Erratic NavBar & 'dropdown' Menu Behaviour In Internet Explorer

Hi,
I have searched TG for threads related to such problems and, indeed, found a few but not quite sure I ever saw a definitive solution. Please feel free to direct me to the appropriate thread in case I missed it.

My problem is the erratic behaviour of the Navigation Bar created by WD6 when viewed in Internet Explorer (I'm currently using IE8). No such issues with either Google Chrome or Firefox.

What am I seeing?
1) Drop down menus sometimes 'drop' upon mouse over, sometimes (usually after a second or subsequent 'pass' over the button) require a single click in order to make the drop down menu appear
2) The moment you move off the NavBar to try and select a dropdown option, the dropdown menu disappears. It sometimes takes a lot of tries to actually select a menu option. Not good if the User is easily frustrated and potentially bad for business!

What have I tried? Well, I'm not technically skilled enough to dive into the code, so I've been limited to;
1) trying slower animation - hoping it would be 'slower to disappear' too. Sadly not!
2) switching on IE "Compatibility View"
3) providing some Technical FAQs via the site to try and assist Users.

None of which is solving the root problem.

"Compatibility View" may have helped but only slightly. It is noticeable that there is a 'gap' between the NavBar and the dropdown menu that disappears when "Compatibility View" is switched on. Not sure if this closer positioning to the NavBar helps the cursor to 'catch' the dropdown menu before it disappears but that's about the only difference I can see.

Take a look at the Ride Thailand Holidays site to see what I mean.

I really need to get this fixed if I can and I just hope that someone in TG Land has the technology to do so. I'm not comfortable that the majority of Users are probably on IE and will be failing to access the site - it could all mean lost business for my Client.

All suggestions will be very gratefully received.

Many Thanks in advance and my fingers are firmly crossed on this one!

Best Regards


TD

This looks like a problem caused by something inserted within the web page conflicting with the menus. Begin by removing the google translate. Does the problem still occur?

bb2 might be onto something TD, I recall Google Maps code messing up menus in another xara users web site some time ago.

bb2 and sledger,
thanks for the 'heads up' on these guys. I will investigate and report my findings.

I am using Google Translate, Maps and Calendars as part of this site at present so I suppose any one of them could be the culprit. It's amazing (and typical, I suppose) that only IE should be affected though.. Chrome, Firefox, Opera & Safari are all good AFAIK.

Thanks again and Best Regards


TD

IE might be popular amongst users (mostly because it comes with Windows and is well, just there) but it's a universal PITA for web developers.

Steve, can you take a look at this thread ? Problem with my nav bar in IE8... Seems related to this thread.

Hi, the problem definately occurs when the google translate widget is present. It affects the position of the sub menus and therefore makes them difficult to select. Im unsure what to suggest as a workaround to this problem at present and have logged a bug accordingly

The Google translate widget never caused any trouble on my computer...

In the google script there is a <div id="google_translate_element"></div> shouldn't this be wrapped around the script? Perhaps IE doesn't know what to do with empty div's.

It is definitely the Google Translate that is doing this on this member's site. I worked on it for him and with it removed his navbar works. I ran into a similar issue myself with a Webstyle4 .js navbar, a java script slideshow, and an embeded video in a WD5 web site. Too many <script> running( improperly written? )caused conflict in IE. I am sure a much more experienced web designer could tweak the codes to make it all work but it was beyond me.

Just like on this member's site mine worked fine in FF but not IE. On his site it caused performance issues with the navbar whereas on mine it just wiped out 2 of the 3 things mentioned. I could not get all 3 to work properly at the same time. I could get the video and then either the navbar or the sldieshow to work but never all 3 at the same time. I finally solved it by using a flash(.swf) slideshow thanks to Sledger's suggestion.

FWIW when I add the Google Translate code to that site of mine it wipes out those 3 things completely. Even the video and flash(.swf) slideshow???

Hi All,
I agree with gsthunder. My own investigations today started with Google Translate (GT) because it was present on every page and "Voila!" - the problem went away when GT was removed. It's amazing that all other browsers seem to cope but IE doesn't. However, the evidence is clear. GT is definitely the culprit as far as my own particular problems are concerned.

I have republished the site without GT now and all seems to be behaving nicely. Hence, I breathe a sigh of relief and my Client is happy to have the site functioning at the expense of the language translation..

I would just like to thank everyone for their support and assistance with this issue. Without your supicions re: Google related products, I might have been struggling for some time with this. I truly appreciate the time and effort everyone has made to help.

Very Best Regards


TD

PS: gsthunder, I have left you a personal message on the 'related thread'. Big thanks to you, my friend, for all your time, help and comments re: the site.
:-)

bb2,
I forgot to ask, where did you log the bug report? I'm assuming with Google? Id be interested to follow this up, as in the event that the problem does lie with them and is resolved, I'd want to re-insert GT into my site. Can you please advise how I might go about such follow-up?

Many Thanks & Best Regards


TD

Hi the bug has been logged with Xara. Id recommend submitting a support ticket and the support team can advise you of the status of the bug once the problem has been investigated.

I havent tried this widget myself but microsoft provide a translation widget. Please see http://www.microsofttranslator.com/widget/

Perhaps this provides a suitable workaround for now.

I came across another widget http://free-website-translation.com/.
It works with a drop down menu in IE8.

Hi jamesd & bb2,
thanks for your responses and suggestions re: alternatives to GT. I'll investigate and may implement appropriately.

Hava gr8 day & Best Regards!


TD