The Atlantic Online | Technical Help/FAQ

Which Web browser is recommended for viewing the site?

We suggest using the most advanced browser supported by your computer and operating system. Recent browsers such as Netscape 7 and Internet Explorer version 5 and 6 should have no problems viewing The Atlantic Online. If you are using version 4 or below of either Netscape or Internet Explorer, we strongly recommend upgrading—Netscape 4.x is particularly problematic, and should be avoided. Both Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape are available to download or upgrade free of charge.

The Atlantic Online makes extensive use of style sheets for text formatting throughout the site; a browser with strong style sheet support such as Netscape 7.x or Internet Explorer 5.x or 6.x will give best results.

The site also makes use of JavaScript and occasionally uses cookies to track user preferences in some features, such as Post & Riposte, our online forum, and online polls. In addition, the site will look best if your system includes the typefaces Times New Roman, Verdana, and Georgia, all of which are available free within Microsoft Windows.

I am having trouble printing your pages. What can I do to ensure acceptable printouts?

Pages posted online since January 2001 include a "PRINTER FORMAT" button, which formats the page for optimal printing. We also recommend using Microsoft Internet Explorer for best results.

For printing earlier pages on our site (pre-2001), we can make the following recommendations:

1. Use Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer has fewer problems than Netscape to complicate printing. This is especially true on the Windows platform: Netscape 4.x for Windows has many printing-related bugs and is often incapable of successfully printing our pages.

2. Several of the e-mails we have received indicate that the first point bears repeating. Do not use Netscape 4.x to print pages from our site. It is buggy and may not work. Use Netscape 7 or Internet Explorer instead.

3. Set your browser's print options to "Shrink page to fit." Our pages are formatted for screen width; sometimes older browsers mistakenly print the last few characters of each line on a new page. Allowing your browser to fit the page to your printer's page width will eliminate this problem.

4. Remember that, for ease of reading onscreen, some longer articles are continued on multiple pages. On articles not equipped with the "PRINTER FORMAT" button, it will be necessary to print each of the article's segments in succession in order to print a complete copy.

I experienced a technical problem while attempting to view one of your premium archive pages. Whom should I contact?

Our premium archive was created and is maintained for us by a third party, ProQuest Archiver. Your first step should be to visit their extensive Frequently Asked Questions Page. If your question is not answered there, please visit the MyPQA site to log in and send them your query. As The Atlantic's staff is not involved in the archive's technical function or billing, we are unable to assist with technical problems or refunds.

I saved an article via the "SAVE THIS" button on one of your pages. How do I retrieve it?

Previously saved articles may be retrieved at www.savethis.com. Support concerning this capability, which has been removed from our site, is available only from www.savethis.com.

The site is wider than my screen, forcing me to scroll horizontally. How can I see it all at once?

Most computers are capable of multiple screen resolutions. Higher resolutions fit more information onto the same monitor, the trade-off being that each pixel is just a bit smaller. We recommend setting your display to a resolution of 800 x 600 or higher. This is accomplished via your system's control panel, rather than within the browser.

I am having a hard time reading the small text on your site. Can I increase the size of the text?

Newer browsers such as Netscape 7 have a shortcut in the menubar ("View -> Text Zoom") which will proportionally increase the size of text on any page, even one designed with fixed-size type. If you are having difficulty reading small text, download and use Netscape 7, as it is much better at altering type size than is Internet Explorer. Other browsers will allow you to change the size of some of the text on the site, but with less consistent results. If you cannot switch to Netscape 7 for some reason, visit your current browser's preferences screen and increase the font size until you reach a size with which you are comfortable.

Our site makes extensive use of the typefaces Times New Roman, Verdana, and Georgia, all of which are available free from Microsoft. (Regrettably, Microsoft has discontinued making these typefaces freely available on the Web, presumably because all new computers have them already installed.) In particular, if you do not have Verdana installed in your computer, navigational links may be difficult to read.

If the legibility of text is a consistent problem, you may wish to set your monitor to 640 x 480 resolution. You will not be able to see as much onscreen at once, but your display will be noticeably clearer.

I am using Netscape 4.x, and occasionally certain characters, such as dashes and accented characters, do not display or print properly. How can I fix this?

This is caused by a bug in Netscape 4.x. Occasionally, reloading the page will temporarily restore the correct character; the best solution is to use the links above to upgrade to a newer browser.

Do you support the use of handheld devices such as the Palm series or Pocket PC to view The Atlantic Online?

While we do not have the resources to support the use of handheld devices, it is possible to view content from the site using AvantGo software or another handheld Web browser, such as Microsoft's Pocket Internet Explorer or EarthLink Wireless's browser.

In the future we plan to offer a "text-only" view of current pages on our site, to facilitate ease of use on thin Web clients such as AvantGo and text browsers.

Do you support the use of WebTV to view The Atlantic Online?

We regret that we are unable to support the WebTV platform. Most of the site functions normally on WebTV, but given the large amount of text on our site, pages may be difficult to read.

I am using Netscape 1.1 with page-specified formatting disabled, and your site does not display properly! What is wrong with you people?!

We cannot guarantee the proper appearance of our site on some platforms, including obsolete browsers and those with formatting options disabled. In particular, if you choose to turn off style sheet compatibility, JavaScript, page-specified fonts, or page-specified font sizes, you will of course notice visual anomalies.

Text-only browsers and those optimized for reading aloud to the visually impaired should not have substantial problems, as the site uses primarily text links for navigation.

I am using Mac OS X, and I noticed that your homepage uses an unattractive, horizontally compressed font. Why does it look like this?

Under Mac OS X, most browsers can take advantage of Quartz text smoothing, and we have optimized our homepage so that smoothed text is readable at the various point sizes we use. Specifically, we substitute Lucida Grande, one of the typefaces included with Mac OS X, for our usual sans-serif font, Verdana, because Lucida Grande looks better when smoothed. If it instead appears narrow and angular, simply go to your browser's preferences dialog and turn on "Quartz text smoothing."

How do I unsubscribe myself from your e-mail newsletter, TransAtlantic, or change the e-mail address at which it arrives?

To unsubscribe from TransAtlantic, click this link and follow the instructions. You may also follow the instructions at the bottom of each edition of TransAtlantic.

For an e-mail address change, simply unsubscribe the old address and then subscribe the new one.

May I purchase a subscription to the online version of The Atlantic, in order to access the full contents of the current magazine via the Web? Or does my print subscription entitle me to access?

Unfortunately, we are not able to offer an electronic subscription at this time, either for free to print subscribers or for an additional charge. We are, however, evaluating the possibility of adding this feature in the future.

Atlantic print subscribers receive each month's issue first—before it appears on the newsstand or the Web. We hope you will join us as a subscriber today.

Why can't print subscribers access the full contents of the current month's issue online?

We are in the process of developing a system which will enable subscribers to create a username and password for the site, allowing them online access to the full contents of the current print issue, along with other subscriber-only material.

Until subscriber authentication is possible, remember that once an issue is no longer for sale on newsstands most of its contents become available via our back issues page. So unless a writer withholds online rights altogether, most articles become available online within one month of release.

Does my print subscription entitle me to free access to The Atlantic's new premium archive?

Unfortunately, because our premium archive was created and is maintained for us by a third party, there is a charge every time it is accessed. We may offer free or reduced-cost access in the future, however, as part of a larger package of subscriber benefits.

I am a subscriber to the print edition of The Atlantic. Can I turn off the pop-up advertisements exhorting me to subscribe?

Yes—and thank you for your subscription. Click this link for further instructions. Please have a copy of your subscriber mailing label handy. This process requires that cookies be enabled on your browser.

I have a technical question about your site that is not covered here. Where should I write?

For technical issues with our site not covered in this document, please e-mail webtechhelp@theatlantic.com. This address is for technical matters only. Do not send messages about subscription problems, letters to the editor, etc. to this address, as they will be ignored. If you have non-technical queries, visit our feedback page.