In This Issue:
- Web Hosting!
- A
Bit of Trouble with CSS Styles
- This
Email is Certified Anthrax-Free!
Web Hosting!
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A
Bit of Trouble with CSS Styles
Anyone who has ever designed a professional web
page knows what a pain cross-browser viewing can be. If you develop
an incredible web site in Internet Explorer, you can almost guarantee
Netscape'll screw it up. This is partially the reason why CSS
has become so popular. It allows you to set properties to text,
tables, etc. that translate over very cleanly into other browsers.
Or so I thought.
There I was the other day, putting the final touches
on the hosting site. I had sent the link over to another developer
for a second eye. When the email came back, I honestly thought
he would have been happy with the overall look of the page. Instead
was a single line of text: "Joe, have you looked at the site
in Netscape, yet?"
To be completely honest, I hadn't. Perhaps I had
grown comfortable in my "ability" to cross-browse flawlessly
or was just a little bit lazy. In either case, I hadn't done it.
So, I hit Ctrl+F12 in Dreamweaver to preview and there it was:
Broken text, disrupted tables, a complete mess. And not just one
page, mind you. It was consistent over the entire site.
The problem seemed to be stemming from the source
code itself. Every time the text broke in the script, it broke
on the page. It really made no sense at all. I was just about
to relent myself to editing all of the breaks out of the source
of each page (an undertaking that meant several hours of additional
work), when it occurred to me: all of the pages were drawing their
CSS from the same server included script.
So, I popped open TopStyle and looked at the CSS
source. There it was: the "whitespace" command. "Whitespace"
is a command that directs the browser to look at text and break
it up according to how it is divided up in the source, essentially
reading the white space between each line of script. Internet
Explorer apparently ignores this command, but it was tearing apart
my page in other browsers.
So, I deleted it. I had no idea how it had gotten
there to begin with, but I knew exactly how to get rid of it.
One update to my server and quick refresh later, the problem was
solved. Much to my relief, what had looked to be a several hour
job was cut down to five minutes.
Why share this little story? Is this a problem
most people will have while designing their web site? Probably
not. It does, however, show that just like the colored scrollbar
tutorial in my last newsletter,
and like many other commands in HTML, browser differences can
cause significant changes in the way your web site is viewed.
So, keep on top of the game. Check your site in other browsers
and always look professional (even if you really aren't!)
Anthrax-Free
Email
A buddy of mine and I got into a discussion about
virii the other night, particularly the currently popular "Badtrans-B"
virus. Being a fellow webmaster, he related that he had in fact
received this virus some 45 times on his office computer during
just the last week. It was a point of contention for him, trying
to determine whether or not he should block emails from those
who were clearly high risk.
I can relate. I myself have received the virus
nearly as many times (a few times maliciously!), but fortunately
my virus-protection software has stopped it cold. Apparently,
though, many of my friends weren't so lucky.
For those who don't know, "Badtrans-B"
is a particularly malevolent worm. Not only does it take advantage
of a known bug in Microsoft Outlook, it also hides a program in
your system that transmits information back to the virus's creator.
Passwords, credit card info and the like are all at risk.
What perhaps is most disconcerting about the virus
is that while it takes advantage of a known bug in Outlook to
spread itself out to other users, this is a bug Microsoft posted
a fix to eight months ago. Had people only updated their software
like Microsoft suggests, the virus could have been stopped cold.
So, it occurs to me that there are basically two
ways to protect both yourself and those in your address book:
First, get a good virus protection program and
keep it updated. I use and suggest Norton Antivirus 2002 (http://www.symantec.com)
myself. Not only does it check incoming mail, but it also monitors
any mail leaving your computer as well. There was a time when
virus protection could have been considered a luxury, but that
has passed. In order to protect yourself, your clients, your friends
and loved ones, you absolutely have to have this software.
Second, keep your Internet software up-to-date.
Like I said previously, had people taken a moment to download
the necessary upgrades, the effect of this and other like virii
could have been curbed.
Simple fixes for complex problems: that seems to
be the theme for this newsletter.
As always, your comments on anything discussed
within this newsletter or my web site are always welcomed. Simply
send them to me via email at joe_on_the_go@avg-joe.com
or post your comments for discussion on my forum located at http://forum.avg-joe.com.
Thank you for your time! See you again soon! Don't
forget to tell your friends about us!
--Joe Bartlett
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