Your Browser May be Broken
Preface:
With the sheer number of browsers out there from which to choose, it’s no wonder that web sites sometimes break. Currently (as of the time of this writing), there are six major browsers being used by the vast majority of internet surfers: Microsoft Internet Exploder, Mozilla, Firefox, Netscape (alt.link | alt.link), Opera, and Safari. That’s not counting the dozens and dozens of non-major browsers, such as Flock or iCab, some (but not all) of which are based on existing code, like the open source Firefox. And even that’s not counting the portable apps for mobile devices, which display - for the most part - no-frills versions of web pages. Also, most browsers have now seen several different revisions, which means that a lot of people are still using old versions of some of their browsing software. To top all that off, all of this different browser software is being run on a wide variety of platforms, such as Vista, XP, Mac OS X, Ubuntu, Solaris, FreeBSD, etc.!
The Symptom:
Does this page, or the page you just came from, look strange? Is it oddly formatted? Does it look disjointed or jumbled? Is it missing content that you’re sure should be there?
The Cause:
Individual web browsers often display web pages slightly - or even very - differently, because of differing levels of support for such technologies as HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, and CSS, to name a few. These are very stable, tried-and-true technologies, and there is no justification for browser developers to leave users hanging when their browser doesn’t implement web standards properly. (To see if your web browser is keeping up with well-established web standards, check out the Acid tests - you may be startled by the results!)
Unfortunately, it is no longer practical for a web designer to be able to test a web document in all possible combinations of browser, platform, screen resolution, etc. Although we can easily install several different browsers, we can’t usually afford to have several computers all running various operating systems on which to test each of these browsers. And very few web designers have more than the top four or five browsers installed. None of us is keen on installing hundreds of browsers, dozens of versions of each, on which to repeatedly test each of the web pages we create.
In short, we code as best we can, following the current standards and conventions as properly as possible. Then, when it breaks in Internet Exploder, which it inevitably will, and in several different ways in every single version, we revise our code, sometimes introducing CSS hacks, the web equivalent of duct tape. When the fixes break the web page in browsers that actually handle proper code, we revise it again, fix it for MSIE 5.5/6/7/(8), lather, rinse, and repeat.
The Solution:
For the web pages that i create, everything should look pretty much the same in all of the major modern browsers. However, if it doesn’t, here are some tips:
- Check to make sure your browser is up to date! Older versions aren’t often better than newer ones.
- Make sure your browser is sending an accurate User Agent String - this helps the web server determine which version of which browser you’re using, and on what platform. No personal or private information is ever sent, but it helps to serve up content which is most appropriately marked-up for your software. If you’re using Opera, but it’s telling the server that it’s Internet Exploder, you may just get a revised, hacked version of the web page which might only look right on Internet Exploder! If you’re not sure how to do this, chances are pretty good that your browser is already sending the correct data; if you’re not sure and want to check, you can check your browser’s User Agent String here.
- If you’re using a browser that’s up to date and the page looks all wonky… unfortunately, that might not be the best browser for displaying web pages. You might be happier using a different browser.
If it’s sending incorrect data to web servers, check with your browser’s help files or support site for information on how to switch it. Remember, unless you’re a web developer yourself, there’s not really any good reason to spoof another browser.
And if these tips don’t help, please contact me to tell me what went wrong so i can look into it. Please be sure to specify what browser, operating system you are using and what was wrong with the web page (include a screen shot if you know how). Lastly, don’t forget to tell me the URL (link) of the web page you were having problems with, and whether it happened on all other pages from that domain. Thanks!!
