# Netscape is screwing up my SDMB experience
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 19, 2002, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839 "2002-05-19T18:32:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Cap\_n\_Crude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cap_n_Crude)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839/1 "2002-05-19T18:32:47Z")
I just upgraded to Netscape 6.2, and for the most part I have no problems with it. The only issues seem to be with the way it displays this board.
Problem #1: the tool buttons at the top of the page (user cp, register, search, etc.) do not display properly – they are almost entirely off-screen, lined up vertically, and there’s no scroll bar to enable me to get to them.
Problem #2: the text entry box for adding a reply is now very small, about half a screen width. It works fine, but it looks silly.
Problem #3: formatting of the various fields in a thread seems to be off. Instead of the users column lining up, it’s jagged – each cell is a different width, based on the length of the username. This isn’t a huge issue, but it’s a bit jarring visually.
I’ve tried changing various options in the browser, including the size of the display fonts, which toolbars are shown, and turning off that annoying sidebar. Nothing seems to be a permanent fix, though occasionally the SDMB tool buttons (see problem #1) display properly for a little while.
Any ideas?
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839/2 "2002-05-19T20:27:05Z")
I’ve never gotten Problem #1 before. How wide is your browser window? That may have something to do with it.
Problem #2, as far as I can tell, is just Netscape doing what the programmers told it to do. It’s specified that these boxes are supposed to be 40 characters wide and 20 lines tall. (The quick reply box, by comparison, is coded as 70×10.) I too think it’s too narrow.
Problem #3 has been discussed before. [Opera does it too](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=111670). In this case, I think the code was written badly, and any browser rendering the page would have to do the best it can.
In any event, there’s little you can do about it. One possibility for Problem #2 involves changing the default fonts for Netscape, but I don’t know that you want to go there.
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### Author:  [@Cap\_n\_Crude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cap_n_Crude)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2002, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839/3 "2002-05-20T00:06:28Z")
Thanks for the response, **Achernar.** FWIW, I run full screen at 800 x 600. The “Your Reply” text box is a reasonable size for the moment, but I have no idea why.
Whatever the case, I’ll learn to cope. I just wanted to see if I was doing something stupid with the new browser.
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### Author:  [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2002, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839/4 "2002-05-20T03:38:38Z")
Sure thing. I’ll try to figure out what might be causing Problem #1, though I don’t remember ever seeing it myself. Good luck.
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### Author:  [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2002, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839/5 "2002-05-20T06:13:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Cap’n Crude \*
> **Problem #1: the tool buttons at the top of the page (user cp, register, search, etc.) do not display properly – they are almost entirely off-screen, lined up vertically, and there’s no scroll bar to enable me to get to them.**
The ‘tool’ buttons are rendered using a very conventional anchor/image technique in a single cell of a table. It is possible that the new Netscape doesn’t handle multiple images in a cell properly.
> [@](#):
>
> **Problem #2: the text entry box for adding a reply is now very small, about half a screen width. It works fine, but it looks silly.**
As mentioned above, the “quick reply” text area is 10 lines by 70 rows. The text area on the “new reply” screen is 20 lines by 70 rows, so it’s no wider (although it doesn’t appear as far to the left side of the screen because of the “Smilies” box).
> [@](#):
>
> \*\*Problem #3: formatting of the various fields in a thread seems to be off. Instead of the users column lining up, it’s jagged – each cell is a different width, based on the length of the username. \*\*
Based on this description, as well as the “quick reply” box looking too small to you, I’d suggest that the new Netscape might be using a smaller default font size than you’re used to.
FWIW, I can’t see any of those problems with Netscape 4.7x.
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### Author:  [@sigSEGV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sigSEGV)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2002, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/netscape-is-screwing-up-my-sdmb-experience/109839/6 "2002-05-21T02:26:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Cap’n Crude \*
> \*\*I just upgraded to Netscape 6.2, and for the most part I have no problems with it. The only issues seem to be with the way it displays this board.
> \*\*
Using Mozilla 1.0rc2 here and haven’t had any display problems. Get it here: [http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.0rc2/mozilla-win32-1.0rc2-installer.exe](http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.0rc2/mozilla-win32-1.0rc2-installer.exe)