Webdesigner war on IE6

[mihai.ile]

I just spent my last 6 hours developing for IE6.

From now on all my webpages will contain a polite message informing the user to update his browser to a newer version or a different browser before entering the website.

I even created a google project for this, if anyone interested in translating the original message just leave a reply over here with the 3 sentences. I will be happy to add them.

http://code.google.com/p/ie6-upgrade-warning/

And also for all of you, just leave your thoughts about the idea.

[aktiwers]

Gave you a StumbleUpon thumbs-up :)
Good project - to hell with IE6! Yarr!

[Mr. Picklesworth]

I'm building a web site for someone, asked nicely and he agrees that he doesn't want anyone's business if they're stuck 8 years in the past anyway.

Thus, I'm having LOTS of fun building with actual modern web standards. The tech we have nowadays can make sites look AWESOME!
Although it isn't a standard yet, I especially love CSS3's rgba stuff which SHOULD be fully allowed soon. (Don't worry, I'm using it only as an added bonus for people with up to date browsers. Fallbacks are in place).

Make sure your little warning popup works in IE6, though. It looks a bit too fancy for that browser to handle :P

[Barrucadu]

I just code to standards and assume it'll work. Naturally, there will be some things that don't, but as I'm only making sites for myself it doesn't really matter. If it looks the same in Opera and Firefox it's good enough for me.

[mihai.ile]

well this script was coded and tested just for ie6, on other browsers it does not reder correctly because I used some IE only features. But really it doesen't matter as it is only for IE6 or lower.

(Yes it renders correctly under IE6)

[Delever]

My latest site still works on IE6 without big rendering quirks and without any hacks. Maybe I just have too much time...

[red_Marvin]

Lines in Swedish:


var msg1 = "Vet du om att din version av Internet Explorer är föråldrad?";
var msg2 = "För att få störst behållning av denna webbsida rekommenderar vi att du uppgraderar till en nyare webbläsare. Här nedanför finns en lista över de mest populära webbläsarna.";
var msg3 = "Klicka på en av ikonerna för att förflyttas till respektive nerladdningssida.";

[Nevon]

Lines in Swedish:


var msg1 = "Vet du om att din version av Internet Explorer är föråldrad?";
var msg2 = "För att få störst behållning av denna webbsida rekommenderar vi att du uppgraderar till en nyare webbläsare. Här nedanför finns en lista över de mest populära webbläsarna.";
var msg3 = "Klicka på en av ikonerna för att förflyttas till respektive nerladdningssida.";


"Nedladdningssida", not "nerladdningssida".

[mihai.ile]

so the final is


var msg1 = "Vet du om att din version av Internet Explorer är föråldrad?";
var msg2 = "För att få störst behållning av denna webbsida rekommenderar vi att du uppgraderar till en nyare webbläsare. Här nedanför finns en lista över de mest populära webbläsarna.";
var msg3 = "Klicka på en av ikonerna för att förflyttas till respektive nedladdningssida.";

?

[Nevon]

so the final is

?

Yup. I added it to my websites by the way. I've always had some kind of warning message to IE6 users on my webpages, but this one is just so pretty.

[mjitkop]

French translation:

*** Oops, silly me, I translated the wrong text! Not very bright today. I'll have to look at the right one to translate. ***

[init1]

I just spent my last 6 hours developing for IE6.

From now on all my webpages will contain a polite message informing the user to update his browser to a newer version or a different browser before entering the website.

I even created a google project for this, if anyone interested in translating the original message just leave a reply over here with the 3 sentences. I will be happy to add them.

http://code.google.com/p/ie6-upgrade-warning/

And also for all of you, just leave your thoughts about the idea.
Great idea! While you're at it, block Lynx, Links, Dillo, and all other browsers that don't display your site correctly. Don't let your viewers choose their browser, make them use the browsers you want them to use.

[Nevon]

Great idea! While you're at it, block Lynx, Links, Dillo, and all other browsers that don't display your site correctly. Don't let your viewers choose their browser, make them use the browsers you want them to use.

There's really no excuse for using IE6 anymore, as Windows automatically tries to update to IE7. No one is forcing them to use something different than IE. Just not IE6, since it doesn't follow any type of standards at all. People can choose whatever browser they want, but if they choose to use IE6, I choose not to let them use my site.

[aktiwers]

Here is a Danish version:


var msg1 = "Vidste du at din Internet Explorer er forældet?"
var msg2 = "For at få den bedst mulige oplevelse ud af vores hjemmeside, anbefaler vi at du opdatere til en nyere version eller prøver en anden browser. En liste over de mest populære browsere kan ses forneden."
var msg3 = "Klik på et af ikonerne for at komme direkte til downloadsiden"

[mihai.ile]

Posted translations added to the project's wiki, thank you.

[joshdudeha]

There's really no excuse for using IE6 anymore, as Windows automatically tries to update to IE7. No one is forcing them to use something different than IE. Just not IE6, since it doesn't follow any type of standards at all. People can choose whatever browser they want, but if they choose to use IE6, I choose not to let them use my site.

+ 1

This is a great idea to get people upgrading to new versions

[hessiess]

There's really no excuse for using IE6 anymore, as Windows automatically tries to update to IE7. No one is forcing them to use something different than IE. Just not IE6, since it doesn't follow any type of standards at all. People can choose whatever browser they want, but if they choose to use IE6, I choose not to let them use my site.

+2

Web developers should not have to waste valuable time and bloating there code with messy hacks just to support an antiquated, non standards compliant browser which just won't die.

[mr.propre]

There's really no excuse for using IE6 anymore, as Windows automatically tries to update to IE7. No one is forcing them to use something different than IE. Just not IE6, since it doesn't follow any type of standards at all. People can choose whatever browser they want, but if they choose to use IE6, I choose not to let them use my site.

Only under XP and if update are enabled. In most illegal installations this isn't the case.
There is also no IE 7 (or 8 ) under windows 2000 or '98 and those are still use.

Edit: I'm going to implant this in all my website later this week, even though they are fully IE 6 compatible.

[jpmelos]

There's really no excuse for using IE6 anymore, as Windows automatically tries to update to IE7. No one is forcing them to use something different than IE. Just not IE6, since it doesn't follow any type of standards at all. People can choose whatever browser they want, but if they choose to use IE6, I choose not to let them use my site.

+3

Translation to Brazilian Portuguese (although people who speak other variation of Portuguese are perfectly able to understand this, there are just some differences in speech and a really few on written text):


var msg1 = "Você sabia que seu Internet Explorer está desatualizado?";
var msg2 = "Para usufruir da melhor experiência utilizando nosso website, nós recomendamos que você atualize para a nova versão ou instale um outro browser. Apresentamos uma lista dos browsers mais populares logo abaixo.";
var msg3 = "Apenas clique em um dos links abaixo para ir para a página de download:";

[SupaSonic]

Good job. This was long overdue.

[3rdalbum]

A suggestion: Put the Internet Explorer logo to the right of the rest of the logos. And make sure there's a way for IE 6 users to hide the warning and look at how broken the site appears with such an old browser.

[mihai.ile]

There is an issue about the hide feature on project's page, I'll have to investigate, eve if at least for me it does not make sense.
Anyway thanks for the great input about this little project. I already gained some bug reports also to keep me occupied for more than my initial 6 hours :)

[eragon100]

Translation to Dutch:

Om de best mogelijke ervaring met het gebruik van onze website te krijgen
raden wij u aan om naar een nieuwere versie van IE of naar een andere browser te upgraden.

Klik op een van de iconen om naar de download-pagina van het betreffende programma te gaan.

[uc50_ic4more]

Well done, and thank you! I'll be using this wherever and whenever appropriate.

[Nevon]

Can't you link straight to the script at code.google? That would be so much better.

[Stefanie]

Translation to Dutch:

Om de best mogelijke ervaring met het gebruik van onze website te krijgen
raden wij u aan om naar een nieuwere versie van IE of naar een andere browser te upgraden.

Klik op een van de iconen om naar de download-pagina van het betreffende programma te gaan.

or, more accurately and more complete:


Wist je dat je versie van Internet Explorer verouderd is?

Voor een zo goed mogelijke gebruikservaring raden wij u aan om te upgraden naar een nieuwere versie of naar een andere browser. Hieronder staat een lijstje met de meest populaire browsers.

Klik op een van de icoontjes om naar de download-pagina te gaan.

[aktiwers]

In the Danish translation I made a small mistake..
opdatere should be opdaterer

in msg2

[koenn]

Only under XP and if update are enabled. In most illegal installations this isn't the case.
There is also no IE 7 (or 8 ) under windows 2000 or '98 and those are still use.

I guess that's the price you pay for using pirated software, while there are alternatives available. Same goes for sticking with unsupported software.

[Mehall]

You can easily get IE7 in an illegal copy. It's not subject to WGA, nor is IE8, IIRC.

[Polygon]

yeah, im not sure if ie8 actually checks to make sure if your copy of windows is legit or not, although it might (and not tell you).

I would think not because ie is losing marketshare and they want to promote use of their browser any way they can....

[mjitkop]

Here is the right French translation:


Savez-vous que votre Internet Explorer n'est pas à jour ?

Pour avoir la meilleure experience possible avec notre site, nous vous recommendons de le mettre à jour ou bien d'utiliser un autre navigateur internet. Veuillez trouver ci-dessous la liste des navigateurs internet les plus populaires.

Il vous suffit de cliquer sur une des icônes pour aller sur la page de téléchargement correspondante.

[jamieh]

Not working when I use IE6 as a user agent in Safari on OS X.

How would I add this to an SMF forum? There is no <body> tag in index.php

[jespdj]

I even created a google project for this, if anyone interested in translating the original message just leave a reply over here with the 3 sentences. I will be happy to add them.

http://code.google.com/p/ie6-upgrade-warning/

And also for all of you, just leave your thoughts about the idea.
That looks good!

Here's my translation into Dutch:

var msg1 = "Weet U dat Uw Internet Explorer verouderd is?";
var msg2 = "Om van alle mogelijkheden van onze website gebruik te maken raden we u aan om een nieuwere versie te installeren of om een andere webbrowser te gebruiken. Hieronder ziet u een overzicht van de meest populaire webbrowsers."
var msg3 = "Klik op een pictogram om één van deze webbrowsers te downloaden."


I just code to standards and assume it'll work.
Ofcourse that approach is totally inappropriate if you are designing websites as a serious business, and your assumption is wrong.


Naturally, there will be some things that don't, but as I'm only making sites for myself it doesn't really matter. If it looks the same in Opera and Firefox it's good enough for me.
Try looking at your websites with IE (any version) and cry... :(

[Nevon]

How would I add this to an SMF forum? There is no <body> tag in index.php

You can put it in the <head> section instead. See if you can find a file called header.php or something like that. A file that is included on all pages would be the best.

[Biochem]

There's really no excuse for using IE6 anymore, as Windows automatically tries to update to IE7. No one is forcing them to use something different than IE. Just not IE6, since it doesn't follow any type of standards at all. People can choose whatever browser they want, but if they choose to use IE6, I choose not to let them use my site.

Not that I like IE6 (or other IE version for that matter), but corporate user (big companies, universities, etc) are very slow when it come to this kind of upgrade. My university uses IE6, no other browser available on the computer and no authorization to install one.

So, yes I'm forced to used IE6 against my will, and I happen to make purchase decision on those computer...

[Tomosaur]

Not that I like IE6 (or other IE version for that matter), but corporate user (big companies, universities, etc) are very slow when it come to this kind of upgrade. My university uses IE6, no other browser available on the computer and no authorization to install one.

So, yes I'm forced to used IE6 against my will, and I happen to make purchase decision on those computer...
Stick Firefox on a USB stick then. (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable)

[Polygon]

Stick Firefox on a USB stick then. (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable)

they most likely restrict users from running .exe files....although he might be lucky and they might not have done that

[Tomosaur]

they most likely restrict users from running .exe files....although he might be lucky and they might not have done that

If they restrict users from running .exe files, then user's won't be able to do much at all :P

[loell]

anybody mentioned sevenup?

http://code.google.com/p/sevenup/

though i think it only prompts in english.

[mihai.ile]

anybody mentioned sevenup?

http://code.google.com/p/sevenup/

though i think it only prompts in english.

Well it's quite ugly in my opinion...
If I knew about it before maybe I would never created my project and used a modified version of this one instead but then again with 8000+ visits in the first 24h for my project I can say that it was worth it.

[ELD]

Well it's quite ugly in my opinion...
If I knew about it before maybe I would never created my project and used a modified version of this one instead but then again with 8000+ visits in the first 24h for my project I can say that it was worth it.

With the black plugin it looks good!

I don't see why universities and companies take so long to upgrade 1 peice of free software?

@jamieh smf is php software, you won't find the html in the php files, you need to find the template files. Either in a templates folder or via the admin centre.

[loell]

Well it's quite ugly in my opinion...
If I knew about it before maybe I would never created my project and used a modified version of this one instead but then again with 8000+ visits in the first 24h for my project I can say that it was worth it.

well.. I'm just merely pointing out another script with the same exact intent. no reason to stop nor brag about your effort. ;)

[Nevon]

Is this the same project? http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/internet-explorer-6-upgrade/

[mihai.ile]

Is this the same project? http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/internet-explorer-6-upgrade/

Similar, but not the exact same thing. That one is more a wordpress plugin.

[Nevon]

Similar, but not the exact same thing. That one is more a wordpress plugin.

Yeah, I was just asking if you were the author or that plugin as well.

[mihai.ile]

Oh no, i'm not. Didn't understand it the first time.

Just finished adding chinese translation, the project now has 12 translations besides English, not bad.

[0per4t0r]

I think it should auto-detect their OS, also, because of compatibility issues, people might be forced to use Firefox 2 or IE6 because of an outdated OS like Win98 or WinME.

Also, I think that you should add a feature that you can mark a checkbox to dismiss this message for further browsing of the site, and save their choice in a cookie.