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Question

Websites don't show norwegian special characters

Sep 22, 2014 6:18PM PDT

I'm using Windows 7 Pro Sp 1.
Using both Internet Explorer 11.0.9600 and latest version of Google Chrome, some webpages show up different than earlier. To me it seems that something has happened with the font set.
For instance Facebook.com won't show the Norwegian special characters. Also when typing text on Facebook these characters wont show when typing - but looking at the status from another source the letters has been saved.
It's not only Facebook.com I have this problem. I would say its about 50% of all of my regular visited websites that gives me this problem.
It also looks like the font displayed on the site has been changed - it looks like the font has become thinner and weak.
Really hope someone has a solution to this problem.

I also noticed when I turn visual editor off (when typing this message) the norwegian characters dissapear...

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Re: fonts
Sep 22, 2014 6:23PM PDT

That's a rather difficult problem. To start solving it, I'd do a comparison of browser settings between your PC and a PC where it functions normally with the same versions of the same software. An important item to check is (in IE) View>Characterset for such a page.

Also, does it make a difference if you use Compatibility Mode for such sites?

Kees

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Answer
A lot of sites
Sep 22, 2014 10:50PM PDT

A lot of sites, including CNet, now try and force a specific font on you. I just configure Firefox to ignore it and on CNet I used NoScript to block the fonts.cnet.com domain along with all the advertising garbage. It seems like web developers today seem to forget some of the prime lessons of the web and how HTML was intended to be able to reflow the page based on resolution. These days developers have to spend so much time dealing with quirks in the way other browsers render things (the primary culprit being older versions of IE) they just develop a site using a specific resolution and then use absolute positioning. So if you're using a lower resolution, like a phone, you get a bunch of side scrolling. If you're using a higher resolution you get massive margin borders on the left and right.

Anyway, I know IE8 will let you at least ignore any font settings on a website. The function is buried in the accessibility settings. It doesn't let you specify what font you want to use as a replacement, just using whatever the system font is for serif and sans serif. I don't know if this is possible at all with Chrome, presumably it is, but someone else will have to help you find it. Firefox not only lets you ignore those settings, but choose the font and size you want to override it with. You can even set a minimum font size for those idjits who are obsessed with putting everything in 8pt font.

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Answer
A few ideas.
Sep 23, 2014 12:43AM PDT
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Answer
change the "encoding"
Sep 23, 2014 11:14AM PDT

try UTF-8 first