Internet Explorer 8 and missing web content with publisher

[Alison]

I've just downloaded Internet Explorer 8. Since then, web content that used
to be seen in previous versions can no longer be seen. Examples:
www.mywritingonline.com Home page - can't see naviation bars; missing copy
at bottom of page
http://www.mywritingonline.com/index_files/Ebooks.htm - missing graphics of
ebooks
http://www.mywritingonline.com/index_files/Music.htm - missing all graphics
next to buy buttons
http://www.mywritingonline.com/index_files/Favourites.htm - missing graphics
and copy

My other website using Publisher is the same - I'm missing graphics and/or
copy on pages, and the navigation bar on each page at www.half4charity.com
Other pages missing copy/graphics at this website:
http://www.half4charity.com/index_files/NSSPCATEMP.htm
http://www.half4charity.com/index_files/NSSPCAPLANB.htm
http://www.half4charity.com/index_files/NSSPCAPLANB.htm

How do I resolve this issue quickly? Thanks
Alison

 

[Alison]

I should add, I have Publisher 2003. And prior to the upgrading of Internet
Explorer from version 7 to version 8, had no difficulty in viewing pages.

 

[Spike]

IE 8 is in RC1. RC1 is short for "Release Candidate 1". Release
candidate software is ready to be evaluated by users while it undergoes
final testing. You may experience minor bugs or compatibility issues with
websites while browsing.

Spike

 

[Alison]

I just figured that out from earlier threads. I've now removed IE8 and am
reinstalling IE7. Thanks
Alison

 

[Fred]

Unfortunately the problem is far worse than that.
Publisher, in versions later than 2000, produces non-standard
semi-proprietary html in web pages. Internet Explorer, in versions prior to
8, displays it in a non-standard fashion. Microsoft have at last made a
commendable effort to make IE standards compliant. Unfortunately, lots of
people have designed web sites and applications which either inadvertently
or by design rely on the 'quirks' (otherwise known as bugs) of Internet
Explorer. IE8 has an option to set 'compatibility mode' which should in
theory continue to render in the erroneous fashion of earlier versions,
which many people rely on. There is also an option for the page designer to
include a new meta tag in web pages which will switch this mode on
automatically. However, you will probably find that if your pages don't
render as expected in IE8, they won't work as expected in Firefox, Safari,
Chrome or Opera either, as they are more standards compliant than IE.
There is no guarantee that Microsoft will make any alterations to IE8 in
deference to Publisher - in fact it is unlikely as that would have to
compromise the drive to standards compliance. It would seem logical, but
perhaps equally unlikely, that they would issue a patch for Publisher to
insert the required meta-tag in generated html automatically.
The advice for those generating web pages using Publisher has to be, don't
use versions newer than 2000, and consider using an alternative tool, if you
really need one.
Microsoft's preferred tool is now Expression Web Designer.

 

[Alison]

How easy is Expression Web Designer compared to using Publisher?
A.

 

[DavidF]

Hi Fred,

I don't disagree with most of what you have said, but I have done some
testing and have gotten some different results than you apparently have. I
also agree that we aren't likely to see MSFT changing IE8 to accommodate
Publisher, but still have hopes that they will issue a patch for Publisher.
I also have found as you do, that Publisher 2000 renders ok in IE8 RC1.

However, I have had a different experience in other ways. For example I have
found that you can get Publisher 2003 and 2007 pages to render correctly in
both IE7 and FF3, and if you do that the pages will also render correctly in
Opera and Safari. I haven't tried Chrome. The trick is to adjust and tweak
the design and formatting of the Publisher page. Thus far I haven't found a
web publication produced in 2003 or 2007 that I can't get to work well in
both IE7 and FF3 after tweaking things a bit. The specifics of how to do
that are beyond the scope of what I want to say in this post.

I also downloaded and installed IE8 RC1 on a Windows XP machine and have
found that if the Publisher webs have been designed such that they work well
in IE7 and FF3, then there has been only one major issue that is broken in
IE8. The Publisher wizard built navbar does not render. This seems
consistent with the number of posts prior to Alison's from other users. When
you load the page, the navbar is simply not there. I am not saying that this
is the only problem, but that it is the only problem I have found thus far
from my testing. I also know that MSFT is aware of this and hopefully we
will get a fix for Publisher so that it works.

In the meantime I have found two workarounds. First of all if you are using
a non wizard built navbar it will work, whether it is a textual or an image
based menu. Secondly if you do want to use the Publisher wizard built navbar
you can also 'fix' it. I don't like the 'fix' but it does work. If you
select the navbar go to Arrange > and ungroup, you can ungroup the navbar
from the wizard. Now the navbar will render in IE8, and is functional. You
must do this with the side navbars, bottom and top if you are using them,
and you must do it on every page of your publication. What I don't like
about the fix is that with the navbar ungrouped from the navbar wizard, if
you want to add a page, the navbar will not be automatically updated as it
has been disconnected from the navbar wizard. You will have to rebuild the
navbar under those circumstances. This won't be a big issue for those who
have already finished their sites and won't be adding a page, but it will be
a pain for those who are building their sites and previewing and testing
them in IE8.

I also noticed from my testing that much to my surprise the Pub web pages do
not have to be viewed in compatibility mode.

DavidF

 

[DavidF]

Hi Allison,

I have been doing some testing with IE8 RC1 and have had some different
experiences than Fred. You can read my response to him.

In your case, I think that if you work on your site a bit and get it to
render correctly in both IE7 and FireFox 3 that you will find that it also
works in Opera, Safari and most other browsers. I haven't tried Chrome. Also
it will probably work in IE8. Though you may have some other compatibility
issues that the one major one I have found, I would focus your energies on
tweaking your pages so they work well in FF and IE7 for now. I viewed them
in both and you do have some issues.

First of all, run the Design Checker under Tools. This will probably find a
lot of the errors you are making. Fix those. Then start looking at your
layout as compared to what you see when you preview your pages. You have a
lot of things that need to be moved around a bit. You can select any design
element and hold down your shift key and use the arrows to nudge things
around. Also be careful about how the code fragment boxes you are using are
arranged on your pages. For example look at how your google search bar is
aligned on your pages. Look at your home page and them compare to how it
looks on http://www.mywritingonline.com/index_files/Ebooks.htm. It needs to
be moved down and to the left. There are other things...just go through each
page and study the layout and move things around as needed.

The other thing that you should do is to download and install FireFox3 in
order to test your pages. As I said, if you can get your pages looking good
in both IE7 and FF3, then you will enjoy pretty good cross browser
compatibility. When I view your pages most of the issues I see have to do
with the text formatting you have chosen. You are using some nice formatting
that works well on the printed page, but does not convert to HTML well. You
will need to use web friendly fonts and clear out some of the text styles
and the special formatting.

FireFox (7.8 MB): http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
Down load and install and you shouldn't have any problems as long as you opt
out of it being your default browser. Also you won't have to upload your
pages all the time to test. When you Publish to the Web direct your html
files to somewhere you can easily find them on your computer such as your
desktop. Then you can right click the index.htm file and the other .htm
files in the index_files folder and choose open with FireFox.

Also if you haven't already done it, go to Tools > Options > Web tab and
uncheck "rely on vml..." and "allow PNG...".

And finally, be sure to compress your pictures as some point:
Reference: Compress graphics file sizes to create smaller Publisher Web
pages (2003):
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/publisher/HA011266301033.aspx

It appears that you have a lot of good content, so after you tweak your
layout and the formatting that do not work in FF, you should have pages that
will work pretty well in IE8. Hopefully MSFT will be patching Publisher so
that we can still use the navbar wizard.

As you work on your pages and test in IE and FF, if you can't figure out why
something is not rendering correctly in FF, post back with a link and the
specifics and we will try to help you fix it.

DavidF

 

[Rob Giordano [MS MVP]]

Compared to Publisher...not many web design programs are easy, almost all of
them expect you to know at least a little bit about html & CSS. You can
download Expression Web from MS and try it out.

Serif has a nice little web design program called....WebPlus not too
expensive and does a decent job. It's not a "true" html editor but I think
you can do more with it than Publisher with regard to designing html.


--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob Giordano
Microsoft MVP Expression

 

[Alison]

Thanks - you've all made some very good points and I will have to go back
through the pages and at least do some cleaning up of things. I appreciate
all the comments!
Best,
Alison

 

[John G.]

I will second that.
It even has Master pages and seems to be much like Pub in that you do not
have to know any html to produce a working web site.

John G.