Some issues that you experience with your blog can be caused by your browser.
Symptoms of browser issues vary and can include:
- The content area in the Visual editor is blank (white) and text only appears when you change to the text editor.
- The Add Media button won’t open.
- Failure of icons on visual editor to load.
- Words underlined with links to ads.
Confirming browser issues
The fastest way to confirm a browser issue is switch to an alternative browser. Morilla FireFox and Google Chrome are recommended for optimal performance.
If the alternative browser fixes the problem then you know the problem is a browser issue.
Browser issues can solved by disabling add-ons/extensions, changing your internet browser settings, clearing your browser cache and cookies, or refreshing the page.
Supported Browsers
Some issues you encounter may be caused by the browser itself. For optimal performance and security we recommend that you keep your browser up to date by running the latest version.
To determine what version you’re running view the About page:
You can check your browser settings to see if you have automatic updates turned on, and you can find a list of the latest browsers at Browse Happy.
Schools often run older version of Internet Explorer for a range of reasons.
Some themes are only compatible with Internet Explorer 9 and above and may not be fully functional on Internet Explorer 9 or older version of Internet Explorer. You can also have issues editing using older version of Internet Explorer if you are running Internet Explorer in compatibility view. Click on the Compatibility view icon to disable. We recommend that you use either Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome for optimal performance with Edublogs sites.
Force Refresh
A force refresh or reload will cause your browser to re-check with your web server to make sure you are seeing the latest version of the web page you are viewing. Here are keyboard shortcuts for force refreshing your browser:
- Windows: Ctrl + F5
- Mac/Apple: Apple + R or Cmd + R
- Linux: F5
Alternatively, right mouse click on the web page and select Refresh or Reload.
Clearing Your Browser Cache
If you are experiencing problems displaying your Edublogs pages, clearing the browser cache is a good first step to try to resolve the issue.
What is a cache?
Each time you access a web page, your web browser stores a temporary copy of the files needed to display the web page to you. Those temporary files are called the browser cache.
If your cache is not updating properly or if it’s stuck, you could be viewing an older version of some of the supporting files that run your Edublogs site.
If you clear the cache, this will force your browser to fetch all of the files for a website again, so you will see the most recent version of the page.
Instructions for clearing your browser cache will be different for each browser and version.
Sometimes your Internet Service Provider may create a cache at the network level. This means that instead of viewing the Edublogs.org web servers for some files, the ISP has created a cache to store files on their network to try to reduce bandwidth costs and also to make loading some web pages faster.
If a network-side cache is causing you trouble you will probably need to wait for it to clear out on its own.
Clearing Cookies
Edublogs requires the use of browser cookies in order for our site to work properly. If you have trouble with your blog make sure you have cookies enabled.
Here are instructions for enabling cookies in each browser:
If you can’t clear out your username/password from showing up in the browser when you try to log in, you may need to clear your Edublogs-specific cookies.
We don’t would not recommend that you clear all browser cookies as that will affect your experience using other websites.
Here are instructions for clearing your cookies in each browser:
Add ons / Extensions
Add-ons, also known as extensions in some web browsers, can improve your browser experience however some add-ons cause some features on websites to not function, load wrongly or display content that you don’t want such as pop-up ads and text enhance ads.
Open your site in an incognito or private window. These windows will not load any cookies, extensions or add-ons you have added to your browser. If fixes incognito or private window fixes the problem then you know the most likely cause is a compatibility issue with an extensions or add-ons.
If you suspect that browser add-ons are affecting your computer, you might want to disable all add-ons and then restart your browser to see if that solves the problem.
Here are instructions for disabling add ons in each browser:
More Troubleshooting
If you are still having trouble, here are a few more things you can try:
- Open your site in an incognito or private window. These windows will not load any cookies, extensions or add-ons you have added to your browser, and this will help determine if any of these are causing your issue.
- Upgrade your browser and Flash Player to the latest version available.
- Make sure Edublogs.org or any of our subdomains are not blocked by your browser. This also applies to your firewall or anti-virus software settings if you have any.
- Try an alternate browser. If it works, then the issue is with the browser settings. Look for troubleshooting tips on your browser’s support documentation.
- Try an alternate computer in the same location. If another computer works, then the issue is computer settings on the first one.
- Try an alternate location that has a different Internet Service Provider. If it works, the issue is with your local network.