Browser Support Notes
Updated 11/2014
The SCPA weather page works best in Internet Explorer. Specifically, the collapsible list. When using IE 10 or higher (IE 11), the collapsible list will not work unless you run the site in "compatibility mode".
The SCPA Weather Page was first published back at the turn of the century when Microsoft's Internet Explorer was the leading browsers. The HTML authoring editor is Microsoft FrontPage. The advantage of using FrontPage is that it handles most of the back end support for stuff outside the normal realm of HTML. Some functionality requires custom scripting and server side support. FrontPage offers a "canned" collection scripted functionality that will work when the "FrontPage Extension" are installed on the web server. This was good for us laypeople because you didn't need to be a programmer to get stuff to work. You were limited in what you could do, but FrontPage offered enough bells and whistles to do what we needed.
For better and worse, the internet has evolved tremendously since 2001. The last version of FrontPage is 2003, and the 2002 version is arguably better at a number of task. Microsoft stopped supporting FrontPage in 2006. Some of the "canned" scripting supported by the FrontPage extension only worked with the Internet Explorer Browser. That wasn't as much of an issue 10 years ago when IE had 90% of the browser market, but today, most people don't even use a full size computer for their internet access. Most people use their smart phones. Someday we might revise the collapsible list to a JavaScript version that will work in most browsers. It would also be useful to build a page specifically targeted at smaller phone and tablet screens. Those projects are waiting on questionable time resources, so don't hold your breath.
The Weather Page Link List continues to be functional, but we recommend using IE to view the SCPA weather page with the SCPA.info website added to the Compatibility Mode List so the collapsibility functionality will work. (Microsoft discontinued backward compatibility to some of their legacy FrontPage scripting functionality with the release of IE 10)
To configure IE 11 (or IE 10) to run in compatibility view, hit the Alt Key to display the old legacy menu. Select Tools, and then Compatibility View settings. You can add scpa.info to your list of sites you want to run in compatibility view, or you can choose to display all websites in Compatibility View, but configuring all sites to run in compatibility view will disable some of the newer functionality offered by the newer version of the browser, so we recommend that you only add specific sites to the compatibility list.
Personally, I have the big 3 browsers installed on my W7 and XP machines. I mostly use IE 9, and flip to Firefox or Google when I run into something that does not work in IE 9.
Update notation on 1/1/12, and again on 4/18/13 to address IE 10 compatibility
Depending on which report you read, Internet Explorer (IE) may no longer be the most utilized browser, and even if it is, Firefox and Google Chrome certainly have large chunks of users.
The SCPA weather page will function best when viewed with Internet Explorer version 9 or lower because the link list does not collapse in Firefox or Google Chrome. The reason is because the weather site was initially assembled in the early 2000 era with Microsoft FrontPage. FrontPage makes it easy for "non programmers" to do more advance functions, like collapsible list, without having to write special code or manage server side scripting. Unfortunately, the methodologies utilized by FrontPage were written during a time of HTML Standards evolution, flux, and warfare, so some of the scripting is not supported by browsers other than IE. Microsoft now offers several products that produce more "Standardized Code" and expanded functionality, but for simple web sites FrontPage is still hard to beat if you want to focus on content and don't need lots of bells and whistles. Microsoft stopped supporting FrontPage after their 2003 release, and the 2002 release is arguably easier to use, but needs an XP editing platform for stability.
The release of Internet Explorer 10 in 2013 reportedly has a number of advantages compared to earlier releases, but it also dropped support for FrontPage collapsible list. Fortunately, you can configure IE 10 to run in "Compatibility View" for specific sites or all sites. The FrontPage collapsible list will work with IE 10 in Compatibility View. To configure your IE 10 browser to run in Compatibility View; hit the Alt Key to display the old legacy menu. Select Tools, and then Compatibility View settings. You can add scpa.info to your list of sites you want to run in compatability view, or you can choose to display all websites in Compatibility View.
Personally, I support multiple computers and have all three browsers installed on my own computers. I use IE 98% of the time, partially because I'm an old dog that tires of new tricks and also because IE has support for some functionality like Active X controls that other browsers don't. My kids are split between Firefox and Google Chrome, which may be a good thing because it is more clunky to run external software from those browsers. I use IE 8 on my XP computer and IE 10 on my Windows 7 machine.
There would be a significant benefit to producing a weather page optimized for smart phone screen size. I don't currently have the bandwidth for the project, but perhaps someone else can take on the task, or I might get to it after my kids are grown, but my eyesight might be to far gone by then to see a smart phone screen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers
http://gs.statcounter.com/
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
Update notation on 4/2/10
It is noted that Firefox has gained ground. Different survey reporting
sites provide vastly different numbers. One says that Firefox as
about 45% of the market share and IE has about 35%, but another says that IE is
still 60% and Firefox is about 25%, and yet another site list IE at 80% and
Firefox at only 15%
Updated 8/2006
The weather menu works best with Internet Explorer. If your menu does not collapse, we recommend using Internet Explorer to view the weather page.
Prior testing indicated the menu would not collapse in Netscape, and it does not collapse in Mozilla Firefox 1.5. The weather page was initially composed at a time when IE commanded 80 to 90% of the browser market. At the time, Netscape was a distant 2nd. Netscape usage has declined, but other contenders have historically gained some ground and then faded. IE is still the most widely utilized browser by a large margin.
Other browsers like Mozilla Firefox may be arguably "better" than IE, but the weather page will be more functional if viewed with IE. I personally use both IE and Firefox. Firefox is faster for some activities, but lacks the necessary functionality to execute some of the task I need to perform. IE supports a broader range of functionality, but can sometimes execute slower.
I try to use tools that will display well in multiple browsers, but some of the productivity tools Microsoft offers are easy to use and implement. Perhaps some day I will learn how to setup and maintain a collapsible list that works is something other than IE. To date, no one has offered to address my ongoing request for instruction, and I don't currently have the time to research the solutions.
Browser usage stats can be found in numerous places including