On 14 Aug 2002, at 14:24, Juliana Halvorson wrote:

> Thanks so much to all who helped me with my problem.  It
> was and still is a table issue.
> 
> I have a question though, how many users still use
> Netscape 4.0?

Try checking your server logs and see.

If by NS 4.0 you mean the old 4.0 line, probably not 
many (although anyone using an old Windows 3.1 
system is probably using NS4.0x or so - IE for W31 was 
horrible!).

If you mean newer releases of NS 4, such as NS 4.5, 
4.7 - you might lose quite a few. (I know you'd lose my 
wife and several hundred of our staff members here at 
work.)

> The reason I am asking is that I can make the page look
> great, and in Netscape 4 things are not where I place
> them.  It does not seem to break down the html very
> well.  

So design so that the page degrades gracefully. Make 
the page usable by NS4 visitors, and don't worry so 
much about how it looks to them. They're users, not 
graphic designers. ;-)

> How many users will I lose by not complying with
> Netscape 4.0. 

Check your logs, that should tell you how many you 
might lose. Also, if you can, find out how many paying 
customers are using NS4. You *definitely* don't want to 
lose them!

> Also, is there a Javascript I can add that will
> detect their browser and if they have Netscape 4 to
> redirect them to a page stating that the pages will not
> work asking them to download a new browser?

There are many such scripts, but I personally find such 
pages insulting. You want my business, you 
accomodate me - don't ask me to accomodate you. If 
you can sniff for the browser version and send me to 
such a page, you can also send me to a page that I (as 
an NS4 user) can use to do business with you.

> I don't want to lose prospective clients, but trying to
> comply with Netscape 4.0 is driving me crazy.

You should be able to re-use your content in a way that 
NS4 visitors can still use, depending on what web 
development tool you're using. May just be something as 
simple as a different stylesheet.

Not having seen your site, I don't have any suggestions 
on how to do it.

David
dvjones(at)ksbe.edu
 

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