I’ve posted about this before: http://blogosopher.com/?p=66 and mentioned the same source: Lorelle.
There are two common reasons people have their themes “break” or act oddly:
- they’ve copied formatted text from Microsoft Word that starts adding code that “overrides” the CSS of your theme.
- the picture or object that they try to place in their post is too big.
You can easily identify the first problem by noticing that your font has changed in a post and everything following it. The way to fix it is to go to your edit post function- click the “quicktag” HTML button- and search out any thing that says “span” “font” and a font name, “H1″ H2” etc- (it will be in the “< " and ">” carrot figures) these are not tags that the standard WordPress interface uses. Anything you undo here- will be able to be fixed in the standard WYSIWG view of the “Write Post” window- where you can reformat to your heart’s content. Sometimes Microsoft Word adds so much trash- it’s easier to copy the content back into Word- and then save it as text only before pasting into the Write Post window.
The second problem- where the sidebar moves to the bottom- typically is only seen by the 90% of people who still aren’t using Firefox. Microsoft Internet Explorer doesn’t understand some of the fundamental code to CSS (still)- and you must test by looking at your site using IE 6 on a PC. The simple solution- use Thumbnails- and never have images wider than about 400 pixels. However if you want to read all the details of this problem- Lorelle has a ton of good links – look at the excerpt of her post- then continue on to the link:
Lorelle on WordPress
One of the more common complaints and problems for new WordPress users is the issue of their images breaking their WordPress Theme. The Theme they choose is wonderful, reflective of their personality and blog, and the moment they upload their first photograph, it seems to break their blog.Web Design Sidebar pushes out over the content areaHave you ever tried to shove a square peg into a round hole? Or squeeze into a size 2 dress when you really should be wearing a 22? The results are what happens to web page designs when someone tries to cram something too big into a small space.
All web pages today feature at least two “columnsâ€, two side-by-side sections to display their content. One is typically called the sidebar and the other is the content or main column or something similar. Each of these columns are known as containers, as they contain content and design elements within their borders. When something goes into these containers that exceeds their inherent width, they tend to stretch and break the design.
Put something wider than the width of the sidebar into the sidebar and it stretches to accommodate it. Since it’s literally pushed beyond its seam, it shoves the content section down to the bottom of the page. Put something wider than the width of the content section into the content section, and it shoves the sidebar around. If what you include in any container on your web page is wider than the designated width, something has got to give and it is usually your web page layout and structure.
The key is to only put things that are the maximum width into these columns (containers) so they won’t stretch and bork your web page design.
Yesterday I did something I don’t normally recommend- I downloaded a piece of Beta software and installed it. If you have been following things on this site, you know that the number one rule is to abandon Microsoft Internet Explorer for Firefox (the reasons are too many to list). And when the new version of Firefox reached Release Candidate phase- it was too tempting to pass-up for one HUGE reason: it adds a spell checker to writing blog posts in WordPress, yes, you read that right: a spelling checker!
That alone is worth all the headaches that normally come with Beta software. However, I immediately found out that it also disabled almost all my plugins- including the Sage RSS reader. I was in instant info-withdrawl, and started searching for another solution.
Alas, I wasn’t finding any that would install with this release (no matter what the documentation said: wizz wouldn’t install). Then I found the magic bullet: Nightly Tester Tools extension for Firefox which will allow you to overide the compatibility check that prevents your standard extensions from loading. Once installed, it will give you the option to install software that Firefox says is incompatible. It fixed both Sage and Autofill, two of my favorite extensions for Firefox.
I haven’t had time to check all the features of Firefox 2, but the spell check function alone, makes it a must have for any blogger using WordPress.
Firefox 2 Release Candidate 1 (RC 1), the preview release of the next version of the Firefox browser, is now available for download. Web application developers, our testing community, and users who want to get a sneak peek at the next version of Firefox should download and install this release candidate. Please note that at this time, users should not expect all of their extensions, plugins and themes from previous versions of Firefox to work properly.The release notes have a detailed list of what’s new in Firefox 2 RC 1, including:
* A new theme that updates Firefox’s familiar interface
* Built in Phishing Protection
* Enhanced search engine management and search suggestions for Google, Yahoo! and Answers.com
* Improvements to tabbed browsing, including the ability to re-open recently closed tabs
* Firefox will resume from where you left off after a system crash or browser restart
* Better support for previewing and subscribing to Web feeds
* Inline spell checking in Web forms
* The ability to create bookmarks with “Live Titles†for Web sites that offer microsummaries
* New Add-ons manager that simplifies management of extensions and themes.
* Support for JavaScript 1.7
* Extended search plugin format
* Updates to the extension system to provide enhanced security and to allow for easier localization of extensions
* Support for client-side session and persistent storage
* Support for SVG text using svg:textPath
* New Windows installer based on Nullsoft Scriptable Install SystemYou can download Firefox 2 Release Candidate 1 for Windows, Mac OSX and Linux in more than 40 languages. We encourage our users to give us feedback on this release, either using this online form or by filing a bug (please read the bug filing instructions first, and check out the list of known issues.)
RapattoniMLS-Access-Instructions.pdf (application/pdf Object)
One of the things we stress in the Blogosopher course is adherence to W3C standards- and especially, accessibility for the blind. The main reason is that search engines act just like blind people on the web- they can’ t go where they don’t know where they are going.
Part of web standards is using code that everyone understands- not any proprietary systems- like the one Rappattoni uses to build their Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sites.
Apparently they require Microsoft Internet Explorer to work with their site- and Microsoft abandoned the program for the Apple Macintosh in January of 2006- mostly because they were having a hard enough time updating Explorer for the PC (which is still not RSS aware).
I found the link above – with instructions for installing some software for a Mac so you can view their site. But, this is a reminder to companies that decide to build sites based on proprietary standards or software technology- you may be shutting out some of your best customers without knowing it.