With AI (Artificial Intelligence, not the steak sauce) now in the environment, has anyone created a phone-based app for their class website?

The one thing our classmates repeatedly complain about is not having a phone app (both iPhone and Android) where they can easily access our class website. Yes, you can get to it by typing the URL in a browser, but a phone app is what they REALLY want.

With a phone app, I feel like we'd have much better buy-in to this platform, giving us more bang for our buck.

On my Google Pixel 9 android phone, I simply created a tab/website shortcut for our site, which I added to the home screen. I click on the tab and it takes me to the class site. I can't help you with an I-phone, but maybe something similar is available.

Steps for Creating a Permanent Link (Android):
Using Chrome:
Open Chrome and go to the desired website.
Tap the three vertical dots (menu) in the top-right corner.
Select Add to home screen.
Name the shortcut and tap Add.
Select Add automatically to place it on the screen.

Using Firefox:
Open the website in Firefox.
Tap the menu button and select Page.
Choose Add to Screen.
Using Samsung Internet:
Navigate to the website in the browser.
Tap the menu (three lines icon).

iPhone
Steps to Create a Permanent Website Link (Home Screen)
Open Safari: Launch the Safari app and navigate to the website you want to link.
Tap Share: Tap the Share button (box with an arrow pointing up) located at the bottom of the screen.
Select 'Add to Home Screen': Scroll down the list of options and tap Add to Home Screen.
Name and Add: Type a name for the shortcut, then tap Add in the top-right corner.
Note: The icon will now appear on your home screen and behaves like an app.

Using Other Browsers
Google Chrome: Tap the share icon at the top, scroll down, and select Add to Home Screen.
Microsoft Edge: Tap the three horizontal lines at the bottom, scroll down to find the Share option, and select Add to Home Screen.

Scott, suggest to convert your site to Responsive, since a classic site is not phone friendly.

The "width" issue is easily changed to match your existing with with a very simple CSS override in preferences. I can post it if anyone is interested.

Responsive is very user friendly for phones.

Hi Jack,
Yes, I've mentioned many times that my main objection under Admin Functions > Change Design in switching from a Professional Design to a Responsive Design is that the default text width in Responsive Design is uncomfortably wide when viewed on a desktop PC. For instance, when I look at the In Memory entry on your site for Kathleen Gallagher using my desktop PC, the text is uncomfortably wide. It spans the entire width of the page to the right of the left side menu. I'm guessing the pixel width is about 932 versus the maximum 685 on my site, leading me to believe you have not implemented the CSS override on the In Memory entries on your site.

Please do post instructions on how to reduce the maximum text width in Responsive Design, using a CSS override in Admin Functions > Preferences, to the current maximum of 685 pixels I'm currently using in the Professional Design.

Questions: Does your CSS override apply both to images and text width? Also, do you know of any Responsive Design sites I may view which have a roughly 685 pixel width?

Scott,

Classic page width is 1000px.
Left sidebar is 200 (plus some padding, etc)

The area defined between the left column and what is left over, that is 685. That's very narrow for the home page when the right margin is subtracted.

Responsive page width (when fixed is selected) is 1230, so about 230 wider. That leaves about 947 for the right side.

To reduce the width to match old 1000, add THIS to the Preferences section. The left column is set at 19% to match your old width of 200. You can play with it to see how it looks.

Just remember that in the Design section, this overrides the width there. IOW, you have to modify the width in Preferences.

<style> .content { max-width:1000px !important;} .sidebar {width:19% !important;}</style>

This matches your old width. And you can experiment to see if slightly wider would work better. The HOME page benefits the most from the wider view.

Now the IMAGES remain exactly the same size since you have them set to a fixed width. In Responsive, new images now have a percent value so they adjust accordingly. Using Percent sizing (just do the width, remove height) works for both Classic and Responsive.

However, I do NOT recommend doing this in the Preferences in the long term. Instead restrict the width content for any page using the same CSS type of code on pages. Just make your OWN styles. It's fun to experiment with. (But you can get a quick idea of how it all looks without any changes.)

Simplest way is to use "div" elements to confine an area by a percent. One instruction site that is very easy to use is w3schools. Has an online editor where you can try things out.

W3SCHOOLS site is a great resource

Although the link you examined that you thought was too wide, it's a minor part of our site (I could make that narrower but I think it's fine.)

Now look at these site links and see how I used CSS to take advantage of the wider width. I did that way back (10 years ago?) and have learned better since then.

This Day In History illustration how an IFRAME looks way better in Responsive.

See Bothell History that takes advantage of the wider width to make a page much more attractive (vs a narrow restricted page). Plus all the associated pages. Classic can't come close.

Then it all Automatically resizes for phones.

General guideline for Responsive is to use PERCENT for sizing, not absolute numbers. Using fixed values breaks Responsive design. Tables and images are probably the two most common areas that should be modified.

Instead of "500px" change to "50%" - value depends on what you have and what fits correctly.

PS, I have NOT implemented any width changes on our site's Responsive Design. Pretty much everything is stock. There are a few "fixes" I made where CC made a mistake or where I wanted it to behave differently (did not like hover style for example). Those are not related to "width" issues. All pages involve custom CSS just for that page for various elements.

(Do not use PNG or GIF images in the TOP. They will disappear Just stick to JPG