I’ve been getting a lot of support emails like this, so I figured it is time to bring the issue front and center:
Thought I would let you know that for the past week or two, I’m having a problem with your website (wattsupwiththat.com).
I can read the first few stories, fine but as I continue to scroll down, the screen goes blank (all white), and does not come back.
I am using Firefox 3.6.28 on an Imac running Mac OS 10.4.11.
My software may be outdated, but if I’m having the problem others may as well.
WordPress.com (my hosting provider) recently made yet another unannounced upgrade to the blog software that provides for continuous scroll, adding new stories as you scroll down. There seems to be no way to turn off this feature, so the only way around the problem in older browsers (Like Firefox 3.6 which is out of date) is to upgrade. Upgrades are free, just do it.
Firefox is now up to version 11.0 – get it here: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx/
Chrome is up to 18.0 – get it here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/
Internet Explorer 9 is out, though IE8 will work just fine. IE 6/7 not so much.
Safari/Opera/others – I have no experience with them, please advise in comments
Android Dolphin on a Nook Tablet works fine for me.
I wonder if many of us actually understand what the latest supposed problem is. I don’t worry about story summaries down the page still loading, in part because Facebook does that some days. Maybe that’s why I don’t see a
I assume it is slow connection or slow server, people herein suggest some older browsers don’t respond quickly (“rendering engine” tech talk).
Sounds like a minor problem compared to WordPress’ recent faint font fiasco.
(As for Chrome, it has one known disadvantage: “Google”, whose privacy and IP policies are questionnable.
And java scripting is one of the worst things foisted on Internet users.)
Refer to my previous post in this thread and the two on the faint font fiasco for cautions regarding the notion of “just upgrade”. (And I agree with Hexe Froschbeing about feature and UI churn without defect fixes.)
And I add that for some people a solution is two computers – buy a new one, and use for old one for legacy applications. But do check out Windows 7’s compatibility modes, my very limited understanding of them is it can run old software in a constrained environment to reduce risk.
Note that the Comments fields of WordPress have been flakey for several months or more. I have not had much trouble myself lately, IIRC I have seen the minor annoyance of it not immediately clearing the title in a field, but just now it is fine.
Of course Keeping It Simple for Success is something too few web weenies agree with.
Performance issues relating to page loading times can be cause by many different things, including your Internet connection, browser rendering engine, computer performance and if you system is malware free. Those who experience performance problems can have any combination of a slow Internet connection (dial-up), an outdated browser, a really old computer, a computer with defective hardware or a malware infected computer.
Chrome has excellent privacy features, http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/more/privacy.html. The recent Google privacy hysteria was related to their accounts and services which had nothing to do with their browser. Simply don’t browse when logged into a Google account. If you use Gmail open a separate browser and log in there, then use the other to surf. I find it ironic that just about everyone who went hysterical over Google’s privacy policy changes has a Facebook account, which I consider a privacy virus. If you do not want something online don’t post it online anywhere.
While Windows 7 comes with a compatibility mode to run legacy applications it is recommend to only use applications designed for Windows 7. The virtual machined Windows XP mode is only available if you have Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise, http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/features/windows-xp-mode
Unless you are a business there is no real reason to continue to use obsolete software.
I just tested WUWT on an older P3 1GHz, 512MB PC with Windows XP SP3, Chrome v18.x, Firefox v11.x and IE v8.x that I threw together and while page load times and the continuous scrolling feature was noticeably slower than my other systems, WUWT was still functional and usable in all three browsers. These parts are over ten years old and running anything older than a P4 with 1GB of RAM even to browse the Internet is not recommended.
I became frustrated with newer firefox versions crashing, so I went back to 3.6.20 on a mac with 10.6.8, and I see no such problem. Safari 5.0.5 works just as well. It seems that your browser version and OS work together to cause WUWT viewing problems.