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I've created a website that displays correctly in all browsers including IE8 when viewed from my local server i.e. http://localhost

However when I view the website from another machine, http://pc5008 for example, IE8 goes into what seems like compatibility mode and looks terrible.

Extra Info
When viewed from the localhost IE8 gives an option to view in compatibility mode. If I choose this option it looks the same as when viewed on the non-localhost i.e. terrible.

When viewed on the non-localhost IE8 doesn't show the option to view in compatibility mode. (compatibility mode under Tools is greyed out)

Also, everything validates as XHTML 1.0 Strict.

David
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2 Answers2

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I'm not very familiar with the subject, however as I know IE chooses it's mode (standard/quirks-mode) based on doctype declaration. Check if your doctype is correct.

Maybe this article will help: Activating Browser Modes with Doctype.

If the problem is eventually with doctype, try declaring it html5 style:

<!DOCTYPE html>
Vladimir Keleshev
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In turns out that IE8 has an option under Tools\Compatibility View Settings\ called 'Display intranet sites in Compatibility View'. Disabling this feature fixes my problem.

Another solution is to add the following line to the head: 

    <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="IE=8">

This overrides the setting.

David
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  • It has to be otherwise if you open your site in IE 9.0 it would trigger the IE 8 mode instead of IE 9.0 but there is catch, if you use X-UA-Compatible in the markup, you would not be able to validate your (X)HTML code so best way to set it up using server side config headers in .htaccess/web.config – Mohammad Arif Nov 15 '11 at 10:51