That Net Site

If you read my earlier post about Adobe killing of Homesite you may have thought so what will I (and others) use now.  I am very happy to say and recommend a great product called TopStyle.  Initially developed by Nick Bradbury of whom was the original developer of Homesite, TopStyle is now being further developed by Stefan van As.

As a long time user of TopStyle Lite that was included with some Homesite installs I can happily say that the latest version, TopStyle 4, is a remarkable product.  Originally designed to be for css documents, Topstyle 4 has now been expanded to cover most web code formats from html, xhtml, php, asp and so many more.

Stefan also provides great support via his newsgroups and the community in general is happy to pitch in and help others out.  The price for TopStyle is also great at only $79.95 for a new licence and only $29.95 for TopStyle 3 users.  When you compare it to other editors available on the market the price is very affordable… but the best thing about TopStyle is that you can expand on it yourself – add your own toolbars, common bits of code and a host of other user editable features – many of which I am still finding as I use it.

I am so impressed by TopStyle 4 I looked for a ‘Made with TopStyle’ badge – I did not find one so here is a set I have made up that hopefully Stefan can use and others will grab and support Stefan and his continued development of TopStyle.

Oh the link to TopStyle…  http://www.topstyle4.com/

Other sizes can be made on request

I am sure many out there that develop web sites have had the annoying need to keep tweaking styles and code for Internet Explorer 6 (ie6), I know I have and enough is enough.

There has to be a time where web developers must make a stand and say no more.  For me this is now, I feel people have had more than enough time to update to a better browser and for those that still use ie6 (or less) then they need to be told to update.

My reasons are simple, I have better things to do with my time than to keep trying to tweak web sites to suit a smaller group that continue to choose not to update their web browser.  There are many other obviouse reasons that if your nodding your heading you are already aware of, if not then go and read up on why by doing a Google search for ie6 hacks…

So how do we do this, it is simple really we add a message for ie6 users only to the top of your web page, something like this;

<!--[if lte IE 6]>
   <div class="ie6message"><img src="images/noie6.png" width="577" height="109"
alt="EEK! you're still using Internet Explorer 6!" /><br />
   <span class="ie6text">We are sorry but we do not support Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).<br />
   Please update to a newer web browser and start experiencing what the internet can really
show you.</span><br />
   <span class="ie6text">Please download, install and use one of the following browsers;<br />
   <ul><li><a href="http://www.google.com/chrome/" target="_blank">Google Chrome</a> (<strong>recommended</strong>)</li>
<li><a href="http://en-gb.www.mozilla.com/en-GB/" target="_blank">
Firefox 3.x</a></li>
   <li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/ie7/"
target="_blank">Internet Explorer 7</a></li>
   <li><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx"
target="_blank">Internet Explorer 8</a></li>
   <li><a href="http://www.apple.com/safari/" target="_blank">Safari</a></li>
   <li><a href="http://www.opera.com/" target="_blank">Opera 9</a></li>
</ul></span></div>
<![endif]-->

Of course you will need to use your own noie6 image file or you can download this one

You will need to add some css styling for this message to your style sheet, here is what I have used (and this is simply for ie6)

.ie6message {
font:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
width:600px;
text-align: center;
margin:20px auto;
padding:12px;
background-color:#FFF;
border: 10px solid gray;
color:black;
}

.ie6message a {
color:blue;
}

span.ie6text {
text-align:left;
font-size: 18px;
}

span.ie6text ul {
margin-left: 15px;
}

span.ie6text li {
list-style: disc inside none;
}

The result is something like this;

We are sorry but we do not support Internet Explorer 6 (IE6).
Please update to a newer web browser and start experiencing what the internet can really show you.
Please download, install and use one of the following browsers;

• Google Chrome recommended
• Firefox 3.x
• Internet Explorer 7
• Internet Explorer 8
• Safari 4
• Opera 9

The more people do this and make it clear that ie6 is no longer a supported web browser the more people will move away from it.  If we keep creating ie6 specific style sheets and other code just so ie6 users can browse the web then we will never be rid of it.

So help me and many other web developers and add the code above to your web page and let every ie6 user know it is time they updated to a newer web browser.