Shockingly Big IE6 Warning (WP Plugin)

December 21st, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

The Internet Explorer 6 was released in 2001 and nowadays it is still largely used (almost 25% market share). Despite any anti-microsoft fanatism IE6 is by far the most buggy, unsecure, off the standards, and not to mention obsolete (8 years people!) web browser ever made.

Because of this I have made this plugin. When activated in your Wordpress blog it shows a warning message to every user using IE6 (or less) showing some links to alternate and much more up-to-date web browsers.

Features

  • Two types of warnings: a small and discreete top bar or a huge-fullscreen-site-cover popup
  • Option to crash IE6 browsers instead of giving any warning (oh! that’s a secure browser)
  • Customizable message, be kind or be mean with your visitors
  • Suggest up to six different browsers: Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer
  • Test mode, preview the warning in any browser

Download

Instalattion

  1. Upload shockingly-big-ie6-warning.X.X.X.zip through Wordpress interface or install it directly from the plugin area
  2. Activate it through the ‘Plugins’ menu
  3. Visit the settings page in the admin area at Settings > S. Big IE6 Warning and configure it

Changelog

  • 1.6.3
    • You can know use links and html code at the warning massages
    • readme.txt updated
    • pt-BR localization added
    • Some code optimization
  • 1.6.2
    • Minor code fixes
  • 1.6.1
    • Options Page redesigned
    • JavaScript IE6 detection improved
    • Debug Mode added
  • 1.5.9
    • Blank Options Page fixed(?)
    • IE6 PHP detection function inserted, for those with layout errors
  • 1.5.6
    • Some options page styles fixed
  • 1.5.5
    • Ready for localization (pt_BR already done)
  • 1.5.4
    • Fixed the JS error, was just a comma misplaced =/
  • 1.5.2
    • Estetical changes in the option page and readme.txt
  • 1.5.1
    • Now you can use HTML and special characters in the messages
    • TEST Mode code changed
    • Fixed the bug that reset the options of the plugin
  • 1.5.0
    • Conditional comments fixed
    • Fixed the CRASH mode (after some tuning i think we are finally REALLY stable)
  • 1.4.9
    • Some links erros
  • 1.4.7
    • Almost everything recoded
    • Now uses wordpress jQuery not an external .js
    • Browsers download urls now editable
    • Test mode, to preview the warning in any browser
  • 1.4.4
    • Settings accessible via plugin page
    • Minor code change
  • 1.4.2
    • Menu text changed to 1 line
  • 1.4.0
    • Test mode added

Registry Viewer

On the Shockingly Big IE6 Warning options page, if you click on the Red IE6 Logo a tab named Registry will showed up, click it to see the value of all the fields. nice for debugging.

Blocking Every IE Version

Alex Bailey have posted a modified .js file to show the full page warning with every Internet Explorer version, you can download it here.

Screenshots

Observation

I’m no professional programmer, this plugin is mantained in the little spare time that I have between work and university and neither is english my native language so ANY suggestion for the plugin coding or text will be appreciated.

Donation

If this plugin helped you in some way, or you just like it and want to contribute to my late night coffee (I code at night!), just use the button below:


If you donate, send me an e-mail and I will link you at the donors list!

  1. February 4th, 2010 at 14:56 | #1

    @Matias S.
    Norton says “attack” originates from /wp-content/plugins/shockingly-big-ie-warning/js/ie6w_opt.js?ver=2.9.1 (from my server’s IP address)
    Risk name: HTTP MS IE Style Tag Cmt Mem Corruption

    In plain text, merely having the option to crash IE6 gets your site a bad mark with security programs. I had to purge the “offending” code from the JS to make Norton not complain.

  2. January 27th, 2010 at 12:32 | #2

    I installed this on my test site and my symantec AV immediately blocked my test site traffice. I am glad I didn’t install on my live site.

    • January 27th, 2010 at 14:56 | #3

      i have no ideia why that happen. anyone else have similar problem? *bizarre*

  3. January 25th, 2010 at 19:28 | #4

    You’ve got a little typo over there at the Observation part: “After the update you can acess…”, instead of “access”.
    Really nice plugin though!!

  4. January 25th, 2010 at 13:02 | #5

    You may already have fixed this, but the word “access” is misspelled in the English version.

    I love this plugin! It was mentioned during WordCampBoston last Saturday during a session called, “The Best Wordpress Plugins you’ve never heard of”. :)

    • January 25th, 2010 at 13:23 | #6

      Awesome! im currently a little off the plugin development, but next week i will be on vacation, than i will update it with some more localizations e some fixes!

  5. December 27th, 2009 at 21:06 | #7

    I’m defo adding this to my new WP theme! :) yay!
    Can’t wait for updates!

  6. December 21st, 2009 at 13:12 | #8

    @Gothika_47

    I’ve posted a fix for this at http://wp.me/pHvQv-1w. Note that this file replaces the file used for the full page blocking option. If you wish to change that you need to edit the other files yourself.

  7. December 19th, 2009 at 17:58 | #9

    @Gothika_47
    I would like this too. It would be great if you could choose which versions to make it appear in.

  8. December 6th, 2009 at 14:24 | #10

    Thx… :)

  9. December 3rd, 2009 at 13:36 | #11

    Is there a way to make it work with EVERY IE browser?

  10. December 2nd, 2009 at 20:40 | #12

    I ran a medium sized Window$ network for 12 years. Most of our users were in the minimum wage pay range with little or no computer skills. The majority of them didn’t understand what IE was, and if you said the word “browser” you would just get a dumbfounded look. Most of them thought there were two things on their computer:

    1) The Windows (a term they used for every application on the entire computer)

    2) The Interweb, sometimes referred to as “The Google” by older employees – (they used these terms to describe the entire internet, as well as our corporate intranet, and network shares).

    If 25% of all browser traffic is <= IE6, that would, to my mind, be a pretty fair reflection of our society. At minimum, 25% of all adults in the US are morons.

  11. November 11th, 2009 at 18:52 | #13

    @Aaron
    Interesting! Hadn’t heard of that. I’ll add a note about it to my blog post.

  12. November 11th, 2009 at 18:50 | #14

    I’ve extended my remarks here: “IE6 Scolding: Blaming the Victim?” http://howwhyweb.com/usability/ie6-scolding-blaming-the-victim

  13. Ramsey
    November 10th, 2009 at 17:58 | #15

    @Jessica
    I’m having the same problem. If I come up with a solution I will share, or if someone else has a solution please suggest. Thanks.

  14. November 10th, 2009 at 16:39 | #16

    @Nathan Bierma

    That’s why I suggest adding a link / reference to the Google Frame plugin for IE6. It makes the evil that is IE6 turn into Chrome (at least in the guts). It truly is the only solution to the stupid “afraid of change” IT department at the company / government agency.

    http://code.google.com/chrome/chromeframe/

  15. October 8th, 2009 at 07:41 | #17

    Hi,

    For those interested, I translated the plugin into french :

    http://www.michaelwassmer.net/blog/shockingly-big-ie6-warning-plugin-french-transaltion/

    Thanks again Matias for this great plugin!

  16. October 7th, 2009 at 15:53 | #18

    Some comments on various posts on IE6 hatred point out that not all IE6 users are clueless; many are chained to whatever their company’s IT decrees they have to use. Is there a way to add a “contact your IT department” link for those users, and/or any other way to keep from annoying them if they’re using IE6 against their will?

  17. October 7th, 2009 at 10:12 | #19

    Excellent! IE6 was cutting edge 8 years ago. Now, it just holds us all back from building standards-compliant sites. Kudos to you for creating an in-your-face solution for folks who still won’t update to something newer.

  18. September 17th, 2009 at 23:49 | #20

    Hi Matias!

    Thanks for this great plugin! :)
    I’ve tested a lot of similiar plugins and this is the best. It’s the only one you can test without using IE 6 (I cannot install it on my computer and I do not want it too) and offers so many possibilities to customize the warning message.

    I’ve just one feature wish though:
    I’m using some graphic elements at the very top of the page with position: absolute, so the warning disappears behind those graphics. They are small and the message is still readable, but it would be very cool if you could find a way to display the message correctly. Probably the message itself could use position:absolute plus the property z-index using a high value?

    Greetings from Germany. :)

  19. September 15th, 2009 at 20:35 | #21

    Hi, could you add an unremovable information for IE users?

  20. August 29th, 2009 at 13:05 | #22

    muy bueno el plugin felicidades lo e echo funcionar y testeado ami me funciona de categoria solo una cosa sepodria de alguna manera combinar la opcion TOP y CENTER ya que cuando aces click en cualquier icono de navegadores desaparece la advertencia no se si me explico… muy bueno el plugin gracias

  21. August 17th, 2009 at 23:31 | #23

    I dont know what version im using, but the link to firefox goes to getfirefox.net, which is not a valid site. I changed it to http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

  22. August 11th, 2009 at 13:30 | #24

    This is a GREAT idea. I’m wondering, however, if the same users who are using IE6 will not be tuned in enough to understand what “web standards” means- if they might actually think that this error is being pulled up because the site itself is not safe (the big red “warning”, talking about security issues, etc.). These same people trust anything Microsoft puts out and are using IE6 still because they are not very educated (generally) about the web. Maybe explaining it in very VERY easy terms w/o the giant “warning” (maybe another adjective) would be less terrifying to these users? I’m just afraid that they would completely leave the site and not return. That’s just me though- but great work, I definitely think you are on to something!

  23. Richard M. Davis
    August 7th, 2009 at 06:22 | #25

    @rodrigo “enferrujado”: try “rusty”! me too.

  24. July 29th, 2009 at 11:06 | #26

    Hi Matias!

    I am not sure about this, but i just updated your plugin from 1.6.2 to 1.6.3, and I think I found an error.

    I believe that I saved custom URLs for each browser on version 1.6.2, like superdownloads and brazillian version of Firefox, but when I installed the version 1.6.3, this URL were overwritten by yours default.

    It’s not a big deal and I tried to look at your code, but I am so… oxidated (???? bad word for enferrujado)) on PHP that I gave up.

    But keep the good working! One day IE6 will be erradicated (another bad word) from all PC’s in the world.

  25. July 28th, 2009 at 00:22 | #27

    I love the crash option. But can u modify it in such a way that, it alerts the users before crashing?
    As in, a javascript prompt like, “You are using a damned browser called IE6″. Open this website in Firefox. Click OK to crash your browser”

    That would be super cool… :D

    I’ve added your plugin to my blog @ blog.mugunthkumar.com and even wrote about you!!!
    http://blog.mugunthkumar.com/tech/tip-displaying-a-banner-or-crash-ie-when-people-visit-your-site-using-ie6/

    Thanks

    • July 28th, 2009 at 00:24 | #28

      i think this is possible, i will look into it in the nexts versions, nice idea!

  26. Gene
    July 27th, 2009 at 20:50 | #29

    Nice plugin but one question though, is there a way to make the top bar of a fixed widht?

    Cheers!

  27. July 23rd, 2009 at 01:11 | #30

    When activated, all the ajax integrated into our theme stops working. Any ideas why?

    Cheers

  28. July 21st, 2009 at 11:10 | #31

    @matias s. Thanks man, I had a peek under the hood, but this PHP is a bit out of my pay-grade. My guess was about line 510 with htmlspecialchars, but after some trial and error I was no further ahead.

    Thanks again, great plugin.

  29. July 21st, 2009 at 08:33 | #32

    Abhinav Sonkar :
    Hi matias!
    This is a great plugin. Just wanted to know is it possible to make the plugin cover all the versions of IE (including 7 & 8) ? I want to tell my users to give up IE COMPLETELY not just till 6.6.
    You can do it in such a way that there can be options to choose which versions to include and which to exclude. That would be a great help!
    Thanx!

    Same here.

    • July 21st, 2009 at 08:38 | #33

      hi! i will try to put this feature in the next version. i think will be out the next week, since now i have alot of work =/~but if someone wants to try go ahead! then send me the code :D

  30. July 21st, 2009 at 08:26 | #34

    Me gustaría tener una versión que funcione contra todas las versiones de Internet Explorer, no solo la 6, no tendría que soportar la tercera opción (que tal vez no sea posible con la versión 7 u 8 de Internet Explorer) pero si debería tener el gran label amarillo.

    Gracias

  31. July 21st, 2009 at 08:24 | #35

    Can somebody or the autor make a modified version with works againts every version of Internet Explorer.

    With just the first option (TOP WARNING) should be fine for me.

  32. July 20th, 2009 at 12:18 | #36

    Love it!

    The only problem I’m having is adding HTML tags (<a href to be exact) doesn't render in the warning. I want to have a link to better explain the merits of the upgrade. Any ideas? Using 1.6.2 on WP 2.8.2, PHP5

    • July 20th, 2009 at 23:37 | #37

      hi! maybe its because of the chars, i will see what i can do for the next release. thanks for the reply!

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