Comments on: Contribute Fridays: How Do You Keep Your Sanity Amongst Web Bugs?

By: Tony

Tony — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:14:30 +0000

What I find most annoying is having a page displaying perfectly in 2 or 3 browsers, only to have it look ridiculous in another!!

Whenever I hit bugs with no obvious solution, I tend to make a copy of the page to rip apart. I will remove code and see whether the bug persists. If it does then I remove more. Eventually the error emerges.

I agree with taking a break when you get stuck.

Apparently, we as humans can’t hold our concentration at high levels for any great length of time. I think regular short breaks are beneficial as apposed to less regular long breaks. Even if you have not hit a nasty bug!!

By: Diane

Diane — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:19:36 +0000

I’m a bit more dogmatic about it.. stubborn really, I will NOT let a stupid browser beat me.. I will wrestle it into submission!

I have multiple tools that I use to see what’s going on and since I have to make sites work in IE6 (corporate stupidity in refusing to upgrade!) I have more than one. I also know what most of IE’s stupid tricks are, so I don’t run into a problem I can’t beat all that often.

Have to agree though, sometimes you absolutely have to walk away and clear your mind, then go back at it.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:58:16 +0000

As a webmaster of a big ecommerce its really a hard job. I have to make sure bugs rarely occur because I also take pictures, supply customer service, watch analytics, email (html), working on graphics, and always watching the SEO.

When there is a bug I react the same way, but I have multiple jobs to do so I just get myself involved in another project and come back to it later. Lucky I haven’t had any major bugs lately!.

By: Colin McCormick

Colin McCormick — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:36:50 +0000

I agree, walking away and coming back to the problem usually lets you spot errors a lot quicker than you would if you just sat there and stared at the screen.

Sometimes I also find it helps if I try and explain the problem to someone who doesn’t know anything about it. It’s usually a good method for spotting silly mistakes I’ve made.