Hi,
Are there any real solutions to troubleshoot css in IE7? I have tested the firebug light but it didnt let me alter any of the css properties. Only view them. I always run into this issue. It’s really fast and easy with firefox and its sort of like trial and error and very time consuming for IE.
Is there ANYTHING new that can be used to make this process easier? Can IE8 be used in any way maybe. I think I read that firebug is available for IE8.
There is a developer toolbar for IE7 and below, but it doesn’t let you edit the CSS. At least it shows you what the CSS is doing, though, so you know what you need to fix.
IE8 has an inbuilt developer toolbar that does let you add and modify rules.
Tools > Developer Tools
If you go to Tools > Compatability View, you see the page as it would appear in IE7, and you can edit the CSS as before.
Other tehn Ralph said IE is a bit harder to debug because of this.
I normally just look in firebug to see what has what on it and then I test something ou tand normally that’s good enough for me 
IE can be a pain sometimes though
thanks for the information. I just installed IE8 and will test it out.
EDIT: this worked great. I just set IE8 to the suggested compatibility view and used the build in developer toolbar to manipulate the css to fix the issue. Really easy and fast. I am having a more complex issue with a navigation and will try the same method. Again, thanks for the help!
Don’t code for IE8 compatibility view. It’s not the same as IE7 :).
If you have an issue with the navigation just post it on here. We can tackle it :).
Thank you for the offer! I have been on this forum in the past with css problems
However, I ALWAYS try first. 99% of the time I can figure it out WITH the help of firebug etc. With IE I have always had a more difficult time. Hence this post. But this new work flow of troubleshooting css inconsistencies seems to work really well for me now.
Is the compatibility view fairly close to IE7? both my issues that I worked on with IE8 developer toolbar under compatibility view did fix the problems. I tested in a standalone IE7 installation. Maybe just luck.
-> Off topic. I overheard somebody talking about a js that makes IE6 behave like IE7. Is there such a thing and is this a quick and fast method of being also still consistent for IE6 users? Or would I have to go with a more traditional approach like targeting IE6 users with a separate style sheet? png issues etc…
Part of me wants to just stop coding for IE6 but I think in the US it’s still over 10% of the users, so that’d be a bad business decision not to support 10%. (for me personally)
FYI:
<!--[if lt IE 7]><script src="http://ie7-js.googlecode.com/svn/version/2.0(beta3)/IE7.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<![endif]-->
Although, I wouldn’t depend on something like this.
It’s close to IE7 however you should note that they aren’t the same :). Nor does everyone view in it so you should make sure that real IE8 works, e ven if compatibility view doesn’t
-> Off topic. I overheard somebody talking about a js that makes IE6 behave like IE7. Is there such a thing and is this a quick and fast method of being also still consistent for IE6 users? Or would I have to go with a more traditional approach like targeting IE6 users with a separate style sheet? png issues etc…
Part of me wants to just stop coding for IE6 but I think in the US it’s still over 10% of the users, so that’d be a bad business decision not to support 10%. (for me personally)
It really slows down the site from what I have heard. And it does make sense. JS that intense does have performance issues.
[o t] tags do exist (remove the space)
for IE6, what is the recommended approach?
Well you could code fixes straight in the stylesheet :). Normally you don’t need hacks as long as you know what IE6 can handle and waht it can’t. Generally though I would create a new stylsheet for IE6 (fed via conditional comments).
That way once hte browser dies, just remove that snippet of code and delete the file and you’re done :).
It still has a big enough market share where you don’t want ti ignore it