The Goodwins

Several have reported problems reaching our site.  After searching the Internet for potential issues it looks like this may be related to Internet Explorer (”IE”) upgrades and/or the proper rendering of flash related to certain versions of the flash plugins keep flash from being rendered correctly in IE version 8 (IE8) and sometimes in IE version 7 (IE7).  Therefore I removed most of the “features” from the site that use Flash.  I’ve also learned (thanks to google) that IE8 has issues that can cause not only the program to crash but the entire computer when certain sites are reached.

I’ve change our site so that when someone reaches it, it will be “rendered” in the “old” IE7 method by using the wordpress plugin IE7 Compatibility Plugin 1.0 on this site.

If you have IE version 8 (IE8) (the latest and “greatest”) and are experiencing such crashes at other sites check out this link.  Force IE8 To Load and Display Websites in IE7 Compatibility View Mode.

Finally, I recommend to folks on Window PCs (non-Macs) to consider using Firefox.  It’s available for download at http://getfirefox.com.  I’ve used it for years and find it more stable and secure than Internet Explorer, and due to all of the available free “add ons” can provide greater functionality that IE7 or IE8.

Finally, if you are STILL having trouble with our site, my apologies (although I realize that if you are reading this, you’re not having troubles right now, but in case the troubles are intermittent or those without troubles can forward you this I’m putting this up here.)  If you would please email the following information when it happens, I may be able to solve the issue:

1. Approximate date and time it happened.
2. What Operating System (OS) you are using (e.g. Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OS 10, etc) (if you know)
3. What browser you are using (I’m assuming Internet Explorer if it’s crashing).  To find the version of Internet Explorer it can be found under the “Help” menu at the top of the browser.  Go to the “About Internet Explorer” and select it.  A window should pop up that tells you what version of IE you are using.  I just need the first number (e.g. 6, 7, or 8).  Don’t worry about the plethora of numbers after it.

Thanks!

Kirk

I’ve changed the appearance of the website a bit. Hopefully I didn’t break anything in the process.

We’re currently using WordPress 2.5 and I wanted to take advantage of the widgets so I switched over to a newer “theme” and have modified to look more like our old one. The main difference will be sidebars on both sides.

Let me know what you think!

I’m just heading off to give Ella her 1:00 AM medicine, it sure hard to get her to take it. It’s amazing how strong she is and how she can actually get her feet up to her mouth to try to get the medicine away from her!