Anyone know of good sites for understanding IE CSS issues?

Try this one: IE’s Top 10 CSS Problems

Site looks fine to me…what is it supposed to look like? SS would be nice if you could post it.

When I search Google for CSS bugs in IE, I often find myself at Position is everything.

If you think you’re going to be coding a lot of sites, you might want to install Parallels or VMWare Fusion and a copy of Windows XP. Then you can run IE6 and IE7 at the same time and test them as you go along. It’s much easier to code a bit of functionality and then test it in all the browsers than it is to code a whole site and then test at the end.

@sumul, the problem with that is that you’d need to buy a copy of windows to install on Parallels or VMware Fusion (unless of course you’ve got a spare copy of windows).

I’ve been looking into this myself recently and in the end, the best way I found to run IE6 & 7 on OS X is to use the VPC images supplied for free by Microsoft to test IE6 & 7. The only problem is that you’ll need to set it all up again when Microsoft expires and then re-releases the VPC images (currently set for Sept 08), but it’s a small trade to be able to set it up for free…

There’s a guide for how to set up the Microsoft VPC images with VirtualBox of VMware Fusion here (read through the comments to find how to do it all on OS X using Q.app). Completely free if you do it with VirtualBox, $40 if you go for VMware Fusion.

I installed MultipleIE on one of the VPC images and when comparing it’s version of IE6 with the original from the VPC image, it actually does render quite differently (esp. lists). I used to trust MultipleIE at my old work but now I’m not so sure.

+1 for PositionIsEverything :)

A lot of people seem to use ies4osx which allows you to run IE side by side with the mac browsers, for testing purposes…

@benseven, I tried that but when I compared it to a proper install of IE6 on a windows machine, it rendered differently (not to mention it was very buggy). The IE6 you can install with crossover seemed to be more accurate and a bit less buggy but I figured if I’m going to pay for crossover, I may as well spend a little more and get VMware Fusion and do it properly (and be able to test IE7 & 8 as well).

Interesting to know.
I’d say give Virtualbox a try, JP seems to like it for his virtual machines and it should do the job fine…

I’m amazed at how common it is in these threads for people who seem to be doing business as web developers to balk at the idea of spending $80 on Parallels or VMWare, and maybe the cost of a Windows license (if you don’t already have one). Buy the right tools! It’s crazy to dink around with these hacked-together apps that crash constantly or force you to restart all the time just to save a few bucks. If this is your business, it’s worth the money to do it right, you’ll make up for it in time- and headache-saving with one or two jobs.

shudder
You called Windows and IE “the right tools” – webdevelopers should know better ;-)

It’s funny that my question was about fixing CSS issues and it turned into a debate about virtualization. :P

@crisedwards, sorry. Didn’t mean to.

@Tone, I’m happy to spend money on programs for my work if it’s needed but in this case, solely for testing IE, there’s no need to buy a copy of windows.

Confronted with the option of spending £140 on a new copy of windows just for IE testing or using the official VPC images (which are made to be used for testing) for free I think any business who doesn’t have money to throw away would choose the free option.. Especially when they essentially work in exactly the same way.

If IE6 is your main concern, then it’s not worth spending much time on it since IE6 is quickly going by the wayside. I’ve been doing a lot of testing in IE8, and it’s working just fine.

@crisedwards: so i looked into your site and i also had a similar problem earlier last night. To fix it in IE, heres what you do

for the body tag, add this code “text-align:center;” and it should be fine. I would recommend putting it in a conditional style sheet for ie6

@winblowzxp, about 25% use ie6, still so you should spend some time on it.

You all are awesome. Second Fluther question out and I am super happy with the support here.

I didn’t say spend no time, just not a lot.