Why does my site look different on every browser? - html

Please check out this snippet of my site.
http://jsfiddle.net/TmnPV/
The logo is made up of the 'circle1' and other div tags in the same html sections. It doesn't show up on jsfiddle either and it looks different on every browser.
On chrome = shows all
On firefox = no logo shows and bottom text under input field is larger
On safari = no logo shows
What can I do?

This is called, umm... , welcome to wild wild world of web. Every browser vendor parses html/css/javascript differently. Some are lenient, some are strict. (Chrome Vs. Opera). Some have different Box model, some have standard operational behavior, some tend to do their own thing.(Opera Vs. IE6)
Answer to different renderings : You have to hunt down each and every little quirk. One by one.
Welcome.

You'll need to adjust your styles for older browsers if you plan on doing alot of css3 transforms.
IE 6, 7, and 8 just don't have the ability to read those styles.
Even on Firefox, depending on the version, you'll run into various spacing issues since the rendering engine is different than Chrome (and Safari).
For using html5 and css3 in older IEs you can (sparingly) use polyfills, which duplicate the effect using javascript. You can see a list of available polyfills here:
https://github.com/Modernizr/Modernizr/wiki/HTML5-Cross-Browser-Polyfills
Quirksmode is a great resource for checking compatibility: http://www.quirksmode.org/compatibility.html
I would highly recommend the Firebug add-on for Firefox to see where the extra spacing, etc is happening.
When you run into a specific issue with a specific browser that you can't figure out post a question here. It's much easier to help with one bug than just general browser problems.

That's mostly because you are using code to work with one browser. Different browser uses different code renderer. It's hard to make everything look the same, even tho Internet explorer is the worst, other browsers have different features. Opera has most of the HTML5 form features, that no other browser supports so far, but Chrome and Firefox supports the most of the HTML5 attributes. Hope this helps understand the reason why.

Related

Display:table-* and major browsers issues

I am developing the follow website:
http://di20studios.com/2012/royalpack/
All works fine in Mozilla Firefox and IE 8, but Safari, Opera and Google Chrome don't like my display:table-*CSS...
The display:table-* is at header and bottom.
What I want? Continuous background:
Can you enter the website and see this issue in action? How I can solve this?
Check this out, I believe you will find your problem is similar.
This is an unconfirmed webkit bug. My only suggestion would be to make sure you are using an HTML5 doctype:
<!DOCTYPE html>
From John Resig:
What’s nice about this new DOCTYPE, especially, is that all current browsers (IE, FF, Opera, Safari) will look at it and switch the content into standards mode – even though they don’t implement HTML5. This means that you could start writing your web pages using HTML5 today and have them last for a very, very, long time.
Also, I might suggest you NOT use this method (display:table-*) unless it is the ONLY solution (which is never :P). There are many known issues with this method, one being that it is not supported in IE7.
A plausible solution would be to use floating to achieve this. You will need to change the transparency over the images for the repeat-x to overlay properly. I edited the images so you can see a working example. As long as you MAKE sure to clear after the header-container, you shouldn't run into any issues using float. PS, this works in IE7+ :]
Can you enter the website and see this issue in action?
If the question is as above, then my answer is: Yes, yes I can. I am using Google Chrome 18.0.1025.162 on Linux.

Position:absolute in HTML5

Is there any problem If i use position:absolue property in HTML 5 ?
position:absolute;left:somepx;top:somepx;
Will it work on all browsers or does the syntax go upside down ? Im using the
<!doctype HTML>
and developing the html using images and with some text, Just placing them in a good looking way using the position:absolute.And im developing using my internet explorer probably its version 7 I think so.But im worried will it work on other browsers like mozilla and google chrome with no error.Will it remain the same way on all browsers? becuase the stackoveflow or google any webpage looks in the same way in all browsers.I just wanted to know what standards they follow that makes them look same on every browser.
Please just let me know is there any harm or pitfall using the position:absolute.Thank you in advance
It seems you make some mistakes when you build your websites.
using absolute positioning where you shouldn't. It is not appropriate to use position: absolute to make a complex layout. Consider looking for some tutorials to learn how to build a layout using especially float, clear, margin and padding CSS properties. Use absolute positioning only where it is explicitly required.
using non standards-compliant browser during website development. IE7 is quite old browser with buggy support for web technologies. This may cause that your website will display fine only in IE7 and messy in every other browser. What you have to do is to develop website in standards-compliant browser (no matter what browser, just make sure you use the latest version available) and then check the website in older browsers (and possibly fix bugs that appear). Don't forget to check the website in all browsers used by your visitors. Compatibility tables like those at QuirksMode are often useful.
Back to original question, browsers don't distinguish between versions of HTML (there is just standards and quirks mode, but you don't need to care about them because you're using doctype that triggers standards mode in all browsers); so there's nothing more to be aware of. Absolute positioning should (and in most cases, will) work well in IE8+ and all widely used versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera. Once again, you're supposed to test your website in all widely used browsers; you'll discover possible browser bugs and incompatibilites then.
Another interesting thing to look at is this:
http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/HTML5/PositionedFloats/Default.html
It may very well be available soon and will probably be a lot better for what you want. For now, do not JUST use Position:absolute, as people have said, it is a really bad way of positioning things and should only be used under very specific circumstances.
Well it has nothing to do with HTML5, it is basic positioning.
And it is not a straightforward process to get your site to display the same in all browsers, you should take a look at resetting style sheets or just test your site in a lot of browsers.
Especially older browsers have a way of changing your design.
absolute positioning is part of css3. html5 is just a combination of javascript+html+css
with unique features. so.it should work with all the browsers. but how all the browser will display, you need to chek it in chrome,mozila,safari,opera...etc in recent versions.
browser compatibility may be issue some time.so,don't worry ,it's better to chek and fix the variations.

About Internet Explorer 9 document and browser mode

Good day! I have got a question about the Internet Explorer 9. Can anyone tell me if its document and browser mode (I mean rendering as Internet Explorer 8 and 7 when chosen) is appropriate to test HTML and CSS in different versions of the browser?
I used to use something like Multiple IE on my virtual Windows machine, but my colleague use the Internet Explorer 9 to test HTML and CSS "directly". So none of us has a sense of correctness of the chosen solution.
So, that's the question.
In my subjective experience, IE9's 8/7 "Browser Modes" have always been an accurate reflection of the actual browsers - at least for pure HTML/CSS.
However, there are subtle differences when it comes to JavaScript, see the "Differences between IE8 Compatibility View and IE7" section here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2009/03/12/site-compatibility-and-ie8.aspx
I usually test with IE9's older "Browser Modes", but if I'm feeling paranoid or I want to be absolutely sure, I use my virtual machines.
IMHO the answer to your question is yes - go with the browser modes.
Here is a good article for you
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2010/10/19/testing-sites-with-browser-mode-vs-doc-mode.aspx
Few differences that I have seen in IE9 Doc Mode vs real IE8 or IE7:
1) If a PNG image is given opacity (via Proprietary CSS filter), 'Real IE8/IE7' shows black linings.
2) JavaScript performance in 'Real IE8/IE7' is obviously not as fast as IE9.
3) Fonts also tend to have some display issue in various modes: http://blog.typekit.com/2013/03/14/the-dangers-of-cross-browser-testing-with-ie9s-browser-modes/ and font smoothing is an issue in windows XP.
4) Embedded YouTube videos have z-index issues overlapping other elements (fixed by wmode).
5) Proprietary CSS filters work properly in 'Real IE8' but are not shown if applied to an HTML5 element in IE9 doc mode. (Faced this once)
Summary: If the site you are making is JavaScript intense or the client is very much concerned about users on IE7/8, have a check on Real IE 7/8 and get the issues ironed out.

How to solve the problems that html page works well in firefox and chrome, but wrong with IE?

I meet a problem that my page works well in firefox and chrome(almost the same look and feel) but very bad in IE. It's time consuming to adjust the differences. Is there any research has been done already to tell the differenceS, or any automation tool to examine the uncompatibilities?
BTW: which tool you guys are using when debugging in IE(like firebug for IE)?
Your best starting point is to always use some kind of "reset mechanism" like Eric Meyer's CSS Reset or framework like HTML5 Boilerplate, they help in reducing differences between browsers (not all, but most of it). If this is not possible (project is already in finishing phase, etc.) you can always ask questions here, check Position Is Everything for description of bugs, Quirks Mode, SitePoint reference and various other sites (Google is your friend :)). Hope this helps.
There is "debugging" tool for IE - IE Developer Toolbar - but it's usefulness can't compare to that of Firebug, Dragonfly and such. IE8+ does have better support for debugging, though… There are some articles that suggest using Visual Studio, but I haven't tried it. Mostly it's just trial and error with IE :).
ie7-js is a JavaScript file that automatically fixes many Internet Explorer bugs for all versions. Works like magic.
For fast and better results in IE you can use CSS Hacks for adjusting the HTML elements.
For IE we have IE Developer AddOn
you can download it here : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=95e06cbe-4940-4218-b75d-b8856fced535
Welcome to the tiresome world of IE.
IE8 has some version of developers tools, hit F12 on your keyboard and it will pop up. (not present in 6&7)
There are many documented bugs in IE, a simple Google Search would help you out better, but a lot cannot be accounted for until you have your site working in FF.
What most developers I know do is to make the site in FF, make small changes for Webkit browsers then go over to IE (not including 6) and debug.
In my experience there really is no way to tell what IE is going to mess up next, so you'll probably just have to deal with it as it happens.

Web Design for Google Chrome

What, if any, considerations (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) should you take when designing for Google Chrome?
Chrome uses Webkit, the same engine as is used by Safari, OmniWeb, iCab and more. Just code everything based on the standards and verify in each browser.
I think first and foremost you should focus on using HTML and scripting that follows the standards.
After you have that running, file a bug report then make the browser-specific tweaks. If Chrome is worth a flip you shouldn't have to tweak things for it.
The same ones you'd take for Safari, as they share the same rendering engine (with a slight version mismatch).
I'm sure filing a bug report really helps with all those IE rendering issues!
Realistically, you need to test your application in each browser, no browser 100% follows the W3C standards so ultimately you can't rely on following that at all. You need to test everything you do in any browser you wish to support.
As has been mentioned, Google Chrome has the same rendering engine as Safari/iPhone/etc., WebKit which passes Acid3, so there should be minimal issues if you follow the standards. But don't rely on it. Google Chrome currently uses a slightly older version of WebKit than Safari. I'm sure they'll eventually be on the same version at some point, but unfortunately any new browser becomes just another browser to test in.
Are you designing specifically for Chrome, or do you want to make sure your pages work well with Chrome?
Assuming it's the latter, then just use the same design considerations you'd do for any browser. If applicable, keep in mind that many phones and video game consoles have web browsers now.
Chrome uses a new JavaScript engine, so you'll have to test your JavaScript using Chrome as well as Safari. The HTML and CSS may render pretty much the same, but they use different JavaScript engines.