Page Loading Problems (continued)

So I've ruled out firewall/content protection and I now think it's an IE issue with some of the script on my page that is causing this page load issue. The reason is I can't replicate the problem and the one browser I don't use is IE.

I'd love it if you call can let me know if you can replicate the page load issue in IE and if you experience it with any other browsers.

Comments

[Gerald Buckley]

Fred - Safari, Camnino and Firefox all working fine with your site this morning. Also, your RSS is coming in loud and clear.

I did notice in the Camino status bar as your blog loaded - you have a lot of 3rd party calls (deli.cio.us,last.fm, etc). Maybe one of those is getting in your brothers way? Could be some popup blocker or firewall issue on HIS end. Hate to recommend he turn his firewall and popup blockers off for a moment to test it out... But, it might point out where the problem is.

[Jackson]

Gotta be IE, as soon as I found a machine with Firefox I was golden.

[Lance Weatherby]

Just replicated with XP IE 6.0.

"Error in page" error in the lower status bar.

IE then locked up.

Rinsed and repeated with the same result.

IE error messages:

WERe768dir00\iexplore.exe.dmp
WERe768dire00\appcomp.at.txt

Page is paritally loaded with the left column mostly presented. Perhaps a recent change a right column widget.

[Lance Weatherby]

Just replicated with XP IE 6.0.

"Error in page" error in the lower status bar.

IE then locked up.

Rinsed and repeated with the same result.

IE error messages:

WERe768dir00\iexplore.exe.dmp
WERe768dire00\appcomp.at.txt

Page is paritally loaded with the left column mostly presented.

[Rogel]

Fred,
I tried to access your blog with IE from two different computers and the side is not being loaded.
It is "Stuck" right before presenting the actual content (i.e. I can see the left side bar)
I hope it helps

[Rick]

I think it's cocomment. Nothing loads below that line under the "cocomment" text.

[jim parker]

I concur. It appears to be the cocomment widget - I've seen the same problem on another site. IE6 just hangs.
Though the page loads ok with my treo browser. jim

[Bill Erickson]

I stuck this page into browsercam to see if it really is a browser problem:

http://www.browsercam.com/public.aspx?proj_id=272318

I don't know if they have a problem with Firefox 1.5 or if it's your site, but it seems to be messed up in all FF1.5 (Linux, Mac OSX, Windows...).

It also had a problem with IE 4.0 on Win98 and IE7 on XP.

And it looks like opera had trouble loading the comments (Opera 9 on Linux on first page, Opera 9 on Windows XP on last page).

[Will Golden]

I have had the exact same results on IE v 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519CO as the previous comment from someone else copied below, I'm also now viewing with firefox:

works fine with FF but not with IE as you've noticed. The error message in IE is:
"offsetLeft is null or not an object"
Line:518
On the page, last printed section is the header of cocomment (may not mean anything)

Hope this helps,

Berkay

Posted by: Berkay Mollamustafaoglu | Jul 28, 2006 8:30:43 AM

[Steve Parker]

Yes, I also get the javascript error in IE: "offsetLeft is null or not an object"

I looked in the different js files to find this var offsetLeft, and it was nowhere to be found.

I agree with other commenters - take out cocomment and see what happens.

-steve

[nicolasd]

Hello, I'm Nicolas from coComment.
We just investigated to see if the problem can be on our side. The results I got from 2 different internal developpers plus my personal tests is that it's not coComment's fault. Bad luck the page visually stops to load after the coComment header, but we are confinded to say that errors don't come from our side. The only script which comes from coComment is this one: http://www.cocomment.com/mybox-js/fredwilson/1 . It just contains simple document.write js statements to display comments from Fred; apparently nothing to do with mentionned errors in the console: "offsetLeft is null or not an object". We will continue to investigate but I think we cannot directly help on our side.
Hope this helps, Nicolas

[Al]

The best way to find out if it is cocomment or not is to comment out the cocomment module (try saying that line when you are drunk) and retest...

my gut feeling is that for some reason IE is having a hard time outputting that script.

Probably not a cocomment problem and more likely an IE problem...cos it works fine on FF

Namaste

Al

[Altay]

Fred-

The problem -- or, at least one problem -- seems to be related to your oddcast avatar thingy.

IE blows up on that error about offsetLeft that other people have mentioned.

And that bug is in this javascript function:

function AnchorPosition_getPageOffsetLeft (el) {
var ol=el.offsetLeft;
while ((el=el.offsetParent) != null) { ol += el.offsetLeft; }
return ol;
}

Which comes from a javascript file served from vhost.oddcast.com.

In fact, Firefox also gives this error -- up to 60 times, I've noticed, apparently because it keeps trying to run that code over and over. But apparently Firefox is happy to fail silently.

So I'd talk to Oddcast. Or just get rid of that widget completely. Frankly, it kinda creeps me out. =P

(Btw, Firebug is a GREAT debugging extension for Firefox.)

[John Besemer]

Fred,

There is an extension called "IE Tab" for Firefox that allows it to use IE's rendering engine (temporarily or all the time for a specific site). You might find it useful in the future.

Your page seems to work fine (for me) with both rendering engines right now, but the avatar thing that appeared to be problematic is not present right now.

[Altay Guvench]

John, I'm pretty sure the IE Tab extension only works with Windows. You have to have IE in the first place.

The avatar not being present at all seems to be a different problem. It looks like the Oddcast widget doesn't appear on any permalink (comment) pages. This seems to be because that buggy file -- which defines the function that initializes the avatar -- doesn't get loaded in the first place.

This gives a different error, albeit a less debilitating one.

Ok, enough of this... I should be debugging my OWN code!

[Jim Parker]

FYI - AVC loads fine now (though no content under cocomment header) in IE6.

And my buddy's site that also has cocomment still hangs IE6 just before rendering the cocomment widget.

[mousebear]

I am a newbie, but I was searching to find an answer to a problem I'm having, and I'm thinking my problem might possibly be your problem too.

I am using a very similar function to yours, also in IE(7):

AnchorPosition_getPageOffsetLeft (el) {
var ol=el.offsetLeft;
while ((el=el.offsetParent) != null) { ol += el.offsetLeft; }
return ol;
}

I have 3 nested DIV's:
The top div gives an offsetLeft of 256.
The child div of this gives an offsetLeft of 0.
The child div of this gives an offsetLeft of 256.

So the result of this function gives me an offsetLeft of 512, double what the function was intended to return. The problem I'm having is that I am subtracting the upperLeft of this DIV from a mouse position, and because the upperLeft is too large, it is giving me a negative location (offscreen). I think this is why I'm getting my error. Maybe you too?

I was hoping I could find a cross-browser way to find the upperLeft corner of an element, rather than just ignore the parent offsets. BTW, if the 3rd DIV is ignoring the offsets of its parents, how come the 2nd Div is generating a zero offset (which would seem to be correct in this case, since it sits right under its parent)?