I fnished creating a website using dreamweaver CS4... i previewed the pages "on the go" with the latest FF and IE (8). when i'm on campus and i open the site - with any older version of IE (7 or less), the pages look messed up. any idea why this is happening? is it an issue of compatibility?

here is the site:

www.discoverortho.com/test

Originally Posted by MTL

I fnished creating a website using dreamweaver CS4... i previewed the pages "on the go" with the latest FF and IE (8). when i'm on campus and i open the site - with any older version of IE (7 or less), the pages look messed up. any idea why this is happening? is it an issue of compatibility?

here is the site:

www.discoverortho.com/test

It bugs in Opera as well.
Also you have too many text baked as images, that's not good for blind readers and SEO.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cross-browser compatibility. You'll need to find what tags are confusing older IE's then search google for their correct usage (and/or program in 'browser check' code as well). If you're using Firefox there are several add-ons (Web Dev for example) that can also help troubleshoot coding incompatibilities. If you know the tag but can't find the fix, reply to this thread.

Whatever site I create, I test in ie 6, 7 and 8, firefox, opera, safari and chrome. You have no control over which browser your customers will use and therefore need to make your site work in as many as possible.

Whilst I am coding sites, I tend to test in ie6 and firefox - generally if both of those two work ok then the others 9usually) are not too bad.

Often, when a problem shows up, it means your code is wrong (often the css sheet has values that don't add up) and one browser compensates for it and the other doesn't.

At home, I have 3 different pcs and have a different version of ie installed on each; you can then download opera safari and chrome onto your pc to test.

This sounds like an issue that can be fixed with your CSS. It is not fun to make all of the web browsers happy. But again, take a look at your CSS and see if you might find any incorrect code, if that doesn't work, you could also try to "debug" the code in Dreamweaver.

I just looked at it in Firefox and it looks great. I also have that problem with some sites I've tried. Looks great in one browser and the columns are in the wrong places on another. Usually Firefox is the one that gives me trouble.

IE's older versions often have such problems, but Opera doesn't open it right either, so I'd take care of compatibility with different browsers (though it looks very attractive in FF that I prefer to use). I'm tired of trying to please old IE.

I recommend the IETester software, which has multi-IE interfaces, eg. IE6, IE7, IE8, etc., it is a better helper.

IE6 is my arch nemesis. I recommend that if you get access to a client's computer, upgrade their internet explorer. Or even better, tell them IE has a virus and get them to use Firefox. Just my two cents.

Every browser interprets and implements the HTML/XHTML/CSS standards differently. You should always check your web pages in IE6, IE7, IE8, FF, and Safari IMO. VERY few people use Opera and other browsers, but the above 5 browsers probably make up 98% of all web traffic.

I'm having the same problem...
i'm also not sure what the code should be so i'm not sure how to adjust it... can anyone suggest anything?

I'd suggest double-checking you are declaring a doctype as well as using the proper CSS, and keep the hacks down to a minimum.

can any one recommend any good website from where i can get the browser compatible codes?

W3Schools. The code there is browser compatible.

w3schools also provides a very simple and easy-to-understand tutorial on html, xml. And the code I can get there has never provided issues with different browsers. Thank you.

Sadly alot of problem result from that. And in most cases people aren't even aware of it because they don't use a seperate computer. I visit sites today that worked fine before they updated and now some things are messed up.

After writing your webpage, you can use browsershots.org to check the compatibility across many browsers by giving you a screen shot of your page on the browser you choose.

PhpScripts, you can use back-ups to avoid these troubles. It's boring sometimes but don't forget, it saves your time.