Guild of Writers

Aloys wrote:That new page looks wonderfull except that..

We're Sorry...
But it appears you're using "Internet Explorer" (Less than 7), a browser that is not supported by the Guild of Writers

I can't see it.
And the really funny part is I'm *not* even using IE... I'm using Maxthon; why it is detected as IE by the server, I have no idea

Not to be rude, but what amazingly complicated piece of technology is being used on the new homepage that can't run on IE6? Because the marketshare for IE6 is what, 30%?

Not to be rude, but maintaining a website for IE6 is like pulling all the teeth from mouth after spending thousands of dollars on braces.

Maxthon is based on IE, I do not know if it defaults to IE6 or uses whatever you have installed, but I do know that you are using the Trident rendering engine, which is not supported on the website. I let IE7 clients visit it even though the pages do not render correctly on it.

The "amazingly complex piece of technology" that the homepage uses is transparent .png images. These have been common for a number of years, but IE6 is the only browser that does not support them.

iirc IE6 does actually support transparent png's somehow, but it requires annoying hacks do so...

EDIT:
found a link to it:
http://24ways.org/2007/supersleight-transparent-png-in-ie6

Trylon is correct, if you apply a hack they can work, however I would advise not using the example he provided, there are better fixes that don't break your site in the process (can cause links to stop functioning IIRC).

For DJC I use a simple .js file that allows for png image elements to be used but not png background elements (seeming djc doesn't use background elements). However I do recommend this http://www.twinhelix.com/css/iepngfix/

Apparently it works well (it worked ok when I tested it myself although so far I haven't used it in a live build).

But then I echo Hoikas' sentiments when it comes to IE, working with it is a pain (can't spell Fail without IE as I like to say), and I would like nothing more than to stop supporting it on my own sites.

Any else have a problem with the long load time of the home page(when not loading from cache--SHIFT+refresh will hard-refresh so you can see how someone first visiting this site would see it)? I did a little test... and reduced the page-load time by about half. You can see it here: http://lontahv.zxq.net/

...that uses jpgs for everything other than the random age pic. This may be a little kinder on ye-ol' IE too.

Note: The place I'm hosting my version on may be a little slow so it's bound to be loading slower than it would on this server. But file sizes don't lie.

Lon,

I clicked on your page and it took 20 seconds to load.

I clicked on the GOW homepage and it took 5 seconds.

Is this really important enough of a situation to harp on right now? If you think so I don't agree.

'k. Now that I know my host is really crumby then I'll stop. /me tries to avoid the fire of the Tsar with no luck

the link to your homepage took just as long as the regular home page for me

I dunno about anyone else but Im not able to connect to the IRC page anymore?

ABguy wrote:I dunno about anyone else but Im not able to connect to the IRC page anymore?

You're right, the web chat doesn't work anymore.

We'll work on it

-Kato

EDIT: Got it.