h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Some things I really hate on websites:

Pop-under ads. I mean, popups were bad enough, but to actually change to the window before you close it is just wrong.

Blinking text.

Huge flash intros with no "skip" option. I mean, they might look great, but if it takes 10 mintues to download (over modem) I'm not going to wait.

JavaScript that changes the status bar. I want to know where that URL is pointing! And I _really_ hate those scrolling status bar messages.

Java applets. Yeah, Java's good in certain circumstances - like for a web-based chat program or something, but when it's used for an ad or just to look pretty it annoys me.

But the thing I hate the most is web pages designed only to work with IE. I mean, ok if you're going to design it for IE that's ok (not great, but ok) but don't put in JavaScript code that checks if you're using IE and shows a "download IE" page if you aren't.

=)

i don't like java applets either, where they're not necessary. It always takes me ages to load http://www.bbc.co.uk/ not because it's a large page - its not and I have a fast connection, but always loading the java runtime environment takes ages and then I can't get rid of the icon from my taskbar!

Eh? I don't get an icon at home, or at work. And the page loads very fast.

I browse using Opera with no Java. Sites load very fast and badly designed pages don't load at all...

I really hate opening pages with very little on except a 'click here to enter site' buton.

I really hate pages that force you to scroll sideways . I'm afraid the Space of my friend Ormy, U95721, currently falls into this category.

Erm I don't have to scroll sideways, maybe it's something to do with resolution, and I have my opera bar at the side so I've got a good inch and a half less than I could have!

Mel

I don't have to scroll sideways on any other h2g2 pages. I use a resolution of 1024 by 768 which is by no means unusual.

I figured out what's causing it. I keep the pictures switched off and Ormy has put in a particularly lengthy ALT text for the picture of him as a fish in Bradford City football colours. If I load the pictures, the problem goes away.

Yes, I found that problem a while ago when I was trialing a text only browser!

Mel

Sites that want me to upgrade my browser to a different version or download some plug-in or other before I can read it. I always click "no" to the "do you want to.." question, and move on to another site.

Worse still - sites that crash the browser.

MSN keeps on asking me to 'upgrade' from opera to IE so that I can use Hotmail more effectively! What a joke!

Mel

Sorry to butt in on your conversation, but if
Researcher "Old Grey Wolf - the wolfman's older brother"
would go back to there own page and then click on the "EDIT PAGE" button and then write a little something about your self then a ACE can come and welcome you there properly
Sorry for interrupting your conversation

Manda

I will never use opera ( I wonder if its got something to do with the fact I dont know what a opera is )

*gasp* you don't know about Opera?! You'll probably notice its name popping up quite a bit in the webby sections of h2g2. It's the veritable "Third Way" of web-browsing. It's a free browser you can download from www.opera.com (supported by built-in adverts that you can pay to have removed), which is fast, small (not bloatware like IE or Netscape) and includes many innovative features such as movement recognition (for navigation), auto-refresh (excellent in the days before the Conversations popup), built-in search bar and ICQ messenger... etc. etc.

The only real drawback is that it's not always compatible with some of the more demanding sites, and does interpret some pages quite eccentrically. But hey, that's not Opera's fault.

w3c standards, anyone?

I like the way you can have all the windows within a window, minimise one thing and they all go down!

Mel

but what is that someone has said about it being bad with Hotmail

It isn't bad with Hotmail, it's just that hotmail doesn't like you using anything except IE.

Mel

but does it work ok with hotmail, If it ok with it I might give it a go as my IE keep going apes**t on me

I find it works fine with hotmail, and if you go to file -> quick preferences -> identify as IE 5 then hotmail doesn't even notice!

Mel