How to get firefox 3.x usage over 80%

[Ascenti0n]

OK, I go this idea, now huddle up...

Every developer with his/her salt knows the Firefox beats IE's ***, and Microsofts' latest version v8, is not much better.

As developers on Ubuntu/Linux will also know, it has been standard to dev and test for IE5.5+ browsers for too many years, which poses a problem (without a VM or dual boot) if you dev on Linux.

So I have this idea, lets get together and dev primarily for Firefox, and state on our website that:

"If you have difficulty viewing this site, please download and use the free and superior Firefox browser - Click here to download NOW"

OK, a bit of a pipe dream, but if we all joined together...... ;)

[fixitdude]

Do that like they do with flash sites, let them eat dirt until they install Firefox.

Big companies are requiring flash for you to see anything, and that doesn't seem to bother them that they may lose visitors so why not?

If the browser says IE, stick that message in their face (with the link to the free browser like you said).

[oobe-feisty]

Im with you a lot of sites report stats of close to or over 50% of hits coming from FF why should web dev's be limited and stuck to appeasing people who dont know how to use a computer and trust that ms can provide a service worth paying for.

[Ascenti0n]

There is no better time to stand up and unite, my brothers. With FF 3.1 due out it promises to be a JS speed demon, leaving MS IE in its dust.

Screw 'em. WE prefer Firefox, we don't want MS to compel everyone to use their product because it is comes bundled with the OS on over 90% of new systems.

Let us dev primarily for FF and give 'em the FF download link that everyone deserves. Why should people have to put up with the IE dictatorial regime any longer?

[Bachstelze]

Let us dev primarily for FF and give 'em the FF download link that everyone deserves. Why should people have to put up with the IE dictatorial regime any longer?

Why should they have to put up with your FF dictatorial regime instead?

[Ascenti0n]

Because it is our time to rule the my brother.. Ha ha ha ha ha (evil laugh). Don't stand in our way, or you will be Crushed, by the new revolution. Ha ha ha ha (evil laugh again).

[Giant Speck]

Here's a suggestion:

If you think that your website might not render correctly in Internet Explorer, explain it with a small, neutral disclaimer, such as "This website is optimized for Mozilla Firefox and may not render correctly in Internet Explorer."

You could also be subtle, and include a Firefox button on your website, such as the following:

http://sfx-images.mozilla.org/affiliates/Buttons/firefox3/200x32_browser-all.png

I think the worst thing you could do is to deny Internet Explorer users the right to view your website. It's not the user's fault that your website doesn't render correctly in Internet Explorer. It's Internet Explorer's fault. Blocking Internet Explorer users with a browser check is more likely going to direct traffic away from your website rather than influence people to download and install Firefox.

[Hells_Dark]

"If you have difficulty viewing this site, please download and use any of the modern browsers]"

[sydbat]

Here's a suggestion:

If you think that your website might not render correctly in Internet Explorer, explain it with a small, neutral disclaimer, such as "This website is optimized for Mozilla Firefox and may not render correctly in Internet Explorer."

You could also be subtle, and include a Firefox button on your website, such as the following:

http://sfx-images.mozilla.org/affiliates/Buttons/firefox3/200x32_browser-all.png

I think the worst thing you could do is to deny Internet Explorer users the right to view your website. It's not the user's fault that your website doesn't render correctly in Internet Explorer. It's Internet Explorer's fault. Blocking Internet Explorer users with a browser check is more likely going to direct traffic away from your website rather than influence people to download and install Firefox.


"If you have difficulty viewing this site, please download and use any of the modern browsers]"
Big +1's to both these suggestions.

[oasmar1]

"if you have difficulty viewing this site, please download and use any of the modern browsers]"

+1
Try and put a link to another page with details about some browsers too. Ultimately give the user the choice.

[cc8balla]

I disagree with this. As much as I like firefox, you gotta look at things from a different perspective here.

Do you cuss and bitch and moan when you come across an IE only site? (Trust me, there are alot of them still out there)

Now isn't it hypocritical to design ONLY for firefox? It's also lazy, to be honest.

[Skripka]

Really people?


Most people still using IE fall into 1 of 2 camps:

1) Corporate IT rules forbid the use of other browsers.

2) Home users who don't CARE about what other browsers there are. Who have other more pressing matters than the nerd in charge of a website who told them to download an entirely seperate web browser just to view their page.



I know I would NOT download another browser just to view soem persons website. It is not worth it. Flash is a browser plugin--not an entirely seperate web browser. You do this, and you drive away visitors.

[MikeTheC]

I'm thinking do what they did at the end of MiB 2: put a *HUGE* neuralizer up, flash everyone, and tell them they really don't want to use I.E., and that they (obviously) have been using Firefox right along.

Since not everyone will see the flash, that should probably get you somewhere north of 75%. Who knows, you might even break 80% like you wanted to.

[miggols99]

The best message to use is

This website is best viewed in a standards compliant web browser.

[-grubby]

Most computer users don't even know what a browser is. If you block them from the site they'll probably just assume it's broken and not view it.

[TheLions]

fix memory leaks then make agressive campain...

http://slike.hr/slika/beznaslova11.gif (http://slike.hr)

[chucky chuckaluck]

fix memory leaks then make agressive campain...


i thought that's what the title of the thread referred to.

[Giant Speck]

i thought that's what the title of the thread referred to.

:lolflag:

[Cope57]

Make your website code to web standards, and your visitors will switch to browsers which look best for them.

Here is my browser stats for my site.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9815/screenshotbrowsercope57.png

Mozilla includes Iceweasel and other Firefox variations not listed yet.
So, as for what browsers do your visitors use, it depends if your web site is web compliant or not.

What decision can the browser stats help with?

The obvious question is have you tested your website in the browsers your visitors are using? A website can look great in one particular browser and not work in any other. It is always recommended to code websites using the standards maintained by W3C (http://www.w3c.org/). This ensures that not only will your website be compatible now, but it will also be compatible for future software!

The Basics - what you should run on all your web pages

The MarkUp Validator (http://validator.w3.org). - Also known as the HTML validator, it helps check Web documents in formats like HTML and XHTML, SVG or MathML.


The Link Checker (http://validator.w3.org/checklink) - Checks anchors (hyperlinks) in a HTML/XHTML document. Useful to find broken links, etc.


The CSS Validator (http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/) - validates CSS stylesheets or documents using CSS stylesheets.

[Ascenti0n]

@cope57: I think your site figures would have more meaning if you mentioned what the site does and who the target audience is. For example, if your site was all about textmate themes, It wouldn't seem out of place if the Safari browser stats were much higher, followed by FF, then IE x, then Opera.

and OF COURSE yes, any serious development work MUST be standards compliant and MUST be tested across platforms and browsers.