"Switch Browser" website to link to?

Instead of having the statement "Best viewed on a standards compliant browser" which will show up in all browsers, have you considered using conditional comments to let you target IE specifically. There's no point pointing people who already use 'standards compliant browsers' to a page which tells them about them.

I'd suggest just introducing a div which will, or will not, show depending on the browser, which says what you want and links to Firefox, Safari, Opera, and or Chrome.

If you want to be IE version specific, make several.

For example, for IE 7 & 8, just say something like "You are using a browser produced by Microsoft. Microsoft refuse to adhere to the w3c web standards guidelines which aim to improve the web experience for everyone, everywhere. Why not upgrade to one of these standards complaint, FREE, alternatives: Firefox, Safari, Opera, and or Chrome"

And for IE6 something like "You are using a browser which is over 8 years old. This presents a security risk and will degrade your experience on the web. Why not upgrade to one of these up-to-date, FREE, alternatives: Firefox, Safari, Opera, and or Chrome. If you're bound to IE6 by your IT department, ask them why... And ask them to catch up!"

Etc etc...

If you're not familiar with IE conditional comments, give it a google and / or don't be afraid to ask!

Hope that helps!

/Doug

 

www.BrowseHappy.com is a website I often promote when urging someone to switch to a compliant browser like Firefox, Safari, Chrome, etc.

Good luck and keep fighting the good fight!

 

I created my own page to explain to people why they should update their browser. It's only for IE<=6 though so doesn't address your need directly. I use it very sparingly right now as I don't really like blocking users. Below is my No IE page for reference, but I don't suggest linking to it, it's just for reference as to what you may put on a custom page for your site to direct people to.

www DOT angelwatt.com/no_ie.php

 

While I can't say I agree with your stance of not supporting any versions of IE (seems like your shooting yourself in the foot and/or being lazy), but I have used this IE6 upgrade message before: http://code.google.com/p/ie6-upgrade-warning/

With some tweaking I'm sure you could block out all versions of IE and remove the IE 7-8 recommendations for it.

However, before you go and block all versions of IE I would consider using a css reset when starting a new project and building from the ground up. I've personally found my IE related headaches have gone down a ton since I started it on all my sites.

 

Agreeing with previous posts, do not neglect conditional comments and extra CSS tweaks because certain browsers are "outdated." This is a major sign of laziness and unwillingness to accept the reality that people still use old browsers.

If any visitor is using an older version of any major web browser, I feel it's the responsibility of every web designer to create extra stylesheets referenced to by conditional comments in order to create a website that, when rendered in an older browser, looks as close to the "ideal" look and feel as possible.

If there are any special effects on text or other elements in your web design that just can not be reproduced, repackaged, or recreated for older browsers, you can at least create a look that is the nearest neighbor to the ideal look.

Once this has been accomplished, I see no harm in using the same scripts and conditions to display a friendly "Browse Happy" button in the footer...

 

I disagree. If we do that, some people will never upgrade their browser.
It's hard enough to convince people not to use IE6.

 

There are several groups that still use IE6 and I'm in one of them at the moment (I'd use Firefox if I could)

My workplace uses IE6 and we are not allowed to install any software. There are lots of others in the same situation - the Ministry of Defence in the UK for instance.
Then there are those who are happy (yeah, I know) with IE6 and whatever OS they are using and see no reason to get on the never ending carousel of upgrades.

Quite often people who aren't tech savvy don't realise that there are other browsers or if they do then are afraid that they will lose favourites and the like.

One way to handle things is really just to make the site work IE6 at a basic level and use progressive enhancement for everyone else.

Something I saw, I think from Eric Meyer, was that you should expect to support a browser until five years after its replacement is released. IE7 was released in Oct 2005(?) so have your announcement stating something like:

"This site will cease to support IE6 in October 2010. The site will still work but bugs seen only in IE6 will not be fixed nor will site enhancements be tested in that browser. If you are able to upgrade your browser then we recommend that you do so, preferably to one of Firefox, Opera, Safari or Chrome any of which will give you the richer experience we wish to provide."

Or something like that