TECHNICAL DETAILS and PROBLEM SOLVING

Tested Browsers

These web pages have been tested with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and 6 and Netscape Navigator 6. No problems were encountered.
The pages should operate OK with IE4, but this has not been fully tested. The assorted sub-versions of Navigator 4 have all sorts of individual quirks, so no guarantees, though I do not expect problems.

Opera 7.XX does not run the menu system correctly. Since the menu system is used commercially I find that surprising. Anyway, I sent them the code so that they could give an opinion. A year + on I'm still awaiting a reply!

Firefox 1.0 appears to run the menu system and display gallery images perfectly. However, the browser is configured by default to block some types of 'transient' popup windows. Certain Stony Arts pages such as the Stony Live! Events Calendar use this type of page and so may need to be explicitely added to the 'allow popup's on this page' list. (See the Tools>Options menu.)
 

Page Construction

The web pages comprising the STONY ARTS site use standard web technologies: HTML (4.0), DHTML (JavaScript up to v1.2) and Style Sheets (CSS1 Standard).

The code creating the pages have been written to be compliant with the current Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendations.

The only feature that may cause problems is 'Popup' Windows.
 
What the Jargon Means
A. HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
HTML is the core web technology; you cannot write a web page without using HTML code. So whatever is produced will be displayed by anything that works correctly as a web browser.
However, some browsers are purely text based and cannot display the graphical elements of the page. Not a whole lot I'll be doing about that since the number of text only browsers accessing the site is miniscule, and anyway this is a visually oriented site.
B. DHTML
D(ynamic)HTML is 'ordinary' HTML code that can be manipulated by software to react to input by you. The software used for STONY ARTS is a computer language called JavaScript. (There are plenty of others.) The software version used is v1.2. All this means is that it is known to operate correctly with the browsers listed above.
C.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
W3C is the committee set up to standardise the way web pages are constructed. They lay down the standard set of (D)HTML code elements, good and bad practices for page construction, make suggestions for page layout, etc. The 'standards' have no official status, but one has to be pretty dumb not to build sites the way everyone else does.

Some of the original HTML elements are now considered semi-redundant in the face of later technologies. Browser technology moves to match W3C recommendations so there will come a point when these older elements will no longer be supported. So, W3C compliant (D)HTML simply means that it is well written and reasonably 'future proof'.
D.

"POPUP" Windows
A 'popup' is simply a window that appears when you click somewhere on the page. Typically that somewhere will be an image gallery thumbnail. A larger version of the thumbnail image will appear in a small window 'floating' above the main web page.

'Popup' windows are a contentious subject, mainly because of the way they are abused on many sites. However, they are the most efficient way of displaying pages of gallery images.
 
Problem Solving
1. NAVIGATION MENU DOESN'T WORK (or No menu Displayed!)
There are two probable reasons why the menu system may not work:
a. Your browser does not support JavaScript. This is unlikely with modern browsers.
b. The browser has the ability to run JavaScript switched off or blocked.
JavaScript is an inherently 'secure' language in that it does not normally provide access to the PC's drives, memory or other potential information sources. Because of this, by default IE and Navigator allow JavaScript to run. However, this facility can be blocked, sometimes by the use of third party software. Check for script blocking if you are having problems on IE or Navigator.
2.

A 'POP-UP WINDOW DOES NOT APPEAR
If the navigation menu's are working correctly then the JavaScript code is operating correctly, so the 'popup' window should appear.

If it does not, the most probable reason is that some form of 'popup window killer' is in operation. The 'cheap and cheerful' (usually free) popup killers tend to be unselective: they suppress everything. Since most large sites use popup's in one form or another for quite valid reasons, this approach is rather counterproductive. The better versions allow you to select how popup's are handled.
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