How to Make WordPress Website Show Up in Chrome But Not Safari
If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either a developer or someone who has a lot of knowledge in that area. If not, then maybe it’s time to consider becoming more involved.
I’ve been a web developer for over a decade now, and although there’s been a lot of churn in that time, there’s still a lot to learn. One of the things I’ve learned is that as much as we love our browsers and want them to do all the work for us, sometimes they can’t. It seems like Google has finally recognized this fact and is working hard to fix it. They’ve released a new version of Chrome, and with it comes a new feature – display sites the way they’re meant to be seen.
This feature allows you to choose whether or not you want a site to be displayed in a full-screen mode. If you do, then it will expand to take up the entire screen area, leaving no room for any other programs or tasks on your computer. This means your site will always be accessible when needed, even if you’re not actively using your computer. It’s like having a ready-made workspace waiting for you when you log on.
Step one: Create a Chrome extension
If you’ve used Chrome at all, you’ll know that there are a lot of add-ons and extensions you can install to make the browser work more like you want it to. One of the reasons Google introduced this new feature is that it’s really easy for anyone to build an extension that will make their favorite website show up in Chrome in a way that suits their needs. If you’re interested, you can visit the Chrome Web Store to get some inspiration for what to build.
Step two: Build your site into an extension
Once you’ve got an idea of what you want to achieve, the next step is to build your site in such a way that it can be easily expanded to fit the expanded screen area. This involves making sure that everything is accessible on the front-end, and of course, it requires working within the constraints of a small screen.
While you’re at it, you can also make the site work for both mobile and desktop users. Something else that’s very handy about this feature is that it provides a quick way to check how your site looks on different devices since you don’t have to go into each one individually to see the changes.
Step three: Test your site on different browsers
One of the primary purposes of modern browsers is to allow users to access websites easily and quickly. To ensure that your site works the same way for everyone, it’s important to test it on the most used browsers – at least the ones that you think your target audience might be using.
Luckily, Google has made this easy for us. As mentioned above, Chrome comes with this feature already enabled, so all we need to do is log on to our WordPress site in Chrome and watch the magic happen.
Step four: Enable the feature for your site
Once you’ve got everything working the way you want it, the last step is to simply enable this new feature for your specific site. To do this, navigate to your site’s URL in Chrome – either by using the URL or the omnibox – and click the little gear icon next to the URL bar.
If everything goes well, you’ll see the screen below. If you don’t, then it might be a good idea to disable and then re-enable the feature.
On the left, you’ll see a list of the browsers your site is currently working in. On the right, you’ll see the option to enable this new feature. Hit the blue button to toggle it on or off. When you click on a specific browser, you’ll see a message at the top that tells you if the feature is enabled or disabled. If it’s not enabled, then it’s simply a matter of hitting the button again to toggle it on.
Once the feature is enabled, you can close Chrome and reopen it to see your site in full-screen mode. In some cases, you might need to refresh the page to see all the changes.
Word of caution
While this is a great feature, it’s also important to remember that not all websites are intended to be used in full-screen mode. If you’re not sure whether or not your site is suited for this new feature, then it might be a good idea to simply stay off of it until you determine that it is.
As much as we want Google to fix this issue for us, sometimes we need to do a little bit of fixing ourselves. For example, if you’ve got a news-style website with a lot of large images, then in all likelihood, this feature is not for you. Large images are great on large screens because they effectively increase the size of your website. When you bring a news site into Chrome in this manner, you effectively shrink its size and kill all the pretty pictures. In those cases, it might be better to simply avoid this feature completely.
While we would all love to see every website work the same way we want it to, sometimes it’s not feasible. In that case, we’re simply left with choosing a different browser for different tasks.