active content blocked / non java enabled browser

[carpetpaul]

I keep getting a message 'IE has blocked this active contend as it may harm your computer' when I try to test my script locally on my p.c

also, I've just tried to use a chatroom script that I got from a site, when I tried to view the result it said 'non java enabled browser'


Questions:-

1, how can I make my browser (IE6) accept active content without asking or blocking it

2, how do I become java enabled, is this a standard feature on IE6 that just needs to be turned on, or is it an add on that i need to download, sorry for my ignorance.



Thankyou for your advice
Paul

[TheBearMay]

#1 - I believe you can do this, but it involves lowering the security settings beyond what most people would consider acceptable.

#2 - Go to http://java.sun.com/ and download and install the Java VM.

[Fang]

#1 Tools > Internet Options ... > Advanced
Scroll down to Security
Switch on: Allow active content to run in files on My Computer
You may need to do the same for CD's

#2 Microsoft no longer supports java on IE. As TheBearMay suggests you will have to install it from the Sun site.

[carpetpaul]

If IE does not support Java as standard (without the download), would you say that it is risky to use java as an element of your site ?

Forgive my ignorance but Java script, known also as just 'script', is one of the popular (and only way that I know of) to animate aspects of my text etc

Is there another way to animate text and make auto scrollers etc that is a safer bet than java for accessability by a wide range of web users browsers ?

---------
from what I've seen so far of web design, there seems to be several ways to do most things, usually a new way, and an old way, with the new way havings obvious advantages for whatever reason.

Is there a new way to get the sort of basic animation that I need for moving and flashing text etc ??



Thankyou very much for all your help and advice !

[Fang]

Not all browsers have Java installed and not all browsers have JavaScript enabled.
Always have an alternative method of displaying your effect without either of above.

[carpetpaul]

Can I ask your advice on something, I've only been learning html for a few months, I've learned basic layout, images, links etc, enough to build a site that looks ok (the site is for business use), I can make a form (using an online free form processor).
I had asked a question about frames, as I needed to split off the bottom of the screen in order that when you clicked on a picture in the scrollable top half of the screen, you got text in the lower half which applied to the item you clicked. The low text bit needs to be always in view. I can now almost do this using frames.
Someone has just said, 'frames are a bad idea', use the scrolling <div> method or some form of css. Then Xhtml was mentioned
I'm baffled, I'm almost at the point of wondering if I'll fail before I get any kind of fininshed site up and running

I can't find much info on xhtml, apart from knowing that it's a suplimentary language to html, I've no idea how it works
and the most I know about css is that in basic form its useful to alter text / font / colour of aspects of a site without having to change each page seperately.......I didn't know this was an alignment tool

What would you suggest ? -finish the site with the knowledge I have now ?

[Fang]

Finish the site, if it is almost complete, using your present knowledge.
No site is perfect!
xhtml is not that different from html, but writing your code to xhtml standards is a lot 'cleaner'. xhtml faq (http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/2004/xhtml-faq) and xhtml explained (http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/accessibility/xhtmlexplained.html)
Write html, but use the coding practices from xhtml.
A good start in (x)html and scripting can be found at W3Schools (http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp).
As for frames, beginners usually abuse them and there are generally frowned upon, as are tables for layout.
An excellent source of more advanced knowledge is QuirksMode (http://www.quirksmode.org/) and he uses frames!
Validate your html (http://validator.w3.org/) and css (http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/).
Quality tips (http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/)

[carpetpaul]

The advice is greatly appreciated, I've got a note of all the links that you have supplied, I'll have a read, thanks

Paul