Does IE9 use doucument mode IE9 Standards or Quirks???

[GregB123]

Trying to set up the styling on a new Shopping Cart, and having trouble with Internet Explorer (IE)

When I view it in IE, I click on F12 to identify the code viewer (like FireBug) and it lets me choose to view it using the browser IE9 or earlier. So far, so good...

But right next to the browser selector is the "Document Mode" selector and sometimes it says "Quirks Mode" and sometimes it says "IE9 Standards" (when using  IE9 browser) - and parts of the page styling goes crazy when I switch back and forth from Quirks to Standards.

Help!  Which does IE9 and IE8 actually use?  Does it have to work for both?  Is there a way to force it to one or the other?

Any guidance or tips is appreciated. Thanks,

Greg

[LynnPatchett]

Hi Gregory,

It can be a real pain, and the short answer is it depends on the doctype you are declaring and the browser version you are viewing it in. Check this page for some more details (seems odd to be referencing wikipedia here, but it is a pretty good overview).

Putting this code into your head will force IE to use the highest mode available (not quirks mode in other words):

Hope it helps!