Browser compatibility; Before or after uploading website to server?

Question

I am on the stage where I need to make my website cross-browser compatible. I need tips on how to get started.

I have developed my website on firefox, so it works great with firefox.

I guess I have to download a couple of versions of all major browsers now, right? Then just test each browser one by one?

Should I do this before uploading the entire website onto a server or afterwards?

All tips and SW which makes this easier is appreciated.

BTW, it is a classifieds website using MySql, Solr, PHP, js etc...

Thanks

Answer 1

Cross-browser compatibility is best planned for in advance, as there are ways to build your site that will make it much easier.

• Consider using a CSS reset script like Eric Meyer's.
• Consider using a JavaScript library like jQuery.
• You can make use of Adobe BrowserLab to do cross-browser testing.
• Consider the mobile audience.

Answer 2

You need to have some kind of local webserver so you can edit the code and test it in a comfortable way. It is also helpful if you make it accessible for validator.w3.org so you can do syntax checking.

Testing it in IE6, 7 and 8, Firefox and Chrome would be a good start I would say.

Answer 3

Since you are working with server side code, you need to have a server.

Once the site goes live you will need both a live and a development server.

Answer 4

Yes, I'd make it cross browser compatible before uploading to the server. The reason for this is that you may need to change the server-side code, adding ids and classes to the markup, plus it may well be necessary to change the markup. Make sure it's working locally first.

IE Tester is very useful for testing on the various IE browsers. I'd ensure that I've tested it on a Webkit browser (such as Chrome), a Gecko Browser (such as Firefox) and Opera. See this list for different browsers.