Problems with Internet Explorer

[Rohan_]

Hello,

I just have noticed that my forum is not working properly in Internet Explorer ( i am using IE 8 )

I am having a problem. When i go to post  new topic and enter my message and if it's big then a scroll comes on right side which is normal.. but when i scroll down and click or select some text then the scrollbox automatically goes up and i can't see the selected text..

This works fine in compatibility mode.. So i think it's a coding issue.. PLEASE HELP

Thanks

[Sir Osis of Liver]

That's a bug that affects IE8.  Enable Compatibility View and it will work properly.  It's supposed to have been fixed, but obviously hasn't been.

[Illori]

this should be fixed in 2.0 once it finally gets released for now compatibility mode is your only choice.

[Rohan_]

Why is this issue is in SMF from long time ? It's a really annoying issue and we can't work because of it.. This should have been fixed... Don't you have a temporarily fix for this ?

You guyz are expert and i am sure you know which code is causing this.. you can fix it.. why not try ?

[Illori]

i am not sure the developers are aware of this as an issue in 1.1.1* and if it is, i am not sure if the fix for 2.0 will apply to 1.1.1*.

[Arantor]

It won't be fixed in 1.1.x, because that's only receiving security fixes. It has been fixed in 2.0.

@Illori, that's why in 1.1.11 there was a specific change to add the Microsoft-provided fix for such things, which no longer works because they broke it in a later patch. The fix in 2.0 could be made to work in 1.1.x but it won't be easy.

[Rohan_]

But it's a big problem.. There are 70% people who uses internet explorer.. because of this SMF problem.. every IE user will say that our site sucks..

This should be fixed.. Please Take this issue serious.. It's not ignorable

[mashby]

Sure, there is some truth to what you are saying. I believe 70% is much too high these days though. Don't you find it interesting that every browser BUT IE doesn't have this issue? Speaks more to the browser than SMF (or any site for that matter). Ant has fixed this issue for IE8 in 2.0. Considering its impending release, how much effort would you put into something that Compatibility Mode addresses? Yes, it's not realistic to say, hey, go use Firefox, but it's also not realistic to fix 1.1.x at this point in time when the real issue is with IE8. Sure, it could be fixed, but as Once Upon a Star states, it won't be easy. Isn't it easier to put your browser in Compatibility Mode?

Code Select Expand

<!--[if IE 8]>
<div>If you are posting a long topic or replying to an existing topic, please consider using Compatibility Mode when doing so as IE8 has flaws.</div>
<![endif]-->

[Rohan_]

It's easy for me to put my browser in Compatibility mode.. but How can I teach it to everyone.. Every user will just say that my site sucks and will leave.. who will research and believe that IE8 have issues ?

I believe you that IE8 have issues.. but if u have fixed it for 2.0 which is in development but you didn't fixed for the 1.1.x versions which are not in development and are final...

in development version should have errors.. not the final ones

[Illori]

this was an issue that came up after 1.1.0 was released, you cant expect developers to fix all issues in new browsers in a release that is only accepting security fixes.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

'It's not a bug, it's a feature.'

[MrPhil]

Personally, I find it inexcusable that SMF put 1.x into security-fixes-only mode long before SMF 2.x went gold. 2.x has been in beta and RC stage for far too long, but until it goes gold, 1.x should be receiving all manner of bug fixes (not just security patches). 1.x and its users deserve better support for the only active released product. SMF's reputation for support is suffering because of this. Now, whether fixing M$'s mistakes falls into the category of "SMF bug" is debatable, but if it's not too much work to fix, it would be a nice gesture to everyone to fix the thing, and not split hairs over whether an "old product" (which, I would remind you, is the only released version out there) should be updated. In the long run, SMF will attract many more users if it gets a reputation for solid support.

[Arantor]

That's the thing, there WAS a non security fix applied to 1.1.x, the very fix supplied by Microsoft. This was back in 2009 - but the fix was broken by a later service pack.

Given how close 2.0 actually is, I'd argue that backporting the fix (which is complex because of the very different natures of 1.1 and 2.0) is counterproductive.

I'd also note that it only affects IE8 users, IE 9 doesn't appear to be affected, which is now the current stable release of IE...

[Sir Osis of Liver]

IE9 will not work in XP - it requires Vista or Win7.  XP and IE7-8 users should not be expected to do major upgrades just to accommodate SMF.  By the same token, it's unrealistic (and unreasonable) to expect all SMF users with .1x forums to upgrade to 2.0, especially considering the many upgrade disasters that are regularly posted in this forum.  If SMF is unwilling to support earlier versions of their software (bearing in mind that .13 is the current version), maybe they're in the wrong business.

[Arantor]

Thing is... it works just fine in IE7. The bug is *specific* to IE8.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I miss IE6.

Part of the problem is that XP users can't upgrade beyond IE8, so there will be a logjam of IE8 users as long as XP is widely in use.  Moreso because Vista was a dog, and MS offerred a "complimentary downgrade" back to XP, which added to the number of XP users.

[Rohan_]

I Just upgraded to IE9 and it's working fine now..

but there should be a fix for IE8

[Antechinus]

That's the thing, there WAS a non security fix applied to 1.1.x, the very fix supplied by Microsoft. This was back in 2009 - but the fix was broken by a later service pack.

Yep, but all that did was force compat mode automatically. Nice of MS to break it though.

Given how close 2.0 actually is, I'd argue that backporting the fix (which is complex because of the very different natures of 1.1 and 2.0) is counterproductive.

Wouldn't be hard, actually.

[live627]

Wouldn't be hard? Eh?

[Antechinus]

Nope. I finally figured out what caused it, after people had spent yonks chasing false "fixes" all around the web. It's really simple: any textarea that has the width set in % will make IE8 jumpy. Yup, that's right. IE8 can't handle something as basic as a textarea set to % width. It's unique in that respect.

To get a fluid width that wont go jumpy in IE8, you have to set the width in px and then override it with max-width and min-width. That works for all browsers. Of course IE6 and IE7 wont recognise max-width and min-width, but that's just too bad. Nobody in their right mind cares about 6 and 7 these days anyway.

For instance, this will be fine in all browsers:

Code Select Expand

.some_textarea
{
width: 600px;
max-width: 100%;
min-width: 100%;
}

OTOH, this will make IE8 jumpy:

Code Select Expand

.some_textarea
{
width: 100%;
}