Daily Kos

Display problems?

by kos

Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 12:29:46 AM PDT

I made some pretty significant edits to the HTML and CSS style sheets of the site. I'm not done, so I'm afraid the odd item may be broken. Fonts may look funny or things don't align properly.

But there are things which I think are done, but may display poorly in any number of browsers out there. Until browser developers learn to embrace web standards and allow for a uniform browsing experience, people like me will write code which will break on someone's browser, somewhere.

Please use this thread to report any such bugs. And please, please keep this thread on topic. No feature requests. I can't process those right now. Thanks.

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Permalink | 98 comments

  •  Validate your HTML (none / 1)

    Validate your HTML using http://validator.w3.org/ . At the moment, dailykos doesn't come close to validating as HTML 4.0 Transitional, and you shouldn't even be using that standard - use Strict.

    by Keith on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 12:32:52 AM PDT

    •  Can you explain? (none / 0)

      I switched the strict, and it doesn't allow many tags that are a staple of my HTML, like TD WIDTH. I assume that means I should use CSS to set my table widths, but won't that make a mess out of older non-compliant browsers?

      I don't mean Netscape 4.7, but more recent browsers?

      by kos on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:05:54 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  Doctype/Validation (none / 0)

        Kos,

        v5 or greater browsers should all be able to handle a width style just fine. That's CSS v1.

        I'd drop back to 4.01 transitional and fix the html and CSS errors for the moment. As Keith notes, the validators at W3C are your friends.

        html:

        http://validator.w3.org/

        CSS:

        http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/

        If I can be of any assistance, feel free to ping me, be glad to help.

        -Steve

        by froodish on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:24:20 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      •  Uber CSS Book (none / 0)

        Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition by Eric Meyer. I taught myself CSS from scratch using that book. Easy to read and understand and you can reading it in sections, depending on whatever code pieces you most need to know about at a particular moment. He explains how uses of CSS will affect older browsers. A great resource.

        by bramish on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:03:29 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  •  One problem (none / 0)

    You have to scroll way down on the page to see the comments (all of the way past the last ad on the bottom of the page), so that isn't so conducive to conversing on this site.  (That could just be my browser, though; I haven't had the problem in the past, however)

    by bassjhs on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 12:37:08 AM PDT

  •  safari (none / 0)

    i had to scroll way down as in the comment above, using Safari 1.2.3 on OS X.3.5

    occasional drunken bloviation

    by garth on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 12:40:51 AM PDT

  •  Login problems (none / 0)

    I've had roughly a dozen to two-dozen interactions with the site today (rates, posts, diary) and needed to login practically each time I attempted an action.  That never was a problem before.

    -Hope never cost Corporate America a dime -Somebody blow Bush so we can impeach him already.

    by DWCG on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 12:56:18 AM PDT

  •  Minor bug (none / 0)

    On my Opera browser, in the box where I can select my Hotlist, Replies, or Stories, the fourth |, the one after Stories, is bumped to the next line, so it looks like this:

    | Hotlist | Replies | Stories
                       |

    other than that, I thought I'd take this time to say nice job w/ the site. Unnessesary, I know, but it looks good, feels good, runs well, and is all in all a top notch job.

    I hope I get to become a sycophant.

    by Pluto101 on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:01:09 AM PDT

  •  User pages (none / 0)

    -Hope never cost Corporate America a dime -Somebody blow Bush so we can impeach him already.

    by DWCG on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:08:23 AM PDT

  •  Mozilla 1.7.2 on WinXP: (none / 0)

    (1) Toggle buttons in Dynamic Threaded mode don't work.  The link to javascript:void(toggle(...)) looks wrong.  IIRC, it was javascript:toggle(...)

    (2) 900 pixels of blank vertical space between the "Display:Rate?[Set]" bar and the start of comments with the "Thread Title/# Comments/Post a Comment" bar.

    (3) Whoever suggests W3C validation is a d00b.  It's pointless.

    by js7a on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:18:05 AM PDT

    •  Pointless? (4.00 / 3)

      Hardly. Anything that adds extra unpredictability into the mix should be removed as the first step in troubleshooting. I'm not talking about "ampersand needs to be encoded..." but fixing mismatched tags, etc. is the first step before you go chasing anything else.

      by froodish on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:34:42 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  I can't view comments on some threads ... (none / 0)

    ... including my own recent diary entry.  And I wasn't able to view comments in this thread until five minutes ago!  Does that mean it'll all catch up eventually?

    Justice begins when we say it does; savagery begins when we say nothing.

    by MsSpentyouth on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:37:14 AM PDT

  •  the only thing is.. (none / 0)

    clicking on comments or "open" buttons won't load the comment.  It isn't such a problem, since I set it to ebe nested, but just thought you might want to know.

    using Safari, OSX

    For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. -- H. L. Mencken

    by contrapunktus on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:50:11 AM PDT

    •  Ditto on this one (none / 0)

      Using Safari 1.0.2 on OSX.2.8 (i know, i know...)

      It was working fine last night after the Late Nite open thread was started, but now I can't open the comments to view.

      BUSH: Like a rock...but dumber.
      Stewart/Olberman 2008!

      by mugsimo on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 08:52:07 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  I'm getting... (none / 0)

    white background and black lettering, no colors, no boxes and a large font when I first open a thread.  When I hit "refresh," everything looks normal -- orange and black color scheme, boxes, etc.  Huh?  This started a few days ago...

    Thank you for visiting Raising Kaine, the voice of Progressive Virginia.

    by lowkell on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 02:13:07 AM PDT

  •  on a strictly stylistic note... (4.00 / 3)

    I hate the green headlines. But I guess if I'm gonna kvetch about that kind of stuff I should get my own blog, huh? ;)

    Doesn't everyone have a blog now?

    by cyclopatra on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 02:16:24 AM PDT

    •  Hee (none / 0)

      It's times like this I love being colorblind.

      jaiapprovedthis - Because I am right about things.
      Abolish Superdelegates by 2012

      by Jaiwithani on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 03:41:29 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  Me no likee (none / 1)

      Yeah, I hope that's not on purpose.  Black is simply easier on my eyes.  If it ain't broke, why fix it?

      Old Man McCain.com - the best anti-McCain blog on the web!

      by existenz on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 03:46:37 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  I hate to say it (none / 1)

      But I agree about the green headlines.  I don't think they work as is.  

      In terms of formal color design principles, it's hard to get a cool foreground (green) to work well with warm background elements (orange).

      If you want to work another single color in, I think your best alternative with orange is its complement, which is blue (180 degrees apart on the color wheel) but you usually don't want to place complements directly on top of each other because of the vibrations.

      I think just about the only way to get your green to work is by introducing a blue and violet at the same time, which would give you a very harmonious split complement color design.

      That being said, I think the current black, orange, sepia design is really cool (w/o the green headlines), but a big part of what makes it work is the simplicity of the design.

      Aloha!

      by wetzel on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 05:53:56 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  Green Headlines Hideous (4.00 / 2)

      The green just does not work at all with the kos orange.

      Find out the latest in the global warming fight at Wonk Room!

      by The Cunctator on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:19:20 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  color nazis (none / 0)

        1920 x 1200, Safari,  current Panther, it all looks great, works fine, goes fast.   no breaks or gaps.  

        I'm an artist.  color is good, and color changes from time to time keep things fresh.  green and orange is cool and I like the nerdly tweaking and constant improvements in the Kos code.

        this is a vast site, think of the huge number of users and the rampup in traffic its about to get.  I think Kos and team are doing a fantastic job.  Can't wait to see this site in action during the election.

        by kate mckinnon on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:30:31 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      •  It's not easy being green (none / 1)

        The green is utterly disgusting against the orange. It must be changed.


        "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right." - Salvor Hardin

        by Zackpunk on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:18:44 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

    •  I agree. (none / 1)

      And the green is dark enough that every time I come here now, I pause for a second trying to tell if the headlines are still green or if they changed back to black.  

      by kevdawg on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 09:05:48 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  can't open collapsed threads (none / 0)

    in Safari 1.2.3 on OSX 10.3.5.

    by writerCarl on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 02:51:33 AM PDT

  •  Green titles (none / 0)

    All the diary titles and front page titles ("GOoper Afraid of Matthews, "Open Thread", etc.) are now in an army green colored font.  I liked it when they were black better.

    Old Man McCain.com - the best anti-McCain blog on the web!

    by existenz on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 03:44:42 AM PDT

    •  I like the green titles (none / 0)

      I noticed it right away. Dark brown might be more pleasing and complementary to the orange and your logo, since it seems a number of people don't care for the green.

      Of course, it could be that they're just USED to the old black headlines and if they'd been green all along no one would say a word. I think it's good to shake things up a bit now and then.

      Will dKos change like the Empire State Building, where we get different colors for various occasions? Will the headlines turn red and blue for Fourth of July, and so forth? Guess I will wait and see!

      Don't blame me. I voted for the SMART one.

      by gogaddy on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:15:42 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Can't stay logged in (none / 0)

    Mine's not a display problem, but for the last few weeks I have constantly had to re-login (perhaps every 20 minutes).  On my machine at work, I never have to do that unless I actively logout.

    Any ideas why?  

    Peters for Congress (MI-09)

    by GOTV on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 04:21:13 AM PDT

  •  It works for me (none / 0)

    True titles are green but that is an aesthic's issue not a functional one. Otherwise every thing I tried works for me.
    Comments appear where they are suppose to be, links work etc.

    10.3.5, Safari 1.2.3

    by rational on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 04:27:11 AM PDT

  •  Coding error? (none / 0)

    When I click on 'User Preferences' from the main page I am redirected to naked photos of Robert Novak and Cokie Roberts in flagrante delicto. Is this part of the new HTML (Hot Talking Monkey Lovers)?

    John McCain

    by joejoejoe on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 04:31:44 AM PDT

  •  Can't get any comments to load n/t (none / 0)

    Words can sometimes, in moments of grace, attain the quality of deeds. --Elie Wiesel

    by a gilas girl on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 04:40:23 AM PDT

  •  Total width (none / 0)

    I read dailyKos on a tablet pc in portrait orientation, 768x1024, using Opera 7.51.  Now the overall width is too wide by about .75 inches, causing a horizontal scrollbar to appear and part of the right column to be offscreen.  It wasn't like this yesterday.

    by NHliberal on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 04:49:12 AM PDT

  •  Can't load indented comments. (none / 0)

    My display preference for comments is "dynamic threaded."  The indented comments won't load when I click on them.  I'm using mozilla firefox.

    by rolodomo on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 05:03:22 AM PDT

  •  details about comments not loading (none / 0)

    I'm using IE 6.0, I have dynamic threaded comments, and when I try to expand a comment (i.e. "javascript:void(toggle(n))") I get this error:

    Line: 41
    Char:3
    Error: 'document.frames[...].document' is null or not an object

    Hope this helps. Reply to this comment if you need more info.

    "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin

    by CaptUnderpants on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 05:07:03 AM PDT

  •  Really big type (none / 0)

    The post itself (not the comments, not the older posts) looks really big, like David Byrne's Big Suit from the "Stop Making Sense" movie.

    I'm using Jaguar/Safari.

    by Dan Perreten on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 05:39:34 AM PDT

  •  Big Type/ Small type (none / 0)

    I just submitted a diary and the font sizes are quite strange the normal text is rather large, and the links and blockquote are normal.

    Is it only like that in the preview and in the submitted story page.  Fine when I load up the diary normally.

    I am using Safari on OS X.

    My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington- Obama
    Philly for Obama

    by Luam on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:04:42 AM PDT

  •  Netscape 7.1/Win2K (none / 0)

    As of 8/24/04 the Dynamic toggles do not work.

    On first load of the page the "dkos sponsors" ads appear in the 'content' [haven't looked at your code for proper div name" area. Reloading the page fixes this. This has been an issue for quite awhile, but is easily fixed, (on my end) so I never mentioned.  

    by chakram88 on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:31:27 AM PDT

  •  Problem (none / 0)

    Just logged on this morning  (6:45am MST) and when I click to open a comment nothing happens.

    I can obviously post, but I can't read anybody's comments.

    To reiterate: when I click on the sideways arrow in the upper left of comments it doesn't open the comment so I can read it.

    Thanx

    Emancipate yourself from Mental Slavery, No one but ourselves can free our Minds.

    by TustonDAZ on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:52:12 AM PDT

    •  I have the same problem (none / 1)

      which leaves me guessing about what people wrote judging from their subject lines.  And I'm using IE, if that helps.  Which I'm sure it doesn't.

      Hang in there, Kos!  Every new update and feature makes this site even greater.

      Remember, this war came to us, and not the other way around. -Condoleeza Rice

      by JP Mtl on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:31:18 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Can't preview my comments (none / 0)

    I set on dynamic minimal, and before a couple of weeks ago, I had no problem previewing my comments before posting.  In the last 2 weeks, preview does not work anymore with this setting.  

    BTW, today for the first time on this very thread, I also can't open any comment in dynamic minimal when I click on then individually.  Nested worked however.

    by truthbetold on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:52:41 AM PDT

  •  Dynamic mode is broken (none / 0)

    Dynamic threaded and dynamic minimal, toast in Mozilla, IE, Opera, and Konqueror, both O/S's. Didn't try Mac.

    I'll try back in a few days (-:


    -- Barbara Boxer Hates Freedom

    by Proud And Free on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 06:55:57 AM PDT

  •  Word wrap broken (none / 0)

    See "Late nite open thread" for an example of this behavior. I need to use the horizontal scroll bar to read all the comments. Never had to do that before. I'm using IE 6.0.

    John McCain: no health insurance for kids.

    by AlanF on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:10:08 AM PDT

  •  Signature Box Gone (none / 0)

    User preferences:  user info page. Guess I'm stuck forever with my current sig. Oh well Kerry better win.

    The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

    by easong on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:20:42 AM PDT

  •  Just Switched (none / 0)

    last week to Mozilla 1.7.2

    IE6.X was messing with the rating boxes to the point I couldn't read the page.  Now I get advertisements in the middle of a thread, or at the top of the page instead of frames.

    Sometimes this happens, and other times it seems great.  Mozilla does load faster, and doesn't have the annoying display problems that IE 6.X did.

    Great work, Kos, and we know you are trying to keep ahead of the curve here...the site seems more relevant and lively every day.  Thanks for being here.

    Mark

    It all happens in the Heartland of Virginia

    by Dems2004 on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:36:54 AM PDT

  •  Green nooooooooooooo! (none / 0)

    Additionally the preview styles are all Cheneyed up on diary entries.

    by praktike on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:46:37 AM PDT

  •  CSS loading problem (none / 0)

    I'm having a problem with the site for a week maybe that whenever I click on a link to go to te extended version of a post, or to a diary entry or to post a coment, the CSS doesn't get loaded and I have to reload the page to get the CSS to load properly. This is a bit weird and its only happening on dkos.

    by vitor on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:47:53 AM PDT

  •  Tiny fonts (none / 0)

    I have a fairly high-resolution screen, and the fonts being defined by number of pixels means that I can't increase the font size to be comfortably readable.  It's even worse with a serif font.

    Please define font sizes in terms of points, never in terms of pixels.

    by rfunk on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 07:54:27 AM PDT

    •  Points baaaad (none / 0)

      For screen media, ems perhaps, or percentages if you want to make it flexible, but not points.

      by froodish on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:21:01 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  Everything sucks, Points suck less (none / 0)

        ems, exes, and percentages are all based on the current font size, which is clumsy when that's exactly what you're trying to define.

        Points at least scale based on the display's resolution (dots per inch).  Pixels don't do that.

        All the browsers I've used allow specifying a minimum point size, but going by pixel size bypasses that.

        by rfunk on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:40:26 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      •  Come to think of it... (none / 0)

        You don't actually say WHY points are bad.

        by rfunk on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:42:05 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        •  Why points are bad for screen media (none / 0)

          http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=UsingPoints

          by froodish on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 03:17:18 PM PDT

          [ Parent ]

          •  Bogus (none / 0)

            So the point of that page is that since most people don't set their machines to know their monitor's DPI, I should have to squint to read because I DO set my machine properly?

            I will also point out that it still doesn't recommend specifying pixels.  It recommends ems, which is great for other measurements (I use it constantly), but for changing the actual measurement that the em is based on it seems clumsy.  (Actually exes are more appropriate than ems since we're talking about font height rather than width, but exes have the same problem that ems do.)

            If one person has a 75 DPI monitor, and another has a 120 DPI monitor, specifying font size by pixels is guaranteed to make it look either too big for one or too small for the other (or both), with no recourse for either one.  Specifying by point size may make it look the wrong size for one of them, but at least then they have recourse to fix their font display to be more appropriate for their resolution and their eyes.

            Specifying font size by em or ex is just silly because of the definition of those measurements.

            by rfunk on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 09:03:40 PM PDT

            [ Parent ]

  •  all works pretty well on my IE 6 (none / 0)

    The same bumped "|" in the reply/hotlist box (you've got the character inside the href and bold tags, might have something to do with it). And the extended copy box in the diaries are all indented--apparently the [div class="text"] is applied just in this section, not up top. But now I'm wondering if this is new, or whether I've just overlooked it all these months.

    I'll pile on to the recommendation to validate with the W3C. Their standards really help with usability and accessibility. In that vein, if there was any way you could get away from formatting with tables and use CSS, I'd encourage it. Makes life a lot easier for people using assistive technologies like screen readers.

    "There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty." - John Adams.

    by mcjoan on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 08:37:40 AM PDT

  •  Post Comment (none / 0)

    I can't post comments in the diaries but I can on stories from the index page. Anyone else having this problem?

    -fink

    Al Gore didn't lose in 2000. America did.

    by fink on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 09:19:39 AM PDT

  •  Help!! (none / 0)

    Comments keep disappearing on the right-hand side of the page. So I find it hard to read.

    Sorry for being such a pain.

    Malcolm

    The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

    by malc19ken on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 09:27:34 AM PDT

  •  yet another problem (none / 0)

    just to be picky, of course.

    i'm finding that when i'm in a diary the dkos graphic in the upper left corner that should get me back to the main page does, well, nothing.  like it isn't linked to anything, just a picture.  on the main page it works, but not in the diaries.

    it's one thing for you to express your views, but another for them to be different than mine - steven colbert

    by skyesNYC on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 09:43:24 AM PDT

    •  yeah, I use that link all the time (none / 0)

      The logo is kinda funny, though. Upon reconsideration, it's remarkably Soviet Realist. Not that Kos or anyone else here is a Communist, hardly so, but the silouetted young man with the flag, the orange (nearly red!) colors...

      car wreck : car insurance :: climate wreck : climate insurance

      by HarlanNY on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 10:45:01 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  Aaagh! (none / 0)

    First, both the main page and the individual threads now load/display very slowly--and I'm on DSL.

    Secondly, and far more important, I can no longer open any subthreads.  I can read the first/main post of any given subthread, but cannot open any of the comments, either individually or collectively. It's not that they start to load, and then stop--nothing happens at all.

    Help, please!  I'm gonna be having severe withdrawal symptoms, and it won't be pretty.

    Safari 1.2.3 on OSX 3.5.

    We seek not rest but transformation. - Marge Piercy

    by Leslie in CA on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 09:53:36 AM PDT

  •  Minor nitpick (none / 0)

    I used to be able to click on the big dailykos logo in the top left to go back to the main page.

    Now I can't :(

    Oh wait, I can in this post window, but couldn't in a diary.  Hmm.

    by Craziel on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 10:49:51 AM PDT

  •  *laughs* (none / 0)

    Kos, you have the dream setup for a web designer.  You make changes, and almost instantly get feedback from people using different platforms, browsers, and resolutions.  And what's even better, many of them are tech-savvy enough to suggest useful chages.

    So I suppose success has gotten you something nice, anyway...  heh.

    -----------------------
    Turning Texas Blue

    by spin2cool on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 11:05:36 AM PDT

  •  I'm out of my depth (none / 0)

    in this discussion , but I have two problems (well, 3, my left hand is in a cast-tough to type)
    1.  I keep having to re-log in--will try the cookie flush!
    2.  the home page and others load veeery slowly--not happening with anyother web site I visit.

    by Merle on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 11:09:12 AM PDT

  •  2 problems (none / 0)

    1. On my diary page, the right hand column isn't justified all the way to the right and slightly overlaps with the main diary post area.

    2. Page loads are     V   E    R   Y       S      L      O      W.  

    My info: Mac OSX 10.3.5 and Safari 1.2.3 (v125.9)

    Check out My T-shirts

    by mrboma on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 11:27:56 AM PDT

  •  side point (none / 0)

    It sure seems like a lot of Mac users for a platform that "supposedly" has only 5% of the market.
    Do Mac users have better taste and graviate to sites of quality?
    or
    Are the statistics scewwed?

    Sorry for the digression

    by rational on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 11:47:18 AM PDT

  •  Banner not linked (none / 1)

    The banner image in the top left hand side is no longer a link to the home page when reading articles or diaries. Small thing, yes, but it's awfully convenient.

    Always be sincere, even if you don't mean it.

    by justinb on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 11:52:26 AM PDT

  •  Slow-loading pages (none / 0)

    FYI, for all those having this problem, I found emptying my cache took care of it, so if you haven't already, try that.

    We seek not rest but transformation. - Marge Piercy

    by Leslie in CA on Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 01:58:25 PM PDT

Permalink | 98 comments