Browser detection & coding?

[MrDoubtFire]

Ok I was just reading Petela's post with the netscape problem he was having, and it got me thinking...

What advantages are there to me, to spend time to recode all my code to detect for the rather obscure browsers that everyone seems to keep mentioning?

I mean, most of the sites I deal with have 98% IE and the rest is simply Netscape 5/6. When we're dealing with hundreds of thousands of hits, and a small percentage buying from an e-commerce site, is there any point in me wasting time recoding, for such a small return?

Are there any good reliable statistics to relate how much of the market each browser commands?

MrDoubtFire

[beetle]

Originally posted by MrDoubtFire
Are there any good reliable statistics to relate how much of the market each browser commands?That is truly, a question of our times.

There is no real good reliable way, but I think there are two different approaches to determining this.

Approach 1
Your website has a specific demographic, and the audience is pretty well known. For these sites, a sever-based stats program can help you discover in 1 or 2 months time who is visiting your site and with what. For example, some educational sites may get 30% of their traffic from Mac users, and that is far from the norm.

Approach 2
You don't know your demographic, because it could potentially be anybody. If this is the case, then looking a stats that take a large snapshot (http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2002/December/browser.php) of the internet user-base can give you a rough idea of what to expect. Of course, as mentioned before, a server-based stats program is ALWAYS useful.

I would think that most poeple using those odd browsers are mostly web developers and enthusiats, and are quite aware of their browser's limitations.

[Vladdy]

Originally posted by MrDoubtFire
...What advantages are there to me, to spend time to recode all my code to detect for the rather obscure browsers that everyone seems to keep mentioning? ...
MrDoubtFire
:D :D You will satisfy all your masochistic tendencies... :D :D

The way I see it: what are the chances that those who can not afford a new computer and/or not literate enough to upgrade their browser will be shopping online?

If you think that such chances are good, question #2:
What are the chances that those those who can not afford a new computer and/or not literate enough to upgrade their browser will ever spend enough money on your site to justify the time and effort to recode for them?

If you still think that it is worth doing, question #3:
Don't you think the following paragraph somewhere on the page will pretty much produce the same result as coding for EVERYbody: [i]"If you are not using up to date browser or having difficulty with making order online, please call 1-800-123-1234 and we'll be happy to assist you."

[MrDoubtFire]

Hi again,

so what I have gleaned from both of your responses is to code for mainstream users, and to consider those "other" browsers to be used primarily by developers, who probably already have IE6/N7 etc.,

Over the past couple of months I have been programming everything in DOM anyways, and slowly converting the most popular scripts I have over to it (as much as I can at least). I also code everything in XHTML 1.1, and validate everything I possibly can. From what I have read, both "main" browsers are moving towards DOM compliancy. As a side-note however - does anyone know if we're in for more surprises in the future, requiring us to yet again use several methods to achieve the same result?

Also, having read Vladdy's post, I have come to the conclusion that anyone who is going to be shopping online is more likely than not to be technically literate to some degree (and probably able to understand how to upgrade their browser).

Thank you both for your answers.

Beetle - I have several site trackers, and over the past couple of months they tell me that ~96-97% use IE6.

Vladdy - I will use your suggestion and just put up a little note somewhere with the business phone number.


Thx,
MrDoubtFire

[mordred]

Originally posted by MrDoubtFire
As a side-note however - does anyone know if we're in for more surprises in the future, requiring us to yet again use several methods to achieve the same result?


Just try loading an XML document with JavaScript in IE and then in Mozilla and you see quite a difference... and possibly a browser detection again.
And there are a lot of tiny bugs, inconsistencies and unresolved issues with all newer browser - every new vendor version just adds it's own share. The w3 standards provide a rough guideline sort of "that's what we expect the browsers to do", but the implementation may vary. You won't get away doing web development without testing in those browsers which are used mainly by your audience. And even then, who knows what future might bring?

[MrDoubtFire]

And even then, who knows what future might bring?


Hopefully a rich, young, redhead :) Ok ok I know it's offpost but I couldn't resist!

[beetle]

Originally posted by MrDoubtFire
Hopefully a rich, young, redhead :) Ok ok I know it's offpost but I couldn't resist! Does she have a sister?

[whammy]

LOL - does she have TWO sisters? I like redheads.

But back to the point - I'm glad you're using XHTML 1.1, etc. I strive to conform to the standards, myself.

I would also agree with the posts above - the share of users who use non-compliant browsers is generally very small, and you can usually have them call a phone number or send an email at the very least.

Perhaps you could also tell the customer service department when they get a call like "Your website doesn't work", to ask the customer what browser they're using.

And if it's something stupid (like Netscape 4.x, for instance), suggest they upgrade their browser to something that isn't ancient.

My philosophy on this is that users that have these ancient browsers must be experiencing errors all over the place, if they surf the net at all and aren't "internet savvy" - in which case they will thank you for fixing this problem (either that or they are of the rare "I want to use a text-only browser" type, and there is no hope for them).

You could even email them a link to Mozilla and/or the newer versions of IE/NS. ;)