Displaying older websites that require IE7 using IE8

Background

This wiki page is meant to help the econveyance community with the issue of older websites requiring older browsers such as IE7 or older. This requirement prevents certain users of econveyance upgrading to a modern browser such as IE8, Firefox 3.x or Google Chrome. This limits the user experience while using econveyance because the system makes use of the most modern web standards. (NOTE: We recommend users keep their browsers up-to-date to have the best user experience in econveyance.)

We have heard from users that because of this limitation they feel they are forced to choose between using econveyance or using the older website that requires the older browser. However older website and econveyance do not have to be mutually exclusive. There is a way to have the best of both worlds.

 How can I view both old and new websites from the same browser?

The solution is to use IE8 for your day-to-day web activities and use the Compatibility View in IE8 for older website. This way you can stay in one browser for all your web activities.

 Sounds good, what do I need?

You will need IE8. So if you are currently using IE7 you need to first upgrade to IE8. Follow the instructions here on how to do that.

 How to turn on Compatibility View in IE8?

When visiting an older website using IE8, you can turn on Compatibility View by going to the "Tools" menu and selecting "Compatibility View".

 You should see a message telling you that the website is now displaying in Compatibility View. 

How to tell IE8 to turn on "Compatibility View" automatically for certain site?

There is an easy way to get IE8 to remember which website should be viewed using compatibity view. Go to the "Tools" menu and select "Compatibility View Setting". You will see the "Compatibility View Settings" window.

• Enter the address of the website that requires compatibility view.
• Click "Add"
• Click "Close". 

Next time you visit this website(s), IE8 will display it as though you are using IE7.

NOTE: The contain of this wiki page are based on information from Microsoft Support and MSDN blog. Please refer to these sites for additional details.