Blackberry and my Verizon AirCard, so I don't think about the costs of cell service.

What could be done is to have the map and icons installed with the software, and the data come down as XML which would then be used to draw the map without having to download the graphics. As far as B&W, it could be offered in color or greyscale.

There are 2 technical solution you can go:
A. Write a specific application for the device.
B. Do everything web-based (detecting mobile application), using Javascript.

The best example of A is PalmPolitik for the Palm. I know the person who wrote it. It is lots of works.

The advantage of A above B is:
- Less communication when application is downloaded.
- You probably have more control over the device. Allowing saving and loading of game history locally etc.
- Also, more graphic possibilities. Although new browsers (except IE) allow SVG, so this argument becomes less and less relevant.

The advantage of B above A:
- No distribution problem for all the different devices.
- You have always the latest version.
- A solution A application will probably not be allowed in the Apple Store, due to copyright reasons.

Although solution B requires more communication, you can counter this effect by setting long expire dates in the HTTP headers (can be both for pictures and JavaScript). The consequence is, that when change graphis or script, a new name must be used and the main page should refer to the new name. This ensures that the data is loaded.

Lucas

Do lots of phones support SVG? If so, the new map design would be a pretty major step forward in making phpDiplomacy suitable for mobile use.

If you autosense the browser and it is IE, then you could send VML in it's place, although I understand that VML isn't supported in the new IE 8 beta. There is some question as to whether or not they will put it in when it goes live.

figlesquidge: I do not know.

I used BB 8800 and now the Bold without any problems. The bold allows a better view of the map so I don't have to click full map each time.