Sadly there are many reasons for a web page not being well displayed on your PC.

Computer screens vary hugely and the same page may look very different on
one screen, compared to another.

The aim is to make the page look as good as possible on any screen, so that all of the key information can be seen as soon as the page opens without needing to scroll down or across. 

Here are a few common problems and suggestions to help fix them.

 

• 
  If you can be bothered with the messing about, then at this stage it is worthwhile checking that your screen is in fact set to its best resolution. Exactly how to do this depends on the version of Windows that you have.
  Go to the "control panel" from the "Start" button. It is easiest if you ask for the "Classic view" of the Control Panel.
  Depending on your version of Windows, there will be an Icon called "Display" or "Screen" or "Personalise" or "Customise" Open whichever one you have, then look for "Display Settings" or something similar.
  This will open a Dialogue Box that amongst other things has a means of setting the resolution.
  
  I would very strongly advise against touching anything else in the box. You really have to know what you are doing to mess with some of these settings. Changing the resolution is fine and easily changed back. However, the consequences of changing some of the other settings here, have the capacity to require long expensive hours by a service agent to rectify.
  
  The resolution will probably be set at the highest possible resolution, however, if it is not then make a note of the current setting then increase to maximum. Click OK and then say nyes when asked iuf you really want to do this. Don't worry, you have a note of the previous setting,s so if the increase doesn't help, you can just change back.   Increasing the resolution will have the effect of making things look a little smaller, and sharper. The page may then better fit the screen.
  
  
• Another major problem is that of differing screen shapes as well as just size. Two screens may show exactly the same number of pixels but differ greatly in shape.
  
  As a forinstance , A screen thet displays 1200px wide and 900px high, is displaying 1.08 Megapixels
                        A screen displaying 1500px wide and 720px high is also displaying 1.08 Megapixels.
  
  See the problem ? This can have the effect where all of the screen elements are displayed but they change position relative to each other. This is a problem for the viewer as the page may look messed up.  Unfortunately there is nothing that the viewer can do to help other than radically shrink the screen, but this will be to an un-readable degree so don't bother. What of course actually happens, is that the reader quite rightly just goes to find a better web-site.
  This is a problem down to the chap who wrote the page. ie. Me ! It is my job to do my best to stop this from happening.
  
  

Broken Links.

The absolute bugbear of all those who have anything to do with either reading web-sites or writing them.  As your average Web-Surfer, it is frustrating in the extreme to spend God Knows how long searching for a particular page, to at the final click get "Error Coide 404 this page is not available|" Meaning 90% of the time that the link is broken. Provided that you haven't thrown your pc out of the window in a fit of blind fury, you now have to either find another way to the page avoiding the bust link, Find another similar page or option 3. Give up.

Without wishing to " state the bleeding obvious" - the problem with bust links is that you don't know they are there, unless somebody tells you.  Most readers are narked enough by the dud link, that passing this information back to the Webmaster is the last thing on their mind.

Now us Web-Wonks are not totally dumb and do both keep an eye open for bust links and also use bits of software to help. The trouble is though that some broken links always seem to slip through unnoticed. So I know they are infuriating but if you use the broken link button to let me know I will mend it ASAP.

Quite where the broken links come from always seems a mystery.

 

Apple Computers and ipads.

 

Apple make some fantastic computers and the i-pad is the perfect example of how all computers should be. There are however one or two snags with them.

One of the true joys of using Apple kit is the way that various devices and software to merge so seamlessly together. You ask it to do something and it just happens, instantly. None of the Microsoft crap we are all so familiar with.      "Er well ok, I will get back to you about that. Just wait whilst I start 25 other programmes,  then I can tell you that I have an internal conflict"  Well you know what I mean.

So how did Steve Jobs get around all this?

By making it so that you can only run Apple software on Apple Computers, so it all fits together perfectly.  If they had to work with software from 20 different suppliers, then i-macs would be clunky too. But they don't. That is the big secret !!

Think about it.  If you want music, where do you go?  You go to i-tunes to buy the tracks that you want, which you then download onto your i-pod or your i-pad, or your i-Mac. Then guess what it works perfectly.

This concept is brilliant, but out in the real world people want to do other things as well. When you look at a website what are the best bits ?  The fun bits, the animations the slide shows the clever bits etc.  These are mostly written using "Flash" and to view them properly you need a Flash Player. Most of us have one either embedded in our browser, or downloaded when you first venture onto the internet with a new computer.

The snag is that Apple did not write Flash, and will have nothing to do with it. So far they have held out against allowing Flash to run on Apple pc's or i-pads. 

Now this is a problem. 

There are work-arounds and there are various plug-ins that do the job to a greater or lesser degree.  Sadly though, it is up to the user to get a plug in or do the work arounds, which of course most people don't.

To be fair, the newer i-macs come with a built in plug-in,( by newer this really means after Steve Jobs was able to still have an active part in running the company). Also the latest World Wide Web standards (html5) will effectively make Flash passe anyway, but it will be a good while before we all have that. So between now and then, there are going to be some people who can't view the good bits on many websites. Here is a link to a site where you can download an app that will do the job for you. I can't tell you how good it is as I don't have an i pad to try it out on.  So if someone who gives it a try, would like to let me know how they get on I would be really grateful.  Providing your computer still works that is.