Use the Check Browser action to send visitors to different pages depending on their browser brands and versions. For example, you might want users to go to one page if they have Netscape Navigator 4.0 or later, to go to another page if they have Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, and to stay on the current page if they have any other kind of browser.
It's useful to attach this behavior to the BODY tag of a page that is compatible with practically any browser (and that does not use any other JavaScript); this way, visitors who come to the page with JavaScript turned off will still see something.
Another option is to attach this behavior to a nowhere link (A tag) and have the action determine to which page the link goes based on the visitor's browser brand and version.
To use the Check Browser action:
| 1 | Follow steps 1 through 3 of the procedure in Attaching a behavior. |
| 2 | Select Check Browser from the Actions pop-up menu. |
| 3 | Determine how you want to separate your visitors: by browser brand, by browser version, or both. |
| For example, do you want everyone with a 4.0 browser to see one page, and all others to see a different page? Do you want Netscape Navigator users to see one page and Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) users to see another? Or perhaps you want users with Navigator 4.0 and IE 4.0 to see one page, users with Navigator 2.0 or 3.0 to see another page, and users with IE 3.0 or some other browser to stay where they are. | |
| 4 | Specify a version of Netscape Navigator. |
| 5 | In the adjacent pop-up menus, choose options for what to do if the browser is the version you specified or later and what to do otherwise. |
| The options are Go to URL, Go to Alt URL, and Stay on This Page. | |
| 6 | Specify a version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. |
| 7 | In the adjacent pop-up menus, choose options for what to do if the browser is the version you specified or later and what to do otherwise. |
| The options are Go to URL, Go to Alt URL, and Stay on This Page. | |
| 8 | Choose an option from the Other Browsers pop-up menu to specify what to do if the browser is neither Netscape Navigator nor Microsoft Internet Explorer. |
| Stay on This Page is the best option for browsers other than Navigator and IE because most do not support JavaScript—and if they cannot read this behavior, they will stay on the page anyway. | |
| 9 | Enter the paths and file names of the URL and the alternate URL in the text fields at the bottom of the dialog box. |
| 10 | Click OK. |
| 11 | Check that the default event is the one you want. |
| If it isn't, select another event from the pop-up menu. If the events you want are not listed, change the target browser in the Events For pop-up menu. Remember that the purpose of this behavior is to check for different browser versions, so it's best to choose an event that works on both 3.0 and 4.0 browsers. | |
|