:: Display Issues & Other Tech Stuff :: FAQ

Before emailing us about tech/display issues, please read through this brief FAQ:

Q: I’m using Internet Explorer 6, and your page looks crappy.

A: If you are using Internet Explorer 6 and experiencing display issues…we know. Lame justification, maybe, but I (Mark) basically taught myself web design to renovate the site, and only then realized that web browsers don’t render CSS code (the styling elements of a page) the same way across the board. If you’re using Internet Explorer 6 (or…gulp, 5) we’re working on it, but I’m not entirely sure, for example, why the right and left columns often render un-aligned initially before moving to their correct places, or why the final image in those columns renders outside (or not at all) of the columns. CSS-savy readers: if you know why, let me know.

Q: Well…what do I do in the meantime?

A: The page was designed on a Mac in Firefox. It has also been extensively tested in the browsers I have access to: Opera and Safari (Mac) and Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 (Windows). Everything should (and does, unless I’ve missed something) display correctly with these modern browsers. If you don’t want to upgrade to IE7 or switch browsers for whatever reason, all I can say is: we’re working on it. Many of the issues that have been reported to us have been fixed over the last few weeks (especially those dealing with IE7), and we’ll keep trying until we get it right. But really: upgrade. You’ll feel better.

Q: Why don’t you just hire somebody who knows what they’re doing to fix that shit?

A: It’s super-duper expensive. Sorry.

Q: I know how to fix it! And I won’t charge you a thing!

A: Cool. Let us know.

Q: This article/review changes font midway through and it looks crappy.

A: That’s an issue we know about, and has to do with orphaned font code from really old html pages that we’re plugged into Textpattern by our hardworking but non-technical staff members back in the winter. We’re going through the archives and trying to fix it, but it’s a huge project, so if you’re talking about a review of a band whose name starts with the letter “T” we may not get to it anytime soon. But we’re working on it.

Q: I have something else to report that has nothing to do with my browser.

A: Cool. Let us know.

Email all concerns to Mark.

Other Questions:

Q: How did you build Cokemachineglow.com?

A: Cokemachineglow is powered by Textpattern, an open-source Content Management System. I love the program for many reasons, but I’ll highlight a) the ease of use (provided you’re willing to bone up on a little CSS) and b) the political philosophy behind open-source web software. Highly recommended for web developers (experienced or otherwise) interested in expanding past the blog stage.

Q: I’m using Textpattern, and I want to know how you did this.

A: I haven’t posted much on the textpattern forums, but I usually check in once a week or so to keep abreast of things. So you could either email or ask me there. But, really: I doubt I’ve accomplished anything revolutionary with the software.

Q: Is Cokemachineglow built on web standards?

A: Yes, sort of. I believe in promoting web good web standards, though, as you might imagine, ensuring that every page validates when many of these pages are 5-year-old html pages with a slew of un-escaped ampersands and < BR >s and < I >s and whatever else is a time-consuming project. We’re working on it. For the moment, i can say our basic templates and CSS validate pretty much across the board (except for a javascript code I’m trying to replace anyway on the staff pages). So, yeah: sort of.