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Okay, so we’ve got some problems. That’s why I wanted feedback — thanks to all who responded.

The problem is this: Internet Explorer is notoriously bad at interpreting CSS (Cascading Style Sheets, the language that tells your browser how and where to display things). CSS is a standard that has been around for years; all other browsers conform to it, but IE doesn’t. Why? Because it’s Microsoft, no other reason. I am biased, it’s true; but it’s also true that Microsoft designers should get it together and un-break their software.

Rebecca’s comment about Firefox 1.0 does give me pause. I think I know how to fix it, though, and will do so momentarily.

Because there are now many browsers available for download at no charge, all of which interpret CSS correctly, I don’t think it’s practical to spend too much time fixing the IE bugs. I will look into it, to be sure; but it’s likely to require more time than we have. I spoke to Paul about this yesterday, too, and he agreed: for now, we should work with standards-compliant software and make things work there; then, if we still have the time and money, we can go back and fix the IE bugs. Meanwhile, if you have a chance, please look at the prototype again with Mozilla/Safari/Firefox/your non-IE poison, and let me know if there are any more problems.

Dear all,

It’s just a shell so far, and its aesthetics are not set in stone: right now we’re mostly working on functionality. But I’d like to get your feedback, from a user’s perspective.

The prototype is here. I’m pointing you to the login page, but the login engine doesn’t work yet, so you don’t have to worry about having a username and password. Just play around with the menus up top, and let me know what you think.

All the texts links lead to one dummy table of contents, and all the index links – to a single dummy index. The links from the entries in the index will eventually lead to a page with a list of the places where the name appears.

The main question I have is: is this intuitive? Does the design itself make sense? If you the user have a question about the functionality of the tools on the site, is it obvious where to go to get an answer?

UPDATE. The first bug report has come in: the site doesn’t seem to be working on browsers running under Mac OS 9. So please look at the prototype using either Mac OS X, or a Windows machine. As always, please let me know if it doesn’t work for you. If you’re submitting a bug report, please include the browser you’re using, the version of that browser, and your operating system.