your confusing style with structure. structure, that which WordPress takes care of isnt going to change from browser to browser. style, what is taken care of by a particular theme is going to be affected by he idiosyncracies of the user’s browser.
In other words:
Is v2.1 more or less compatible with certain platform/browser? No.
Is WP or the theme the platform/browser sensitive piece of the pie? The theme.
WordPress itself doesn’t care what browser you use. Core functions aren’t typically affected except perhaps when dealing with the newer Ajax stuff in the backend.
I have to agree with Root on this one. WP shouldn’t be the culprit here. Most, if not all themes can be made to handle all types of browsers, including Safari.
IMHO, I’d suggest getting another designer…?
…but at the same time Safari has problems. It was just recently that WordPress fixed the post editor for Safari…. I’m on a Mac and have switched to Firefox. It IS a different experience.
Ronchicago, some advise: if your site has been running for a while be sure to check your stats to see what percentage of your visitors are viewing with Safari — it would be good to know. For me it is under 10%, but I am in an arts industry. I would guess most sites would be lower?
It is fair for you to expect your designer to work around Safari’s quirks, but it would also be fair for him to charge extra for the time and experimenting needed to create those workarounds.
From the question as posed I understod the issue to be confined to the theme. Hence our answers that:
1. This has nothing to do with WordPress.
And 2. Our proposition that any competent designer can write a theme which runs in Safari. If his client is using Safari – as he is – to do otherwise is not only negligent – its madness.
3. No experimentation is necessary. Safari’s variations are well known.
4. Whether any designer should charge *extra* would properly be a matter for the browser specification stated in the contract. I would hazard a guess there isn’t one.
