|
Search our FrontPage Support Area
FrontPage Support Area Site Map
The following are answers to
common questions in the
Microsoft FrontPage Client Newsgroup:
Designing for
Browser and Screen Independence
HTML stands for HyperText Markup
Language. It is a markup language, and not a layout language.
This means the browser controls how the page will be rendered
(look). This plus varying screen resolutions and methods of
retrieving web pages means that a good web designer needs to
learn about browser differences, and test their creations in two
or more browsers.
There are a lot of people who use
FrontPage to create web sites, and then notice that their site
looks great in Internet Explorer, but does not look good in
Netscape Navigator or other browsers. This result is not the
fault of FrontPage or that FrontPage 98 designs sites only for
Internet Explorer. The result comes from not understanding HTML
(the foundation of all web pages).
When you create your web pages you
should keep in mind that your design and user interface shows
will impact all of your visitors. And those visitors may have
images turned off (or use a browser that does not support
graphics), may use a browser that doesn’t support scripting
languages, and so on.
If you obey some simple rules, and
follow some simple guidelines you can be on your way to creating
sites that can be viewed and enjoyed by a wide audience.
The following are steps to take to
ensure your site can be enjoyed by the most number of users:
- Avoid using tables nested
within tables. While you can nest tables within tables,
doing so can cause problems on some browsers.
- Avoid relying heavily on
browser-specific HTML tags such as blink, and marquee (see
the table below).
- Use percentage values for
widths as opposed to absolute pixels. When you do use pixel
values for tables, try using a width no larger than 580
pixels to accommodate those on 640 x 480 screen resolutions.
- Ensure the individual cell
widths within each table add up to the width of the table.
- Use ALTernate image tags;
they help those who have their images turned off as well as
those who use browsers that do not support graphics.
- Use JavaScript over VBScript
since JavaScript is more widely accepted. Don’t create a web
site on the basis of JavaScript working as not all browsers
work with JavaScript either.
- Use
Standard Fonts for Windows
and Macintosh Computers (make sure you specify
alternative fonts using the FACE=... option>.
The following table shows which
tags are supported or not supported by which version of Netscape
Navigator, Internet Explorer, or Web TV (no version history
available). If a given tag is not listed that means that it
is supported by all three on all versions; if a given tag has a
blank column under the browser, then the browser does not support
that tag.
Tag or
Tag Option |
Context |
Netscape
Navigator |
Internet
Explorer |
Web
TV |
|
Applet |
Java Applet |
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
|
|
Area |
Image Map |
2.0+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Base Font |
|
1.1+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
BGColor |
Table |
3.0+ |
2.0+ |
|
|
BGProperties |
Watermark |
|
2.0+ |
|
|
BG Sound SRC |
Background Sound |
|
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Blink |
|
1.1+ |
|
|
|
Caption |
Table |
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
|
|
Class |
Style Sheets |
|
3.0+ |
|
|
Col |
Table |
|
3.0+ |
|
|
Colgroup |
Table |
|
3.0+ |
|
|
Comment |
<COMMENT> |
|
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
DFN |
Definition |
|
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
Embed |
|
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
Frame |
Frames |
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
ID |
Style Sheets |
|
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
Iframe |
Floating Frame |
|
3.0+ |
|
|
FrameSet |
Frames |
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
MailTo |
For forms |
2.0+ |
|
|
|
Map |
Image Map |
2.0+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Marquee |
|
|
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
MultiCol |
Table |
3.0+ |
|
|
|
Nobr |
No Break |
1.1+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Noframes |
Frame Set |
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
OnMouseOut |
|
3.0+ |
4.0+ |
Yes |
|
OnMouseOver |
|
3.0+ |
Limited |
Yes |
|
Param |
Java Applet |
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
|
|
Script |
|
2.0+ |
3.0+ |
Yes |
|
Spacer |
White Space |
3.0+ |
|
Yes |
|
Table |
|
1.1+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Tbody |
Table |
|
3.0+ |
|
|
TD |
Table |
1.1+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Tfoot |
Table |
|
3.0+ |
|
|
TH |
Table |
1.1+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Thead |
Table |
|
3.0+ |
|
|
TR |
Table |
1.1+ |
2.0+ |
Yes |
|
Wbr |
Word Break |
1.1+ |
2.0+ |
|
Sources for the
above table:
Resources:
Peter Abraham |
