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comment by insomniasexx
insomniasexx  ·  3612 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Executioner's Lament

You should make a list of shit that doesn't work in ie as you encounter it. I'll try to go through and clean up the low hanging fruit. It's not hard to make it work in ie, it just takes a buttload of time and always seems to break everything all over again every time you make a minuscule change.

    99 little bugs in the code

    99 little bugs in the code

    Take one down, patch it around

    117 little bugs in the code





kleinbl00  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

...how many visitors actually use IE? 'cuz it seems to me that a costs/benefits analysis on the Microsoft problem might pencil out better with a "upgrade to an unsucky browser" popup. I mean, if you can't be draconian and obnoxious on a tiny social networking site, where can you be draconian and obnoxious?

insomniasexx  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  

I am 100% against internet explorer (especially older versions - the newer ones suck less) but I also understand that there are very few people that choose to use IE. Typically it is by force - at work, on a family member's computer, etc. I never really understood the work thing as older IEs are hopelessly insecure but a lot of webapps and older databases look good in IE8 but load weirdly on newer browsers. IT departments are also lazy and the thought of updating 2000 employees computers to Chrome can be scary. The thought of letting people install their own apps and dealing with 1000 viruses per day is even more scary. It's simply a tough situation.

I have used "upgrade your browser" pop ups on a couple of microsites and client sites. On Hubski, I'm against it because the amount of people who are visiting Hubski AND using IE by choice are so miniscule. People like _refugee_ don't have any other option. By including a pop up, we would just be adding insult to their misfortune. I'm sure they already know that they should upgrade their browser.

I am not promising to keep the code updated or bugtest Hubski on IE8 for every change we push. But if I can cut some of the most glaring errors so refugee's experience is slightly better, I think it is worth it. To be 100% honest, mk has ignored internet explorer idiosyncrasies since day one. I don't blame him - it's an overwhelming and depressing task to take on after you've spent days and weeks sorting out normal browser / code idiosyncrasies.

kleinbl00  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

So, IE compatibility sort of like cardiologists doing a term with Medicines sans Frontiers.

Hubski: compassionately coded for compatibility

_refugee_  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I think you are very close to the issue with this comment.

    a lot of webapps and older databases look good in IE8 but load weirdly on newer browsers

At banks, a lot of applications run in your browser. I think they've mostly all been coded for IE, people know they "work" in IE, and I think that is part of what causes this huge ridiculous lag. whenever we upgrade an OS or a browser it's a Big Fucking Deal. I have to think it's somehow related to the applications we use in day-to-day work (which can be pretty sensitive) and potential upgrade issues there.

Also, there's not a single bank I've worked in that doesn't still use DOS systems at some point. Banks be old school as fuck, yo.

But I will be getting Chrome! So like I said...don't worry about me too much.

b_b  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I heard on the radio the other day that it's estimated that something like 60% of internet browsing is still done on IE. I'm sure these are mostly old people tooling around Facebook, and soccer moms buying crap on Overstock.com. Obviously, that's not the set we cater to, but we do have a handful of users who still use IE. I think _refugee_ has mentioned that her work mandates it. Sucks for her. If there's anyone insom would fix the CSS for though, it'd be her. Otherwise, I'd agree that "fuck 'em" is the best approach here.

wasoxygen  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    60% of internet browsing is still done on IE
It's not that bad.

insomniasexx  ·  3610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That graph looks like a good overall breakdown. What's more interesting is how the browser stats change from site to site. Good web developers take the demographics of the specific site into consideration when determining which features to use and what browsers to code for first - just like marketers and copywriters chose the language and medium they use. I don't have the exact stats in front of me but Hubski has a very low percentage of IE users. My work's site (we sell b2b products) as well as the site we developed for internal coke employees is extremely high: up to 70% are on IE some days.

The discrepancies are even more dramatic for email marketing. Typically, 80% of opens from my work's email marketing are opened in Outlook. Maybe 2 or 3 are for Hubski Newsletter. It makes sense since we are selling b2b so everyone on that list should be someone at their job who would buy our products and offices overwhelming use Outlook.

_refugee_  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Honestly I would expect it's a lot of work people too. I've been at three different banks in the past 4 years and the current one is the only one that even allows you to have other web browsers. (And thank god for that.) I haven't even bothered bringing up the IE problems because I know they're problems with IE and possibly not even worth fixing. Insom has encouraged me to try to get my workplace to switch browsers but in a company of 40,000 people (and see below comment where I reply to insom) I ain't makin big enough waves to talk to the right people. Nor do I work in tech - and tech probably knows it's a problem.

insomniasexx  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    If there's anyone insom would fix the CSS for though, it'd be her

You're right. I would do anything for refugee! I literally gave her the shirt off my back. :P

_refugee_  ·  3610 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You did and I still have it and aww thanks NO SLEEP TIL BOSTON

_refugee_  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Well, see, that's kind of how it works. For starters I'll tell you I'm completely unable to click my notifications. Like, that orange spot in the middle of the hubwhell? Cannot click. Also, pictures fail to load, and videos load SUPER BIG to the point where they overlap other people's comments, or if they're in the post they'll often overlap the comment box.

I put in a workorder for Chrome because I got so sick and tired of it, so I should be getting it (had in fact been previously using Chrome but then were upgraded OSes) and then I think most of my problems will be solved.

IE also doesn't like the little pop-ups; like the "who badged this?" pop-up or the "followers" pop-up. i guess it would be more accurate to describe them as "sometimes they work, sometimes they take forever to work, and sometimes they don't."

insomniasexx  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The videos make sense. I believe I can fix that by adding a more thorough CSS rule. Pop ups as we'll - maybe. That could be a js error or CSS error causing it. It may just be more worthwhile to have the pop ups open in a new tab for older IEs rather than trying to figure out where and why it's failing.

The notification is super weird though. That's just a link. I'm going to take a guess and say another element is on top of it because of the way we positioned those things isn't supported by ie. are there any other elements in the top bar you can't click? Do any look out of position?

I just discovered that both my parents have an instance of windows XP on their macs. I'm going to be bug testing the new Americhip site this weekend using those I can do Hubski too. I assume you're on ie8?

_refugee_  ·  3611 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I found where the element is hidden. Or the link is hidden. Sorry, web-lingo.

Nothing looks out of place - that was an issue some months ago and maybe on an even older version of IE 8, but that got fixed. So if I click the number next to my hubwheel (the one that tells me how many badges I have left) it takes me to my notifications. I just discovered this today; I guess it's worth it to poke around some. So the link is very close to where it is supposed to be, just not quite.

The thing with the pop-ups I think is that they load at the top of the page within I.E., as opposed to just completely separate pop-ups, so if I click they don't always appear. I have found that if I scroll up however they're there. So that might be an easier fix? I don't know.