SaveTheDevelopers.org places a friendly popup request for IE6 users to upgrade their browsers.

By placing a simple conditional comment linking to some JavaScript in your page.tpl.php, visitors using the outdated and buggy IE6 web browser will see a small roll-down on the top of their browsers, “nagging” them to upgrade. After clicking the roll-down, a new browser window opens with links to other recommended browsers:

IE6 is a horrible blemish on the web and is the cause of millions of hours of wasted developer time: the sooner we get rid of it, the better. This seems like the most unobtrusive, gentle way to inform people that an upgrade is available and that they should consider scrapping IE6.

However, some people simply can’t upgrade or switch browser because of restrictions on their corporate networks. Do they deserve to be “nagged” about upgrading?

And, if a visitor is coming to your site, willing to invest their time in what you have to offer, is it wise to distract them from that, all in the name of the greater good?

On some sites, the answer is surely “yes”. SaveTheDevelopers has instructions to include their .js file in your HTML, and let it detect whether the browser is IE6, but I prefer to add conditional HTML comments so non-IE6 users will not download the script. Put this in your page.tpl.php:

<!--[if lt IE 7]>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.savethedevelopers.org/say.no.to.ie.6.js"></script>
<![endif]-->

Warning: the SaveTheDevelopers script didn’t work well when the rolldown obstructed the top links on one of my sites. Test first.