The Scenario
When designing a website for a right to left (RTL) language the scrollbar should automatically be on the left hand side. The logic is that it should be at the end of the line, just as it is on the right for a left to right (LTR) language. This works fine in IE, but Firefox will always show the scrollbar on the right.
The Cause
Unfortunately this is by design. Firefox believes that the scrollbar is part of the browser, not the webpage and so by default a website should not have the ability to override the user’s settings. IE believes the scrollbar is not part of the browser but part of the page. Therefore, if a page is RTL the scrollbar should be on the left.
The Solution
This can be fixed on an individual instance of Firefox.
- Open Firefox
- Navigate to about:config
- Set the filter to layout.scrollbar.side
- Double click the layout.scrollbar.side line
- Change the setting to 1 and click OK
Now Firefox will behave like IE and show the scrollbar on which ever side the page dictates. Unfortunately, this will not help any of your users. The best solution to assure your RTL website displays the scrollbar on the correct side is to use a third party customizable scrollbar, such as jQuery Scrollbar or jScrollPane.
What is WUMP?
After a frantic call from a client who found her site was down due to a server issue, I decided I needed a way to regularly monitor the sites I consult for. WUMP, the Website Uptime Monitor Program, is the resulting solution. Written in C# 2008, WUMP is made up of three projects.
- AutoWump – A windows service to control the automated WUMPing, or testing, of sites
- SledgeHammer – A class library that does the actual work
- wump – A Windows application for customizing the settings, starting and stopping the AutoWump, and running manual tests.
Features:
- Automatically monitor the status of multiple websites at a set interval
- Manually check the status of multiple websites
- Test site statuses without affecting Google Analytics
- Maintain a log of test results
- Send an email alert if a test fails
How WUMP works:
In order to test the site without affecting the Google Analytics add a file to the root path of the site. The name of the file is configurable. By default it should be named “wump.html”. The file can simply be an empty page:
<html>
<head>
<title>WUMP</title>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html> |
When a site is WUMPed, the program attempts to download the target file. If it encounters an error the test fails. A log is kept of all test results in a text file, by default “c:\wump.log”. In the event of a failed test result WUMP has the ability to send an email via SMTP.
Where to get WUMP:
WUMP is available as an open source project on CodePlex here: http://wump.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Home&ProjectName=wump.