let's face it. building a web site that browses consistently on multiple platforms and multiple browsers is not always as easy as we would like.

正視一個問題：設計出適合所有瀏覽器的網站，是一件很難的事情。

it is safe to say that most designers spend most of their time building their sites on a given platform. those with the highest standards should, upon completion, take a look at their creation in different browsers and different platforms.

現在，大多數設計者為固定瀏覽器設計網站。而標準更高的設計者，則會考慮創建適合不同瀏覽器的網站。

sure, you could see how it looks in window 98 with internet explorer and let that be good enough, but do you really want to risk a bad web experience for millions and millions of potential visitors? consider this....

當然，你可以考慮在ie瀏覽器的windows98中，讓網站呈現最好狀態。但你真的希望讓數百萬潛在客戶，對你的網站產生厭煩嗎？

a recent statistic i saw reported that 12% of internet users were macintosh users. ignoring this fact is like creating a catalog that can only be optimally viewed by one in eight of your customers. further more, not all of the windows users are using windows 98. windows 95 continues to be widely used, and windows 2000 and nt represent a significant percentage of visitors.

我看到，最近一項統計顯示：12%的網絡用戶是macintosh用戶。如果忽視這個問題，就等于網站減少了1/8的客戶。并且，并不是所有windows用戶都使用windows98，仍然有很多用戶使用windows95，并且windows2000以及nt用戶也占到不小的一部分。

it would be remiss to ignore the small, but growing contingency of linux users. though small in number at this time, the popularity of the os grows daily.

并且linux用戶數量正在不斷增加，我們不應該忽視這一部分用戶。盡管現在這部分用戶數量少，但os普及率每天都在提高。

platform issues aside, internet explorer, despite microsoft's inclusion of it with all windows installations, does not represent the only browser option. netscape continues to enjoy a strong following of users numbering in the millions, and lotus notes is being used by numerous corporations as the "standard" browser and e-mail application.

盡管微軟公司包含所有的windows裝置，但ie并不是唯一的瀏覽器。netscape公司擁有數百萬的瀏覽器用戶。并且很多公司把lotus notes作為標準的瀏覽器和電子郵件應用程序。

then, of course, there is aol. although basically an ie engine "under the hood" aol continues to include certain differences. considering the vast numbers of aol users, this browser must not be overlooked. if your site does not look good in aol, then you are risking turning away a huge percentage of potential visitors.

當然，還有aol。盡管從根本上說，ie是aol的默認瀏覽器，但它包含不同的種類。考慮到大量的aol用戶，網站必須重視這種瀏覽器。如果網站在aol瀏覽器中呈現出糟糕的外觀，你會流失掉大量潛在客戶。

it should be clear that cross platform and multiple browser compatibility is a must. therefore, understanding a few very basic and simple techniques to help keep your pages looking their best in the most places is also a must. following, you will find a few tips and ideas to help you do just that.

網站設計中，我們必須考慮多種瀏覽器的兼容性。因此，為保證網站在不同瀏覽器中呈現出精美頁面，我們必須了解幾種基本、簡單的設計技巧。下面幾條建議可能會對你的網站設計有幫助。

1. paint the canvas your visitors will see
1.精美的布局

as a web site designer wanting to be as efficient in my work as possible, i have configured my mac to use two monitors. as my mouse leaves the screen of one, it appears on the other. thus, i have a canvas that, on most days, is 1856 pixels wide over 32 horizontal inches. if i want to, i can easily boost that to over 2000 pixels wide. but, my clients and the average visitor on the web do not have two monitors. in fact, most of them have the screen resolution set to 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768. what's more, every single time i have gone to a client who uses aol, their browser window opens to what looks to be a 640 pixel wide default no mater how large the monitor or screen resolution.

為設計最有效的網站，我在電腦上安裝兩個顯示器，鼠標離開一個屏幕，就會出現在另一個屏幕上。因此，我的電腦屏幕寬度為1856像素，超過了32英尺；如果我喜歡，還可以增加到2000像素。但是，大多數客戶和游覽者不具備兩個顯示器，其實，大多數用戶電腦屏幕分辨率為800x600或者1024x768。更重要的是，每一次見到aol用戶，他們的瀏覽器窗口設定為640像素，不管顯示器分辨率是多少。

on one of my first projects, i had designed a site to a modest 700 pixel wide format with a nice top navigation area. i went to my clients office to get some "point and discuss" feedback to find her new 21 inch monitor -- set at 640x480 resolution. my designs looked terrible!

在我設計第一個網站時，把寬度設為700像素，網頁頂部設置了精美的導航條。當我進入客戶辦公室，征求反饋意見時，看到在21英寸的顯示屏（分辨率640x480）上，我的網站外觀很糟糕。

if you intend your web site to appeal to the broadest range of visitors, you need to design in a way that will look good even at low resolutions. check with some of your typical visitors and see what kind of resolutions they normally use.

要想網站吸引最多用戶，必須保證網站在低分辨率的屏幕上，呈現出精美的外觀。你可以對某些有代表性的訪問者做一個調查，了解他們常用的分辨率類型。

2. use tables to control width
2.運用表格控制寬度

tables are great things when trying to control the way text and images go together. in order to achieve a nice looking design, using tables is the first technique to consider.

控制文章和圖片最好的方法就是使用表格。要想設計美觀，可以首先考慮表格。

tables can be assigned a fixed width in pixels or a fixed percentage of the window width. there are advantages to both approaches. if you are not concerned about the relative vertical arrangement of objects in a table cell, using the fixed percentage allows for more fluid layouts.

表格可以設置固定像素寬度或者窗口百分比寬度。這兩種方法各有各自的優點，但如果你不介意表格內容垂直安排，你可以利用固定百分比寬度，因為它使布局更加多變。

if, however, you want to keep text wrapped around an image with more consistency, using the percent approach could lead to major differences. text will wrap quite differently in a cells of different pixel widths.

然而，如果希望文字更連貫地圍繞在圖片周圍，固定百分比方法可能會導致很大的變化。在不同像素寬度的表格中，文字環繞方式差別很大。

to have better control, consider using fixed pixel width. however, you must now start making some compromises. if you want to offer a site that looks good at 640x480, you will need to set your table width to 600 -- 620 max! you will want to center the table in the window to provide a nice look when wider windows are used. however, if your visitor has monitor resolutions set to 1600x800 and has the browser "maximized" your page will have 500 pixels of blank space on either side of your 600 pixel table.

可以利用固定像素寬度的方法，更好地控制網站。但首先你要做出一個選擇。如果希望網站在640x480分辨率顯示器中呈現精美外觀，就把表格寬度設定在600-620（最大值）之間。你可能希望把表格放在窗口中心位置，在窗口寬度變大時，會使布局非常好看。然而，如果訪問者的顯示率設定為1600x800，讓瀏覽器呈現最大狀態，那么網頁就會很難看：600像素表格的兩邊會出現500像素的空白。

fortunately, few people will be browsing at this configuration. my experience visiting clients, friends, and family suggests that, even if monitor resolution is set at over 1000 pixels, the actual width of the browser window will be reduced to something less.

很幸運，沒有人在這種情況下瀏覽網站。通過與客戶、朋友以及家人的交談，我發現：即使顯示器分辨率超過1000像素，瀏覽器窗口的實際寬度也會被縮小。

you must decide if you will risk an odd looking page for those few who have huge monitor resolution or risk the annoying scroll bar for those with the basic 640x480

你是否希望在高分辨率的顯示器上呈現出帶有空白部分的頁面呢？或者你是否希望在640x480分辨率狀態下，出現水平滾動條瀏覽呢？這些問題必須要考慮。

3. compromise your font use.
3.字體的運用

supposing you select a fixed width table and have a cell that is 300 pixels wide. you write a headline in this cell, pick a font, and size it to look just right. good for you. too bad that headline will come up different on different systems.

假設：你選擇了固定寬度的表格，有一個單元寬度為300像素。你在這個單元中寫了標題，選定了字體，尺寸調整到最佳。你可能完成任務了，但標題會在不同系統中呈現不同狀態。

even on the same computer, there are very slight differences between how netscape and ie render fonts. remember the 1 in 8 visitor using a mac? for technical reason it is beyond the scope of this article to describe, fonts are significantly smaller on a mac than on windows. don't forget that your visitors can also set the default size for font display in their browser, too. if they do that, you are really starting to lose control of how fonts are displayed!

即使在同一臺電腦中，字體在ie與netscape兩個瀏覽器下，呈現的狀態也有細微的區別。記住：1/8的用戶使用mac。由于技術原因（就不在這篇文章中介紹了），字體在mac中比在windows中要小。不要忘記，用戶可以在瀏覽器中設置默認字號，如果是這樣，你就不能控制字體的布局。

one solution is to use cascading style sheets, but that technique goes beyond the casual designer's typical experiences. the other solution is to compromise. make sure that it looks good on the predominant platform -- currently windows -- but don't use the smallest font possible either or your mac visitors won't be able to read it!

一個解決方案就是利用css，但是業余設計者不了解這項技術。另一種解決方案就是做出讓步。確保網站在主要的展示平臺中呈現精美外觀，經常是在windows中。但是盡量不要使用最小的字體，因為mac訪問者很難瀏覽這些尺寸很小的文字。

4. check your final on multiple platforms
4.在不同瀏覽器中檢驗網站

i commit to my web design clients that their site will be look good to all visitors. to make sure this is the case, i have an intel computer as well as my macintosh. i have the intel computer configured to boot into windows 98, windows 2000, and linux. i test all the pages i design in these environments. i test in both netscape and internet explorer on the windows systems and the mac. i enlist a partner to test with lotus notes and aol.

我向網站設計用戶承諾：網站會在所有的瀏覽器中呈現精美的布局。為了保證這個目標實現，我準備了兩臺電腦：intel以及macintosh。在intel電腦上我設置了windows 98、windows 2000以及linux。在這些操作系統下，我測試了所有的網頁；同時在windows與mac系統下的netscape和ie瀏覽器中，測試了所有的網頁。同時，一位同事幫我測試了lotus notes和aol瀏覽器中，網頁的布局和運行。

this may seem excessive, but frequently there will be some little thing that shows up in one of the platform/browser configurations that requires some minor correction. would it be good enough if i did not make the correction? probably. however, it is always best to make a good first impression and on the web, where you have about 5 to 7 seconds to get visitors to commit to take an actual look, every little thing counts.

這個過程看起來很沒有必要，但是網頁經常會在某些瀏覽器中出現小問題，需要我們進行修改。如果不做修改，是不是也挺好呢？可能。但是，用戶對網站的第一印象很重要，用戶只需用5到7秒鐘就對網站有了大體的印象，所以每一個細節都很重要，必須要注意。

if you do not have access to multiple platforms, enlist your friends. stop by a library or a kinkos and use their computers (often these places may have macintosh computers as well as windows computers).

如果你不能利用多個瀏覽器進行測試，你可以請朋友幫忙。你也可以利用圖書館或者kinkos的電腦，通常那里既有mac電腦，也有windows電腦。

these four simple suggestions are the beginning of a journey toward the much larger goal of making the content of your web site universally available to your visitors. ultimately, reaching this goal depends upon many factors. however, progress toward this goal must commence with awareness.

要讓大部分用戶瀏覽你的網站，只遵循這四條建議還是不夠的。按照這些規則設計網站，只不過是實現目標的開始。完成目標還需考慮很多因素，然而實現目標必須從建立意識開始。

understanding that your site will appear differently on different browsers and based on different user preference settings is an important first step toward awareness. using tables and being conscientious with your use of fonts takes you one step further. checking your work on various systems will begin to hint at how much further you have to go.

了解不同瀏覽器下，網站外觀會不同；還要了解根據用戶設置設計網站，這是確立意識的第一步。使用表格、慎用字體，讓你更進一步。在各種系統中檢驗網站，可以讓你了解還需要作哪些工作。

but, every journey must begin somewhere....

然而，每一個過程都是從某個地方開始的。