Are there any jQuery plugins or templates that people use to get poeple to stop using IE6 on their websites?
I recently saw a plugin that was very obtrusive and offensive that "warned" users of evil of IE6. I am looking for something one can show their customers.

Are there any jQuery plugins or templates that people use to get poeple to stop using IE6 on their websites?
I recently saw a plugin that was very obtrusive and offensive that "warned" users of evil of IE6. I am looking for something one can show their customers.

• javascript
• jquery
• internet-explorer-6

• Not that I do not agree with reducing IE6 or IE's use on the web, but there are some panies (very few) that have not upgraded to IE7 or better alternatives. – kevindaub Commented Apr 5, 2009 at 2:48
• I agree. Some people are stuck with IE6. I am building a small "personal" webpage, so i can be more selective with my audience. – mkoryak Commented Apr 5, 2009 at 2:56
• At this point, I have very little sympathy with such panies. IE7 was released 2.5 years ago. It's time for them to get their thumbs out of their collective asses and fix their intranet apps. – George V. Reilly Commented Apr 5, 2009 at 3:00
• if those panies make up 97% of your target audience then you would have to cater to their wishes no? This is the problem with being a web developer these days, the rest of the world does not care about what YOU think – mkoryak Commented Apr 5, 2009 at 3:04
• I have seen sites that work on 6 but still do not work on 7. Imagine if you have to use two sites, one of which doesn't support 7, and the other which doesn't support 6. – AaronLS Commented Apr 5, 2009 at 3:12

5 Answers 5

Just add a div that only IE6 users see.

<!--[if IE 6]>
<div>
  Using IE 6 will curve your spine, please upgrade your version
  of Internet Explorer or download Firefox, Opera, Safari or Chrome.
</div>
<![endif]-->

Keep in mind that many web users are 'held up' using IE6 because of their big corporation's IT department.

They already know about the need to upgrade and your message aggravates them further. Why make them more miserable? At least give a gentle message explaining why you can't support IE6.

You can code it yourself with CSS.

Either use conditional ments in HTML to use a specific stylesheet for IE6

<!--[if IE6]>  whatever  <![endif]--> 

or put the message in a layer (div) and make it visible only for IE6:

display: none !important;
*display: block;

I personally find any sort of messages telling me to use a particular browser both arrogant and a sign of laziness on the part of the developer/designer.

My reasoning is that if I am somehow able to make patible cross-browser designs, why can't others? It bees even more trivial when you consider "browser normalizers" that exists as javascript libraries or JQuery plugins which essentially nullify the minor differences.

Here is a good example of what I mean.

How about this? Puts a polite notification bar at the top of the page. (Courtesy think2loud, see this link for full source, sample, css, etc.).

function badBrowser(){
    if($.browser.msie && parseInt($.browser.version) <= 6){ return true;}

    return false;
}

function getBadBrowser(c_name)
{
    if (document.cookie.length>0)
    {
    c_start=document.cookie.indexOf(c_name + "=");
    if (c_start!=-1)
        { 
        c_start=c_start + c_name.length+1; 
        c_end=document.cookie.indexOf(";",c_start);
        if (c_end==-1) c_end=document.cookie.length;
        return unescape(document.cookie.substring(c_start,c_end));
        } 
    }
    return "";
}   

function setBadBrowser(c_name,value,expiredays)
{
    var exdate=new Date();
    exdate.setDate(exdate.getDate()+expiredays);
    document.cookie=c_name+ "=" +escape(value) + ((expiredays==null) ? "" : ";expires="+exdate.toGMTString());
}

if(badBrowser() && getBadBrowser('browserWarning') != 'seen' ){
    $(function(){
        $("<div id='browserWarning'>You are using an unsupported browser. Please switch to <a href='http://getfirefox.'>FireFox</a>, <a href='http://www.opera./download/'>Opera</a>, <a href='http://www.apple./safari/'>Safari</a> or <a href='http://www.microsoft./windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx'>Internet Explorer 7</a>. Thanks!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[<a href='#' id='warningClose'>close</a>] </div> ")
            .css({
                backgroundColor: '#fcfdde',
                'width': '100%',
                'border-top': 'solid 1px #000',
                'border-bottom': 'solid 1px #000',
                'text-align': 'center',
                padding:'5px 0px 5px 0px'
            })
            .prependTo("body");

        $('#warningClose').click(function(){
            setBadBrowser('browserWarning','seen');
            $('#browserWarning').slideUp('slow');
            return false;
        });
    }); 
}