Topic: Websites for Mobile

Hi guys - Im working on freelance Php projects and my contact is a guy with great contacts but isnt very tech savy- he's interested in getting projects of websites for viewing on mobile phone devices. From my basic idea we used to have WAP or WML for mobile devices but now almost all major sites have an html based version for mobile phones. I woudl like to knwo that how differnet is making a website for a mobile browsing than making one for use on a regular PC browser and do I need to learn anything new or I can get started on basic HTML and javascript in a jiffy...

There is only one web. The only thing you need to keep in mind is the accessibility and usability ( but you should consider these for any platform ). Mobiles have relatively low resolution and high dpi, and usually lower bandwidth so easy on images and number of requests and the font sizes.

You could, and should, check Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll , the dev.opera articles on Mobile and the W3C Mobile Web Initiative.

HTH,

Most of the time properly coded HTML with due consideration for semantically correct coding and basic accessibility issues will render quite well on a mobile device.
Most mobile devices ignore background images, so a graphics intense design that uses background images (as they should) for decorative elements will have no issues.