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HomeHomeOur CommunityOur CommunityGeneral Discuss...General Discuss...Browser CompatibilityBrowser Compatibility
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4/29/2006 5:00 PM
 
Sorry if this is a repeat of another thread, but I could not find it. Is there a browser compatibilty standard for DotNetNuke? I have only been looking at this product for two days (3.2.2), and already have noticed a number of browser incompatibilities - Page Management / Permissions does not render correctly on Safari 1.3.2, IE 5.2 for the Mac cannot sign on any login screen, and forget about the IFrame thing - iframes are almost not compatible with any not-new non-Microsoft browser. I love DotNetNuke, and I think what you're doing is great. I also love Microsoft products. But, I can't in good conscience develope a website for a customer/client that discrimiates against Mac users. Frank Fazzio
 
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4/29/2006 8:28 PM
 

Hi Frank

This is an ongoing path of improvement with DotNetNuke and we have gone a long way since the early days - that's for sure, but we're not there.

In reference to a couple of things - I know developers have created a Mac friendly environment and it does take a few changes and some money out of your pocket in some instances. I know this because a couple of people here (probably more but only a couple I know of and talk with) are managing / developing school portals and guess what - they have macs... varying in age and had to resolve a few things.

Firstly - 5.2 and Mac - it's disappointing but Microsoft simply stopped supporting them a long time ago and most browser standards these days are IE 5.5 and above, that's what DotNetNuke supports (to my knowledge based on reading something but can't remember where OK)  Now, to get around that, the biggest issue has been for those using the SolPart Menu - and while it's improved dramatically, it's still not a 100% solution but you can look at products like third party menus - http://www.inventua.com - that site is w3c compliant.  http://www.oliverhine.com - now he's got a menu / site map that is using a third party product - from http://www.devmansion.com which allows you to build Mac friendly right back to Netscape 4.0 (I think) menu compatibility.  These are just a couple of instances where they have overcome the mac issue.

Secondly - Editors - I notice the FTB editor - while not a fan of it has improved over time but you can move to the FCKEditor and get some better compliance there. Or if it's really important, then there are the http://www.telerik.com or http://www.cutesoft.net editors - sure they cost but they will solve your problem.

Thirdly - IFrame - forget using it. If something is a problem, then remove it from use in the portal - or hide it as a premium module. This is a commonly known problem not just for Macs but for early versions of Netscape and Firefox.  I know there is much better support for Firefox these days and surely a Mac user can upgrade to this.

This is an open sourc environment where we work with the resources we have here. There were no Mac developers jumping in and helping in the beginning, however, not long ago, I know that a few people who bitterly complained about the lack of  SolPart menu support, chipped in and provided Jon Henning with a Mac computer - it added alot to his work load but he made significant changes and could test these problems out since he now has a Mac for testing.  It was a generous gesture of people assisting those developers here who are going out of their way.

Lastly  - I've been doing this for few years now - back in the days of DNN1, and I have no problems developing sites with DotNetNuke knowing that there is never every going to be 100% happy people. It's not DotNetNuke I've learnt -it's people in general.   I'd also like to mention that those with earlier browsers are going to have a miserable time in most areas on the internet, I've experienced that using the variety of browsers myself and honestly I'd go mad trying to make my site compatible with Netscape 2 (and yes, they appear on my logs)

I think what you need to do is look at if DotNetNuke is really for your audience. If it's a problem, then there are other good applications that might suit your requirements where you feel you don't have to compromise the browser compatibility.  This is not ignoring that there is a problem or brushing it off, but it's merely stating - we're doing what we can, with the resources available, have seen some good Mac orientated sites running in school portals where they have overcome the problems.  Yes it's cost them money for the third party providers, but they loved what DotNetNuke could offer them.

Third party providers are those prominent and most used areas - like the menu and editors at this stage, that allow you to put independent products that have been wrapped to work within the DotNetNuke framework and solve problems or provided enchancements, specific to a client's / users needs.

You're not telling us anything we're not aware of, and I use to try and defend DotNetNuke for it's merits, but these days - I know how good this product is, and I know how many simply brilliant developers there are picking up this framework and thinking WOW, I can do so much with it, they are using their skills to find solutions, and in the process growing it to be the fantastic product that it is.

I hope this educates you to finding something good about DotNetNuke. I also run a Linux Server, I'm solutions oriented, not tied into something so blindly that I can't see further.  And I look, every day there's something new I learn, and the more I learn, the more I realise just how cool this product is... warts and all.

Just out of curiosity - was there anything you liked at all?

Nina Meiers


Nina Meiers My Little Website
If it's on DNN, I fix, build, deploy, support,skin, host, design, consult, implement, integrate and done since 2003.
Who am I? Just a city chic, having a crack at organic berry farming.. and creating awesome websites.
 
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4/29/2006 10:28 PM
 
I guess I sounded a little too negative. I absolutely love what everyone has done with this product. I was just wondering if there was any attempt to have standardized browser compatibility testing (and what the standard was), or the policy is "if it works in the latest release of IE, then it's OK".

I have been developing web sites "the hard way" for too many years, and there are a lot of neat bells and whistles I steer clear of because they either don't work with older (two or three years old) browsers, or utilized IE-only functions. When I adopt a "technique" for any application, be it web based, Java based, Windows based, whatever, I have to realisically look at my audience - who is going to run it. I wouldn't expect DotNetNuke to support Netscape 2.0. I would expect it to be compatible with Safari 1.3.2 (comes with Mac OS 10.3.9), and also any Opera or Firefox in the last couple years.

I guess my answer is that there isn't a standand platform that DotNetNuke is compliant with, other than IE 6.0. And that's a shame, because otherwise I'd say DotNetNuke is perfect - it's WELL thought out, easy to use, flexible and extensible. And I have no problem that it RUNS on MS platforms only.

It's just I fear sometimes that Microsoft is trying to corner the Internet (too), and a really good app like DotNetNuke is only helping them accomplish that. Y'all get nothing, Microsoft ultimately gets richer.

I think a "really good" website has to be accessible by 99.9% of all the users on the internet, so I think the "almost perfect" product - DotNetNuke - should at least make an attempt to set a standard for browser compatibility.

Again, I'm a newbie - what do I know?
 
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4/30/2006 6:40 AM
 

Compatability is as much about the skin as it is about DNN itself.  Some skins play nice, other do not.  At the end of the day the only way to know is to test all sites on all potential OS and browsers.

We have sites that work fine in Safari other than for editing that is.  For Firefox variants it is fine on the Mac.  FYI - the best browser we have found on the Mac is Camino and it supports DNN fully.

 
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4/30/2006 9:11 AM
 
Thanks S2K, that's good to know - that the skin you choose impacts compatibility.

And your right about the testing - I maintain several computers with several browsers just for that reason (however, I do most of my surfing with my Mac).

Again, I'm new at this, but I've already been committed by my employer (a consulting firm) to produce and maintain a DotnetNuke site for a client. An while probably 95% of all the people surfing the web use IE 6.0, I don't think it's fair to my client to implement a site that excludes 5% of his possible customers.

So, any specific hints that anyone can give me like yours (skins make a difference) and nina's (forget about iframes) that help my app be compatible with more surfers will be appreciated.
 
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