Each morning I visit and enjoy a variety of my favorite blogs. They say it is all about good content, which of course is the real value, but what about visual ascetics? I am a visual person; I like good graphics, color, organization and some attempt at consistency.
Your content might be the greatest out there, but if the blog itself unappealing and difficult to read to “browser incompatibility” it draws my attention from your content. It is like trying to figure out a puzzle of text and graphics, in some cases. It might just be ME, but I really enjoy reading left to right, not up, down and sideways.
Inconsistencies in browsers can be difficult and time consuming to correct, but you cannot begin to deal with them, until you identify them. There are several sources to test your site against the various browsers, but I have been using BrowserShots since it was recommended by a fellow eLearning professional, Lee Graham, who I met on Twitter.
BrowserShots.Org
What is BrowserShots? A service that creates screen shots of your, blog or website, in a wide variety of browsers, including a few less common. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the queue for processing. Then it will create screen shots, upload to the central server, and make available to you in your browser.
Here is a small sample of Browsers and versions:
Lets Get Start
It is simple, visit BrowserShots.org , enter your blog or web address in the address bar and submit.
Screenshot Request Group
This process will take time, when using the free service, so don’t be surprised if you wait 20-45 minutes for your information. You will see a “Screenshot request group” message, giving you the estimated queue time, the number of browsers selected.
Tip: Best to bookmark this page and check back later.
Queue Completed
Once the queue has completed, you will see a screen containing a small screen shot for each browser you selected, similar to the screen shot below:
Use your mouse and as you put it over the snapshots, they will enlarge, as seen in above screenshot.
View Details by Browser
Click again and you view a larger format and get details on the browser, engine, hardware and operating system the test was ran.
There are dozens of other tools to check your browser compatibility, some are free, others are fee based. I find BrowswerShots is a simple method for checking your blog or website browser compatibility. What tools do you use to check your browser compatibility? What are your favorite features?
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Other Related Articles:
- Quirksmode.Org – Contains about 120 pages with CSS and JavaScript tips and tricks, and is one of the best sources on the WWW for studying and defeating browser incompatibilities.
- Common fonts to all versions of Windows & Mac equivalents (Browser safe fonts) – Web design tips & tricks
- Browser Tests, Services and Compatibility Test Suites
