Testing and Publishing a Site > Checking for browser compatibility

Checking for browser compatibility

Dreamweaver lets you construct Web pages with elements that are supported by all browsers (for example, images and paragraph text), as well as elements that are supported only by newer browsers (for example, styles and layers).

The Check Target Browsers feature tests the HTML in your documents to see if any tags or attributes are unsupported by your target browsers. The check does not alter the document in any way.

The Check Target Browsers feature uses text files called browser profiles to determine which tags particular browsers support. Dreamweaver includes predefined profiles for Netscape Navigator versions 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0, and for Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0. To modify the existing profiles or to create new ones, see Creating and editing a browser profile.

You can run a target browser check on a document, on a directory, or on an entire site. Note that doing so does not check scripts in your site.

To run a target browser check:

1	Choose from the following options:
	To run the check on the current document, save your file. The check is performed on the last saved version of the file and does not include unsaved changes.
	To run the check on a directory or site, choose Window > Site Files to open the Site FTP window; then select a folder from the local directory. The target browser check is performed on all the HTML files in this folder and any folders inside it. Target browser checks can be performed only on local files.
2	Choose File > Check Target Browsers.
	If you have not yet selected a primary browser, you are prompted to do so.
3	From the list of browsers, select the target browser against which you want to check your site.
4	Click Do Check.
	The target browser report opens in your primary browser (which launches if it is not already open).
5	To save the report for later reference, choose File > Save from the browser.

Note: As the target browser report is a temporary file, it will be lost if you don't save it before browsing to another site.