It came as a surprise to us that different browsers display websites differently. We wanted to find out why this happens not just for us but for our readers as well.
The way a website displays in a browser is dependent on a number of complicated issues that tax even the best website designers. Some of the factors include but are not limited to the operating system you use, the display resolution settings and how each browser interprets the data of the page.
There are far more browsers available for use than you may know. Most of us are familiar with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome, but there are well over fifty available browsers. And, let’s not forget Mac users. How will your site look on a Mac? So, depending on what new browser your website visitors use, your website may appear differently.
At the end of the day, how your site appears in the more obscure browsers may not be important to you, but if your website display is less than appealing in one of the more popular browsers, you may want to make some changes yourself if you know how to do it or discuss the issues with your website designer.
There is nothing worse than launching a website to only have your first visitors tell you there is something wrong with your site. It makes sense to test it out first and avoid the embarrassment of having your visitors point out these problems to you.
How can you tell if your website looks less than its best on different browsers?
There is a very cool website that will take a snapshot of your website on any browser you want in a matter of minutes so you can see for yourself. This saves a lot of time on your part.
The site is http://browsershots.org. All you need to do is insert your websites URL and select the browsers you want to view your website in and let this program do the work for you.
If you are creating a number of sites you may be in need of a program to help you in greater depth. For this particular situation, a good resource is http://crossbrowsertesting.com/.
There are a lot of challenges when creating and designing websites. Understanding that different browsers will display your site differently is another. The good news is that there are tools available to help you identify errors so you can correct them before you publish your web page or website.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!
this post is very usefull thx!
Wow this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article
So thrilled to hear you like the resource we stumbled upon one day. We saw this site and found it quite interesting how different our pages could look using different browsers. And who knew there were so many!!
Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
If you have any topics you’d like us to research and write about, feel free to send those to mousecalls@1-800-showmehow.com
Happy Holidays!
Lee-n-Deb