Monday, May 31, 2010

Hongkiat.com: Complete Guide to Cross-Browser Compatibility Check

Hongkiat.com: Complete Guide to Cross-Browser Compatibility Check


Complete Guide to Cross-Browser Compatibility Check

Posted: 31 May 2010 07:47 AM PDT

Internet users have wider choice of browsers when it comes to surfing the net. It is our responsibility as designers and developers to ensure that websites we’ve created are compatible for most of the commonly used browsers these days.

cross browser compatibility check

That leads to a simple yet critical question – what browsers are our visitors using? According to w3school, commonly used browsers are Internet Explorer 7 & 8 and Firefox with Safari and Google Chrome gradually picking up. But the figures might vary from site to site, depending on its niche. It’s best to get the demographics from your site metrics, Google Analytics for instance.

Once you’ve identified common browsers your visitors use, then it’s time to make sure website displays the same in these browsers. It’s almost impossible to install all different browsers in one machine. But thanks to some tools and web services out there, finding out how your website looks like in other browsers is possible.

In this article, we want to bring to your attention some of the solutions you can depend on to do cross-browser compatibility testing. Full list after jump.

Test Compatibility Online

Browsershots

Browsershots is a free and most popular cross-platform multiple browsers compatibility test utility for web designers. Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. In Browsershots database are included all most popular browsers and you easily can check how your website looks in all browsers and OS platforms.

browsershots Complete Guide to Cross Browser Compatibility Check

Netrenderer

IE NetRenderer is free browsers compatibility tester. With IE NetRenderer you can check how a website is rendered by different versions of Internet Explorer. After beta testing, very soon in IE NetRenderer will be integrated newest version of IE – IE9 and you will be able to see does your website shows errors in this browser.

Netrenderer

Browsrcamp

Browsrcamp allows you to test the compatibility of your design with Mac OS X browsers. If you dont want spend money you can check compatibility of your design with Safari 3.1.2. Simply add your website url and you will get your website screenshot. But if you want check compatibility with others Mac browsers, you can subscribe for 3$.

Browsrcamp

Adobe Browserlab

Adobe Browserlab is a web hosted service which allows designers to test designs on multiple browsers and operating systems. In this system are included a zoom function and measurement tools like rulers and guides, and the ability to move quickly to specific areas of a screenshot. Browser sets allow designers to customize, edit, and save a combination of browsers to test.

Adobe Browserlab

Litmusapp

Litmus shows you screenshots of your websites as they look across all major web browsers. After you finished testing, you can get a full compatibility report ready for review by your clients. Litmus have 4 price plans. You can register for free and use only Explorer 7 and Firefox 2 browsers testings or you can choose charge plans.

Litmusapp

Anybrowser siteviewer

Anybrowser Site Viewer lets you see HTML pages as other browsers would, or in different screen sizes. You can move from link to link viewing pages as they’d appear in a variety of browsers and check for text-only purity. Also, the Anybrowser Site Viewer allows you to select specific page elements.

Anybrowser siteviewer

Fundisom

Fundisom is Mac screenshot generator that lets you see your site on a Macintosh G5 in Safari, MacIE or Mozilla. For now the lixlpixel web development Safari Screenshot Generator is temporarily offline, but you can check it later.

Fundisom

Delorie lynxview

Delorie lynxview is service that allows web authors to see what their pages will look like when viewed with Lynx, a text-mode web browser.

Delorie lynxview

Browsera

Browsera is meant to be used as a testing tool, not just a screenshot tool, and works at the site-level instead of the page level. Browsera crawl the pages on your site and actually test them for layout inconsistencies and scripting errors.

Browsera

IE Tab

IE Tab is Firefox addon that enables you to load webpages in Internet Explorer, without having to open another browser window. Just click a button on the Firefox toolbar and it will open the current page in a new tab that uses the Internet Explorer engine instead of Firefox.

IE Tab

Plugin and Tools

IETester

IETester is a free Web browser that allows you to have the rendering and javascript engines of IE9 preview, IE8, IE7 IE 6 and IE5.5 on Windows 7, Vista and XP. It’s useful for web developers to test that their sites work properly in all the most common Internet Explorer versions.

IETester

IECapt

IECapt is a small command-line utility to capture Internet Explorer’s rendering of a web page into a BMP, JPEG or PNG image file.

IECapt

Multi-Safari

Multi-Safari is a free browser compatibility testing tool that allows you to check the rendering of your web site using different versions of Safari. Multi-Safari does not allow screen resolution testing.

Multi-Safari

Expression Web SuperPreview

Expression Web SuperPreview is free tool that help users to test their websites on different versions of Internet explorer. Expression Web SuperPreview is a stand-alone visual debugging tool that makes it easier to migrate your sites from IE6 to IE7 or 8.

Expression Web SuperPreview

Iphoney

iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment, that you can use when developing web sites for iPhone. It’s the perfect 320 by 480-pixel canvas for your iPhone development. iPhoney is not an iPhone simulator but instead is designed for web developers who want to create 320 by 480 websites for use with iPhone.

Iphoney

MultipleIEs

With MultipleIEs you can test your webpage in Internet Explorer 3, 4, 5 and 6. These are old browsers, but if you can that your website will be available for all browsers, check also for oldest IE versions with MultipleIEs.

MultipleIEs

Multiple IE

Multiple IE is similar tool like MultipleIEs. Multiple IE is little package that allows you to run multiple versions of IE on the same machine, from IE 6.0 all the way back to IE 3.0

Multiple IE

SortSite Professional

SortSite Professional allows web site builders, owners and consultants to check entire sites for standards compliance and quality issues. SortSite check each page it finds, then produces a report listing every problem. SortSite check more than 300 quality checkpoints.

SortSite Professional

Lunascape

Lunascape is the world’s first and only triple engine browser. In are included main browsers: IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari. With Lunascape, you can choose the right engine to use at the right time, realizing a dramatic decrease in web-browser compatibility issues, long loading times, and improper display of websites.

Lunascape

Premium Services

Browsercam

BrowserCam is a paid online service that allows you to view your web pages across different platforms and browsers, either by automatically taking the screenshots of your choice or by accessing computers remotely.

Browsercam

Crossbrowsertesting

With the site, you’ll be able to test your website (or anyone else’s for that matter), on any operating system and browser. This should save you a lot of time when you’re trying to get things done. Subscriptions cost start from $19.95.

Cross browsertesting

Browser Photo

Browser Photo helps avoid display differences by showing you actual photos of your pages taken on 12 different browser and computer configuration combination. Browser Photo prize is $15 one time use.

Browser Photo

Url2image

Using Url2image web server farm, and as a logged-in user, you are able to request screenshots of your web page design, using various browser / OS combination. Url2image offer prize for screenshots. 2 screenshots cost $1.

Url2image

SortSite

SortSite Professional checks pages for an array of features that don’t work correctly, or behave differently, on different browsers. Standard license prize is $149.

SortSite

Multi Browser Viewer

Multi Browser Viewer includes 17 pre-packaged, virtualized standalone browsers. Aside from 17 standalone browsers, Multi-Browser Viewer also has the ability to test your site in 50 browsers across three operating systems (Mac, Windows and Linux). Single user license prize is $99.95.

Multi Browser Viewer

Cloud Testing

The Cross Browser Testing feature of Cloud Testing allows you to verify both the look and feel and the functionality of your e-commerce and transactional websites using IE 6,7,8, Firefox, Apple Safari, Google Chrome and Opera browsers. Price per one test is £0.10.

Cloud Testing

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Hongkiat.com: 50 Informative and Well-Designed Infographics

Hongkiat.com: 50 Informative and Well-Designed Infographics


50 Informative and Well-Designed Infographics

Posted: 26 May 2010 08:12 AM PDT

It’s impossible to comprehend complex data or analyze large amounts of information, if we only use words or texts. Information graphics or better known as infographics are visual explanation of data, information or knowledge. These graphics are excellent visual tools for explaining huge amounts of information where complex data needs to be explained immediately and clearly. Let me show you how Rick Mans explain how infographics ease the process of communicating conceptual information


Image credit.

Infographic is one of the most challenging types of graphic design because the creation process alone is pretty intensive. Researching data is a very lengthy procedure of getting information that takes both your time and dedication for obtaining resourceful and correct data. After that, the designer must be able to create a strong visual impact that precisely displays the information in way that is rational and blend with the overall design.

We are truly delighted to show you these brilliant and informative infographics created by various talented individuals. Here’s a collection of 50 infographics that are creatively designed, colorful, lively, shocking and educational. Let’s have some visual feast!

50 Years of Space Exploration. A huge infograph that show the last 50 years of space exploration. This incredible infographic was created by Sean McNaughton and Samuel Velasco for National Geographic. (via Sean McNaughton and Samuel Velasco)

Disney vs Marvel. A collage assignment made by Curseofthemoon. An infographic about Disney buying Marvel. (via Curse of the Moon)

Grand Mosque. This is an infographic press release that came from the Gulf News (Dubai). it came with the actual graphic and an explanation about the architecture of the great mosque. (via Douglas Okasaki)

High Rise. Out of the 191 countries that are counted by the United Nations only 81 (42%) to have a building that is higher than 100 meter. (via Theo Deutinger, Johannes Pointl, Beatriz Ramo)

Relief Wells & Subsea Containment. BP intends to drill two wells designed to intersect the original wellbore above the oil reservoir. (via Hollywoodbackstage)

Prism Social Media 2010. This infographic display online conversations between the people that populate communities as well as the networks that connect the Social Web. (via Serge Esteves)

Genes and Society: Cloning. This informative infographic can help you learn to distinguish between research cloning and reproductive cloning. (via DNAPolicy)

Flickr User Model. Bryce Glass has developed a wonderful Flickr user model diagrams where one can simply understand the Flickr ecosystem. (via Bryce Glass)

Burning Fuel: The Average Car vs. The Average Human. An infographic comparison on how cars use gas to power themselves, just as people use food. (via Good)

Choose Your Weapon: The Global Arm Trade. World military spending has now reached one trillion dollars. (via Princeton)

Crude Awakening. The impact of oil spill in the gulf of Mexico (via Infographicworld)

Geological Time Spiral. A diagram of geological time scale. (viaEthan Hein)

Most Targeted Books. Every year, libraries are asked to remove books from their shelves, because they are found to be inappropriate. But the list of the 10 most challenged books in 2009 does show which books some parents find objectionable, and why they feel their kids shouldn’t be reading them. (via Good)

Red Tape: The Government Grind. US government average salaries and positions illustrated (via Princeton)

Twitter Users Profile. The different types of twitter users (via Infographics showcase)

Goodbye, Lenin. This well-made infographic is a 2nd-place winner of the international NewspaperDesigning contest. (via Lech Mazurczyk)

The Kulula Airlines. African airline Kulula undergo an entire fleet redesign. They made one big infographic on the exterior of their aircrafts. (via Shanairpic)

CarLand: A Century of Motoring in America. US automobile history. (viaGood)

Battle of the Plastic: Debit Vs Credit. A breakdown between a debit card and a credit card. (viaLoans and Credit)

Tallest Buildings. Here’s a look of the world’s tallest buildings. (viaJoelertola)

The Pyramid of Internet Piracy. MPAA provides a visual explanation with the pyramid of online piracy. (viaNIXON*NOW)

Digg Frontpage: Infographic vs Non-Infographic. Popular digg submissions that uses infographics against non-infographics. (via10e20)

The Slowest Loading Websites in the Fortune 500. This infograph details the load times of all Fortune 500 companies (via Heinley)

Ancient Hebrew Cosmology. The ancient hebrew conception of the universe (via Michæl Paukner)

The American Dream. This infographic depicts the true American dream (via Spidercam)

Periodic Table of the Internet. A periodic table of popular websites (via Wellington Grey)

Rocket-Proof Obamamobile. A cutaway illustration by John Lawson showing how tough Obama’s new Cadillac One. (via John Lawson)

Pet Obsessed: Cost of Cute. Let’s take a look at the true cost of raising(and pampering) our beloved pets. (via Mint)

The D-Day. A detailed visual on what happen on D-Day (via Metrobest)

Cost of Ownership. The estimated cost of constructing a house. (via Digital Monkey)

Pikes Peak Course. A beautiful illustration for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (via Davvi Chrzastek)

No More Fish In The Sea . This infographic show the looming eradication of marine life would be the result of a lack of diversity in ocean ecosystems that comes from the overfishing of particular types of fish. (via Good)

The Big Questions of Climate Change. The true impact of climate change (via Adolfo Arranz)

Celebrity Body Insurance. List of some popular celebrity and the body part they insured (via Infographics Blog)

Glass Half Empty: The Coming Water Wars. This infographic explain why we need to save water now. (via Princeton)

Bicentenary Timeline . Illustration and Design for Fernández Editores (via Icarograf)

The Future Farm. a clever perspective at corporate farming (via Posterous)

The Killing of Puerto Hurraco. Infographic made for the Spain of Democracy (via Julian Develascot)

This is Where We Live. Take a look at America by the numbers with this interactive infographic. (via Time)

Map of USA. Visualizing a USA map (via MakemyMood)

Six Seasons of ABC’s ‘Lost’ – By the Numbers. Funny stuffs about the American live-action television series. (via MediaFreakBlog)

Pyramid of Capitalist System. Capitalist explained on this simple but visually appealing infographic. (via NEDELJKOVICH, BRASHICH and KUMARICH)

LEGO Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy. LEGO, through the years (via Jesus Diaz)

Humans vs Animals. This interesting infographic show that some purely human traits are found on animals. (via Metrobest)

On Words. An alphabetical list of the most frequently occurring words in a book, excluding common words such as “of” and “it.” (via Amun Levy)

Why do Freeways Come to a Stop. This cool infographic provides 4 reasons on why do freeways come to stop. (via Infographics showcase)

The Giant Panda. A creative infographic displaying a portrait of panda through typography. (via Lish-55)

Figurinhas da Copa. A special magazine series for star players going to the World Cup. (via Renata Steffen)

Transito 3 final . Infographic about what causes more traffic accidents (via Gerson Mora)

The Story (so far) of Twitter. The rise and rise of Twitter (via Infoshot)

The Biggest Shift. Assuming these statistics are logically accurate , it highlight the significance and magnitude of social media. (via Derri Hasmi)

The Descent into Credit Card Debt. Mint.com has a funny, but educational, infographic about just how easy it is to become plagued by credit card debt. (via Mint)