Recently a thread in the Forum was started relating to its use, and I offered some advice on mobile devices. I really enjoy viewing TurfNet from my iPhone due to the mobile version of TurfNet, which I had saved as a Webapp. In fact, it makes browsing the Forum just as easy as pulling up the Twitter app and viewing my feed from others in the industry. After thinking about this, I thought I would put together a tutorial in case very few out there knew about it. If you already use it, great... If not, heres a very basic explanation to begin its use.

WHATS A WEBAPP?

On both iOS and Android, users can save websites to function just like native apps you download through the App Store or Google Play. They are essentially bookmarked websites that get their own icon on the home screen. While you can do this for any of your favorite websites, some companies and sites choose to optimize their sites and offer many of the same features in this Webapp that you get in a native app.

This is exactly what TurfNet has done. The full TurfNet.com website is designed to be used as a Webapp, including member features like the Forum. In my experience this is a great way to view threads and new content while on the go, and replying is very easy as well, making for a great user experience. Once you have saved it as a Webapp on your device, you can open it up as its own app.

This process can be used for any website or even a specific web page within a website. I have a site I frequent often that provides the daily water temperature and level at the lake nearby on a specific page of its website. Instead of navigating through Safari to that specific page, I simply saved it to my home screen and now it acts as its own little Webapp. Very handy and easy to pull off, plus I never have to mess with updates, pop-up ads, all the gimmicks you see with apps for the stores that go on the freemium platform.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we will be featuring iOS, but the process is nearly identical for Android. This is very basic use of iOS or Android, but I am including the basics to ensure all out there know about this functionality; not everyone is a power-user.

ADDING TO YOUR DEVICE

The first thing to do is fire up Safari or your browser of choice from your home screen. Youll then type in TurfNet.com to go to the website. Once on the website, a banner will pop up and slide down the screen. This banner offers instructions to Add to Home Screen for the website.

Select the middle share button with the arrow pointing out of the box. This will bring up a menu where you can select many ways to share the website. We want to select Add to Home Screen from the options. This will again bring up a new screen where you can change the name of the new Webapp if you like. On this screen, select the Add button on the top-right. Safari will then close and the new TurfNet Webapp will be installed on your home screen.

GETTING STARTED

Now you can launch the TurfNet app from your home screen. When you do this, it will basically open up safari to the TurfNet home page. Once here, you can view the content on the main page or choose to navigate to other pages.

The way to navigation is by selecting the square icon located on the top-right of the page. This will bring up a list of areas to visit. For this example, lets select Forum so we can browse new threads from our peers. You will be prompted to log in if you this is your first forum visit from this device. But after this, you shouldn't ever have to log in again unless you delete your browsing history on your device.

FORUM USE

Once the Forum loads, the default page includes all Conferences or Topic Groups. From here you can then select a group and find an exact thread same as on a desktop, but the content is delivered in a format for mobile.

Alternatively, you can again tap the square button on the top right, and then select New Content. This will load all threads in a single display, where you can then sort by time or type. This is how I view the Forum mostly, its great to sort it by time to view the most recent threads all together.

OTHER SECTIONS

In addition to the forum, all of TurfNet is available. There is a button for the Jobs Board that serves all the most recent postings in a list which is very easy to navigate and view. You can also keep up with the latest news and blogs like this one right in the Webapp, in a format that works great for mobile devices.

Thats it. The setup is really easy and can be used for so much on TurfNet, plus you can use this same process for other sites that interest you. If you have any questions on Android or anything else related to Webapps, Im always available to help by email or follow us on Twitter @playbooksgolf.