It is crucial to ensure that the website displays well on different devices when building and operating modern websites.With the use of mobile phones, tablets, computers, and other diverse devices to access websites becoming the norm, a website that can provide a smooth experience on all screen sizes not only enhances user satisfaction but also contributes to the effective dissemination of content and search engine optimization.AutoCMS (AutoCMS) provides various template types to meet this need, helping us flexibly respond to cross-device display challenges.

Choose which template type depends on our specific website goals, content features, and available resources.The AnQi CMS mainly supports three website modes: adaptive, code adaptation, and PC+mobile independent sites.Understanding the characteristics of these three patterns can help us make the most suitable choice.

一、自适应（Responsive）模板

Adaptive template, also known as responsive template, is the most common and highly regarded cross-device display solution.Its core concept is “One code, multiple presentations”.This means that we only need to design and develop a template, which will automatically adjust the layout, image size, and font size according to the screen size, resolution, and orientation of the user's device to ensure that the content is presented in a perfect state on any device.

Advantages:

  • Simple maintenance:Need to manage only one set of template code and content, which greatly reduces the cost of development and maintenance.When we need to update the website design or content, we only need to make changes in one place, and all devices can be synchronized.
  • SEO-friendly:Search engines tend to crawl and index content that has only one URL, adaptive templates can avoid the problem of duplicate content caused by multiple versions of content, concentrate the weight, which is conducive to the SEO ranking of the website.
  • Unified user experience:No matter which device the user uses, they can enjoy a similar visual and interactive experience, and the brand image remains consistent.

Consideration:

  • Design complexity:To adapt to all screens, more compatibility issues need to be considered during design, which may not provide an ultimate optimized experience for specific devices.
  • Performance optimization:If not optimized carefully, adaptive websites may load some resources that are not needed on desktop versions (such as large images, complex JS), which may affect the page loading speed.The "auto" function provided in the content settings of AnQi CMS includes such features as "Whether to automatically compress large images

二、代码适配（Code Adaptation）模板

mobile/子目录来存放移动端模板，以实现针对不同设备的个性化内容呈现。

Advantages:

  • More fine-grained control:Compared to pure adaptability, code adaptation allows us to provide a more customized experience for different devices.For example, the mobile version can completely remove complex modules or features that are only available on the desktop version, thereby providing a lighter and more focused content.
  • Performance improvement potential:Can avoid loading unnecessary resources on mobile devices for the desktop version, theoretically achieving better mobile performance than adaptive design.
  • SEO advantages:Since a single URL is still commonly used, partial benefits of centralized weight in SEO can still be enjoyed.

Consideration:

  • Increased complexity in development and maintenance:Need to manage multiple (or multi-part) template codes, although it is simpler than two completely independent websites, it is still more complex than a single adaptive template.
  • Implementation difficulty:It is necessary to have a better understanding and practice of device detection and dynamic content loading.

三、PC+手机独立站点（PC+Mobile Independent Sites）模式

This pattern refers to setting up two completely independent websites for PC and mobile platforms, each with its own separate URL (such as pc.yourdomain.com and m.yourdomain.com) and a complete set of templates.The "Multi-site ManagementWhen the user visits the website, the system will automatically redirect to the corresponding PC or mobile site based on the device type.

Advantages:

  • The ultimate user experience:Allow separate design and development for PC and mobile devices to maximize user experience and functionality.Designers and developers can create the most native and smooth experience for each platform without any restrictions from the other end.
  • 性能最优：Each website only loads and renders the resources required for the corresponding device, achieving ultimate performance optimization.
  • Management flexibility:The two websites can have completely different content strategies or marketing focuses.

Consideration:

  • The highest development and maintenance cost:It is equivalent to operating two websites simultaneously, whether it is content updates, feature development, or bug fixes, operations are required on two systems, with the highest cost.
  • SEO challenge:There are issues with duplicate content and URL dispersion. It needs to be addressed throughcanonicalLabel and 301 redirects, etc., SEO strategies to clearly define the main version, and ensure that search engines correctly understand and index.The advanced SEO tools provided by Anqi CMS, such as pseudo static and 301 redirection management, are particularly important in this mode.
  • Content synchronization issues:If the content needs to be synchronized at both ends, a comprehensive content release process is required to avoid information desynchronization.

How to choose the appropriate template type?

When choosing template types in AnQi CMS, we can refer toconfig.jsonin the filetemplate_typefields, which correspond to0（English）、1(Code Adaptation) and2(PC+Mobile Independent Site). Here are some practical suggestions:

  1. Evaluate content complexity:

    • If your website content is mainly text and images, the layout is relatively simple, and you hope to save maintenance costs,Adaptive templateis the **choice.
    • If your website needs to display different content or features on PC and mobile, but still wants to maintain a single URL,Code adaptation templateit can provide a better balance.
    • If your business has completely different requirements for the user experience on PC and mobile devices, needs completely independent strategies and designs, and has sufficient budget, thenPC+手机独立站点the mode will provide the greatest degree of freedom.

  2. Consider operation and technical resources:

    • Limited resources for personal blogs or small businesses,Adaptive templateorCode adaptation templateMay be easier to manage (if the difference is not great).
    • A company with a professional team and pursuit of ultimate experience can considerPC+手机独立站点. The multi-site management function of Anqi CMS can manage the content of multiple independent sites centrally in the background.

  3. Focusing on SEO strategy:

    • If you pay great attention to SEO and want to concentrate the website's weight,Adaptive templateit is usually the most direct and recommended method.
    • ForPC+手机独立站点Ensure that you make full use of AnQiCMS's 301 redirect and Canonical link specification features to ensure that search engines correctly identify your primary version and avoid penalties.

The strength of Anqi CMS lies in its flexibility. It can provide corresponding support for any template type. Through custom content models and flexible template tags (such asarchiveList/categoryList）and comprehensive SEO tools, we can create powerful and excellent websites under any choice.

In short, choosing a template type is a process of weighing the pros and cons.There is no absolute **option, only the solution that is most suitable for your website's business needs and operational strategy.Gain a deep understanding of your users, content, and resources to help you find the perfect cross-device display solution under the framework of Safe CMS.

Common Questions (FAQ)

1. Is the adaptive template really more advantageous for SEO than a separate PC/mobile station?Yes, usually, adaptive templates have more advantages for SEO.Because an adaptive website has only one URL address, search engines can crawl and index it more easily, and all the page weight is concentrated on the same URL.The independent PC/mobile station (especially when the content is highly similar but the URLs are different) may require additional configuration of Canonical tags and 301 redirects to avoid duplicate content issues, and it is also more complex to manage.Google and other mainstream search engines explicitly recommend using responsive design.

2. Can I choose a template type at the beginning and change it later?Technically it is possible to change.For example, you can switch from an adaptive template to code adaptation or an independent site, and vice versa.But in practice, this usually involves large-scale restructuring of templates, content adjustments, and the redeployment of SEO strategies, which can be a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.Therefore, careful planning and template selection before the website goes live are crucial, and it is best to avoid frequent changes later.

3. If I choose the PC+mobile independent site mode, do I need to manage the website content separately?The "Multi-site Management" feature of AnQi CMS can help you manage and publish content for different PC and mobile-end independent sites under the same administrative interface.This means that the content itself can be shared or associated to some extent without manual copy and paste.But template files, static resources, and the like are still independent, requiring separate design and maintenance. System settings such as 'Mobile End Address' also need to be independently configured.