Detecting JS enabled/capable browser

[Dr John Stockton]

JRS: In article <[email protected]>, dated Tue, 28
Dec 2004 20:05:46, seen in Jim Ley

You've got to assume users are thick, 'cos generally they are (or
rather they're probably just lazy, there's other places to
buy/visit/etc.) and they won't understand what you're saying and will
just leave. Script can always be done just to add value, sometimes
incredible value, so it's well worth doing it. There's almost never a
sound reason to just use script other than the ego or laziness of the
author.

One should assume, when authoring, that where users are thick authors
should be smarter - in particular, that the author can write in terms
which will be useful to the user, even when the terms are not fully
understood.

But note that I wrote, quoted above "If it is not possible to do
anything useful without script" - in that case, the best thing the users
can do is just leave.

Except of course, that was a mistaken approach, which has led to
significant repair costs from all such businesses that took that
approach, when it would've been much cheaper to do it properly
correctly in the first place.

Exactly.

 

[Lee]

MyndPhlyp said:

[...]

If you want to know what percentage of IE users disable javascript then
not being able to tell IE from browsers claming to be IE represents a
significant limitation.

[...]
I grow weary of this argument. All I want here is JS suggestions. Nobody
here knows my environment orwhat I have to be able to do to gather useful
information.

Ryan:

It seems to be habitual in the NG (by some) to pick nits, prove one's
omnipotence, find flaw in other's suggestions, and bash Americans rather
than offer solutions.

Some people find such criticism (when polite) to be more useful than cookbook
advise. Would you really be willing to trust advise from a newsgroup where
people weren't eager to find flaws in each others suggestions?

 

[Ryan Stewart]

MyndPhlyp said:

Some people find such criticism (when polite) to be more useful than
cookbook
advise. Would you really be willing to trust advise from a newsgroup
where
people weren't eager to find flaws in each others suggestions?

Absolutely. I welcome any ideas/criticisms related to my question. This is a
JavaScript group, and I asked a JavaScript question. I'm getting a lot of
non-JavaScript related answers, which are thought-provoking, but largely
irrelevant to what I'm trying to accomplish. I definitely appreciate
MyndPhlyp's input. I hadn't thought of the div flipping idea before. One
other thing that I should have included in my original post, but have
mentioned several times since in this thread, is that solutions only need to
work in relatively modern and mainstream browsers, as that's what my users
will have.