Known Issues

Supported Browsers

These are the browsers I actively support for the Obsidian theme. They've been testing on the listed platforms and should work as intended or (in the case of Internet Explorer, more on that below) they will degrade gracefully.

Please note that Internet Explorer 6 is NOT supported.

On Using HTML5 and CSS3 (or, regarding Internet Explorer)

Internet Explorer does not support HTML5—not even partially, like every other modern browser. In theory it will when IE9 comes out in the spring of 2011. For now, Google's HTML5 shiv script is used to force IE into understanding HTML5. Sadly, not much can be done to save IE when it comes to CSS3 in Obsidian. Border radii and drop shadows will not be available. Gradients are visible, but this is due to fallback images. Nonetheless, the theme will degrade gracefully. Obsidian is "compatible" with Internet Explorer—functionally speaking it works fine. It just doesn't look as good.

This is a matter of philosophy and choice. I chose to use pure HTML5 markup and CSS3 styling instead of spaghetti-like code that would save the theme for IE, but would not improve it for anyone else. It is as much a proof-of-concept in using cutting edge Web technologies as it is a production-ready theme. Keep that in mind if you buy the theme—there's a "wow" factor with saying that your site is built in HTML5 right now. But if the IE7 and IE6 crowd is a really important demographic for you, I would encourage you to think twice before purchasing the theme. Degradation is what's supposed to happen with older browsers—the idea is that the fancier presentation elements get left behind, but not the functionality. That said, if you can't compromise on aesthetics and need to be completely backward-compatibile, then the Obsidian theme may not be for you. Unfortunately, Microsoft just needs to catch up with the competition. Consider your demographic and whether or not it is a make-or-break issue for you.

Webkit Runs Slowly

Chrome and Safari users may find the Obsidian theme slow or "jerky". I've gathered that this is probably due to the fixed navigation bars, compounded by CSS3 and jQuery effects. Oddly, Firefox and even IE do not have this problem. In future versions I may try to optimize the theme more for these browsers, though it may have to do with the Webkit engine itself and may be out of my control as a developer.

On Using Text Gradients

The text gradients are from Dragon Interactive's lab site, and it's an ingenious plug-in. However, it can be temperamental. When editing content in C5, the gradients will not be visible until you add the Content block and either save or refresh the page. This is unavoidable, and has to do with Concrete5 loading the plug-in's Javascript—it is out of the control of the theme and is out of my control as a theme developer. Be assured that the text gradients are there when you apply them, even if you don't see them at first.

That said, it's recommended to use the gradients only on header elements, such as Header 1, Header 2, or a few lines of large text. It's not designed to be applied to a whole paragraph.

Unfortunately, text shadow styles will not work properly in tandem with the gradients. This, again, has to do with the way the gradients work.

Bug Reporting

If you happen to spot what you think is a bug, or have problems with using the theme in some way, please feel free to email me at design@proteuscreative.com