Can't get preview mode to work on cell or tablet

Bootstrap Studio Help
1

Hi Everyone,

Just recently picked up boostrap studio, what a great program. I am however, stuck trying to figure out how to get the preview mode to work on my android cell (galaxy note 5) and also my ipad. I have connected both via wifi to my network, and have enabled preview in my laptop, but when I try to view the url it gives me, it just times out on both devices.

So there must be some critical step I'm missing to make this work. Would appreciate any suggestions.

thanks! ~Nick

2

That's not how preview mode works. Bootstrap studio has kind of built-in server that only works on the local network of the computer. See item #3 on this page... https://bootstrapstudio.io/tutorials/preview-and-export

To view your site on a networked device, you would have to publish it to an actual live web server connected to the internet.

3

Hi,

Perhaps I didn't explain myself well enough, but I was under the impression that the preview feature is somewhat akin to browsersync. I have checked out the link you sent me, and that link suggests to me that I should be able to "preview" on tablet and cell devices. If I have this wrong, and the only way I can "preview" my work on a cell phone or tablet is to publish it to the cloud, then the preview function is essentially useless.

So I feel like there must be just some step I'm missing to be able to use the preview function as intended.

Do any preview walkthrough tutorials exist?

Thanks!

4

If your cell or tablet is connected to your home network through a router, then you should be able to view the BSS studio preview by typing the preview IP address generated by BSS into the browser's address bar on the device in question.

For example, if I open a site in BSS and click preview, it will open on my computer in my default browser (Chrome) using the local IP 192.168.1.3:8000 . If I open a browser on my phone when it is connected via my wi-fi router, and type the same IP address into the address bar, I can see the BSS studio preview in my phone's browser. However, if my phone is connected to the internet via my mobile provider's 4G service, typing in that same IP address will return a page-not-found error.

Do you have any firewalls that need to be disabled?

5

Hi Ninja,

Yes, that is exactly what I'm doing. I'm using the local IP on other devices (tablet, phone) that are connected via Wifi to my network (all 3 devices connected via wifi to same network) but the url just times out on phone and tablet.

Hmm.. I'm now wondering if it's a firewall issue perhaps?

I will have to dig into my router to see if it's blocking the port or something.

thanks for your assistance in thinking through this.

6

on the top menu, you should open the 'setting' tab. in there, the first tab is the preview tab. you need to check to activate the server once per session. once it is activated, you can open and sync your work on the browser or the mobile through the preview button at the top right corner.

7

I figured it out.. Ugh.. it's always the last thing you check.. Stupid windows firewall on my desktop was blocking the connection. Argh. Well hey, live and learn.

So if anyone else has this issue in the future, definitely check your windows firewall settings to make sure it's not being blocked.

thanks all!

8

Glad you got it sussed out.