Suggestions

I am a Mac OS X user and discovered two days ago I couldn't view the 1901 census images using Firefox. The GR site gave me a message to download Adobe Reader, which I tried doing, using the link. That didn't resolve the issue.

btw, I already had Adobe Reader.

After a bit of searching I found this on a MacWorld Mac OS X hints forum

"....- there was no way to view PDFs in Firefox 4 or 5 as one could do in Safari, because the Firefox PDF plug-in didn't work above Firefox 3.6."

That article goes on to suggest a work around.

However, using Safari, viewing the 1901 census images works fine.

My recommendation - if you are a Mac OS X user, simply use Safari to view the 1901 images.

Hi Moonshine63, If you have installed IE9, then you need to switch to compatibility mode to view the 1901 census images. This link explains how to switch it on

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956197

If you are not using IE9, then can you please repost your message and details which browser you are using. Thanks Phil

I don;t understand these ie9 things and pdf stuff, i have never had a problem with it before, i have always been able to view original copies...... please help a thicko!!!!! :-D

Thank you, Phil. I have the greatest sympathy for you having been put in the public eye with so many issues to be addressed.

Joy - In short, no I don't, but I will find out. Believe me, it would be much easier for us on the development team if all the images were in the same format. I'll post the answer here.

A question, Phil, about this - do you know why in genes reunited the 1901 is not JPG format?

I was investigating this issue again tonight. And made some additional discoveries. This is an extract from a PM I sent to Joan (author of thread) who still has a problem viewing PDFs on the GR site.

"... With regard to viewing PDFs ON GR site in IE9. Microsoft and Adobe openly acknowledge that IE9 does not support PDFs particularly well. This is something completely out of GR control. But I think I may have found a way around.

I have just installed IE9 on my home PC (Windows Vista) and got the same problem as you describe, and subsequently made a few changes as recommended by Adobe. The PDF does not display in the browser but did open up the PDF in a separate viewer.

Go to a 1901 census image page so that you see the Install PDF message. Where you type a URL at the top left of the window, next to that on the right is a magnifying glass icon, then a small drop down arrow, then a blue icon with a jagged line through it. This switches on and off compatibility view. Click on this once. It doesn't seem to give an indication whether or not it is on or off (very bizarre), but when you click it, the page should refresh. You should see an image indicator appear in the pane of the web page, and then hopefully a new window will open with the PDF. This should be the Adobe PDF reader running stand alone with the 1901 census. You can then save, print, etc. as required. Could you let me know if this works. ...."

I would be interested to know if this resolves the issue for other members.
- Phil

Hi all, I have done some investigating and some testing. No solution yet, but the advice might help in the interim.

Unlike all our other digitised images which are JPG format, the 1901 census images are in PDF format. This format is owned by Adobe and gives websites slightly less control over their display. I have tested the displaying and viewing in all main browsers (Internet Explorer - versions 6,7,8 and 9; Chrome; Opera and Firefox - all on Windows I'm afraid).

In all browsers I could view the PDF - EXCEPT for Internet Explorer 9 which gave me the helpful message stating my browser does not support this and I could download viewer. (This is good as it gives me something to work on - but annoying that it does not work). I did download the browser plug in, but it did not work. So something is not right here and we will continue to investigate this issue.

What I also learnt is that the Adobe plug in displays differently for different browsers. Where previously I have said right click and save, in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera, this isn't an option. If you hover over the black section at the top of the PDF viewing box (if you can see the PDF that is), a toolbar should magically appear. In Chrome this appears at the bottom of the viewer, in the others it is at the top. NOTE, if you're on the PDF itself, guess what, the toolbar won't appear.

For Internet Explorer, Firefox and Opera, this toolbar has a disk icon which can be used to Save the PDF.

For Chrome, the toolbar at the bottom has it too, although you can use the right click option also.

So, advice at this stage, if you are seeing the "download viewer" option and you can use a different browser, then please try. I know this is not ideal, but if it allows you to get the data you want at this point in time, then I recommend trying it.

If you can see the PDF but trying to download it is a problem, try the suggestions above to hover over either the top or bottom of the viewer (that is the rectangular box that the PDF normally is displayed in). A icon should appear.

If you are not using Internet Explorer 9 and see the download viewer, then post a reply message here with what browser you are using. If you're still having difficulty saving the PDF, then again reply to this post.

Hope this helps. Phil

I will update when we have fix for viewer.

Yes Tooty. One of the first things I tried. Don't get the option 'to save'.
Thanks.

Have you tried right click on the image and seeing if there is a menu to save picture as

Hope you get it sorted soon

It was actually Genes Support who advised me to do this!! They said it usually solves this problem. I'm not good on the 'technicalities' of computers and didn't like the sound of this. So, I still cannot download the census, only print it.

Why would they tell me to do this?

And no one should ever be advised to uninstall and re-install Adobe in order to view an image at this site, would you agree Phil?

Any more than anyone should be told to use this browser rather than that, or that browser rather than this ... etc. etc. etc.

Thanks for your help anyway. Bye

Hi Joan, Sorry to hear that did not work. Am not trying to fob you off in any way, but suggest the best route to the quickest solution is contact support, let them know exactly which census you're looking at and which browser your using. They should be able to sort you out.

Hi

I don't seem to have the icon with arrows pointing right and left.

I had tried right clicking on the image itself but didn't get any 'save as' option - not unusual for images.

You should be able to right click on the 1901 census image after you have displayed it (scroll web page down to show bottom right hand corner of image area - and select the icon with arrows pointing right and left) and then select Save As - this will then allow you to save the PDF.

I added a posting to Ruth's problem and then realised I should add my own topic ie:

I can view the 1901 census but not download it. I do have subscription to cover this. Was advised to uninstall and reinstall Adobe?