browser issue

Poster: helpME
Dated: Sunday May 18 2003 - 1:33:01 BST

I was told that the StyleXP menu would not work with Netscape.. I don't have NS to test it, so I don't know.. but, if this is true.. how can I make it work with netscape?

Also, this is sorta off the topic of menus.. but someone told me that iframes also don't work with Netscape, is that also true?

Poster: kevin3442
Dated: Sunday May 18 2003 - 6:19:04 BST

Hi,

Depends on what version of the menu and what version of Netscape you're referring to.

If you're referring to the version 4 beta and NS4, then yes, there does seem to be an issue. The examples that you can download with the current beta version do not seem to work in NS4, nor do the online examples. No problem in NS7. Given that version 4 of the menu is still in beta, however, I wouldn't sweat it.

The XP style in version 3 of the menu (the one most are using for production sites works perfectly in NS7. It works in NS4x also, but you don't get the same border and margin effects within menu items. The menus still work, however, so it wouldn't be accurate to say that they don't work. They also look just fine -- perhaps not as spiffy as they look in a newer browser, but just fine nonetheless. Also, the appearance of the menu does sometimes suffer a little in older browsers, on various levels, whether its an XP style or any other style. That they work at all in stone age browsers is amazing to me in itself.

Regarding inline frames: NS4 does not support the iframe tag, so iframes will not work in NS4. Not a problem in newer versions. If you are thinking of using iframes and the menus, then you should also be aware that even if a browser supports iframes, some of the older browsers have a conflict between iframes and DHTML content (not just the menus, but any DHTML element that relys on layering). With older browsers, the iframe is essentially an embeded copy of the browser. As such, it won't respnd to layering and basically occupies the top most layer no matter what you do. So, if an iframe occupys the same area as a DHTML element (e.g., like a menu), then the DHTML element will be behind the iframe, no matter what its zindex is.

A final comment: You might consider downloading various browsers and versions so that you can test your site development with the browers that you are interested in supporting. You can even still find NS4 downloads on the web, although I wish it would go away forever!

Hope that helps,

Kevin