Testing site in older browsers...

Netscape

[diaperfabricmom]

Where can I get older versions of Netscape to test my pages in? An aquaintence has Netscape 3 something on his computer, is it possible for him to burn a CD of the programme for me? Will Netscape allow me to download the older version directly?

I'm sure this question has been asked & answered, I searched to no avail. So I apologize for the repeat.

Thanks in advance.

[bill]

Check out the Netscape Product Archive [wp.netscape.com] and download whatever versions you like.

[Sinner_G]

You can get all NS versions at their site:

[wp.netscape.com ]

Ok Bill, you connection is faster than mine :) .

[edited by: Sinner_G at 8:45 am (utc) on Feb. 5, 2003]

[diaperfabricmom]

Ahhh, nevermind. Of course after I posted I found the search button.

[webmasterworld.com...]

Now, a new question. I visited [home.netscape.com...]
& would like to download the 3. something of Netscape. Will it even run on my new Windows programme? I have the newest NT. Do I now also need to find an older version of windows to run the older browser programme?

Thanks

[bill]

The older versions will work fine on any version of Windows.

BTW: welcome to WebmasterWorld diaperfabricmom.

[Sinner_G]

Never went as far down as 3.0, but all 4.0x run on win2k, so NT should be no problem.

[diaperfabricmom]

Hmmm, tried to download & install. Upon installation, I get an error: There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk into drive /Device/Harddisk1/DR1

Whaaaa? Is it trying to tell me I don't have a hard drive, LOL?

Sorry for the ignorance... new to it all.

Thanks

[bill]

Damn you're slow tonight Sinner_G ;)

[diaperfabricmom]

Thanks for the welcome.

I have a tracker on my site that tells me what browsers are being used... it's under 10% that have the Netscape 3 versions, but they can't access some of my pages. It's not a large percentage by any means, but being a commerce site, I'd like to ensure they could at least access the merchandise... though I'm sure the design will be terrible. Version 3 users have got to be used to crappy looking web pages, yes? :)

[bill]

I get an error: There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk into drive /Device/Harddisk1/DR1

diaperfabricmom you downloaded this to your HD and got this error opening the file? You'd have to tell us your OS and a few more details.

[bill]

I think it's pretty safe to discount design for Netscape 3 these days. You could use Netscape 3 to see what the site looked like, but it's probably not a design priority for you. You could always use some sort of browser sniffing to send Netscape 3 visitors to a specially designed page if they are of concern.

[Sinner_G]

Ok, instead of racing bill, I'll just agree with him ;).

Usually, you can discount NS3, but I find your percentage of 10% veeeeeery high. That's about what you would find of NS4 on other sites. Are you certain your tracker doesn't mix up something?

[diaperfabricmom]

I don't know what that error message was, but it downloaded alright.

You're right, I was reading the stats wrong. Only 0.3% use Netscape 3 which is still an average of 32 visitors a day.

1.4% use Netscape 4, 4.6% use Netscape 5, while of course over 90% use a newer version of explorer.

Don't ask me where I got the 10% from... late night with a fried brain.

So. Some of my pages aren't viewable to Netscape 4 & 3 users. That's what I want to fix.

Good grief my site looks weird in Netscape 3.

Do you intelligent gents recommend I ignore Netscape 3 altogether, uninstall it & download the Netscape 4? I figure if I can get the pages that aren't viewable in 3 to work, they'll work in 4, yes?

[Sinner_G]

I'm not certain what the differences were between NS3 and NS4 (long time ago), but as you can see with NS4 and NS6, pages running well in a former version don't always run well on the newer one.

Under 2% of NS3/4 users are not many, but a potential customer is always important. I guess the rule is to make pages that are viewable with older versions without having too much effort. So if you can do plain HTML pages easily, use a browser sniffer, as bill mentionned above, and redirect those users there.

[Jeffry]

You can test your pages here: [anybrowser.com...]

[theonliest]

10% use Netscape 3!
4.6% use Netscape 5!
man, you need to get some sleep!

[Sinner_G]

4.6% use Netscape 5!

No, that's normal. My WebTrends also tells me i have soandso many NS5 users, but it means NS6 or 7...

[jatar_k]

any browser you need is here browsers.evolt.org

[diaperfabricmom]

Yeah, the 10% was a goof... but the other numbers are right. I'm amazed there are people out there with Netscape 3. The entire e-world looks terrible.

Okay... so what IS a browser sniffer & how do I use it? Or point me to a forum where this is already answered.

I've seen some code that has <!--older browsers ignore
messages, is this what you're talking about?

Thanks!

[tedster]

Browser sniffing can be done server side. But many sites use javascript and do the detection client-side.

We have a good example (now aging just a bit, but it should be clear how to add newer versions of browsers) in our Generic Javascript [webmasterworld.com] thread.