Hi,

My client has alerted me to an issue with the EE control panel when viewed in IE6.

I’d already noticed that the .png buttons were sitting on a white background - this looks messy, but I’ve been told here that this isn’t going to be fixed - my clients query concerns the control panel top menu navigation - the drop down list doesn’t work at all affecting the usability - will this be fixed in forthcoming updates?

Thanks

Hi Familychoice,

The drop downs do work in IE6 (just double checked in my copy of IE6). There are several of reasons they may not be working.

1. An out of date Control Panel theme is being used. Given that you are relatively new to EE this is unlikely but if you are taking over an EE install for someone else, its worth checking.

2. Javascript is turned off in the browser

3. The client has changed the default Control Panel behavior. The drop down mechanism can be changed in the CP by going to Admin --> System Preferences --> Control Panel Settings. There you can change the tab behavior from rollover, click, or none.

Please verify that the client is using an update to date CP theme, has Javascript turned on, and the behavior is set correctly in the Control Panel.

If Javascript is turned on and the behavior is set correctly in the CP and the drop downs don’t work, please let us know what build of ExpressionEngine the client is using and the version of IE6 being used.

Leslie Camacho - 12 May 2008 08:43 AM

Hi Familychoice,

The drop downs do work in IE6 (just double checked in my copy of IE6). There are several of reasons they may not be working.

1. An out of date Control Panel theme is being used. Given that you are relatively new to EE this is unlikely but if you are taking over an EE install for someone else, its worth checking.

2. Javascript is turned off in the browser

3. The client has changed the default Control Panel behavior. The drop down mechanism can be changed in the CP by going to Admin --> System Preferences --> Control Panel Settings. There you can change the tab behavior from rollover, click, or none.

Please verify that the client is using an update to date CP theme, has Javascript turned on, and the behavior is set correctly in the Control Panel.

If Javascript is turned on and the behavior is set correctly in the CP and the drop downs don’t work, please let us know what build of ExpressionEngine the client is using and the version of IE6 being used.

Hi Leslie,

thanks for the reply.

They’re using the latest commercial version which I purchased for them last week.

I’ve had a look in my own browser (IE6 service pack 2) and can’t see the drop downs either, though they are visible in Firefox.

The control panel setting are:

Default Control Panel Theme - Default
Publish Tab Behavior - Hover (I can’t see an option for Rollover).

Thanks again.

Hi familychoice,

Ok, after reviewing its the Hover (Hover = rollover) option which doesn’t work in IE6. If you change the setting to “Click” it should work just fine. To get the drop down effect just click on the Publish tab (instead of hovering the mouse over the Publish tab) to reveal the drop down with the list of weblogs.

After reviewing with the dev team, this was an intentional decision in the CP due to issues with IE6 and the Javascript employed to make it work in modern browsers. The “click” option is considered a usable alternative for IE6 users.

Leslie Camacho - 12 May 2008 11:29 AM

Hi familychoice,

Ok, after reviewing its the Hover (Hover = rollover) option which doesn’t work in IE6. If you change the setting to “Click” it should work just fine. To get the drop down effect just click on the Publish tab (instead of hovering the mouse over the Publish tab) to reveal the drop down with the list of weblogs.

Thanks for the info - changing it to click does work in IE6 - but it’s not a standard or intuitive way of navigating a top menu system - unless I inform clients that they have to do this then they won’t know it’s there, and to check other sections to see if they have additional options requires they’re clicked first, which means the pages are loaded etc.

Is the hover/rollover bug going to be fixed in any future updates?

Leslie Camacho - 12 May 2008 11:37 AM

After reviewing with the dev team, this was an intentional decision in the CP due to issues with IE6 and the Javascript employed to make it work in modern browsers. The “click” option is considered a usable alternative for IE6 users.

I’d disagree with the usable comment there - as explained in my previous post.

I’m disappointed that you’ve decided to not to exclude IE6 users in this way - this is particularly relevant to me as the majority of my clients are using this browser. I’ll point them to this thread if I get any complaints.

Hi Familychoice,

Its a bug in IE6, not EE that causes this. The click is a usable alternative. We’re only talking about 1 extra click a person has to make on a single tab in their CP. Instead of a drop down they click on Publish and are presented with a list of sites. This is a very minor issue resolved by changing to the “click” setting or updating to a modern browser.

Leslie Camacho - 12 May 2008 11:42 AM

Hi Familychoice,

Its a bug in IE6, not EE that causes this. The click is a usable alternative. We’re only talking about 1 extra click a person has to make on a single tab in their CP. Instead of a drop down they click on Publish and are presented with a list of sites. This is a very minor issue resolved by changing to the “click” setting or updating to a modern browser.

But they have to click every main section menu item to see if there are additional sub sections, which is pointless as they would see those sections by clicking the main option anyway. Whereas the hover/dropdown feature improves usability.

Whether it’s an IE6 bug or not if 20-30% of clients are still using this browser then surely it’s worth fixing?

Again, only the Publish tab has sub-sections, the others do not. We’ve made our determination on this feature and IE6 which did take into account how many people are likely using IE6. This simply isn’t an issue for the majority of IE6 users.

Leslie Camacho - 12 May 2008 11:55 AM

We’ve made our determination on this feature and IE6 which did take into account how many people are likely using IE6. This simply isn’t an issue for the majority of IE6 users.

Maybe that’s because they don’t realise that there ahould be a drop-down menu there in the first place?

If this was open-source software, or a cosmetic issue then I could understand your reluctance to fix it...actually, that’s a lie, I work very hard to ensure my sites work in all browsers so I don’t understand it really.....but as this is a navigational issue in commercial software relating to the control panel I find it hard to understand your stance on this when it is so easy to fix.

Are there any other IE6 issues that I should make my clients aware of?

Not that I am aware of. There are a few cosmetic issues with IE6, but everything remains completely usable. Since this is clearly not a bug, at least not in EE, may I suggest to shift the discussion to a more appropriate forum? You’re always welcome to make a FR for more perfect support of IE, of course.

There aren’t any other issues in IE6 that I’m aware of either.

I understand your disagreement but we’re going to have to agree to disagree. We implemented the solution we thought best for the community, the feedback over the past year has shown the solutions work for over 99% of IE6 users, and therefore this ranks really low on the list of things to address.

Thread closed.