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Answer 1

+2 A:

This is the Microsoft-approved way:

<!--[if IE]>
    <a href="ie-only.html">click here!</a>
<![endif]-->
<![if !IE]>
    <a href="all-other-browsers.html">click here!</a>
<![endif]>

More information available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms537512(VS.85).aspx.

Edit

This code is implicitly guaranteed to work in all current and future versions of IE starting with IE 5. For non-IE browsers, the code works by relying on those browsers ignoring the "nonsensical" <![if !IE]> tag, which they all do, and I've never seen it fail. For a version that uses nothing but good ol' HTML comments, see bobince's answer, which I actually prefer to the Microsoft-provided solution.

David Kolar 2009-04-10 20:58:39

Surely the second link will be part of a comment (and therefore ignored) by all non-IE browsers anyway?

Tom Wright 2009-04-10 23:38:48

As Tom said, since IE is the only one that honors conditional statements like this, and the condition is !IE, the second link will NEVER show.

KOGI 2009-04-11 00:06:50

For all non-IE browsers, the first section is an HTML comment. The second section is *not* an HTML comment--the double dashes after <! are not there. "<![if !IE]>" is ignored by non-IE browsers, but the HTML that follows is not. I assure you the second link appears in all non-IE browsers. :)

David Kolar 2009-04-11 03:18:27

Answer 2

A:

Here's a relevent blog post

You would just need to test the return value of the function for IE or not IE, then display the appropriate link.

tehblanx 2009-04-10 21:00:10

Answer 3

A:

I didn't try, but maybe you could use IE flaws on CSS. Eric Meyer has written this article on the subject: Tricking Browsers and Hiding Styles.

mouviciel 2009-04-10 21:01:14

The problem with relying on flaws like that is when the browser maker fixes them you now have to scramble to find a new hack to get the same functionality. Relying on "flaws" is part of what got everybody so worked up about IE8 "breaking teh web"

AnonJr 2009-04-13 15:45:17

Answer 4

A:

A shot in the dark, maybe, but would this work?

<style>

    a.forIeOnly {display: none; }
    a.notForIe  {display: block; }

</style>

<!--[if ie]>

<stlye>
    a.forIeOnly {display: block;}
    a.notForIe  {display: none; }
</style>

<![endif]-->

<a href="#" class="forIeOnly">Link One</a>
<a href="#" class="notForIe">Link Two</a>

It's nowhere near as clean/attractive as an if/else statement could be, but...it was the easiest way I could think of to implement a solution. Though it may well be fraught with issues all of its own.

David Thomas 2009-04-10 21:04:23

Answer 5

A:

You could always use CSS to hide the code from specific browsers. For instance, considering the following code:

<a href"ie-only.html" id="ie-only">click here!</a>
<a href"all-other-browsers.html" id="other-browsers">click here!</a>

You could apply the following CSS hacks, and the appropriate links would be displayed to the appropriate browsers.

/* Display settings for most browsers */
#ie-only {display: none;}
#other-browsers {display: block;}

/* Display settings for IE <= 6 */
* html #ie-only {display: block;}
* html #other-browsers {display: none;}

Jacob Hume 2009-04-10 21:05:38

Answer 6

+1 A:

One way that I've figured out how to do it:

Get the javascript code from http://www.quirksmode.org/js/detect.html and put it in the <head> tag.

Then in your <body> tag use:

<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
if (BrowserDetect.browser == 'Explorer') {
    document.write('<a href="#">Explorer</a>');
} else {
    document.write('<a href="#">Other Browsers</a>');
}
// -->
</script>

Not sure if this is the most simple way to do it but it got the job done.

Andrew 2009-04-10 21:14:25

That works via sniffing the user-agent string, which is about the worst, most unreliable way of forking on browser behaviours; it doesn't say “If you're new to JavaScript, *don't* use this script” for nothing!

bobince 2009-04-10 23:53:12

"Conditional comments" have the advantage of working regardless of whether or not the client has JavaScript enabled.

David Kolar 2009-04-11 03:21:59

I don't see a problem with using the user-agent string. Most users won't mess with it, and if they do, they know that it may result in strange behavior.

Adam Jaskiewicz 2009-04-13 15:09:30

But when new versions come out it is possible for strange behavior to happen without the user being aware of it... hence my lack of love for targeted solutions.

AnonJr 2009-04-13 15:42:45

Re: David Kolar - Good point!

Andrew 2009-04-13 18:45:17

Answer 7

+12 A:

This is not going to be the popular answer, but its damn time somebody started posting it - stop with the browser-specific junk. You're only perpetuating future problems when new versions come out.

If developers had taken the additional time (yes, it takes time and hard work. If you can't convince your clients you aren't trying hard enough) then we wouldn't have seen IE7 "break the web" and there would have been even less of a brouhaha with IE8.

Yes, IE is less standards compliant than the others. But, Fx is also missing certain things that are a part of the standard too. They all suck when it comes to "standards". But they are all getting better. (At different rates, but they are all getting better.)

Think first why you are trying to do this, and ask yourself if you really want to deal with this when the next browser version comes out and you have to re-jigger your browser detection and how you handle version X of browser Y.

[/rant]

Edit: To answer some of the comments that point out the obvious fact that I didn't really answer the question, without more information this question makes me wonder if we're not trying to help a person decide to hammer in a nail with a glass bottle or a shoe...

AnonJr 2009-04-10 21:35:48

You're just shooting around, not giving an alternative /not/ use these functions then?? That's for many things just impossible.(eg : passing parameters to xslt files to name one)

Peter 2009-04-10 21:45:32

@Peter - Object detection? Not tested in your particular case, since I never used XSLT.

luiscubal 2009-04-10 22:09:09

I totally agree, but that's not why I'm doing this.

Andrew 2009-04-10 22:25:58

@Andrew: Then it might help to say why you're doing this...

AnonJr 2009-04-13 19:55:32

This is a great answer to the question "Should I ever display browser-specific HTML?", but that's not the question that was asked.

David Kolar 2009-04-13 20:30:47

@David: True, but I think this falls under the "Should I hammer this nail with a glass bottle or an old shoe" question. http://weblogs.asp.net/alex_papadimoulis/archive/2005/05/25/408925.aspx

AnonJr 2009-04-13 20:59:29

Answer 8

A:

check http://www.quirksmode.org/js/detect.html

very nice one

Peter 2009-04-10 21:49:10

Answer 9

A:

IE supports conditional compilation, which you can use to easily deliver IE-only code without needing to perform user agent sniffing or feature detection.

/*@cc_on
   /*@if (@_jscript)
      alert("IE.");
   @else @*/
      alert("Not IE.");
   /*@end
@*/

insin 2009-04-10 21:54:01

Answer 10

+4 A:

I don't think this is possible with conditional comment tags (which only work in internet explorer)

Sure it is. You just have to leave the content for non-IE browsers in a position such that it's part of a conditional comment clause but not actually inside a . Then browsers that don't know about conditional comments will see the content fine. This is known as a downlevel-revealed conditional comment.

Unfortunately the markup Microsoft give you there is invalid HTML (and not even well-formed XML). To make it pass muster you just need a few additional ‘--’s:

<!--[if IE]> This is IE! <![endif]-->
<!--[if !IE]><!--> This ain't IE! <!--<![endif]-->

Although I have to echo AnonJr's non-answer, in that it's rare you should need a completely separate link/page for IE compared to other browsers. If you're doing something tricky like complex VML and ActiveX work in IE with Flash on other browsers I guess there could be a reason for it, but usually a few CSS and script hacks over the same basic page should suffice.

bobince 2009-04-11 00:03:34

+1; what a great answer. There's a lot less nose-holding needed with this version, and I'll use it. It should work in every browser, and indeed there are no problems in IE6, 7, or 8. Nevertheless, I wish it had the same level of "blessing" from Microsoft as their own example, just to be sure.

David Kolar 2009-04-13 14:42:01

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