White on Grey doesnt work for me

[Ididmyc600]

Just under the TS logo the 8 buttons are white on grey, i cant read them, any chance they could be changed and the writing enlarged slightly.

Thanks

 

[SNGX1275]

What browser? Its very dark grey with white text here and is very easily read. The menu's that appear below it are grey, but with black text, also easy to read.

 

[LookinAround]

I also have dark grey with white lettering. Good contrast and easy to read. Things to try:
- double check your color settings under Display Settings
- Also, click Advanced button to see what your video card supports for Color Management
- Look to see if your monitor has its own color/contrast/brightness/etc controls

 

[Julio Franco]

The only reason why you could be getting white on gray buttons is if you are using a browser that doesn't support PNG transparency, namely IE5.5 or IE6.

However, we have also applied a javascript trick that fixes this in such browsers, in other words the killing combination is one of those older browsers and JS turned off.

 

[LookinAround]

The only reason why you could be getting white on gray buttons is if you are using a browser that doesn't support PNG transparency, namely IE5.5 or IE6.

1. Did you mean white on grey is wrong? As i have white on dark grey which works just fine for me (i thought was correct)

2. I found this link to test a browser for PNG transparency quite easily. I have an "excellent" match between images so am assuming white and dark gray is correct?

/***** Edit ******/
3. And an even better link for testing PNG transparency

 

[zipperman]

?

What color is your active button (Forum) for eg : ? Mine is a nice blue.
A little darker then this.
My grey is almost black.

 

[Julio Franco]

I was assuming he meant a very light gray which doesn't make any contrast against the white letters. The correct site rendering obviously shouldn't pose a problem.

 

[zipperman]

He must mean something

I was assuming he meant a very light gray which doesn't make any contrast against the white letters. The correct site rendering obviously shouldn't pose a problem.

How can he be different the you and I ?
Will he ever reply ?

 

[LookinAround]

zipperman:

I think the answer to your question is "PNG transparency" (Julio pointed out earlier. I learned about it today in this thread as well!) Look at the links i provided in an earlier post to test PNG transparency in your browser.

 

[zipperman]

I read that

1. Did you mean white on grey is wrong? As i have white on dark grey which works just fine for me (i thought was correct)

2. I found this link to test a browser for PNG transparency quite easily. I have an "excellent" match between images so am assuming white and dark gray is correct?

/***** Edit ******/
3. And an even better link for testing PNG transparency

I have IEx 7 so didn;t bother testing.Be nice if (idid) did.
Theres also a font setting for LCD monitors.I forget where.

 

[Ididmyc600]

The only reason why you could be getting white on gray buttons is if you are using a browser that doesn't support PNG transparency, namely IE5.5 or IE6.

However, we have also applied a javascript trick that fixes this in such browsers, in other words the killing combination is one of those older browsers and JS turned off.

Hi Julio and TS's, well the surround of the buttons is dark grey and then inside it goes light grey and the colour text is white, so from what i can gather from your post should i be enabling JS in my browser and if so how ?.

I tried the post from "lookinaround" about testing PNG transparency and it does say " Discards all partially transparent pixels. This is very bad. (MSIE4-6/Win:T1,T2)"

I will try the site on my base unit PC instead of my laptop and see if it is any different.

How about if i upgrade to IE7, although i have tried it an didnt like it i suppose i should move with the times, will that make it better do you think.

What color is your active button (Forum) for eg : ? Mine is a nice blue.
A little darker then this.
My grey is almost black.

its a little lighter than the Tech part of the Tecspot logo..


Thanks for all the suggestions, if it turns out nothing can be done then i'll live with it.

Regards

 

[LookinAround]

As i understand it PNG transparency isn't supported in IE6 so, yes, going to IE7 should help. Also, if it helps any, you can turn tabbed browsing off in IE7 if that helps any (not sure what parts of IE7 you don't like). Certain other parts of IE7 are customizable as well.

 

[Ididmyc600]

Hi

It was just the whole of IE7 I didnt like, dont see why Bill Gates cant just update IE6 with any new bits instead of making us have to have a whole new browser interface.

Any road up im installing IE7 as a test, but im gonna ghost my laptop first just in case it does anything strange to it,

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Regards

 

[LookinAround]

and supposedly, you can uninstall IE7 to revert to IE6. never tried/verified though

/**** Edit ****/
that was just an fyi. Ghosting is of course the safest approach!

 

[Ididmyc600]

Hi

Yep IE7 makes it look a whole lot better, i'll give IE7 a go and see if it has improved since i last tried it.

Oh yeah if i dont like it then yes i can revert to IE6 via add/remove it worked last time i installed it, but its better to ghost as it gets rid of all those nice registry entries that MS slip in without you knowing.

 

[Julio Franco]

I think I explained this before but I will repeat it again.

We use PNG transparency which is supported by all major browsers today... IE6 is not an up to date major browser.

However, because a LOT of people still use it, we use a Javascript-based hack that adds that functionality to your IE client. I have run IE6 here in my machine and it renders the new site fine as long as JS is enabled, so it can download and run the PNG transparency hack.

Do yourself a huge favor and download Firefox 3.
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/19-mozilla-firefox.html

I may not convince you by saying it is good (and it is), but it is also fast, much faster than IE6 or IE7.

 

[kimsland]

Do yourself a huge favor and download Firefox 3.
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/19-mozilla-firefox.html

I may not convince you by saying it is good (and it is).

I have been involved with many tech forums for many years, and certainly fully aware of Firefox security (due to non MS). I would like to point out that Internet Explorer (The world's No.1 browser by far) would have to rank as better (than good) than Firefox.

Internet Explorer will (by default) allow access to much more websites, including:
Windows Update (Recommended to visit regularly)
Driver sites (Again in default settings, is much easier)
Many online Games/Chat/Entertainment sites (including all MS sites)
And generally every single page ever made, is made compatible with IE first

Also, Internet Explorer is made by the same company as Windows itself (being MS)
All Security Updates have IE in mind, as the No.1 priority, and do not provide any extra security to Firefox (of course!)
Actually this list could literally be a mile long of positives towards IE

Firefox on the other hand (possibly faster by default) requires addons to view certain sites, or even utilize certain areas of web pages. If anyone has ever used Firefox they'll be aware of all the extra downloads, just to come close to what IE has already by default. (Note: close but not better!)

So why do some users think that Firefox is better? There are many reasons
Due to Internet Explorer's immense popularity (and compatibility) many Hackers/and less favourable users will try to corrupt users of IE more so than Firefox. Note: This does not mean that Firefox is better (obviously!) it just means that it's more prone to attack. Hence the Windows Security Updates we all do.
Another issue is that many users just don't like using MS products, even though 95% of the world (not US) use MS Windows. How double standard is that?

Here's a strange twist for Firefox users. All of them require Internet Explorer to initially download Firefox. But Internet Explorer does not require Firefox or any extra addon (other than the automatic addons) to do absolutely anything it can't already do. Therefore, let it be known that if you want a good (or the best) browser go for Internet Explorer. Why settle for less?

Note: Although your comment led on to the speed of Firefox, it also gave the impression that Firefox is better than Internet Explorer, of which it is obviously not.

Do yourself a huge favour and download Internet Explorer 7.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx

Or read about and download Internet Explorer 8 (Beta)
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/default.mspx

 

[Julio Franco]

All Security Updates have IE in mind, as the No.1 priority, and do not provide any extra security to Firefox (of course!)
Actually this list could literally be a mile long of positives towards IE

I have obviously had a much different experience than kimsland. But if you are defending IE on the basis that it can run Windows Update and that other sites are optimized for that browser first. We are obviously two very different kind of users as well.

Three years ago I would have accepted that not relying on IE at all would be impossible under a Windows environment but that is no longer true. Nowadays sites are coded to properly follow certain standards (and work fine with Firefox, Opera and Safari)... then coded back and forth to fix stuff IE can't render correctly.

Security is an aspect where I wouldn't give an edge to either of the two (IE7 or Firefox), but just because MS provides patches for the former doesn't mean at all that it is more secure.

All in all, feel free to use the browser that fits you, I will change my previous advise to saying that Firefox is by far the best browser in my opinion. It is however (without room for discussion) a much more compliant browser than IE.

 

[kimsland]

That's a shame to hear. It endorses others to say GetFirefox to view (keeping in line with the thread) and browse the web in general. Which sadly many support members continually state (including now you!)
Firefox should not be promoted as the better alternative, or even fix for browser issues.
It's as you say an "in my opinion", personal choice option only. Just as Windows to Linux would be.

 

[Julio Franco]

Firefox should not be promoted as the better alternative, or even fix for browser issues.

That is also just an opinion. For many, Firefox is indeed much better. And what better place to endorse it than the very site I run, don't you think?

 

[Ididmyc600]

Ok so i get the picture, some users think FF is better than IE and vice versa, to be honest its all irrelevant, the original question was why did the site not work for me and i got my answer.

Julio and kimsland you prove that each of us is an individual and has different tastes and flavors in our lives and the thread has been rather entertaining, thanks.

I did try FF a while back ( i actually still have the shortcut on my desktop) and to be honest found it rather unuseable, however that is my opinion and not a slur on FF, i have as stated moved over to IE7 and am living with it, albeit it is a bit slower to load pages than IE6 was but i suppose thats all the added bumf that comes with it.

Thanks to all that contributed to this thread.

Better lock it now before someone else jumps in with a FF V IE debate.

Regards

 

[kimsland]

Hey I found a good page to test the webpage (or anyones webpage) on multiple browsers. Thought I'd post it, to confirm that all TechSpot's colors are ok

http://browsershots.org/?url=http://www.techspot.com/

 

[Bobbye]

I went to Firefox over three years ago, when it was first released to the public. I've had years of using tabs- before Firefox became so popular the MS released IE7 before Vista, as was the original intent.

I have updated Firefox and customized as needed. I have only a few add-ons. My homepage opens with 7 tabs. Firefox doesn't have near the vulnerabilities inherent in IE. I find no added reason to use IE because MS is the author of it. In fact, I use as little of the MS products as I can. I still have Widows XP Home- yes, I know, an MS OS. Vista is not out there for me. In fact, should I require a new system it may very well be a Mac.

As for IE8 and anonymous browsing, surely none believes that! And the same for Chrome. It's a marketing ploy, nothing more. We can be tracked and most of our data can be and is mined by numerous sources. Privacy is not an option.