Member Avatar for CNIDog

I am confused (seems that happens a lot) by the disappearance of flash content on my website when refreshing the browser. The issue ONLY appears in IE (go figure...); I have no issues with Firefox, Safari, or Chrome. If I delete my cache, the site loads correctly; if I subsequently refresh or return to the page, the flash content lives up to its name: it flashes - then it disappears.

Any suggestions on what might cause this anomaly in IE8 would be greatly appreciated. The errant page in question is found at

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A short, practical explanation and next steps based on the thread and the troubleshooting already done by and confirmed by .

Browsers differ in how they handle scripts that write into the document stream. Third‑party opt‑in/advert scripts often use document.write or similar document‑stream operations; if those run after the page has finished parsing they can replace or clear previously parsed nodes (object/embed tags are especially vulnerable). That timing difference is why the symptom showed only in IE. The MDN entry on document.write explains why this is fragile and should generally be avoided: Document.write - MDN.

Concrete actions that fix or avoid the problem:

  • Ask the script provider for a non‑document.write version or an async loader.
  • If you must use that vendor script, include/load it before the Flash markup so it does not run later and rewrite the page.
  • Prefer loading third‑party scripts dynamically (DOM insertion) rather than document.write. Example dynamic loader:
var s = document.createElement('script');
s.src = 'https://example.com/optin.js';
s.async = true;
document.head.appendChild(s);
  • Use a DOM-based Flash embed helper (SWFObject) so the embed is created reliably even if scripts run later: https://github.com/swfobject/swfobject
  • Use IE’s developer tools (F12) or a network inspector to watch which script runs and whether the DOM is rewritten.

Long term: Flash is deprecated and unsupported in modern browsers; plan to migrate interactive content to HTML5/JS (Adobe Flash EOL details): https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html

If the problem persists after trying the above, capture a simple repro (HTML + the third‑party include) and check whether document.open/document.write calls are present, then ask the vendor for an alternative delivery method.

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Member Avatar for JasonHippy

I'm not sure what's causing the problem, but it also occurs in IE7!

I usually use firefox, but I took a peek at the site in IE7 (nice site BTW!) and had exactly the same problem you described in IE8.

The page flashed up and then disappeared and IE showed an error saying that it couldn't load the page..refreshing didn't work..going back/forwards and entering the URL manually didn't work either.

I deleted my cache and reloaded the page and lo and behold it worked...

The only difference I had in IE7 was that afterwards I could refresh the page and navigate away and return to it with no problem. So it only happened the first time for me!

Viewing the source, everything looks more or less ok..I can't see anything obvious in there!
Perhaps it's a bug in IE. It may be worth having a look on the Microsoft site to see if it's a known issue and if there are any workarounds...

Alternatively, perhaps put a front page/intro on your site (one of those 'click here to enter' kinda deals) with a disclaimer stating that the site is best viewed using ANYTHING other than IE, or perhaps more something more constructive like instructing IE users to delete their cache if the site fails to load for them!

Other than that, I'm pretty much out of ideas!

Cheers for now,
Jas.

Member Avatar for CNIDog

I discovered the issue: Aweber's javascript for an opt-in was killing IE. Remming the code didn't help - it had to be deleted completely. I have a tech call in to Aweber to see what the conflict is about.

Member Avatar for CNIDog

--Update--

Placing the Aweber code prior to any Flash content seems to have solved the issue.

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