Anybody Using Free Responsive Template Successfully?

[traytray]

It would help to know what template you installed. We could install it on a test site and see if our results are the same as yours. Personally, old coot that I am, I think all the 'responsive' templates (not just for Zencart) look like crap on other-than-mobile screens. Too BIG and too much space between elements. Sadly, We're stuck with this situation as long as folks insist on interacting with life entirely through their telephones.

I love technology, but when I see a few people sitting together out to dinner and every one of them is texting, and there is no conversation among them, I'm truly puzzled.

Anyway, the responsive template is All_Business.

The person doing my coding uses 1366 x 768 and I have seen screen shots of her display with this template and it looks good. I use 1024 x 768 and no matter how she sets the fonts, or how much or how little zoom I use, it never looks good. It's all about the fonts being either much too large or much too small. What's immensely frustrating is how perfect it looks on the demo. I am sure there are other resolutions between mine and hers that will also behave badly.

Another problem we recently discovered is that when you shrink the screen to mimic a mobile device, the links that are visible don't work correctly. Some links do nothing, while others bring the link you clicked on to the very bottom. It looks like nothing happened until you decide to scroll all the way down and then you see the result.

When certain items are clicked on, it will bring you to the current live non-responsive store, so once things start to look good, I know I am no longer in the test store.

I'll look forward to your investigatory findings.

Thanks!

[RixStix]

Another problem we recently discovered is that when you shrink the screen to mimic a mobile device, the links that are visible don't work correctly. Some links do nothing, while others bring the link you clicked on to the very bottom. It looks like nothing happened until you decide to scroll all the way down and then you see the result.

Device emulators are not always detected by the responsive software. Sometimes it takes actual devices.
Sometimes, incorrect sidebox setup can cause issues similar to your description when the pages are reformatted on-the-fly for mobile devices by the responsive software

Curious.... Does the All Business demo behave the same as your setup? I say that because it is much easier to use the demo than the time it takes to install in a test site and go through the setup.

FireFox/Tools/WebDeveloper/ResponsiveDesignView in the 768x1024 and 1024x768 seems to function without the issues you have described. Mobile screen sizes look and function OK.

When certain items are clicked on, it will bring you to the current live non-responsive store, so once things start to look good, I know I am no longer in the test store.

That doesn't sound like a template issue.

Regarding my site. Android devices are a designers nightmare due to the huge number of screen sizes and other browser combinations. I think that issue was remedied in the latest Winchester_New update. I just haven't taken the time to install it. The percentage of users who actually have the issue due to the menu collapsing only occurs on a very small percentage of tablet devices (in the single digits). There is no issue in how the site "Looks" or "Best viewed with xxx browser". It is only the slimmenu functionality on certain Android devices.

[stevesh]

I'll take a look. Of course there are lots of ways to be judged mobile-friendly :

[traytray]

Device emulators are not always detected by the responsive software. Sometimes it takes actual devices.
Sometimes, incorrect sidebox setup can cause issues similar to your description when the pages are reformatted on-the-fly for mobile devices by the responsive software

Curious.... Does the All Business demo behave the same as your setup? I say that because it is much easier to use the demo than the time it takes to install in a test site and go through the setup.

FireFox/Tools/WebDeveloper/ResponsiveDesignView in the 768x1024 and 1024x768 seems to function without the issues you have described. Mobile screen sizes look and function OK.


That doesn't sound like a template issue.

Regarding my site. Android devices are a designers nightmare due to the huge number of screen sizes and other browser combinations. I think that issue was remedied in the latest Winchester_New update. I just haven't taken the time to install it. The percentage of users who actually have the issue due to the menu collapsing only occurs on a very small percentage of tablet devices (in the single digits). There is no issue in how the site "Looks" or "Best viewed with xxx browser". It is only the slimmenu functionality on certain Android devices.

The demo behaves perfectly on my 1024 x 768 resolution. But once the test store was created, there were immediate problems with text size being too small and when that was tweaked, it became too large. As for the mobile devices, I don't have a phone to test it on myself, but just shrinking the page, I get the issues I mentioned.

I'm hoping this can be remedied, because beyond all the time and effort that went into getting it to look the way I want, I actually like the template and thrilled it just has side nav and no mega-menu or drop down/flyout design to contend with.

[stevesh]

My test site (stevesh.com/demogoogle2) looks good at 1280X1024 and 1024X768. No text size issues that I can see. Also OK on online iPhone and Android emulators. Apparently Google doesn't care how far visitors have to scroll down as long as they don't have to scroll side-to-side.

I like this template, too. Another winner from Picaflor Azul.

[RixStix]

I'm pretty sure that there is some customization or overlooked item in the setup causing your site to look and/or behave differently from the demo. Your coder has probably accidentally broken the responsive nature of the template.

Getting back to a known starting point might be the easiest thing to do instead of identifying and "Un-doing" the changes made by your coder.

Reading the support thread for this and other responsive templates can help with issues. Sometimes an issue discussed in a different responsive support thread can be applied similarly to others.

[DarkAngel]

ok guys, here I am too, this is a test store she has it on, thank god not her live one. 1.5.4, fresh install out of box so to speak.....the only template installed aside from default that come with cart is All Business.

The only changes to the store is colors changes, text transfers from her live store files to the test store files and all in override folders so nothing on core files are touched....except the ones that were indicated by the installer for this template.

I have a mac that can do many sizes of screen res plus a pc that is that same and truthfully I have issues however she has IE (not sure of version) FF latest version and Chrome....and yet she sees things much differently. She does prefer to use the screen res of 1024x768 and sees things much different when viewiing the test store.

I have my Motorola X Second Gen and that is the one where I myself visited the test store in. The template does act responsive but the first batch of links only have 2 that work . There are 7 link blocks at the top under the logo/tag line:

shopping Cart < loops back to HOME
Log In ---- works
Shopping < loops back to HOME
Quick Links < just hilights but does nothing
Information <same as above
Search < loops back to HOME
Contact Me---- works by putting contact form at bottom of screen

Now personally I do not like responsive ones either and if they are needed i wish there was someone to make on that when the media is detected to be used on a phone or something like that --- then it would auto switch to the proper template and not have to be visible all the darn time.

I have a test store of my own also fresh install and only winchester_black installed (my live store is black so thought yay thisone is perfect and needs only color changes...yeah right. It is not behaving and have not delved into it more since I a trying to get hers to work. If I recall it did not let me add the sideboxes...not even the default ones.

Not sure if she gave you her test link but here it is: http://storetest.designerperfumesnob.com
mine is: http://fantasiesrealm.com/market3/index.php

We as users, should not be expected to just fiddle with the responsive.css cause we could ruin things more than they already are. I know enough that if even a little is messed up it loses its responsiveness.

I appreciate any and all assistance. I am not the worlds greatest coder but if told what I need to fix/where/how I can usually make it so. My 62 year old brain is total mush lately with this template and the other one. I also know since I run a store and tell my creators this all the time, when they get frustrated with "fixes" needed to their products, and I hear that it is "only a freebie". I tell them that yes it may be a freebie, but it also reflects on them and their work, if people have problems with the free items will they really want to try something that is paid for item? With the thought in the back of their minds that will it not work right either.

I appreciate all the work it takes to make these things that we do not know how to do so but supporting the free like the paid is supported is not really much to ask....IMHO

[traytray]

I have a mac that can do many sizes of screen res plus a pc that is that same and truthfully I have issues however she has IE (not sure of version) FF latest version and Chrome....and yet she sees things much differently. She does prefer to use the screen res of 1024x768 and sees things much different when viewing the test store.

I'm using IE11 and 100% View and Medium fonts. That is just what I happen to prefer. When I click on the link you provided for the store test, http://storetest.designerperfumesnob.com it displayed at 75% and the top sidebox: "Shop By Designer," has several of the designers names hidden. It looks as if the box is too narrow to display the entire box.


On FF, using the link you provided, it opened up at 80% and it also has the designers names partially hidden.

I'm not sure why using your link the test store displayed at those percentages rather than full screen. Using the lesser percentage makes the page display so much better, (but there are still some problems), but if the store were live, would the visitor see it at 80% or more likely whatever they had their view set? If that were true, then I am forcing them to change their view percentage in order to see the site better. I don't have to do that for the demo. I can view it at full screen 100% and it looks perfect, while the test store has huge fonts at that view.

I'm simply trying to present the store as the demo is - with no need for the visitor to have to work at getting it to look right.