The MDN Browser Compatibility Report 2020 surveyed web developers to identify pain points in cross-browser compatibility. Layout and styling issues, especially with Flexbox and Grid, topped the list, along with challenges related to viewport units, scrolling on mobile, and achieving consistent form styling. Internet Explorer and Safari were frequently cited as problematic browsers. While JavaScript was initially flagged as a concern, interviews revealed that transpilers like Babel largely mitigate core language issues, shifting the focus to browser APIs and their inconsistencies. The report highlighted ongoing efforts to improve compatibility, including fixes for Flexbox and Grid in Chromium and WebKit, the transition to Chromium-based Edge, and a commitment to enhancing MDN's browser compatibility data.
I've given my website a fresh new look with a template of my own design! I'm currently working on ensuring it's compatible with Internet Explorer. Your feedback and suggestions are greatly appreciated!
I've added a custom search provider to my blog using Google Search for Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 users. It lets you easily search my site's content. The provider is set up using an OpenSearch XML file linked in each page's header. Not sure about Google's terms on this, so I'll remove it if there's an issue. Hopefully, this example helps others implement search providers.
I revisited my Internet Explorer 7 Favorites guide now that Beta 2 is available. Previously, Beta 1 had two major issues: the favorites menu would crash and, if the menu was large, it would fill and obscure the screen. Thankfully, both problems seem resolved in Beta 2; the menu is scrollable like in IE6 and no longer crashes.
I've found some useful resources for C# developers working with Internet Explorer. Rich Crane's code provides a framework for .NET interaction with IE, handling the COM interop for you. While the framework looks promising, it seems to have limited browser event support. For more comprehensive IE integration, including toolbars and shell extensions, check out Sky Software's EZShellExtensions.Net and Shell MegaPack.Net. These support .NET versions 1.0 through 2.0.
I've just downloaded Beta 2 of the IE Developer Toolbar and while it's incredibly useful for diagnosing web page issues, there are still some bugs that need fixing. The element outlining in frames and scrollable divs is completely off, and re-enabling CSS after disabling it doesn't render the page correctly. If these issues are resolved, it has the potential to be one of the best developer tools out there.
IE7 Beta 2 fixes a rendering issue present in IE6 where select boxes would always appear as the topmost element, overlapping other elements like menus. This fix improves the visual presentation of web pages with select boxes. For more details, refer to the provided MSDN blog link. Further testing with CSS styles is pending.
I've been testing Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 and noticed a significant improvement in font rendering, likely due to ClearType. The difference is subtle but noticeable, especially when comparing the BBC News website between Beta 1 and Beta 2. More info on IE7 changes can be found on the IE Blog.
I've previously blogged about IE7 Beta releases, and now it's time for another update! Beta 2 of Internet Explorer 7 is now available for download. Check out the IEBlog post for more details, and stay tuned for my upcoming impressions.
The OPML output functionality in my AJAXTagger is now fixed! There was a bug caused by Internet Explorer's lack of support for the __proto__ construct, affecting how the script determined an object's type. This fix resolves the issue, ensuring compatibility with IE6 and IE7.
I've been working on AJAX Tagger version 2 and it's ready for everyday use! It leverages APIs from Yahoo, Amazon, Flickr, and Technorati, along with Wikipedia and even your own site's content to find related articles. It's all AJAX-based, uses a unique request queue, and outputs in both OPML and HTML. Plus, it even suggests related Amazon products. Currently, it's IE-only, so check it out at www.kinlan.co.uk/AjaxExperiments/AjaxTag2 and let me know your thoughts! The UI/UX needs some polish, but that's next on my list.
I've just added a new feature to my website! Now, you can easily tag any page (except the main page) with relevant keywords and submit them directly to Del.icio.us. Just select the text, click "Generate Tags," choose the tags you want, enter your Del.icio.us credentials, and hit "Submit Tags." It's all AJAX-powered for a smooth experience. Currently works in IE6 and above, with Firefox compatibility coming soon. Try it out on this post!
I've encountered a bug in IE6/7 where dynamically created checkboxes lose their checked status after being added to the document. Setting the checked property after appending the element seems to be a reliable workaround. If anyone knows why this behavior occurs, please contact me!
I've just released version 2 of AJAX Tagger, and it now includes a Related Images feature! It pulls images from Flickr that you can easily insert into your blog posts. While it works great, be aware that downloading many images might be slow in Internet Explorer due to its concurrent request limit. I believe this is a fantastic addition and can significantly boost traffic to your blog, especially considering images are known to attract readers.
I'm excited to announce the release of the IE Developer Toolbar, a free tool for exploring HTML documents in both IE6 and IE7. It offers features like DOM exploration, disabling IE settings, viewing element information, outlining, image control, resizing, a ruler for pixel-perfect measurements, and standards validation with links to W3C specs. Download it now and share your feedback and bug reports!
Microsoft's Start.com has launched a new developer API, possibly using the ATLAS framework (precursor to ASP.NET AJAX). It seems to focus on creating JavaScript-based "Gadgets," similar to RSS consumers, that need to be hosted on a server. The API also requires enabling cross-domain data sources in Internet Explorer, a topic I've discussed previously.
In this final part of "The Failures of my First AJAX Application" series, I reflect on the cross-browser compatibility issues I encountered. Focusing on Internet Explorer during development led to problems in Firefox, particularly with security errors (cross-domain data retrieval) and differences in the XML DOM model. The key takeaway is to consider cross-browser support from the outset, anticipating discrepancies between browsers and coding around missing features, similar to CSS development. The next version will prioritize cross-browser compatibility, potentially including Safari. This series has been invaluable for shaping the requirements of the upcoming version.
In part two of this series on the failures of my first AJAX application, I discuss how my initial plan to reduce bandwidth by having the client directly access third-party web services didn't work out. Due to cross-domain scripting issues in Firefox and IE 6/7, I had to implement proxy scripts on my server. This means all client requests now go through my server, increasing my bandwidth demands. While using a proxy server offers benefits like hiding security information (like Technorati developer tokens) and enabling data manipulation/request merging, it comes with the major downside of increased bandwidth usage and the need to create/maintain proxy scripts. I hope to support cross-domain data sources in the next version to mitigate these issues but acknowledge there might still be scenarios where proxy scripts are necessary.
In part 2 of my AJAX application journey, I'm tackling browser compatibility issues between Firefox and Internet Explorer. Key differences include handling XML node text, event triggers for synchronous XmlHttpRequests, and table object model inconsistencies. Looking ahead, I'm planning to componentize my JavaScript for better management and browser caching, and create an event-driven object model for my next application to improve structure and cross-browser functionality. My focus will be on supporting the lowest common denominator for broader browser compatibility.
My first foray into Ajax was a mixed bag, yielding both valuable lessons and frustrating setbacks. On the plus side, it sparked a deeper understanding of asynchronous coding, cross-browser compatibility (especially between Firefox and IE), and the potential of APIs like Yahoo! and Technorati. It also reignited my interest in Perl and prompted reflection on my blogging practices. However, the application fell short in several areas: it lacked search functionality, didn't reduce bandwidth, had a poor visual design, and wasn't user-friendly or impactful enough to generate feedback or traffic. Moving forward, I'll share my design process and desired improvements, starting with a clear requirements document. I'm eager to learn from this experience and create a more effective application.
I've noticed a difference in how Internet Explorer (versions 6 and 7) and Firefox handle synchronous XmlHttpRequests. In both browsers, you can send requests using JavaScript. However, after the synchronous send() call, Internet Explorer still triggers the onreadystatechange event, while Firefox does not. I need to research which behavior is correct and according to spec. If you happen to know, please email me!
My AJAX application has a minor cross-site data access security issue, similar to one I've encountered in Firefox. A workaround in IE6/7 involves enabling "Access data sources across domains" in Internet Options -> Security -> Custom Level, though this isn't ideal.
This post lists RSS feeds that aren't displaying correctly in the IE7 feed viewer. Specifically, they don't render in IE7's new format. I'm trying to understand why these feeds aren't working, and I've provided links to a few examples, including the IE7 blog, Channel 9, Scoble's blog, and my own blog. I've since updated this post with more information after speaking with Microsoft's RSS Product Manager (see the link at the top).
I had this brilliant idea to create a merged RSS feed using client-side processing. The idea was to have a main RSS feed that linked to other feeds. My custom XML would include a list of sources. Then, using XSLT in the browser, the client could merge these external feeds into a single view. It worked perfectly locally! However, I hit a roadblock with cross-domain security restrictions when I uploaded it to my server. The browser wouldn't let me pull in feeds from other domains due to security concerns. Additionally, client-side XSLT processing isn't universally supported. So, even if the security issue wasn't there, many feed readers wouldn't be able to display the merged feed. In the end, the project failed. But, I learned a lot about browser security, XSLT limitations and client/server interactions!
I've been exploring the RSS features in IE7 Beta 1 and have a couple of suggestions. First, it would be great if we could add feeds to favorites directly from the feeds toolbar button, rather than having to navigate to the feed itself. It's an extra step when we've already decided we like the content enough to add it. Second, I'm curious about how IE7 discovers feeds on a page. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Is it just looking for a specific link tag in the head section or is there more to it? It seems to struggle with feeds linked via anchor tags. Overall, I'm enjoying IE7 so far, just want to offer some feedback.
This post explores how to access and iterate through a user's Internet Explorer Favorites in C#. I've included C# code that retrieves the Favorites directory and recursively iterates through its folders and files. The code also parses the .URL files to extract the actual URLs. Currently, the code doesn't retrieve the friendly name displayed in the Favorites menu (e.g., "Microsoft" instead of "www.microsoft.com"), but I'm looking into using IShellLink for this and would appreciate any insights.
