Why does the Follow Button not appear in the mobile view?

  • Unknown's avatar
    kake2kale · Member ·

    As expected, the Follow Button shows up on the lower right hand corner of my blog site; but it doesn’t appear in mobile (eg iphone 5s) viewing mode in full site mode. Is this a limitation or am I missing a setting? I want the Follow button to be stand out when mobile viewing, but how is this possible? Thanks, Kake2Kale.com

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    thatrobyn · Member ·

    Hey there!

    I took a look at your site on my mobile devices, and I see the tab in the lower right corner. Is it possible that you’re logged into WordPress.com when you’re looking at your site? If that’s the case, that tab is for non-signed-in, or non-WordPress.com users. It doesn’t appear for signed in users, as they can follow through other means.

    Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks very much.

  • Unknown's avatar
    kake2kale · Member ·

    Thanks for the quick reply Thatrobyn. It does pop up on my iPad, it does not show up on my iPhone and I am not logged into WP. Tried a friend’s iphone and it doesn’t show up either. Glad to hear that you can see it – which mobile devices did you try? Thanks for helping.

  • Unknown's avatar
    thatrobyn · Member ·

    Hi again!

    You are absolutely right. I misspoke. It appears as if the button was left out of the latest version of WordPress.com mobile sites. It seems as if many folks felt like it “got in the way” of the small screen.

    So, while a logged IN user will see the Follow button in the toolbar at the top of their page, a non-logged in user won’t have that option.

    My suggestion to you is to add a follow blog widget. Then, it will be accessible on mobile phones.

    Here is info about that widget:
    http://en.support.wordpress.com/widgets/follow-blog-widget/

    Sorry for the confusion! If I can help answer any other questions about this, let me know! Thanks.

  • Unknown's avatar
    kake2kale · Member ·

    Hi. On the mobile site, there is no toolbar at the top of the page. Am I missing something?

    I already have a ‘follow blog widget’ which is on the sidebar but this sidebar does not appear in full view on the mobile. If I turn on the ‘mobile-friendly’ setting ON then the follow widget shows up mid-page in the page. And, to be honest, I don’t like the mobile-friendly viewing version as the title is missing (not sure why). What I would like is to have an obvious follow button that is prominent and in the full view version on a mobile device. Readers that want to sign up should not have to look for it, it should be obvious. Any suggestions on how to set up a work around?

    Ideally, is there a way to ask WP.com to add this button feature in like it is on an iPad and desktop? It’s small enough and would not get in the way.

    Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it.

  • Unknown's avatar
    thatrobyn · Member ·

    Hey there,

    The toolbar should appear if you are logged into WordPress.com on Safari or Chrome.

    For instance, I went to WordPress.com in Chrome, logged in, and went to my site. I see this at the top of the page:

    https://cloudup.com/c0squ7-2wxp

    I already have a ‘follow blog widget’ which is on the sidebar but this sidebar does not appear in full view on the mobile.

    Each theme does appear differently on mobile, according to the wishes of the developers. You may prefer a theme that display widgets more prominently. You can go to this URL:

    https://wordpress.com/themes

    Take a look at the theme demos on you laptop/desktop, and your mobile devices. See what you like best.

    And, to be honest, I don’t like the mobile-friendly viewing version as the title is missing (not sure why).

    It appears as if you’ve already played with the settings, here:
    https://kake2kale.wordpress.com/wp-admin/themes.php?page=mobile-options

    But, you may find you like some of these options turned on/off.

    Readers that want to sign up should not have to look for it, it should be obvious. Any suggestions on how to set up a work around?

    That would be a good thing. I’ve experimented on my own to make this more obvious in your currently theme (on one of my test sites), but I think your best bet will be looking for a theme that covers your needs.

    My only thoughts for a workaround:

    If you have a static front page, you can add a follow blog widget to it.

    If you add a new page called Sign Up (that’s a terrible name, you’ll think of a better one), you can have it link to a page with a contact form that allows your users to add their name/email address. Then, you can manually add them as email followers.

    I don’t highly recommend this, but you can also add a link/note at the bottom of each post.

    Ideally, is there a way to ask WP.com to add this button feature in like it is on an iPad and desktop? It’s small enough and would not get in the way.

    Sure! Please do leave your suggestion in our Ideas forum:

    https://en.forums.wordpress.com/forum/ideass

    That is very helpful information for our developers to know.

    Thanks again. I think your idea is a good one, and worth sharing with our community.

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