Changes to the Mobile Version of the Website are Happening, News (Hamilton Huskies)

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Jun 27, 2016 | Web Admin | 4109 views
Changes to the Mobile Version of the Website are Happening
Last week all the sites were updated with changes to our public-facing mobile site – the one that is delivered when somebody visits the site on a phone or other device smaller than a tablet.  This article is a copy of the email from our Web Site host and will let you know what’s been changed so far and what their current plans are for the next few months.

 

Why Are We (MBSportsnet) Doing This?

 

The MBSportsWeb platform has had a mobile-friendly(er) version that automatically displayed on mobile devices since before it was “cool” to do so.  Nowadays it’s essential to have access to the information on your website on any device (about 40% of all traffic on our network is mobile) and while the mobile site we created 10 years ago still worked, it was overdue for some tweaking to take advantage of newer & more powerful devices.  These updates will also lay the foundation for even more mobile-centric enhancements to the site going forward, and could also eventually become the key pieces of the next redesign for the desktop version of the site.

 

Last winter we also started the process of updating the mobile version of the Control Panel which is of interest to all users, especially Team Webmasters.  That work is still ongoing but the focus of this email is on the public-facing mobile site.

 

The Basic Mobile Updates Plan

 

PHASE

EST. DATES

FOCUS

NOTES

PHASE 1

June 2016

Navigation

·Consistent, but highly brand-able, navigation

·Easy navigation between sites (org / league / team)

·Access to game officials portal / custom portals

·Easy navigation between pages & access to every page on any site

·Keep it lightweight & fast loading

PHASE 2

July – Aug 2016

Content

·Ensure all pages work well on smaller screens

·Update contact pages to enable tap-to-call or tap-to-email

·Bring all functionality of game officials site to mobile

·Enable mobile custom content on home pages

·Significant redesign of the various site home pages on mobile

PHASE 3

Sep – Oct 2016

Accessibility

·Ensure that those using mobile screen readers or other assistive technology have a great mobile experience

·Provide help / tips to ensure anyone can quickly navigate and get the most out of the mobile experience

 

Phase 1 – Navigation

 

Here is what the new header looks like on mobile, when not logged in:

 

 

And when logged in, the person’s name appears in the top-right with a drop-down menu for more options:

 

 

 

There are two critical “buttons” on the new mobile layout – “Site Finder” and “Menu”.  In addition, there is a login link (or the user-specific menu if logged in), the organization logo, the current context (next to the logo), and then a “quick menu” of icons which we think would be the most common destinations in a mobile environment.

 

One of the challenges that we (and you) face is that each MBSportsWeb site contains several sub-sites, and every one of those sites has its own menu of pages.  So in order for a visitor to find the page they are looking for, they will first need to find the site that contains that page.  This concept becomes easy / obvious once they’ve gone through it a few times, but for a person visiting the site for the very first time it might be a struggle to know where to start.

 

In the new mobile layout, clicking (tapping) the Site Finder will open a “popup” with links to all the sites available in the current season, with the exception of house league teams.  And clicking the Menu will open a “popup” showing all the pages available within the menu of the current site, and sometimes other stuff depending on the current context as listed in the table below.  Note that if something doesn’t exist, such as categories or hosted tournament sites, then it doesn’t appear in the Site Finder.

 

Current Context

Site Finder Shows…

Menu Shows…

Organization Site

·Collapsed List of Tournament Sites

·For each category, a collapsed list of all Team Sites plus a link to the Category Site

·Collapsed List of League Sites

·Collapsed List of Team Sites not in a category and not in a league

·Collapsed List of Other Seasons

·A tip at the top letting people know that if they’re looking for a team / league / tournament site that they need to use the Site Finder instead

·The Organization menu

Category Site

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

·An expanded list of all the Team Sites within that category

·Collapsed List of Tournament Sites

·For each other category, a collapsed list of all Teams Sites plus a link to the Category Site

·Collapsed List of League Sites

·Collapsed List of Other Seasons

·The Category Menu

·A collapsed list of Team Sites within that category

·The Organization Menu

League Site

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

·An expanded list of all the Team Sites within that league

·Collapsed List of Other League Sites

·Collapsed List of Tournament Sites

·For each category, a collapsed list of all Team Sites plus a link to the Category Site

·Collapsed List of Other Seasons

·The League Menu

·A collapsed list of Team Sites within that league

·The Organization Menu

Team Site

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

·If the team is in a category or league, an expanded list of all the other Team Sites in the same category or league

·Collapsed List of Tournament Sites

·For each category, a collapsed list of all Team Sites plus a link to the Category Site

·Collapsed List of League Sites

·Collapsed List of Other Seasons

·The Team Menu

·If the team is in a category, then that Category Menu is shown

·If the team is in a league, then that League Menu is shown

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

Tournament Site

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

·Then the same as what’s shown when on the organization site

·The Tournament Menu

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

Game Officials Site

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

·Then the same as what’s shown when on the organization site

·The Officials Portal Menu

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

Custom Portal Site

  • A link back to the Main Organization Site
  • Then the same as what’s shown when on the organization site

·The menu for that Custom Portal

·A link back to the Main Organization Site

 

** If a team is in both a league and a category, then as far as the Site Finder is concerned, that team will only appear in the League context. **

 

** In the Menu “popup” the page that is currently being viewed will be indicated with a green label. **

 

** If there are fewer than 25 sites available in the Site Finder, then everything is always displayed as an expanded list rather than a collapsed list. **

 

** If the person is logged in, and has access to either the Game Officials portal and/or any other custom portals, then the top of the Site Finder will have a collapsed group of “My Other Sites” at the top of any context. **

 

If you’re still reading this then that’s great because we’re open to feedback on the above setup and whether or not it makes sense or if it’s a little overkill.  There are things which are duplicated in some scenarios – for example when viewing a League site, the list of teams within that league is available in both the Site Finder “popup” as well as the Menu “popup”.  The reason that’s there is for ease of use, but it’s possible that might actually create more confusion since both buttons are supposed to perform a specific function.  So let us know your thoughts (just reply to this email).

 

We also need your feedback on the overall look of the new design for your association, and there’s two ways you can check things out for your own association:

1)      Visit your association site on a phone, or

2)      In the footer of the desktop version of your site, use the new “View Mobile Site” option.  (note: to get back to the full version you’ll find a “view full site” link in the footer of the mobile site when viewing on a desktop)

 

Things to look for are:

1)      Whether or not the colours used for the backgrounds, fonts, and links are all visible and easy to read (with a high level on contrast in case somebody is viewing the site on a phone outside in sunlight).

2)      Whether or not the Site Finder and Menu buttons load their respective “popup”s quickly

3)      Whether or not the Site Finder and Menu buttons are intuitive

 

** Note – we’re aware of an issue with the proportions of the main organization logo when viewing the mobile site in Internet Explorer (either desktop or mobile).  We’ll have that fixed this week. **

 

It’s pretty much impossible for us to test everything on all 400-ish sites out there, so if you spot anything strange with your association site please let us know right away.  We’ll spend the next week or so evaluating and refining the new header area on the mobile sites before starting with Phase 2 and the content side of things over the next couple months.

You can use the Feedback button at top right hands side of the Organization Home Page to submit any comments. This button submits to the Organization and the Web Site host.

Looking forward to getting your feedback,

 

MicroAge Basics

Goderich, Ontario


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