Time to Upgrade Your Browser?
by Morgan Estes, OBA Web Services Coordinator

Over the past few months, you’ve probably noticed some changes taking place here at okbar.org.  We’ve changed the way our site search feature works, making finding things quicker and easier.  We’ve been writing more feature stories on our front page, which led to the Latest News sidebar (on the left) and Featured Stories pages, as well as an RSS feed and e-mail to get those stories delivered straight to you.  The navigation on the front page is slightly different, and now you can log in to both Fastcase and Oklahoma Bar Circle directly from the front page.  We’ve added the Calendar of Events to the Quick Links menu, and changed how the calendar looks and feels a bit.

While some improvements to the look and feel of the site are going well, you may have noticed that some things just don’t work quite right anymore.  Sometimes the navigation disappears, or the search goes way off the screen.  A page may look fine one day and wonky the next, or something’s in a different place than it was last time you looked.  Some of that is a result of planned changes, some of it is just technology gone awry, but some of it is a result of the software you’re using to view the site.

Let me try to explain and help out where I can.  First, no, you’re not going crazy.  The site does change as we make improvements behind the scenes.  We’re working hard to make things as stable as possible, and deliver a good experience to you in the process.  That means a lot of tweaking and testing, but even then some things slip out.  Thankfully, you’re there to catch it and let us know.  If something does ever go completely wrong, be sure to e-mail web@okbar.org with the page address (copy and paste is great) and the problem you’re experiencing.  I’ll do my best to work on the problem and let you know what I’ve found out.

Second, let me encourage you know to upgrade your browser.  I work hard to ensure the site works well in the majority of versions out there, but sometimes that’s just not possible or feasible.  Right now, I test major changes against 8 different browser/version combinations with 3 different operating systems (sorry, no Mac yet), including ones that aren’t even available and supported anymore (I’m looking at you, IE6)!  Sure, they’ve been working for you, but you’ll see good changes come with an updated browser.  Our site doesn’t target any specific brand or version, but I’ve found that the newer browsers (Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, Safari 4, Google Chrome 2, and Opera 9) handle some of the new features better and don’t “break” the site, so your experience is better all around.

Whatever you choose to do, please know that we’re still working very hard to make the site smooth and usable for everyone who uses our site.  I keep a close eye on stats to see what you’re using and work to ensure no one is left out.  Again, if you come across major problems, be sure to let us know.