Wireless/CellPhone/PDA Access to the forums

[Editor]

UPDATED: SAT - 2006-09-16

Sitting on the bus or in the carpool on your way to and from work bored out of your skull? If you have a cell phone, PDA, or Blackberry with Internet Browser capability, you can now browse the Forums using an interface specially designed for the small screens.

Just point your device to http://forums.somd.com/wap/

The interface should be self-explanatory.

If you have any problems, please:

1) Using the device in question visit http://wiforums.net/mime.php . This will identify your device to the development team.

2) Contact us at http://help.somd.com/index.php?action=ticket_submit&d=1

Please be sure to provide the make and model of your cell phone/PDA and a detailed description of the problem.

NOTES FOR SPECIFIC DEVICES:

(Nokia Series 60 Devices)

The WAP browser that comes equipped with the above device(s) cannot display WiForums in WAP 2.0 mode as it was meant to be displayed. If you plan to access the forum in WAP 2.0 mode, you can select the "Series60" WiStyle (theme) via My Prefs as it circumvents most of the WCSS issues that are present in Series 60 devices.

(Sony Ericsson - NON Pxxx series Devices)

With the exception of the SE Pxxx series of WAP devices, the browsers that comes equipped with the above device(s) cannot display WiForums in WAP 2.0 mode as it was meant to be displayed. If you plan to access the forum in WAP 2.0 mode, select the "Series60" WiStyle (theme) via My Prefs as it circumvents most of the WCSS issues that are present in s and most SE WAP 2.0 browsers.

(Windows Mobile - SmartPhones, Windows Mobile - Pocket PCs)

Pocket Internet Explorer is not fully WML compliant (it does not include the appropriate WML accept header), it also does not render the true XHTML-MP pages outputted by WiForums. In order to insure WML compliancy we had to to develop a redistributable for Pocket IE users.

This version of WiForums contains redistributable applications entitled "WiForums Pocket IE Accept Header Modifier - MS SmartPhone Edition" (WiForums PIE AHM - SMARTPHONE.zip) & WiForums Pocket IE Accept Header Modifier - MS Pocket PC Edition" (WiForums PIE AHM - POCKETPC.zip).

Alternatively, Opera's Technical Preview browser for Windows Mobile SmartPhones can be downloaded at http://www.opera.com/download/mobile...Windows+Mobile . This browser supports both the XHTML-MP and WML markup modes of WiForums Full Featured v3.

[David (Premo)]

We just added a new option. You can now access the system as guest so you can browse forums or new threads without having to login. Logging in using a cell phone number pad can be challenging...

How you get to Guest Access depends on your device. On some devices like my LG VX7000 cell phone, you will see a simple link at the bottom of the login page. On other devices, you may see a menu button at the bottom left of your screen which you would activate using the left select button on the device. Then select Guest Access from the pop-up menu.

[David (Premo)]

One last note, there are several software emulators for Mobile web browsers available if you need to compare how something is working on your device.


1) Opera Mini Emulator

Opera Mini is a free downloadable browser for any device that supports Java. You'll also need Java on your PC to run the emulator.

http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/operamini/demo.dml

2) Wapsilon

This is a simple cell phone emulator that runs in your browser.

http://www.wapsilon.com/

3) WinWap

This is actually a free downloadable application that runs on your PC.

http://www.winwap.com/products_2_3.php

[David (Premo)]

OCT. 2, 2007: Just a note to let everyone know that the application for wireless access to the Forums was updated today to coincide with the major forums upgrade on Sunday.

The direct URL is http://forums.somd.com/wap/

There is also a link on the top forum's menubar that reads, "Wireless." Users with normal browsers who select that option will go back to the front forums page (Firefox will actually display some XML code).

For the technically inclined, this application supports Any WML 1.1+ or XHTML-MP compliant browser/device.