Re: FN-FORUM: Web pages appearing same on an apple as on windows

date posted 6th October 2006 09:35

Quoting Jon Ambrose at BTOW [EMAIL REMOVED]

> Apologies if this is a stupid question (which I am sure some of you out
> there will no doubt tell me it is!!) but is there a method in terms of a
> script or some additional code in the web page by which one can ensure tha=
t
> a web pages layout appears the same on an apple mac as it does on a window=
s
> pc?

Well, it's not a stupid question, but it does demonstrate a pretty =20
common misunderstanding about how the web works. And it's a =20
misunderstanding that often confuses print designers when they start =20
working on the web.

In print you, of course, have complete control over how your work will =20
look. When working on the web you lose that control completely. Your =20
web server sends out a stream of HTML text and the visitors browser is =20
free to interpret that in any way it wants.

Of course, most modern browsers with all the advanced features turned =20
on will give most people a very similar experience. But you can't ever =20
expect a site to look and work the same way on two different browsers =20
on the same machine, let alone on different machines running different =20
operating systems.

People will have different fonts installed, their browser windows will =20
be different sizes, they will have different versions of plugins like =20
flash. And that's without taking into account the way that users can =20
change default font sizes and colours or even choose to ignore any =20
styling information that you give.

So your best bet is to completely give up on the idea that your site =20
will look the same for all visitors. It's just wasting your time and =20
it will never work 100%. You're better off spending your time creating =20
a semantic layout which you can then style with CSS so that it looks =20
similar on all browsers.

Hope this helps,

Dave...

--=20
Magnum Solutions Ltd
Open Source Consultancy, Development and Training
http://mag-sol.com/