Drupal.org broken in IE 6.0

Probably the same issue, also with IE 6: on http://drupal.org/project/Themes links are no longer clickable (example: download) further down the page; initial links are ok, but scroll down a few pages and none of he links are active anymore.

You will need to be more specific. I just went through about 40 links from within IE6 and had no issues.

The issue I reported earlier (links no longer functional) seems to have resolved itself, I can no longer reproduce the behavior.

in that case, I'll close this out and if it occurs to someone else, they can re-open.

Here is another one: http://drupal.org/node/55997 (I marked it duplicate and pointed to this one to centralise IE issues)

Onother IE issue is the Modules Browse by name listing. All links are either disfunctional or missing, beginning with the dashboard screenshot links of the Administration menu and every below. It finishes with Xstatistics in the middle of a phrase without download - find out more and bugs links.

I'm also experiencing problems with some links in IE 6. (IE 6.0.2800.1106CO to be specific). Ironically enough, I'm seeing it on this page: Links are clickable through "#5" and "sepeck" just after it, but "#6" and onward are non-clickable. Non-clickable links look just like clickable ones, both visually and when viewing source. But when I hover the cursor over the non-clickable ones, no nice underlining appears, and when I click, nothing happens.

I managed to post this by finding a clickable "follow up" link under another issue, and modifying the URL. "follow up" in non-clickable for me on this page. However, all links in the sidebar menu are clickable.

To make matters worse, I find that neither the "Preview" nor the "Submit" buttons work here. But I can jump from field to field with tab. If you can read this, I managed to post by jumping to the "submit"-button with tab and then pressing enter.

I am also still experiencing the same problems described by zirvap. I orginally posted these problems last night at http://drupal.org/node/56001 and nothing has changed with the way IE 6 is working on my machine.

WindowsXP Pro
IE Version: 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519

When viewing the modules page filtered for any version, or the themes page, the links for the modules stop working for all content that falls below the Right Sidebar.

Just like zirvap, even to post this follow up comment, the follow up link on this page in IE doesn't work. I downloaded Firefox 1.5 last night and am submitting this comment using Firefox as I don't know how to jump through all the hoops zirvap explained in order to do it in IE 6.

the links for the modules stop working for all content that falls below the Right Sidebar. Confirmed for this page as well. And if I make the browser window really narrow, so that the sidebar drops below all the text, all links become clickable.

...but preview didn't work, as you can see... What I meant to say:

the links for the modules stop working for all content that falls below the Right Sidebar.

Confirmed for this page as well. And if I make the browser window really narrow, so that the sidebar drops below all the text, all links become clickable.

There is more fairly detailed discussion of this issue at:
http://drupal.org/node/56469
and various forum topics.

I marked http://drupal.org/node/56469 as a duplicate and posted a link to this issue.

Could this be a z-index (layering) issue? To test it, I'm going to see if Drupal will allow me to make a link with a custom (very high) z-index in this post, set using CSS. Can anyone click this?

Didn't make that last link correctly, and can't edit it, so here goes a 2nd attempt. Is this clickable?

Neither of the two above posts worked, so I'm assuming that's not quite the issue.

Is there somebody working on this?

It's a pretty critical bug and a bad advertisement for Drupal for newcomers coming in using IE. It's been like this for 3 days now for me.

If there is somebody working on this, can you roll-back the site theme to the most recent working version and work on a testbed before making live? I can't see any advantages using the site on firefox or opera that will be missed

If there isn't anyone working on this, give me a shout, I maybe able to help tomorrow and tuesday.

Dub

No, we can't/won't roll back. I suggest the interested parties look at the CSS. I am willing to apply patches.

No, we can't/won't roll back.

Sorry Killes, with respect, that's simply ridiculous.

Why not?

It's more important, bordering on crucial, vital even, that drupal.org works for visitors. the site has been this way for 3 days now...and people are being asked to "look at the css" ??!

I don't get it. Why not roll back to the working theme, so Drupal.org actually works and setup a temporary "have a look at the css guys" site where we can help fix the mess?

Dub

Here are some points I'd like to share.

Took me a while to find a page where this happens. Found it in http://drupal.org/moderation-queue

If you resize the browser small enough that the left block is forced directly under the main content, all the links are clickable again.

If you use the tab key, you can reach the all the links and use "enter" to go to them.

The theme was changed to match the update to Drupal 4.7 rc1. I can't roll back that update. I also have absolutely no idea about CSS and whatever problems IE6 might have with it. I don't use IE6, and I don't even use the download page. So, the people who have the capabilities to fix the issue need to fix it. I can't.

(re. unclickable links in IE6)
AFAICT, any link or text below the right-hand sidebar (new forum topics) is unclickable in IE6.

However, if there are comments below the node, then the links in the comments are once again clickable. Look at this node and notice that the space between the end of the "New Forum Topics", and the start of the Comments area is unclickable.

nutshell
The occurs in long nodes (like in the handbook). Not in node-comments, issues, forum-replies, etc. So it's *kind of* rare.

I found some links/solutions that describe the problem.
http://www.chat11.com/Bug_Css_Cant_Click_Links_In_Float_Right_Boxes
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum83/956.htm

I have posted the problem to some css lists I use.

As a *short-term* solution, I theorise that if the height of the "Now Forum Topics" box be extended to the bottom of the page, that problem would go away. This hack might be considered: some javascript could determine whether the browser is IE, and after the page has loaded, increase the margin of the "New Forum Topics" block to something close to the height of the page.

Sorry, the node I referred to in the second paragraph is this:
http://drupal.org/node/52816

So, if I would disable the block (or disable it for special pages), then the problem would go away?

well spotted...(links below the new forum topics block not working).

Will disabling the block not just make it worse? i.e. links below the next block up will stop working

or is it the new forum posts block that is causing the problem?

Dub

"Will disabling the block not just make it worse? i.e. links below the next block up will stop working"

I think that's a certain risk. Although I am also starting to suspect that the problem is indeed caused by the forum topic block.

Is there a way to test a change?

Can you change the w1 and w2 classes in bluebeach css (lines 758 and 764) so that the position is static, rather than relative? The "relative" thing seems to be a common thread in this issue and I don't think changing it will effect these elements visually.

I've disabled the forum block. Did that help?

No, it has made it worse as predicted :-(

it's made it worse gerhard. Links below the next block up don't work now.

Dub

I notice the same problem (links below the last block not working) doesn't happen on the front page of drupal.org.

Dub

I have fixed it here:

http://www.modernmediamuse.com/drupal-stuff/

there is an extra (stray) closing DIV underneath the blocks in the page.tpl.php file.

By simply removing it, the page works.

Can someone email me the drupal.org page.tpl.php file?

Dub

Works for me, cool.

reenabled the block.

Gerhard,

If you have access to the page.tpl.php file, can you remove a closing DIV after the blocks are declared?
Or email it to me and I'll have a look to see if it's the content wrapper that is being closed prematurely or simply a stray DIV.

Dub

I've validated the html and found and unclosed li in the contributor's block. I fixed this. Steven says, there is no broken div in his theme.

lol. can you show Stephen this in IE?

http://www.modernmediamuse.com/drupal-stuff/

looks pretty broken to me..

Dub

I agree, but this page has a lot of user input where there is easily some unclosed tag. if you validate the tracker page, for example, you only get five errors because of wbrs.

Sorry Gerhard. That's not true. The site wasn't doing that earlier today. and it's not just happening on that page I copied...it's happening practically site-wide now.

Dub

I think the broken ps are due to a bug in the html filter we use. if I validate the module download page I get a real lot of errors. If I then try to fix them in the modules, they don't show up in the content area.

just edited a post that had a very long link in it's subject title and that appears to have fixed the blocks dropping down the right hand side.

but the links not working in IE is still a problem.

Can I suggest you remove that extra closing DIV below where the blocks are declared, so, at least the site works? and then work out what exactly is causing the problem in parallel?

Whether we like it or not, many people use internet explorer and first-timers or visitors checking it out will be put off by the fact that the Drupal site itself doesn't actually work.

Dub

I've just redone the test page without the extra closing DIV I found...

http://www.modernmediamuse.com/drupal-stuff/drupal_test.html

I just tested it in IE, FIREFOX and OPERA.

Works perfectly in all.

Dub

My point is that if the page.tpl.php has an extra closing div it would show up on all pages. However, if I validate the tracker page, I don't find such an extra div. I therefore conclude that it does not exist and that errors on other pages have other causes such as invalid user input or a broken output filter.

okay. what about this: move one of the closing DIVS in the page.tpl.php file after the blocks are declared to below the footer?

As I understand it the problem is site-wide, Gerhard, apart from the front page. Which suggests that there maybe a DIV being closed prematurely if it isn't simply a stray DIV.

Either way, at least the site works when you remove/move the closing DIV in the page.tpl.php file after the blocks are declared.

Dub

The problem might be site-wide, but it is not related to the generated html, at least as far as page.tpl.php is concerned. i have used validator.w3c.org on a variet of pages and did not find a stray div.

point taken killes..but, a DIV being closed prematurely wouldn't necessarily be picked up by validator. It will see an opening and closing div and stop there.

Can I suggest you move on of the closing DIVS after the blocks are declared to below the footer?

At least that way the site will work. and you can work out why it's breaking the site in the duration...

Dub

Can I suggest you move on of the closing DIVS after the blocks are
declared to below the footer?

+1 X-[

Also, I don't know if you've noticed, try double-clicking on the unclickable text (which would normally select the text). Instead it selects the whole side-bar - the side-bar is doing something, I just don't know what.

not sure if this helps..but..

When you check this page using the validator.w3.org utility the final error (After what looks like all user generated content errors) is the following:

Error Line 328 column 7: end tag for element "div" which is not open.

Not sure if that is a help or not..just thought I'd mention it.

FWIW I think it's more important for the site to work, rather than validate. I tried 11 pages including the Drupal homepage and none validates.

Dub

that link doesn't work too well..
try this: http://validator.w3.org

Dub

http://drupal.org/project/Modules
ALL links don't work in IE6.

http://drupal.org/forum
ALL links after "Paid Drupal services" forum don't work.

Hiya guys...

It's getting a little scary that this hasn't been sorted.

Can I suggest 1 of the following ?

(a) remove/move the CLOSING DIV I mentioned a few posts back (the one after the blocks are declared in the page.tpl.php file)

I have done that in the HTML and it works. here is the corrected version:

http://www.modernmediamuse.com/drupal-stuff/drupal_test.html

That will get the site working in IE and I think it's better to have the site working than in the state it is at the moment. It's a really bad advertisement for Drupal as it is.

Based on a bit of digging, I think it's the contentwrapper DIV that is causing the problems in IE. Can someone email me through the theme so I can have a look in more depth?

It's probably something simple in the tpl.php/css.

(b) Redirect IE users to a page where it says "Sorry, this site will not work in INTERNET EXPLORER, please download FIREFOX or OPERA to view the Drupal.org site".

I hope that's of help. I really think it's wiser to do (a) or (b) as soon as possible while the problem is being sorted out. Drupal.org is the showcase for Drupal. If it takes so long to sort out a relatively simple problem, with such a large community of contributers, it doesn't exactly send out the right message. Does it?

Dub

+1 to what Dub wrote.

1. Shortly after the drupal.org site upgrade last month, I reported and added comments on the broken IE6 links issue at http://drupal.org/node/56057#comment-107165 and http://drupal.org/node/56469 (a duplicate to the issue posted here). I see broken IE6 links are still an issue.

2. Pardon my ignorance, but does anyone know if this IE6 broken links issue only exists on drupal.org, or does it also exist in the newly released 4.7.0-rc1? I tried following the thread above but couldn't determine the answer to my question.

Thanks,
Walt

As I posted elsewhere, Steven is currently the only maintainer for the "Bluebeach" theme used on Drupal.org. He's also going through his final exam/graduation time, so I suspect he is completely slammed at this point.

So, the short answer to "why is Drupal.org broken in IE?" is that because no one has fixed it. Yep, it sucks.

If people could submit patches, that would be great.

NB: this is theme-specific -- Drupal itself does nothing to break/unbreak IE.

The Bluebeach theme did not change substantially in the 4.7 upgrade. Only the search box was altered in accordance with the 4.7 upgrade, and some necessary style changes were applied. No structural changes were made. There are no strays divs anywhere in the page.tpl.php. Aside from wbr tags, the modules page validates for me.

What did change is that the project.module stopped using tables on its listings and switched to divs instead. The forms markup changed too. Any of that is enough to trigger new bugs in the shitty browser known as IE.

As expected, the problem was a random 'peekaboo' bug. Bluebeach uses advanced CSS layout features, which IE frequently chokes on. Adding some non-sensical css attributes fixed it. Though text selection is still semi-borked. If people want to select text, they can just use a proper browser.

Congratulations on your fix Steven....well done....under what seemed like a lot of pressure after skimming this thread.

For me the fix you have implemented seems to have made the whole drupal.org usability go way above what I have come to expect.

Text areas can now be relatively easily selected....even though you do need to select the whole comment, paragraph etc in forums, handbooks etc.

In the old site I often had to select two or three comments and paste all on to a text editor to then grab what I wanted-snippets etc.

Well done!

My only comment based on your closing line (which made me a little uneasy) when you mentioned...

If people want to select text, they can just use a proper browser.

(and please do not take any of the below the wrong way - it is simply my observation based on my experience)

I just checked my stats (to reassure my badly shot memory) and find that my site stats for browsers.....(admittedly a non geek site) is consistently finding that:-
MS Internet Explorer 76.2 %
Firefox 12.7 %
Safari 5.6 %
Netscape 2.7 %
Opera 1.6 %
Mozilla 0.5 %
Unknown 0.2 %

In light of my stats I continue to use only the mainstream browser as my own personal browser and for me any problem in IE is a major catastrophe. Sure I look at the site in other browsers but with my limited time probably not enough.

Now....Does anyone here know the browser stats for drupal.org visitors?

I ask myself and put the question politely to this community. Can the drupal.org community really afford to care so little about this large percentage of mainstream potential users?

My answer is a resounding....certainly not.

IE6 sucks and this is completely independend of how many users use it. Since we aren't some enterprise we can effort to not cater for IE at all. I've already spent too much with this crap and I bet Steven spent much more. People, get real browsers (and prefereably a real OS, too).

No it can be done....the length of my post is the problem here IMO.

Try some other areas of the site now and you will see....or just try to select all your follow up.

Works for me anyway.

So, the short answer to "why is Drupal.org broken in IE?" is that because no one has fixed it. Yep, it sucks. If people could submit patches, that would be great.

Boris Mann.

Great to see the links issue fixed. Well done guys!

just a minor note about submitting patches for the bluebeach theme..I offered help at the weekend with trying to sort the problem, but was unable to find the bluebeach theme for 4.7 anywhere in the CVS repositories.

I understand that it (bluebeach) should be kept unique and therefore, not available for download, but, perhaps emailing it to a few trusted Drupallers might have helped matters. Especially, as someone else mentioned, that Stephen also has exams on at the moment as well.

Just a suggestion for the future and thanks again for fixing the links thing.

Dub

Ok killes....I get the picture....I will shut up now and will make no further comment in this thread.

The template is not needed to molest the CSS in such a way that IE6 will understand it. Real browsers have extensions that aid in the debugging of CSS problems...

If the template gets mailed to somebody is Steven's decision.

I for one am silly enough to be pinning the financial future of my family on a Drupal-based business. This may be a hobby for you guys but I need to eat. Now I think you are telling me I should chuck the last three months of development and go find a real CMS that works on the only commercially significant browser in the industry? If that is Drupal policy you better put it on the front page folks and save others from wasting months going down a blind alley.
I am about to launch a large body of work into the public domain (on Drupal) and I understand the responsibilities to the end users that I assume by doing so. One of those responsibilities is to not abandon 75% of them.
Sorry I'm agressive, but I think a reality check is needed. Even if you don't care about capitalists like me and think I should go pay for a CMS (BTW: I use open source not to save money but because it is superior in usability and support), I'm sure there are sites delivering essential community services via Drupal who need to reach all of their constituents not 25% of them.
So please, let's all keep doing what you do so well....

oops didn't mean to change the title :-o

This is about drupal.org, not about drupal the CMS. Best leave it at that.

Second that. Gerhard's (killes) comment wasn't directed at Drupal in general but the use of Drupal.org. At least that's how I took it.
Roger

yes, of course it was only made for drupal.org. I'd appreciate that the people who care for drupal.org's performance with IE6 try to send patches rather than complaints.

Please don't shoot me. I'm only offering a suggestion. :)

How about a Drupal User and Browser Survey to get some ideas on who uses Drupal, what browsers are being used, etc.?

If anything, I think it would be good to benchmark where we are today and take a similar survey say...every six months or every year. If we can better understand the audience, I know some people like me would be better able to help others based on the overall direction that the community is headed in.

Anyway, the survey is just a thought. Feel free to poke holes in it but my offer is constructive. :)

Arrrr. Sorry but the link in my last post didn't work! I wish there was some way to edit one's post on the issues board...is there?

Let me try again.

Drupal User and Browser Survey.