Websites look wrong: Difference between revisions

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* In Firefox, go to Go to "View -> Page style" and change "No Style" (in Mozilla Suite, "View -> Use Style and change  "Basic Page Style") to whatever is there if it's not already checked.
* In Firefox, go to Go to "View -> Page style" and change "No Style" (in Mozilla Suite, "View -> Use Style and change  "Basic Page Style") to whatever is there if it's not already checked.
* If you have Adblock check it from the status bar to see if anything is being blocked, and remove it from Adblock's preference window: "Tools -> Extensions", then double-click "Adblock".
* If you have Adblock check it from the status bar to see if anything is being blocked, and remove it from Adblock's preference window: "Tools -> Extensions", then double-click "Adblock".
* Make sure your firewall isn't blocking Mozilla Suite or Firefox from getting page content. Details [[Error loading any website#Firewalls | here]].
* Make sure your internet security/firewall program isn't blocking Mozilla Suite or Firefox from getting page content.  
* The page may require cookies or popup windows. Enable these features  in Firefox options under Content (Web Features in 1.0.x)  or in Mozilla Suite's preference settings under "Privacy & Security -> "Popup Windows" and "Cookies".  
* The page may require cookies or popup windows. Enable these features  in Firefox options under Content (Web Features in 1.0.x)  or in Mozilla Suite's preference settings under "Privacy & Security -> "Popup Windows" and "Cookies".  
* The page may require [[JavaScript]].  Enable  JavaScript in Firefox options under "Content" ("Web Features" in 1.0.x) or in Mozilla Suite preferences under "Advanced -> Scripts& Plugins > Enable JavaScript for  -> Navigator".
* The page may require [[JavaScript]].  Enable  JavaScript in Firefox options under "Content" ("Web Features" in 1.0.x) or in Mozilla Suite preferences under "Advanced -> Scripts& Plugins > Enable JavaScript for  -> Navigator".

Revision as of 18:50, 3 May 2006

Gecko-based applications, like the Mozilla Suite and Firefox are designed from the bottom up to support sites written with W3C standards. However, other browsers sometimes use alternate methods to format pages which are not supported by the Mozilla Suite or Firefox. The best long term solution is to respectfully ask the website developer if they can make their page work in Mozilla. For help on doing this, visit the Tech Evangelism project page. If this is not possible, there are a few things you can try to get the site to work as designed.

Possible solutions for website developers

  • Make sure the coding of your website is valid and up to standards (e.g., supports multiple OSes and browsers). For help on this please visit W3C.org (World Wide Web Consortium) and HTMLhelp.com.
  • To check the validation of your website visit both HTML Validator and CSS Validator.
  • View and edit website coding through a real-time HTML editor [1].
  • Extensions such as HTML Validator and Web Developer can be helpful with validation and HTML source.
  • There are also multiple tools that can validate your website for you, e.g. HTML Tidy, HTML-Kit, and W3C tools.

Possible solutions for users

  • Make sure the option or preference to only load images from the originating web site is not selected. In Firefox, look under "Tools -> Options -> Content (Web features in 1.0.x) -> Load Images [For originating web site only]. In Mozilla Suite, look under "Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Images" to ensure that "Accept Images that come from the originating server only" is not checked.
  • Make sure that images from specific sites are not blocked. In Firefox, look under "Tools -> Options -> Content (Web features in 1.0.x) -> Load Images [Exceptions]. In Mozilla Suite, look under "Edit -> Preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Images -> Manage Image Permissions". Remove any culprits and press "OK".
  • Clear your cache and cookies in Firefox "Privacy" options (under "Cache" and "Cookies" ) or in Mozilla Suite preferences (under "Advanced -> Cache" and "Privacy & Security -> Cookies -> Cookie Manager").
  • In Firefox, go to Go to "View -> Page style" and change "No Style" (in Mozilla Suite, "View -> Use Style and change "Basic Page Style") to whatever is there if it's not already checked.
  • If you have Adblock check it from the status bar to see if anything is being blocked, and remove it from Adblock's preference window: "Tools -> Extensions", then double-click "Adblock".
  • Make sure your internet security/firewall program isn't blocking Mozilla Suite or Firefox from getting page content.
  • The page may require cookies or popup windows. Enable these features in Firefox options under Content (Web Features in 1.0.x) or in Mozilla Suite's preference settings under "Privacy & Security -> "Popup Windows" and "Cookies".
  • The page may require JavaScript. Enable JavaScript in Firefox options under "Content" ("Web Features" in 1.0.x) or in Mozilla Suite preferences under "Advanced -> Scripts& Plugins > Enable JavaScript for -> Navigator".
  • The page may require Java. Make sure that Java is installed and enabled in the browser. In Firefox, enable Java via "Tools -> Options -> Content ("Web Features" in 1.0.x) . In Mozilla Suite, enable Java under "Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced".
  • If the problem is with a plugin like Flash or Windows Media Player, see the linked kb article.
  • Sometimes layout problems can be fixed by forcing a page reflow.
  • Install a user agent spoofer, such as User Agent Switcher extension, to make the web site think you are using a different browser.
  • Sites that almost work, but need modification, can sometimes be fixed with GreaseMonkey and an onslaught of other extensions, which would allow you to change how the page looks and acts. You can try to change the page yourself, or see if someone else has written a fix (for GreaseMonkey, a script aka GMS or GM Script).
  • If everything else fails, on Windows, you can install IE View which allows you to right-click open pages in IE.
  • If nothing worked for you this far (and Internet Explorer is not your weapon of choice) then the website's coding might be flawed and not up to standards (with poorly written coding). As a last resort try contacting the webmaster and complain about the nonfunctional website.

Gecko limitations

  • Cannot use Microsoft's Java VM. Use an alternative, such as Sun's Java VM.
  • Cannot render VML or do VML scripting. Try using SVG instead.
  • Menus and other scripts that use document.layers will not work. Developers: see this site for more information.
  • Partial support for document.all and document.<id> (but not document.<name>) has been added to Firefox 1.0.
  • Occasionally page layouts will be displayed incorrectly due to incremental reflow bugs in the current release of Firefox. Oftentimes a more recent build will render the same pages correctly.
  • ActiveX controls are not supported in most Gecko browsers. If possible, use a plugin interface instead, which is possible with Windows Media Player.
  • Microsoft Windows Update must, by design, be run in Windows on Internet Explorer. There are some 3rd party sites that allow access to some updates, such as WindizUpdate.
  • Firefox strictly interprets the W3C spec for HTML comments; as a result, some of the contents of malformed comments might be rendered. See bug 102127.

See also