Yes this would be of interest.

Rob

Thank you all for your comments. This encourage me to work on this project.  I plan to release a beta
version by the end of this year. My solution will contain 5 components:
- A DNN Module with following functions:
       - When added first time it will auto-configure itself to be present on all pages;
       - The page (tab) that contains the module will be enabled for mobile devices;
       - Will manage the skin to be loaded when the page is accessed from a mobile device;
       - Will preview the page close to  the way it looks on a mobile device;
- A DefaultMobile.aspx page that will have the same function as Default.aspx but for the mobile context. And cleaned off anything that's not usable on mobile devices.
- A httpModule that will redirect requests coming from a mobile device to DefaultMobile.aspx
- A set of minimal skins suitable for mobile browsing.
- A new navigation provider mobile friendly.
 
- The mobile skin will act also as a filter for content.  This means if the mobile skin have all panes present in the desktop version, then all content will show. If only ContentPane is present in mobile skin, then only modules of that pane will be displayed.

- The new DefaultMobile page will have a mechanism of loading a mobile version of an existing module if there is any. For example for the HTML/text module,  HtmlModule.ascx is the user control registered for viewing this module.  If mobiHtmlModule.ascx is present then DefaultMobile page will load that one instead. This will allow module creators to create specific behavior for mobile devices.
 

On the roadmap for the next versions I have:
- Ability to target a specific device with a specific set of skins. For example you can set a default skin for any mobile device and a separate skin that will load only for Blackberries.
- Add content filter management for each page. Where you can switch the visibility of certain modules on or off.
- Add elements of content adaptation like image resizing. Similar of what www.skweezer.net or www.mowser.com are doing. All as an option for portal administrator. Mobile page will contain access to desktop version through a skin user control.

I know this was a little technical. On the same note I would add that my intention in the first place was to
leave the core untouched and be able to be independent of DNN upgrades etc.
 
Please let me know if there is anything specific you would like to see in this add-on. I also welcome any of your comments.

 - Marian

Marian:

The work you have in mind sounds very interesting. 

I just wanted to ask you if you are aware that DNN used to have support for mobile devices back in v1.0.10?   It was removed along the way because it was not a "perfect" solution, it would become increasingly hard to maintain, and most important I believe was lack of interest (it was kind of ahead of the curve).  The way it worked was that each module would have an additional flag in its settings to mark it for mobile like "Show to Mobile Users?".  If I remember correctly, this would detect the browser and if the user was getting the site from a mobile device the request would be redirected to MobileDefault.aspx.  This would then display the site using the ASP.Net mobile controls (you familiar with these?  If not see this link).  This required another set of mobile modules, hence the maintenance issue.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but I am still running my Web site on 1.0.10e basically because of the support for mobile (hey, it works), if you have a mobile device (or emulator) to try it go to www.almacigo.com.  Some time ago I wrote a little application for mobile access using the mobile controls (and mobile forms) provided by ASP.Net 1.1 and was very interested in this, my hunch about the future of mobile access was right I guess, it just took a while to get traction.  The DNN mobile scheme worked fairly well within all its limitations.  The idea was not to show exactly the same site as you would see on the PC (like the iPhone) but something close, at least you could say that you had a presence for mobile.  I tested this with various Web capable phones at the time, including my wife's Motorola StarTac with a display of only four lines of TEXT, and I was able to get the site and navigate it, do searches against a SQL database, etc.  Bear in mind that the ASP.Net mobile controls can detect and automatically adjust the rendering for hundreds of devices, so you don't have to maintain multiple implementations of the modules or skins.

If you wish to play or see the code from 1.0.10e let me know, I have the package with source code, the Zip for the whole thing is 1.7MB.  If you wish to contact me for this the email is cr(at)almacigo.com, I don't think this forum is forwarding responses lately.

Good luck with your project, please keep us informed on your progress.

Carlos