What is the best internet browser to use with Vega?

An internet browser, web browser, or simply "browser", is an application you use to access and view websites. The browser you or your supporters use to access and view Vega can make a difference.

We test the Vega platform extensively on different internet browsers. Vega works with all current internet browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari, and Vivaldi.

Vega recommends Chrome and Firefox

Both of these browsers have the best support for the development framework that Vega is built with (read more about Bootstrap - the most popular HTML, CSS, and JS library in the world).

If a browser is no longer supported by its developers, then Vega can’t continue to support it either. An unsupported product/browser will quickly become less secure, slower, and more prone to errors. Please note this includes Internet Explorer (IE) as Microsoft no longer support it.

Using Vega with an unsupported browser is not recommended – for Vega users or your supporters.

Clearing your browser's cookies and cache

Websites can be composed of hundreds or thousands of files. The first time you visit a website your browser(s) will save ‘pieces’ of it so that next time it can display the site faster i.e. your browser is caching/storing these pieces.

This is great for speed/load time, but it can cause problems sometimes!

Websites, like Vega, are being updated all the time - so the files that compose the site are changing. If your browser has saved an old version of a file, it will continue to serve this cached file to you instead of loading the new/updated file. This is when browsers display things like runtime errors, missing features or buttons, or views that won't load.

Regularly clearing the cookies and cached data from your browser(s) will help fix these issues. When you revisit the site, your browser will load the most current files again. 

Please note that clearing stored data can include saved passwords and browsing history.

Click to learn how to do this for your preferred browser: Google, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, Vivaldi.

Known Browser Issues

Edge

• When downloading multiple reports from Vega using Microsoft Edge, you might encounter a known browser bug when the file is loaded using its built-in viewer (a browser tab). Further downloads will open a new tab but display the data from the first download and appear that Vega has not downloaded the correct data. This is a bug within Edge where the preview tab data is not refreshed with the new download. The button on the preview tab to download the file will include the correct data for that download. You can also turn off this option to open the file in your browser from edge://settings/downloads.

Safari

• Safari interprets some dropdowns in Vega widgets differently. Please be aware that the width of dropdowns may display smaller, but the widget and the dropdowns work as configured.
• For very old versions of Safari, Vega widgets will not behave as configured. The Vega development team have set-up a message to display for anyone accessing a widget from an out-of-date version, asking them to update their browser or use an alternate (like Chrome).

Internet Explorer (IE)

• Microsoft Edge has replaced Internet Explorer as the default browser for Windows devices. Though IE is still installed with Windows 10, Microsoft has stopped developing new features.
• Vega for users and Vega widgets will not behave properly in IE. Vega users are recommended to use Chrome or Firefox, while the Vega development team have set-up a message to display for any supporters accessing a widget from IE, asking them to use an alternate (like Chrome).