New WordPress Plugin Makes Blogs iPad-Friendly
7/30/2010 03:00:00 PM - 0 comments
A WordPress plugin that makes any WordPress blog look like a native iPad app is here! PadPressed, created by Jason Baptiste, makes WordPress blogs accessible with the much loved iPad features such as “swipe to advance” articles, touch navigation, accelerometer positioning and home screen icon support.Baptiste decided to start with WordPress because it powers many of today’s popular websites. It is the most-used blog software to ever hit web publication. He said: “We did WordPress first because it’s the largest thing there is. Next, we’re doing Tumblr, Posterous, Moveable Type, and then custom CMSs.”
As with any new application, PadPressed still needs fine tuning. During a demo, people who tried the application noticed a difficulty in swiping article pages and accessing articles from images. There was a need to press down really hard to be able to view articles.
Baptiste said he will make the necessary adjustments to this issue, including that of touch sensitivity, in a minor update. He added, “We don’t want it to be too easy to change, but we will do controls in the future to show how sensitive the touch will be. Right now you have to click on the title in order to access, but these simple things we can change.”
PadPressed Features
Despite this fluidity and touch functionality issues (as compared to native apps Flipboard and Pulse), PadPressed is still at an advantage because it doesn’t require readers to download anything. It also works with a user’s existing theme and only gets activated when a reader navigates to a blog from their iPad. It comes with a theme options panel that allows logo setting for a user’s homescreen icon, touch navigation icons, featured slider settings, and unique skin.
PadPressed is also able to detect the orientation of a reader’s iPad. If the iPad is held in Portrait mode, it displays an article as a single column. If it is rotated to Landscape mode, the article automatically turns into three separate columns.
PadPressed also supports touch-based navigation by allowing readers to switch categories by simply touching the large icon for a certain category. PadPressed uses large touch-based overlays to switch between categories instead of a dropdown menu or a small text link. Facebook and Twitter fans will also be able to share articles because PadPressed comes with a built-in social sharing feature.
Web publishers and bloggers can optimize their content specifically for the iPad inexpensively and quickly for a one-time payment fee of $49.99 which includes free updates in the future.
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