Compatibility Preferences  
 

Need to pretend you're using a different browser? Use the Compatibility Preference pane to claim you're someone else. Or don't, and let the world know that you're proud to be running OmniWeb.

Some sites explicitly check the name of the browser you’re using when you first come to visit their site. If it doesn’t match one of the browsers that they’ve approved for use on the site, they’ll actually block you from visiting.

What they’re really trying to do is be sure that when you visit their site, you’re seeing things the way they want you to see them. You can design your site to ask the browser about specific features that you need and then make a decision on that basis, but a lot of designers take the shortcut of figuring out which of the big browsers work the way they want, and just ask for those. Not as flexible, but it works more often than it doesn’t, and for some folks, that’s enough.

The Compatibility Pane allows you to choose both what to tell HTTP servers you are, for obtaining general web content, and specifically what to say you are when a JavaScript asks, since sometimes the server isn't the problem at all. In both cases, you can choose from a pull-down menu of settings we've predefined and found useful, or you can type in your own favorite strings by choosing "Other...".

Helpful hint: If you find in your browsing that a specific site calls for a browser other than what you have set up, and you change the settings in this panel, you may need to exit the site completely and begin again for the "browser change" to appear to take effect.

Related Topics
Using the Preferences window

Table of Contents: Customizing OmniWeb
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