Jim Barraud

One of the key features of my recently released Wordpress theme, Manifest, is that IE6 is unsupported. This hasn’t been an issue with the vast majority of people using the theme, but there have been a couple of comments and emails asking about IE6 support. I figured I’d clear the air on the subject.

I wanted the process of making my first publicly available theme to be fun. I also wanted to use it as opportunity to use some of the CSS3 (and even CSS2) features that I don’t normally get to use. IE6 was a roadblock to both objectives. There’s been some chatter recently in the web design community about when and how IE6 support should be phased out. Some elect for a more progressive approach, while others elect to drop support entirely. For Manifest, I went with the latter.

If you view a Manifest based site in IE6, you’ll be presented with an unstyled (but completely functional) site with polite message at the top informing your users that they should upgrade their browsers to something more current.

Here’s some common questions/comments when it comes IE6 support.

• A large percentage of my users still use IE6 : Manifest may not be the theme for you. The alternative would be to encourage your users to upgrade to a more modern and secure browser.
• Many people work in offices that still run IE6 : Encourage your employer to upgrade to a more secure browser. Using a browser that’s less susceptible to viruses and hacking is good for your employer. Oh, and get back to work! What are you doing browsing the internets on office time?!
• Will support for IE6 be added to Manifest? : No.

It’s not that IE6 support can’t be added. A good percentage of my day is spent getting complex web applications and ecommerce sites working in IE6. But it’s not a very fulfilling portion of my day. I’m not going to go into detail as to why IE6 is the bane of every web developer, there are plenty of other resources available that go into that. Here are a few:

• Bring Down IE6. A newer initiative.
• DearIE6. Send your regards.
• Browse Happy. Switcher stories.
• To Hell With Bad Browsers. Written eight years ago and still relevant.