Viewing Websites in Different Browsers

[olip83]

Hi!

I've been trying to find out why our school website cant be seen in certain browsers - e.g. safari, mozilla firefox etc.

 

Does anyone know why this it - and more importantly what i need to do to make it viewable in all or most browsers?

 

Thanks Muchly!

[localzuk]

It'd help if you gave us a link to your site...

[olip83]

Decoy School Web Site

[Silvor]

The fact you use 'frames' instead of 'iframes' will most likely be a contributing factor.

 

I am using FireFox and I can view the website - but it's not "as it should be", compared to IE. It appears mainly the web page code is out of date.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Silvor

[olip83]

It was a existing website that, you are right, is slightly out of date... how would I go about updating the code? is it an easy thing or...

I am updating to CS5 in a couple weeks - will that have anything in it to help?

[Devontechie]

I've just tested the site in IE8, Firefox 3.6, Google Chrome, Opera 10 and Safari. The only that is shows right in is IE8.

 

As MikeFairBrother has said, frames could be apart of the reason.

[Silvor]

If you don't really have much experience with HTML (for example) then you are probably best trying to re-code the website using something like Dreamweaver, which will write in all the latest code (with browser compatability usually) as you add different bits and bobs, such as iFrames, tables, images etc.

 

Edit: Looking around the web page source code a little, there are some out of date tags which, in honesty, aren't used anymore because of compatability issues (such as frames). iFrames are even going out now, but will be more compatable than frames.

[olip83]

Thank you for your reply.

I'm new to all this - would you be able to advise me on where to get more information about updating the code and frames?

[Silvor]

This will help you understand iframes, to incorporate them into your webpages.

HTML iframe tag

 

You could attempt to tidy up your frame tags, which to try and understand more, this should help.

HTML frame tag

 

Frames are supposed just generally not used anymore.

The above website is useful for beginners.

 

I'll help as much as I can so anything you aren't sure about feel free to ask.

[Devontechie]

As Mike has said, you would be better off re-coding the site using Dreamweaver.

 

I am not far from you, so I could always pop over and have a look at some point with you (Used Dreamweaver a fair bit for websites). Drop me a PM if you want.

 

Steve

[olip83]

Thank you to you both - I may just take you up on your offers.

Like i said, I am expecting CS5 in a couple weeks so I'm going to read up on it a bot and see if it might be worthwhile rebuilding the whole site...

 

Thank you again for all your advice.

 

OP

[Silvor]

Dreamweaver is brilliant for beginners. We have CS4 here although I don't use it - but I know the dreamweaver application inside of the CS4 would be very useful for you.

Re-building the website would be beneficial for you so you can update it easier and understand it more. Building your knowledge as-well as a new website.

 

Good luck and feel free to ask questions :-)

[localzuk]

Ok, having a look at that site, I can say that it needs updating and changing quite a lot.

 

• Why are you referring to SWF files via javascript for a simple rollover? You can do the same with CSS (see CSS Links - CSS tutorial).
   
  
• You're using frames, which are now a poor choice for navigation purposes. Many search engines will penalise framed sites, as to a search engine it just sees 'frameset' and that's about it for content. They also add complexity to a quite simple task - you have to do things like ensure your links send the required page to the right target frame, for example.
   
  
• Much of your site is simply inaccesible to those with disabilities - what happens if someone who is blind goes to your site using a screen reader? They will not get much information from it, as much of it is in SWF files, Java applets, or images with no alt tags. This could actually mean your site is in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.
   
  
• The site seems to be using folders with spaces in their names (such as 'Home Folder', which some browsers will change to Home%20Folder so as to overcome the space). This should be altered to ensure the site is readable by all browsers without them having to compensate for things.
   
  
• The Java Applet on your front page is forcing my browser to use an older version of Java than the latest, and therefore causes me to see a Java prompt warning me about it. This will put people off.
   
  
• The image at the top of the navigation tour which sends a visitor to 'http://www.decoy.devon.sch.uk/Archive/Virtual%20Tour/pages/ict_suite.htm' when clicked does not work as that page doesn't exist.
  

 

Your best bet would be to use Dreamweaver, and get to know how to use CSS, to rebuild the site from scratch, eliminating the problems above.

 

Hope that helps. CSS is easy to pick up, and it would be quite simple to re-create your site using it and without Java or SWF.

[olip83]

I now have CS5 Web Premium!

Now I have the daunting challenge of discovering how it works!

I'm getting there but I feel I still need help/advise in order to push me in the right direction.

i.e. I want to add a 'ticker' to our website - like the java 'latest news' which is currently in place - however, I can't find a clue of where to start.

I have been practising with the CSS as you said and that is making my life easier already, I just need a point in the right direction - I mean do I start in a different program or what?!

 

Thanks