Web Developer FAQ for Gecko-based browsers: Mozilla and Netscape
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No, neither Mozilla (nor Mozilla based browsers such as Netscape) support Layers, even though Netscape 4.x did. This is because Mozilla was designed to comply with web standards. Layers were not part of any established web based standard, and hence are not supported by Mozilla.
A better option would be to use a JavaScript navigation menu which employs object-support detection. Thus, such a script would test whether the browser supports W3c.org standards, or whether it supports proprietary methods (document.all and document.layers) and thus work very well with new standards-compliant browsers, and acceptably with older non-standard compliant ones. An example of such a JavaScript navigation menu can be found at Peter-Paul Koch's JavaScript menu website.
It is also possible to use JavaScript to detect which browser is accessing a page, and thus direct the browser to the appropriate page. Thus, standards compliant content can be served to Mozilla (and other standards compliant browsers), whereas legacy content (with Layers, for example) can be served to legacy browsers (such as Netscape 4.x). For more information check out this article on Gecko compatibility or use this website tune up wizard to ensure your page works in Mozilla based browsers as well as others (e.g. Internet Explorer or Opera). An article on updating legacy content (created for Netscape 4.x or Internet Explorer 4.x) to be standards compliant, maybe be of use too.
It is also possible for Mozilla to use old scripts which use Layers, through an experimental Layers API emulation script , which is available at Netscape Devedge's website.
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Many JavaScript navigation menus (written before 1999) used techniques that worked with Internet Explorer and Netscape 4.x.
This is because they used document.all (which was and still is only supported by Internet Explorer). To provide Netscape 4.x compatibility to such a script, document.layers was used, which remains unsupported by Gecko-based browsers (Netscape 6.x, Netscape 7 PR 1 and Mozilla 1.0).
The short answer to why document.layers is not supported by Gecko-based browsers is that it was a proprietary (non-standard, non W3c.org endorsed) feature, and thus incompatible with the goal to make Gecko standards-compliant. For more information on why document.layers is no longer supported, please check out the previous section " Does Mozilla (or Netscape 6.x) support Layers just as Netscape Navigator 4.x did?".
The good news is that you *can* use a menu system that will work flawlessly in newer Netscape browsers (Netscape 6 and 7) *and* in Internet Explorer 5.5+ and Opera. For more information on such a menu script, with sample code and a detailed explanation, check outPeter-Paul Koch's JavaScript menu website .
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Mozilla.org believes that supporting W3C web standards helps both web creators and visitors.
Web creators benefit by Mozilla's support for standards compliant pages, because having a multi-platform browser which can read such webpages ensures that content can be written once, yet read anywhere: on a Mozilla based browser, or any other standards based browser. If Mozilla were to support platform specific "standards" such as ActiveX, which are only fully supported on the Windows platform, it would go against its cross-platform, "write once, read anywhere" philosophy. The Internet was founded as an open medium, and the creation (and accurate display)of standards compliant webpages ensures that the Internet remains accessible to all, not just those who use a particular operating system or browser.
Website visitors who use Mozilla benefit because they are ensured the same browsing experience, regardless of the operating system they choose. Thus, Macintosh and Linux users no longer have to wait (longer than Windows users) for the latest and best browsing technology. Mozilla is developed by an open community and supports open standards so that the Internet can remain open to all.
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As of July 19, 2002, scripting of both Macromedia Flash and Apple Quicktime 6 works with Gecko-based browsers.
For this kind of plugin scripting to work, you need to make sure you have the latest version of Macromedia Flash or Apple Quicktime 6 *successfully* installed.
Flash 6 r 40 can be downloaded
from here
and Apple Quicktime 6 can
be downloaded from here.
For Flash scripting to work with Mozilla, you need to make sure the "flashplayer.xpt" file is present in your plugins folder (along with Flash dll file which should been copied to this folder by the installer). If this file is not present in your Mozilla plugins folder, you can copy it from the Netscape 7 components folder to your Mozilla plugins folder. Your Netscape 7 components folder is often found here:
C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape 7\components
For more information on these new "scriptability" features, check out this newsgroup message on Google Groups by the Netscape Technology Envangelists team.
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