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Browser Test

This is a test of your web browser's behaviour. Some browsers, especially older ones, behave in odd ways, and you may want to know if something is not as it should be. We do believe you should be able to access this site with the browser of your choice (and we go to some lengths to make it so), but we cannot test it with all versions of all of them. Furthermore, some browsers are broken, or mis-configured. Please let us know if you experience problems, so that we can fix them. By preference, we recommend you use Mozilla. Now, please scroll down for the tests:

Contents

Caching

Caching is when your web browser does not download a webpage every time you request it, but retrieves a copy from your hard disk instead. This makes the Internet faster, but can cause you to see out-of-date pages. You can always force the browser to fetch the latest version by clicking "Shift-Reload" (or "Shift -Refresh"). Most browsers ought to do The Right Thing by default, and check whether or not a page is meant to be cached. However, some cache pages even when they explicitly instructed not to do so. Since our site is all active/dynamic content (each page is different, every time, and for each person), we tell the browser not to cache it. But some ignore this instruction.

  • The Test:
    1. This page was created at 03:54:25 AM
    2. Wait 3 seconds, Press shift-reload, and see if the time increases.
    3. Wait 3 seconds, click here, and see if the time increases.
    4. It should have increased in both cases. If not, your browser is (wrongly) caching stale, out-of-date pages.

  • The Consequences:
    • When you click on a link, you may sometimes see an previous version of the page, rather than the one you requested.
    • This can be confusing. Eg When you (successfully) log in, and then view the home-page, it will appear that you are not logged in.
    • You may also miss out on confirmation messages in black in the top-right such as "Message sent"
    • The action you intended will be performed. However, you might not see its effect.

  • The Fix:
    • Try changing your cache settings. It will be an option in your web-browser's configuration. Eg: Edit-menu->Preferences->Advanced->Cache, or Tools-menu->Options.
    • Try deleting your cached files (called "temporary internet files" in MS Windows).
    • Try a different web-browser. (We like Mozilla.)
    • Press [shift-]Reload when in doubt. (But be careful not to send messages twice!)

Cookies

Cookies are small files transferred between your browser and the server, which distinguish one web-browser from another. This allows it to know whether "you" are the same person as the person who logged in with "your" username and password a few moments before. (HTTP is stateless). If possible, your browser should accept cookies. However, if you don't, the server will embed your session ID in the URL. This is the "PHPSESSID=8548e6cb3119bddafc6510c17db70b" thing that you might see. Using cookies is neater, however if you do not enable them, it shouldn't matter.

  • The Test:
    • You need to log in to run this test.

  • The Consequences:
    • If you see the "PHPSESSID=8548e6cb3119bddafc6510c17db70b" attached to each link, it's ugly. Also, if you give anyone else that part of the URL (eg by email, or by bookmarking it), they will have access to your account, until you log out. Logging out when you are finished is especially important on a shared computer.

  • The Fix:
    • This is another setting you can configure in your web browser's preferences/options. Choose "Enable cookies".

Javascript

Javascript is a programming language which runs within your web browser. It means that all sorts of clever things are possible; it is also frequently broken!

  • The Test:
    • Does javascript work? The answer is in the square brackets: [ ]

  • The Consequences:
    • Javascript can do some neat things. For example, it allows pop-up windows for online help. Also, we can make the login form quicker, by focusing automatically on the password-field if your email is already known. It also allows for a spell-checker, a rich-text editor, and dynamic font-resizing. However, if JS is not enabled, the site will still work fine.

  • The Fix:
    • This is another setting you can configure in your web browser's preferences/options. Choose "Enable JavaScript".

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

CSS changes the way content is presented. For example, the main colours and fonts of the website are defined in CSS (which means you can switch style if you wish). Virtually all modern browsers (since 2002) support CSS at least quite well.

  • The Test:
    1. Line 1: unstyled text
    2. Line 2: with CSS styling applied.
    3. If the two lines above look very different from each other, CSS is working fine.

  • The Consequences:
    • Broken CSS support will make things look somewhat ugly. That's the worst that can happen.

  • The Fix:
    • The best CSS support is provided in Firefox, Konqueror and Opera. Internet Explorer is poorer. However, we still use a tables-based layout, so nothing will break if you don't have perfect CSS. (Whether you actually *like* our CSS is a matter of taste - feedback is encouraged!)

AJAX

AJAX ("Asynchronous Javascript And XML") is a use of Javascript to change web-pages on the fly. It's very clever indeed: it allows a web-page to feel 'local' and you don't have to keep pressing "Submit" on forms. A great example is Google Maps.

  • The Test:
    1. Click this link: Click Me! and watch what happens.
    2. If AJAX is working, the current time will appear between these brackets: [] and it will update every time you press the 'Click Me!' link.
      This works without having to reload the entire webpage! Note how fast this is, and that the webpage doesn't "flicker" as it reloads.
    3. If AJAX isn't working, nothing at all will change.

  • The Consequences:
    • If AJAX is not enabled, the site will still work fine. Some minor features may be missing, or slower. For example, we use AJAX to enable message-flagging (on the read message page), but this will fall back to an ordinary (slower) page-load if you don't have AJAX support.

  • The Fix:
    • You need to have Javascript enabled for AJAX to work. If it still doesn't work, it could well be our fault - please tell Cupid that you found a bug!

Email

You need email to receive system notifications from us.

  • The Test:
    1. Using your normal email program, send yourself an email to your normal address. This tests your outgoing and incoming mail servers.
    2. [If you log in, another test will appear here.]
    3. Use the Tell a Friend system to recommend us to yourself. Check whether the email arrives. This tests our outgoing email server.
    4. If you use a spam filter, check that it isn't over-zealously 'eating' your messages (i.e. false-positives), and that they don't get filtered into your spam folder automatically.
    5. Do wait at least 5 minutes before concluding there is a problem. Email is usually almost instant, but it can sometimes be sluggish.

  • The Consequences:
    • If you can't get email from us, you'll miss out on notifications of new messages waiting for you. You also won't be able to retrieve your password if you forget it. And Cupid will get lots of annoying bounce messages.

  • The Fix:
    • This depends on what is wrong. You should get some error message in most cases.
    • If this site gives you a great big error message in red, asking you to contact Cupid, please actually do this (most people don't, so we don't find out for ages!)
    • If you still need help, please ask.

Frames

Frames allow you to embed part of one webpage inside another.

  • The Test:
    1. Look at the line below this one.
    2. <b><font color="#CC0000">Sorry, frames aren't working</font></b>
    3. Did it work? You should either see a Green "this is a frame" message, or a red "sorry, frames don't work" message.

  • The Consequences:
    • We only use frames in one place: the Autocheck page. Without frames, it won't work at all well.

  • The Fix:
    • Virtually all web browsers support frames; it's *highly* unlikely that this is broken!

Java

Java is an advanced (over-complex! ) programming language for writing graphical interfaces.

  • The Test:
    1. To launch the Java applet test, click here.

  • The Consequences:
    • Our Real-time chat system relies on Java for the GUI. There is an alternative: you can chat using the telnet interface.
    • Java is also used to provide the beep in the Auto check page, when you have new messages. You may not get beeped-at (but you'll still get the dialog-box, and colour-change).

  • The Fix:
    • You might simply have Java disabled in your browser preferences. If so, turn it back on.
    • If your web browser gives you a message saying you need to install the Java plugin, then please do so. You can get it from Sun.
    • If you see just a grey background inside the box, it may be that Java is taking some time to start. Please allow up to 30 seconds on slower computers.
    • If you need further help on installing the Java plugin, this depends on your web browser and operating system. The best place to look is probably Google.


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