Why Does My Website Look Weird On Other Computers?

Probably because you didn't check it against different web browsers and computers when you built it. Or, if you had it built for you, your designer failed to check it on other browsers and computers. Building websites is still an art, not a science and a lot can and will go wrong between the plans and the finished product. And the product isn't finished until it's been reviewed on different browsers and computers (There! Have I repeated myself enough here?)

The term web browser (and I apologize if I'm telling you stuff you already know) refers to the computer program that seeks-out and renders your site on a computer monitor. Internet Explorer by Microsoft is by far the most popular, but Safari by Apple and Firefox--an open-source browser--have lots of fans too; and recently Google entered the lists with its browser, Chrome. Every one of these browsers renders a program a little bit differently no matter how hard you or your designer worked to make it perfect and immutable. This difference may amount to as little as a tiny distance between lines of text; but in some instances the difference may include the complete loss of your text.

And if the difference in browsers isn't enough of a problem for designers to deal with, individual computers can bring your site to grief too; some might not have enough memory for your images or your video, some with wide-screen monitors might stretch-out and deform everything if your code allows it There isn't much you can do about computers with too little memory but the deformities can be provided for in the code--if you're aware of it. Which you won't be if you haven't taken the trouble to view it on other browsers and computers!

Don't just do this when your site first goes online; It's a good idea to review you site every time you make a change to your code. Again, those small changes can be magnified by the different browsers and computers.

Every browser and every computer renders your site a bit differently. Usually the difference is hardly noticeable; a slight difference in the height of a line perhaps. In some cases, however, it may mean the difference between a website that looks great to you on your computer and completely unprofessional to almost everyone else on theirs.