Creator pages do not load *at all* in old browsers

Patreon Feedback Feedback
, , , ,
1

I’ve experiencing a resurgence of one of Patreon’s “Greatest Hits” in terms of bugs…the browser requirement.

Explained as simply as I can: If someone with an outdated browser visits my creator page, it does not render. They receive a blank page. This directly hinders my ability to onboard new patrons because there is nothing there.

I imagine the browser is too old to support some fancy JS feature that Patreon wants to implement everywhere, but a myriad of things could be done about this. Some examples:

  • Disable the shiny thing for older browsers, in the name of compatibility.
  • Do an “outdated browser” notification up top, just like gmail, facebook, etc.
  • Use an older version of whatever JS lib for older browsers only.
  • Have a simplified page for older browsers so they at least see a thing.
  • Least desirable but better than nothing: Send old browsers to a “you’re using too old a browser to see this page” page.

This is complicated by the fact that my Post pages (eg. http://patreon.com/posts/5542262) are visible on any device that is having trouble viewing the creator page. Just not the creator page itself.

I hope you all can work this out, because I regularly try to share my Patreon page with friends, family, and social media. Just judging from the number of friends and family tell me they can’t see my page, I can’t imagine how many people on social media get a blank page and just close it and move on without saying a word.

4 Likes
2

I had a (potential) Patron write me an email about this recently as well. Even a small message (noscript tag maybe? ;)) would be better than a blank page :confused:

3

Confirmed. Just tried to access the site www.patreon.com on my smart phone with the built in browser (I only have that, nothing else, period).

Blank page. No content AT ALL. Nothing. Not even a hint “You’ve reached the end of user friendly web sites. Go some place else, we don’t care.”

This is, to say the least, not helpful at all. I have heard that younger people use “smart phones” more to access websites than “desktop computers”. If a “modern” website does not work AT ALL on smart phones (which has to include models that are, like mine, four years old - we don’t need to buy new electronic waste every two years!), I wonder how many of those “young people” you can reach.

Very discouraging this is.

Marc