Summary

In this chapter, we've explored the thorny concept of browser compatibility. It's hard to believe just how mixed up the whole situation has become, especially when there are really only two manufacturers in the running as far as market share is concerned. It sometimes makes you want to bang their heads together and see if it makes them come to their senses.

Of course we, the consumer, are really to blame. We demand new browsers with even more features, new ways of creating dynamic content, better positioning and formatting abilities in HTML, etc. The manufacturers provide all these features in their new browsers, and it's just a shame that they implement them in such disparate ways.

At least, in the coming year or so, we are going to see more standardization. The World Wide Web Consortium has vastly reduced the time it takes to ratify new proposals, and new concepts like XML are becoming established as well. Perhaps, in a few years time, we really will be able to 'write once, run everywhere' on the Web as far as HTML (and perhaps even Dynamic HTML) are concerned.

In the meantime, we've seen:

An outline of the options available for creating browser-compatible sites
Ways of detecting the different browser makes and versions
Creating and presenting pages that are complex, attractive and yet still compatible
Creating Channels links in Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator
An example of a dynamic frameset site that supports all kinds of browsers

If you want to learn more about Dynamic HTML programming in either IE 4 or Netscape Navigator 4, look out for the Wrox Press books:

Instant IE 4 Dynamic HTML Programmers' Reference, ISBN 1-861000-68-5

Professional IE 4 Programming, ISBN 1-861000-70-7

Instant Netscape 4 DHTML Programmers' Reference, ISBN 1-861001-19-3

In the next chapter, we move on to look at how we can secure our site, and control access by users, in order to offer premium content.