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Why It’s More Important to Crosscheck Browsers than You Thought

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It’s not just the Pretty Face 

If you ever wondered why it is a good idea to crosscheck how your Blog or Webpage looks and performs on different Browsers, let me give you a little clue. Other than the obvious aesthetic value of showing your readers the best possible face, you should consider that not all browsers are created (read written) equal. They handle coding very differently and can cause some unforeseen consequences.

browserstats.png

Why the stats?

If you notice that Firefox 2.0 is used by a good portion of the visitors to my Blog. But, I also want you to notice the next two lines. A Full 52.6 percent of them use Internet Explorer versions 6 or 7. That’s a lot of people who could think the site is ugly and unprofessional looking or worse lock up their browser so they never saw the site in the first place. If I hadn’t crosschecked browsers.

That’s what happened to a friend of mine, Carolyn Manning who runs Thoughts & Philosophies. The Blog looks great no matter which browser I used, but it would freeze in the middle of loading when I used IE7 to access her site.

I spent a little time with her going over some possible causes and found that some Javescript she had running would cause problems in Internet Explorer.  She hadn’t really noticed because she uses Firefox and everything comes up just fine. Without crosschecking other browsers accessibility, she may well have missed a big portion of new and return readership.

Now that the problem has been rectified, I think she should see a marked increase in her pageviews and visitors. Just in case you missed Carolyn’s Blog before, stop by Thoughts & Philosophies to say hi (and be sure you tell her if you are using IE).

Moral:

There is more than one reason to check your site on other browsers.


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    August 2nd, 2007 at 03:16pm | Posted by Joe | Basics, Tips | 12 reader remarks | Print This Post

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    12 Reader Remarks

    1. So now I have another question, Joe. If a site works in both Firefox and IE, is it safe to assume it’ll be compatible with all browsers? Basically, are we covered by only checking those two?

      Input by Carolyn Manning | August 2, 2007 @ 4:15 pm

    2. Hey Carolyn,
      Once we covered the 2 major players, it is reasonable to assume the others will work as well.
      Since most of the other browsers work so closely with the way IE and FF work, you shouldn’t have any problems. ;-)

      Input by Joe | August 2, 2007 @ 4:23 pm

    3. Ok, thanks, Joe. The reason I asked is because one of my sisters uses Safari (on a MAC) and can’t get the colors when she brings up the site. She’s wondering if this fix will fix that. I’ll let you know after she check it.

      Input by Carolyn Manning | August 2, 2007 @ 4:52 pm

    4. Carolyn,
      Your sisters problem sounds more like a video (screen) problem than a browser. Check your screen color against hers while reading the exact same page. Then check with a different page. If the colors are still distorted, it’s her screen adjustment or possibly needs a new monitor.

      Input by Joe | August 2, 2007 @ 9:05 pm

    5. It’s the other sister, Joe. Maybe I’ll give CrossLoop a try :) If it’s the monitor, it’s probably still under warranty. I’ll find out over the weekend.

      Input by Carolyn Manning | August 2, 2007 @ 10:49 pm

    6. Hey Other sister,
      I just have a feeling that it could be the monitor. Let me know what happens.

      Input by Joe | August 3, 2007 @ 8:02 am

    7. Hey Joe,
      Is there a tool that you know of that allows you to check the view in multiple browsers?
      I know I often check in IE(what version I have no idea)and mozilla.

      Input by Adam Donkus | August 5, 2007 @ 4:56 pm

    8. Hey Adam,
      There are two that I know of, but I never tested them myself.
      Browsershots.org http://browsershots.org/ which is fee to use, but takes a long time to load and get results from what I understand.
      The other is BrowserCam http://www.browsercam.com/ which is free for a short trial period, but seems to be a lot faster than most on rendering results.
      Let me know if you test these and what you think. ;-)

      Input by Joe | August 5, 2007 @ 6:45 pm

    9. Glad I checked back Joe, I must not have clicked that subscribe to comments button. I was on Vandelay Designs blog, and she suggested those two and a few others. Here is the url if you want to check em out. http://www.vandelaydesign.com/blog/design/effectively-testing-your-website-in-multiple-browsers/

      Input by Adam | August 23, 2007 @ 8:25 am

    10. Hey Adam,
      As they say, half the information could be in the comments :-) I found those links AFTER I wrote the post.
      I’ll check out the site you found, always interested in new things.

      Input by Joe | August 23, 2007 @ 8:35 am

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