Web browser differences

[millwab]

Computer question . . .
I'm in the process of developing my own website using Microsoft's Office Live. One criteria they have is to use IE to connect with it. Everything is going OK (a little slower than I'd like, but that's my lack of experience and time), but when I view what I've finished to date it looks fine on someone else's computer (using IE) but at home (using Firefox) things aren't lined up the same. The space between text boxes disappears and the information is so close together that it appears on the screen that they are one box and the information looks terrible. Would this be a function of differences in computers/monitors or could MS have something imbedded in their design software that isn't completely compatible with other browsers? Any ideas?

Bruce

[draken]

Microsoft likes to take standards, and "extend" them to do things their way. It is likely that you are using these changes in your site's design. If you stick to the W3C standards, you stand a better chance of having a more uniform look across browsers and systems. I'm not a web programmers, so I wouldn't be able to assist you with anything specific.

Cheers,
Draken

[Powakee]

My first reaction when I began reading your post was to recall an old Grocho Marx joke where they guy goes in to see the doctor and says, "hey doc, it hurts my right here when I do this." (and then proceeds to move or bend over to do whatever it is). Then he asks, "what do you say, doc?" The the doc says, "the first thing I'll tell you is don't do that!"

So, I think I agree with the first answer you got - stop using the microsoft product to design your web page. If you go to some of the shareware or freeware sites (if it's proper to put their names here I'd suggest, Tucows, ZD Net, CNet Central, Kim Komando, Major Geek - and I'm sure there are lots more) you'll find programs from 'free' to very low cost shareware that will do the same thing as the microsoft product - only they'll probably do it where your web page will look the same on all the browsers.

Hope this helps.
John
of the desert

[Marcel in Longueuil]

"This site optimized for IE" logo

Hi Bruce,

Unfortunately different browsers react differently to web pages.
This has been a ban to web designers from the first Netscape/IE headbuttings.

Now that there are more browsers on the market, it makes it worse.
That is the reason you will often see the "This site optimized for IE" on welcome pages of many sites.

There are ways to go around this by designing your websites for different types of browser, and then checking the version of the user that just accessed your site, and redirecting him to the version most compatible to his site, you can do the same for his screen resolution. But as a novice web designer, it is not a route I would recommend (are you starting to figure why a commercially designed web site is so expensive ).

My suggestion is put the "This site optimized for IE" and also indicate the best viewing resolution (what is the resolution of your screen at design time?)line on your web site, and install IE on your machine to view your site.

Enduring IE's quirks is way cheaper than hiring a web master to design and maintain your wesite.

Regards,
Marcel

[GrayBeard Phil]

The Microsoft product you are using is a BETA testing product.

It is not a fully developed MS application. The intent is for people who make their daily living (so called 'professionals') to view and try out the product. You should not be trying to do what you stated in your original post.

My guess is, as stated in a previous reply, that screen resolution of end users will have major impact on viewing your web site with this Beta test product.

There could very well be lots of hidden bugs in a Beta application which may require you to take down and rebuild the site once the RM (Release to Manufacturing) version is released. Are you skilled enough to search for and disable any poison pill code for your site that could go off after 6 months?

Very few people will use the RM version of any Microsoft application because of hidden bugs anyway. Many people will wait for the 1st Service Patch, which comes along within a few months anyway.

Phil

[millwab]

... and install IE on your machine to view your site

Marcel, I've got IE. The problem is it crashes the machine every time I use it and MS won't let you uninstall it. Since I installed Firefox I haven't had one problem browsing. I'm not sure what else I could do besides reformat the hard drive and start all over again ... so far, the minor inconvenience isn't worth all that.

Bruce

[Gill]

Hi Bruce

Malware often hits MS IE with a denial of service attack, whereas other browsers are less popular targets. It may be that you've got some malware on your machine and need to check it with some anti-malware software. Don't forget to check the registry settings whilst you're at it - it's probably best to use some commercial software to do this unless you're familiar with the registry.

Gill

[millwab]

Thanx Gil,
I routinely run Ad-aware and Spybot to try to keep things clean. What happens with my IE is that after about 5 minutes of use everything freezes. If I look at the task manager is tells me that the program is "not responding." At that point I can't just end the program (it ignores that) and I have to power down to reboot. Very frustrating.

Bruce

[P1d]

Hi Bruce,

It may be worth checking your event viewer to see if the error is being logged, if so it should give a code (usually generic) which can be checked online, there may be a slight tweak which may enable you to run IE. To check your event logs, go to "Control Panel", "Administrative Tools", "Event Viewer". You will then see in the left hand pane, "Application", "Security" and "System". The problem will probably log in the "Application" area (if not try checking "System" but don't be surprised if it doesn't log at all ) so click on "Application". A list will appear (don't be shocked at the amount of entries ), you are looking for "Error" entries usually shown by a white cross on a red background, double click the error and you will notice a description of the fault. Unless you work in IT the message may seem a little in-depth (although some of us who do work in IT are still baffled by some of the descriptions we see ). The code of interest is the Event ID. If you put the code into Google eg "Event ID: 15", and view your results in the Groups area of Google you may find some useful information there.

To remove IE, if you want to, go to "Control Panel", "Add/Remove Programs". On the left hand side click on "Add/Remove Windows Components". When the list refreshes you should see Internet Explorer, put a tick in the box beside it, click on "Next" and IE will be removed from your pc. Follow the same steps to reinstall it.

I would only reformat your hard drive as a very last resort as the problem may still occur from a clean install.

I use FireFox and haven't had a problem running it in addition to IE. I'm not a professional developer but have worked on websites for friends and would definitely recommend DreamWeaver. It may be a little pricey but I have learnt what I know about websites from this product and would recommend it to anyone.

Sorry for the long winded response I hope it helps.

[Marcel in Longueuil]

Good answer Stu,

(And thanks for putting in the first name )

Macromedia Dreamweaver also gets my vote.

Bruce,

By the way if your IE won't respond to the end program command, you don't necessarily need to reboot your system.

In the task manager (right click the task bar-> choose Task manager), go to the end process tab -> Locate IEXPLORE.EXE -> highlight it by clicking once-> click the end process button -> confirm.

(All these directions are given assuming you have Win XP installed)
Regards,
Marcel