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Saturday, May 18
   

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Viewing hints

To enhance your experience using the website, here are a few tips.

General:

  • Use the latest version of web browser your computer will support. At this time we recommend the use of the Firefox browser for Windows users (see explanation below). Get the latest versions of Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Use a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher.
  • In Microsoft Internet Explorer set Temporary Internet Files ("cache") setting to "Automatically" or "Every visit to the page" (see more information under Browsers, below)
  • Enable javascripts
  • Enable the printing of background colors and images (see Browsers, below), at least for the Calendar and other features that may not print completely otherwise
  • To read PDF files, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • To read FlashPaper files and play Flash animations, you need Flash player. This is automatically detected and you will be prompted if you need it.

Details:

  • Text size. The site is designed to allow you to adjust the size of most (but not all) of the text on the pages you view.

    Page control: Using the Text Size icons at the top of the left navigation menu, you can adjust the text size by one step smaller and four steps larger than "normal."  At the largest settings, some elements on the page may not line up properly.  At this time, this feature does not work with the Print option and you will need to adjust the size on each page.


    The minus sign reduces the text size, the plus sign increases it, and the "T" option restores the "normal" page settings.

    Browser control:
    • In Mozilla Firefox, go to View / Text Size or use the shortcuts (CTRL+ and CTRL-)
    • In Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to the View menu and set the Text Size larger or smaller to suit your preference. The site is designed to work well at the Medium setting. Note: Internet Explorer 7 has a nice feature that allows you to zoom in or out in the browser window.
    • Other browsers should be similar to one of these approaches. Check your browser's Help if you can't find it.
       
  • Flash Player and Acrobat Reader. Some elements on the site may use Macromedia Flash or Adobe Acrobat. &nsbp;If you browse the web frequently, you probably have the latest versions.  If you are not sure, or are having problems with Flash or PDF content, click on the icons below to get the latest versions.  (Older computers may not be able to upgrade).
     
      reader icon
     
  • Printing. Since printing from web pages can be very frustrating and produce unsatisfactory results, we have provided printer-friendly versions of most pages on the site.

    In order to print all colors and images, some pages (like the Calendar) require that the Print Background option be turned on in your browser.
    • In Firefox, this can be done by going to File / Print Preview, click the PageSetup button and check the "Print Background" option.
    • In Internet Explorer (including version 7), go to Tools / Internet Options. Select the Advanced tab, scroll down to find Printing and check "Print background colors and images"
    • Other browsers should be similar to one of these approaches. Check your browser's Help if you can't find the text size feature.

    NOTE: In Print Preview on both Firefox and Internet Explorer you may notice that text does not appear to wrap properly (similar to what actually happens when printing directly from a web page on most browsers). In our tests, however, the actual printing works fine.

    Are your printouts tall and skinny, and only printing part of the first page? If you're printing from FlashPaper, use the Print icon on the FlashPaper control panel (circled in red here).
    FlashPaper control panel
    Do not     use your browser's print option (File/Print or a printer icon in the browser tools).

  • Browsers. The site is best viewed using the latest version of popular browsers at a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher.  This accomodates the majority of today's computers.  The site is tested against current versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox and Netscape. Reports on Safari (Mac) also indicate compatability.

    Firefox logo We recommend the latest version of the Firefox browser for Windows users (available at mozilla.com). We find it to be the most faithful to web standards. It also handles the loading of images very nicely, so our Photo Viewer application always works smoothly, with a clean transition from image to image. NOTE: While Internet Explorer 7 is now available and has many improvements, this new version still suffers from problems of compatibility with web standards, requiring tweaks to make it produce the desired results. Therefore, we still recommend Firefox.

    Close the browser or go to your browser's home page when you are finished.  If you leave the site open on your browser and come back later, you may find that some options do not work properly.

    Another problem that can make it seem that the site is not working correctly can be a problem in your browser.  Most browsers store copies of website files (called a "cache," or "temporary internet files") on your computer in order to make pages load faster.  That's fine as long as the site doesn't change much, otherwise it can cause problems. First, try hitting the "Refresh button" on the browser.  You can also change the settings to force the browser to check for new files every time the browser starts or every time it accesses a page.  (In Internet Explorer, go to Tools/Options/Temporary Internet Files Settings). &nsp;Do not use a setting of "never" or you're guaranteed to get out of synch!

If you experience problems or have suggestions, please let us know. We hope your experience using the site will be helpful and satisfying.