Major problems on IE9??

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Dear all,

 

I just launched my website and discoverd a major problem, which is mentioned everywhere on the forum, but without any clear answers.

 

Internet Explorer 9:

I just invited a full database of new people to join, where I set that members have to upload a profile pic first, before they can complete.

 

But members can't upload their pofile images with IE9???? So they cancel because they can't continue with the process??? That is really killing.. And IF I would not set the option of uploading a profile pic, members can't even contribute pics in blogs, the forum and reactions!!! So there goes the social aspect??

 

Sorry for my rather straight and 'Dutch' direct reaction, but I just spent a lot of money on membership & design, time and effort on this, and I can't even launch the website! Up till now, I believe no one from Ning ever reacted on this issue? Can anyone else help me with an answer?

 

(I really hope I'm really stupid, I have this all wrong and I overlooked the solution somewhere in this forum.)

 

Love, the angry Dutchman

 

 

 

 

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Hi Speed Racer, thanks for your feedback. In the Netherlands the number of IE9 users is about 30%. This number will grow, with the grow of Windows 7 users. Ning should be working with all common browsers. 

 

I'm Firefox minded too, but personally: I won't think that users who are using IE9 anyway, will change their browser just for my website... Second: uploading a profile pciture is a must within my niche. I almost sent 800 invites! Luckily I checked it first, and I couldn't even complete the registration in IE9. Bye bye 'old' members! (from my earlier website.)

 

[Kent]

Hi Speed Racer,

Ok now, how do you go about educating POTENTIAL new members to your network that they need to change their browser before joining your network? As if it wasn't hard enough in the first place to get new members to join...!! If ning was a free service, I would agree that we should not expect ning to be compatible with all browsers at all times. However, ning is NOT free. When PRO customers pay $60 a month, they have the right to expect that ning do whatever they can, in a timely manner, to ensure the ning network remains compatible with all the major browsers!! Especially a browser that has 40% of the market (or whatever the current market share is).

[Eddie Foster]

This chart is from Wikipedia.

I've worked in IT Support for 25 years - users do not want to know about patches and workarounds. They want it to work straight out of the box (which is why Apple are so successful).

You've always got to cater for the lowest common demoninator - in this case it's Internet Explorer.
We're all Creators, so it's 2nd nature for us to find a way around problems.
But, think about your audience - if it's a Tech Network then no problem.

My network is about Classic Cars - the average member is 46 and most of them struggle to bookmark a page, let alone switch to compatibility view!

If they don't enjoy the experience then they don't come back.

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Same here Eddy!

[Writer Chick {Diane}]

Someone  needs to construct a bar graph alongside your pretty one, Eddie, except this one will be labeled:

 

Web Browser Compatibility with the Internet: June 2011

 

Then, the IE bar would look like the Opera bar does now.   Anyone can construct a graph with data that says what they want it to say.  That's Statistics 101.  What this graph fails to show is how these browser PERFORM!

 

Never in my life will I understand why we would ENCOURAGE our members to use a faulty product and instead try to make OUR site conform to a substandard tool.  

 

I tell my members that it's NOT my site, it's their browser.  And if they like the experience they're having with Internet Explorer, then by all means, keep it.  After that...nearly all members heed my advice and download either Firefox or Chrome, and I've NEVER had one member say they regretted it.

 

 

 

 

[Speed Racer]

Very good suggestion, Dianne. those 2 bar graphs side by side would REALLY help in opening alot of people's eyes and would REALLY help in getting people try a better browser. I'd paste them on a page on my network, along with links to download firefox and chrome, and include a link to it in my welcome letter to new members. As a matter of fact, I am going to put together something and do just that, add the info to a page with links to download FF and Chrome. It will take care of the issue Kent mentioned above about educating potential/new members. Thank you for pointing that out, Kent, your entire post is a very good point, and thank you Dianne for the idea!

@TJ thanks for all of that info too, interesting stuff. Maybe the HTML5 is why i've seen issues with firefox lately. I'm thinking chrome will be seamless with transitioning to HTML5, too. I think they are testing alot of the HTML5 with Chrome Canary browser. Canary is really cool, you can run it without having to disturb the more stable version of Chrome you may already have, and you get to see things they are testing. right now on Canary, you can switch between different google accounts on the fly. I haven't tried it yet, I'm waiting on G+ to allow business accounts so i can make one for my sites, and I'm going to play with it then.

At any rate, this is a debate that will likely never go away. In my opinion, the average person doesn't want the hassle of configuring their browsers, turning on and off compatibility buttons, etc. etc. they just want to surf the net without hangups, and that is simply not easy to do with IE. I'm sure Ning is working on IE pretty constantly, I remember a post somewhere here where someone asked similar to this post (there are tons of them, im not going to go look for it) where they said they were waiting on Msoft to get IE9 more stable and they would start working on it, and it appears they have started. Alot of people were kinda miffed by that comment, and I responded with "if Ning announced they were going to remove 1 color a day from the font color pallet for the next 30 days, would you immediately go change your font colors, or wait for them to finish?" It kinda goes hand in hand. Why focus on working on something that is constantly changing and screwing up their work? let some stabilization come THEN put work into it, focus on other things (like a better chat, better features, other improvements to the platform, etc) 

 

[Kent]

How about if ning would include an optional message box next to the sign-in/sign-up screen that  would automatically provide up-to-date information on browser compatibility/browser issues (and fixes!) so that creators, current members and potential members would know what the issues are and what is being done to fix them. This would prevent a lot of frustration among creators and would show our members that compatibility issues are being monitored and are being fixed.

[Eddie Foster]

That's a good idea Kent.

TBH I've never understood why Ning give us so little space to add text to our invitations or even on the Network Details page. Particularly if you have an Invitation Only network like mine.

A paragraph highlighting potential problems would help retain new members.

[Patrick Mee]

Eddie et al,

I had a quick look of our numbers for the last month. IE has been trending down all year and for the last month consisted of 36.52% of page views.

However a huge majority of those IE views was for IE8. IE9 comprised but 17.15% of the IE traffic.

This means that 6.26% of our total traffic is being served to IE9. 

So while I agree we need beef up our IE9 support, I don't think the sky is falling like people seem to think. But to that point I have have team working on IE 9 compatibility issues, because traffic to it will only increase.

 

Thanks,

Patrick

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Thanks Kent. On the dot.

[Chris]

Internet Explorer's share is rapidly declining thank goodness. We can help that, and we should. Each of them is an appalling browser with security holes as big as kansas. They aren't standards compliant (which means they do strange things like this). Worse, they aren't even compatible with each other! The time has come to put "This site best viewed in anything except Internet Explorer" on our sites. I've had great success, and IE accounts for less than 10% of my traffic. Less than Chrome! Educate your members, and make your life easier. Plus, stuff just looks crap in IE, even IE9. imho.

[Rowald]

I am going to install Internet Explorer especially for this to test it out.