Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ie

31 stylesheet limit... class != className... double margins... get me out of here!

tmcw — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:50:45 -0800

So, I am sadly tasked with debugging sites on IE every once in a while. Is there anything that even approaches the awesomeness of FireBug/Web Inspector for this task? And, the more advanced the better. I'm debugging what one might call 'serious shiz' like namespaces, tricky CSS bugs, javascript screwups...

Thanks! (and, of course, I'd prefer it to be free but if it's a paid deal and it works great it would be cake to sell it to the ol' upper management)

Can greasemonkey open a link in a different browser?

Roger Dodger — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:51:32 -0800

Is it possible to use a greasemonkey script in Firefox to open specific links in Internet Explorer? If so, what would it look like? The particular element in the HTML page is an input button which executes some javascript, which opens a different webapp in a new browser window. However, that webapp only works with IE, and I use Firefox. The element looks similar to this:

<input value="New Webapp"  class="btn" name="webapp" onclick="openIntegration('/servlet/servlet.Integration?scontrolCaching=1&lid=00b70000000zL1t&eid=50070000009tNYv&ic=1', 'height=600,location=no,resizable=yes,toolbar=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=1', 1)" title="New Webapp" type="button" />

The openIntegration function (which sits in a separate .js file) looks like this:

function openIntegration(url, props, positionType) {

    var newWindow = window.open(url, "_blank", props, false);

    if (positionType == 2){

        newWindow.moveTo(0, 0);

    } else if (positionType == 0){

        newWindow.moveTo(0, 0);

        newWindow.resizeTo(self.screen.width, self.screen.height);

    }

}

Can javascript be used to specify a browser other than default? How would I go about doing this?

Wordpress plugin incompatibility

Danniman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:09:59 -0800

Wordpress Filter: Plugin incompatibility with my theme - website screws up on IE. How do I fix it? 2 of my plugins (Contact Form 7, Post Tabs) give a java script error when enabled on this site. The js error doesn't do much in firefox but it renders the whole site disfunctional in IE ( drop down nav doesn't work, tabs under the headline slider don't work, etc).

In IE, when I have debugging enabled, I get an error pop-up stating that there is a error on Line 89. After I click "debug", this is what is shown:

Microsoft JScript runtime error: Object doesn't support this property or method

Inside the file, the following code is highlighted on line 89:

{return jQuery.easing[jQuery.easing.def](x,t,b,c,d);}

So how do I fix this issue in IE? Do I need to contact the plugin author to check if they are using the latest jQuery? ( the theme author says that he is using the latest jQuery) Is there any way around this issue?

Alternative Browsers

bluelight — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:59:11 -0800

What superior/alternative web browsers to Firefox do you use? I have been using firefox with NoScript and most cookies disabled. When it gets too annoying to enable scripts and cookies, I switch over to Internet Explorer (non-updated version). I really dislike using IE but lately, Firefox has been crashing a LOT.

I was wondering if you had any good experiences with other web browsers such as Safari, Chrome, etc. I plan on keeping firefox but I'd like to explore other options.

I use a PC running Windows XP.

Thanks!

CSS / Lightbox-esque popup/div width issue.

theRussian — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:43:14 -0800

Scaling down div width to fit around image which has been scaled down via its height element?? Hello!

I have a simple lightbox type popup on my site, with an opaque overlay and a content "whitebox". Upon clicking a thumbnail, the popup/overlay divs are made visible and an img tag is placed into the popup (into a div named popup-img, there's another div which holds the close button in the popup). I have scaled the image height to fit into the popup, which takes up 75% of the screen. So, recap: popup height = 75%; popup-img div height = 100%, and the height of the img tag itself is also set to 100%. The problem I am facing, in FF and IE (not Safari, though) is that the width popup-img div (into which the img tag is written via JS) is staying the width of the original width of the image - not the new scaled width (scaled due to scaling down the height).

Is there anyway to get the width of the popup div to fit to the new width of the image? This isn't so much of a problem when the original image height is greater than will fit in the box, and scaled, but when the image height is smaller, it gets scaled 'up', but the width of the pop-up stays to fit the original width, and the image goes outside of the popup width-wise.

Sorry if this is a confusing explination - it is confusing to me as well.

Other posibly helpful/hurtful info - the other div inside the popup is the close button - which is floated to the top right. What I would like to happen, ideally - is for the image to be on the left, and the close button on the right, with whitespace under the button. Don't know if there's anyway that working with this element will help.

I can provide more clarification, and possibly a link to the code in question, if someone is interested in helping me out :D

Thanks ahead of time!!

Multiple versions of IE

kidbritish — Sun, 03 May 2009 10:29:57 -0800

In Windows XP, what is the best way to keep Internet Explorer versions 6, 7, and 8 all installed simultaneously? This is for the purpose of testing websites.
When I say "best", I mean the browsers should function normally, and it should be unlikely to cause other problems with the system.
I've seen Multiple-IE, from 2006, which doesn't seem to go past IE6, and Internet Explorer Collection which looks promising. But I'm hesitant to install strange hacks until I've had some input from people more knowledgeable. Do any of you have experience doing this?

Help me fix my wordpress theme for internet explorer? (YAML)

yuletide — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:48:30 -0800

Web design panic! Wordpress theme (YAML + sandbox) implodes on impact with internet explorer So, I made a swell website. Was all clever and used Yet Another Multicolumn Layout as a CSS/XHTML framework, smashed together with the classic sandbox theme framework for wordpress.

Great success! Until I tested it in internet explorer

I've tried perusing the various CSS bug fixes/diagnoses, even within the YAML documentation. But at this point I'm ready to throw things through windows (the glass kind). So I thought I'd try asking for help.

Site is here. Rather than posting all my source files, I think it best to let people poke around using Firebug so they can see it all in action.

Basic idea is: header, then two 50% columns with the main content. Right column then has two more 50% columns after its main content box. All of the columns go screwy in IE. And something's up with the header image too. YAML has some built-in functionality for dealing with IE bugs, but it also has two different ways of doing columns (default method, but then also subtemplates, which I've worked in as well (clearly not successfully)) not sure how to work it in, or if I've already hopelessly messed things up with my own tweaks.

Stylesheets:
YAML base stylesheet
Base content styles (somewhat modified, but not much/any layout stuff)
**The rest (including the layout styles)**

I can post more details, etc if needed...

Tools for Diagnosing unviewable Joomla website in IE?

franklen — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:20:41 -0800

Having problems viewing my Joomla built website in IE. Works fine in Firefox. The Website is at www.alchemicalnursery.org Are there any tools for diagnosing this? Or does anyone have any knowledge of what the problem might be.

IE scrollbars shifting placement of centered background image!

2oh1 — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:11:05 -0800

CSSfilter: Explorer's scroll bars shift my design's centered background image up or down by about ten pixels when the browser width is less than 880 pixels wide (in other words, on a laptop). Arrgh! It should look like this. Is there a better way to force a centered background image to really be CENTERED?!? I'm redesigning my portfolio. The new design is based on an 880px by 420px block (a div). Inside that div are other divs being slid into place when a link is clicked. I'm using a background image to add a 5px black outline and shadow effect around the 880x420 block...

...but IE is screwing up the placement of the background outline/shadow when a bottom scrollbar first appears.

The issue might be that, for whatever reason, IE is adjusting the placement of the background image but not the placement of the div when the scrollbars appear? Or vice versa. Either way, it makes the design look like crap when it happens, so I need to find a fix!

I'm centering the background image in the body section of my css. It works perfectly everywhere except in IE when the viewable browser space is right around 880 px, which seems to happen a lot in laptops.

Any tips or tricks here? Got a fix? I'm at a loss!

Just for the record, I'm a Mac guy and am borrowing a friend's laptop for testing purposes. Coding by hand.

Ubuntu + Virtual Box + ??? = profit

erifneerg — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:57:37 -0800

Is it wise to setup Ubuntu for my parents virtual box for ie? So I'm basicly sick and tired of getting phone calls from my parents asking me why there computer isn't work or why it's soo slow. The only thing really stoping me from putting ubuntu is the fact my father need IE (activeX to be exact) for work. Would Virtual Box with IE be more of headache then the current setup?

IE is horrible

Jacen — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:41:02 -0800

Internet explorer browser makes a clicking noise on links.... make it stop, please! Sometimes, I am forced to use IE browser (I don't know which version or anything, but it can't be more than a year old). I cannot avoid this. However, each time I click on a link, the browser makes a clicking noise. It is not the mouse. It does not seem to be the computer. I am 99% sure it is IE. However, I have done a quick look at the tools tabs and nothing jumps out at me. please, please, make it stop! (and save my fragile sanity)

IE JavaScript woes

jpburns — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:28:29 -0800

I'm trying to come up with a generalized comic viewer using just JavaScript. I have a solution that works in nearly all browsers, but fails miserably in Internet Explorer (several versions). I don't have easy access to a Windows machine, and wonder if anyone could help me figure out what I'm doing wrong (specifically for IE). The main site is at: http://jamesburnsdesign.com/comics/gwg.html

The JS file is at: http://jamesburnsdesign.com/comics/comicScript.js

I'm sure I'm just doing something stupid, and would appreciate any insights the hive mind could share with me...

Thanks in advance.

Does IE7-like RSS Reader exist for FireFox?

karizma — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:35:49 -0800

I love IE7's built-in RSS/feed reader. I hate, hate, hate IE7's slowness and general, overal crapiness. I would love to use FireFox, but I want the same kind of RSS reader functionality. Is there is a plugin or extension for Firefox that exists and works just like IE7's RSS reader? I am looking for the exact same or as close as possible functionality for an RSS reader in FireFox as found build-in in IE7. I'd like it to integrate into the browser. I can't stand FireFox's live bookmarks.

Things I'm not looking for: Web-based RSS readers, desktop RSS clients, or FireFox extensions/plugins that don't work like how IE7's functionality does.

Does this kind of tool/functionality/plugin/extension exist for Firefox?

(btw, I'm running the current version of Firefox).

Thanks.

IE 8 beta has crashed and burned...

FatherDagon — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:10:28 -0800

IE 8 Beta has gone corrupted, and is causing all sorts of iertutil.dll related errors. Something went awry with the install of IE 8 in my freshly installed XP SP3 machine. I generally use Firefox for my browsing needs, but certain apps make calls for web data (the WoW launcher news feed, for example) and this causes a stream of errors "The ordinal 169 could not be located in the dynamic link library iertutil.dll". IE 8 itself will open on its own, but won't display anything - the window below each page tab is just blank white.

I decided to uninstall and then go back and install IE 7, however the uninstall process seems to have gone pear-shaped - the first time around I was able to go to Add/Remove Windows Components and remove IE, and on reboot try to use the IE 7 install exe. However, it looks like the uninstall never removed the files, and IE 7 won't install because it thinks IE8 is still installed. IE 8 won't install again because it thinks there's still a browser there. Add/Remove Components still has an entry for IE 8, but it's listed as 0.0 MB and any further removal attempts net no change... the progress bar flashes by in a second or so, but no files are removed, the entry is still there, and the error persists.

My specific question is - will replacing the iertutil.dll file in system32 correct this issue? I was able to move a fresh copy of the file from the temp dir that IE 8's failed re-install created, but I'll need to boot from BartPE or safe mode or something to replace the corrupted copy, since just about every XP process seems to access it (unlocker will shut out the processes using it, but that shuts down most of the OS, which then fires itself back up). So if I boot to DOS or something to replace it, will that cause cataclysmic failures in other areas? Are there predictable further issues elsewhere? Is there another approach I should take?

Help me understand what I need to make my website compliant with IE.

GilloD — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:41:21 -0800

Is there a guide to the anticipated differences between IE and Firefox when coding a website? So, I'm coding my first "really real" website for the company I work for. I have a bit of experience in this, but this is my first really large, semi-pro project. As a result, I'm running into the ages old problem where everything looks great in Firefox and Safari, but terrible in IE. IE seems to add spaces, ignore code, change margins and generally run wild.

Is there any kind of guide to the sort of things I need to be aware of to compensate for IE's tendency to do as it does?

Transparent .PNGs under Supersleight

johngoren — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:01:22 -0800

Web design question about getting transparent .PNGs to show up right under Internet Explorer 6. Internet Explorer 6, as you know from previous threads, doesn't support transparent .PNGs. So I plugged in a JavaScript solution by the name of Supersleight.js, which is supposed to be the easy workaround.

It's working, but there's just one thing wrong: On top of that beautiful transparent image, IE6 is displaying a "broken image" icon and surrounding it in a border associated with those times when the file is missing. Except it's not missing, because it's showing up.

The visual effect is that of a missing image displayed over a working background.

Any ideas as to how I screwed this up? Your help much appreciated.

How do I take a paged-down screenshot in Internet Explorer using Vista for free without watermarks?

adi — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:34:57 -0800

How do I take a paged-down screenshot in Internet Explorer using Vista for free without watermarks? I tried using IE Screenshot Pro, but the trial puts a big watermark on everything. I need the screenshot to page down and stitch it all together.

The page does not render correctly in FireFox, so no extension for the fox will work for me -- had to be IE.

Google in Internet Explorer but not Firefox?

AdamOddo — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:13:23 -0800

Google search problems here. I've asked around the local tech circle and no one can think up an explanation for this one. Google will load in FF and IE7 - but - I can only execute a search from IE. I'm running XP with the latest final of FF. I have Google as an exemption, so I know it's not a problem with cookies. I've also ran Spybot and Adaware, and both came up clean. Google pings with zero packet loss. This one has got me baffled.

But I don't wanna cut and paste!

foxydot — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:54:58 -0800

The Big Boss wants us to track activity created by individual emails he sends, but has no interest in copying his email addresses out of his Address Book (Outlook) into the web-based system we created. So...any ideas on plugins or something for IE that can read his address book and give him an "autofill" in the "to" field or something like that? Or, alternately, allow Outlook to use the webform-created template? (Generated on-the-fly with unique ids for each recipient in the click-urls...let's us see what they do after they get the email, right?)

Other ideas very welcome as well. I'm personally allergic to the whole M$ enterprise, so any insight would be helpful.

How the hell to get IE to print properly?

gman — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:00:01 -0800

When using IE 6 or 7 and printing a page from the same website using two different computers, but the same printer, one prints at half a page length and one prints the desired full page. The print preview for each matches the way each prints. I can't figure this out for the life of me. Anyone?

My Documents files in Internet Explorer favorites

bluishorange — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 22:24:48 -0800

How do I keep the contents of the My Documents folder from showing up in Internet Explorer favorites? Most of my coworkers use Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP, and today one of them told me that when she clicks on Favorites in IE, every file from her My Documents folder is displayed there. At first I thought she'd accidentally copied and pasted a bunch of shortcuts somehow. But then I had her make a new Word doc and save it to My Documents as Fake.doc, and sure enough, it showed up in the IE favorites right away.

I looked through her IE settings, but I didn't find anything related to My Documents. Then I opened the My Documents folder and checked the settings in Folder Options just in case, but I didn't see anything there, either. Is this some kind of Internet Explorer/Windows Explorer conflation?

I suppose I could have her remove Fake.doc from her IE favorites and see if the document itself is deleted from My Documents. But even if the document isn't deleted and she's safe to remove all those documents from her favorites, I'd still like to know how it happened.

(I'm not really a tech support person; I've just been labeled as The Girl Down The Hall Who Knows About Computers.)

How to Fix input title attribute in IE6?

GregX3 — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:29:47 -0800

Why does this text box input have its title flash on and off when I hover over it, and more importantly how do I fix it? When a user hovers over the box the title should just stay. I made this flash recording to display the behavior:
IE6_Flashing_InputTextBox_title.swf
(sorry for the poor quality.)

As you can see I have a text box with a title attribute. I hover my mouse over the text box, and the title will appear for a moment, my mouse changes to a pointer, the title dissapears, my mouse changes to the text thingy, title appears and so on ...

Please help, I'm stuck.

Fixing Google Desktop links

Aanidaani — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:27:02 -0800

I like Google Desktop but there is one minor annoyance that has been bugging me. Whenever I click on a link in a sidebar gadget, that link loads in IE7, even though my default browser is Firefox. Is there a solution to this? I'm on Windows Vista, if that helps (or hurts).

How do I open certain sites in IETab?

Rabulah — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 07:36:27 -0800

I use Firefox. I want to be able to open certain sites in IETab/Internet Explorer automatically. I can do this quite easily if they are bookmarked, but I want to be able to do it every time I come across a link to the site. Example 1] I'm browsing the web, and I come across a link to foo.com. Normally, when I click the link to foo.com, it will open in a normal Firefox tab. I want to be able to just click the link to foo.com, and have it open in IETab/Internet Explorer automatically, without having to right click and choose "Open in IETab", or copy the URL from the address bar and paste it into Internet Explorer.

Example 2] I do a Foo.com search from the Firefox search bar. I want the search tab to open in IETab/Internet Explorer automatically.

I have been using IE View Lite, which will load the site in IE after half a second, but Firefox still starts to load foo.com before IE View Lite takes over, which I don't want. I want Firefox to never load foo.com AT ALL.

How can I get this functionality? Example 2 is the more pressing problem, if that makes any difference.

Firefox freezes when downloading, help!

yellowbinder — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:51:02 -0800

I download a lot of images from the net. Using Firefox, the browser freezes while the file downloads. IE does not. I hate using IE. How do I make Firefox allow me to surf around while downloading? I should add this is only the case when I use right click, "save as," and not when I click a prompted download. I think it happens for all files downloaded this way, not just images.