WPForms vs Firefox = “Desktop” Error (Oct 2021)

  • Resolved ciphr

    (@ciphr)


    3 years, 5 months ago

    Greetings,

    (First-time poster: had to register to get to this Support forums: did browse the rules, but I’m under pressure, so please be gentle if I’ve done something incorrectly in asking for help here.)

    BACKGROUND:

    Our nonprofit (NP) has a small handful of interrelated, self-hosted websites, each one running WordPress 5.8.1 (auto-updated) and with the WPForms (Lite) plugin (updated “1 month ago” to “Version 1.6.9” and listed as compatible “up to: 5.8.1”).

    Our site Health status is consistently “Good” across our sites. It does mention that our “older version” of PHP (7.3.29-1~deb10u1) “should be updated” as a “Performance” issue, but nothing about that breaking WPForms. WPForms states that it “requires PHP Version: 5.5 or higher”.

    I use Firefox (the latest version), with NoScript and AdBlock (and my dynamic firewall LittleSnitch) configured so they worked really well with all of our WP websites (and WPForms) up until this message recently began appearing.

    Try another browser, you say? See below.

    THE PROBLEM:

    In the past week (after the WPForms auto-update?), I’ve been getting an error in Firefox on ALL of our sites when I try to make a new form or edit an existing form with WPForms Lite. I’m not sure if it’s OK to mention the domain(s) I’m administering (they’re all running the same WP+WPF combo and getting the same error).
    Here’s a sanitized URL: https://<our_nonprofit_domain>/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wpforms-builder
    Which should get me to:
    https://<our_nonprofit_domain>/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wpforms-builder&view=fields&form_id=<NN&gt;

    So, here’s what I’m doing and then the weird (new) error message I’m seeing:

    WHAT I’M DOING:

    On my OSX desktop machine (the only device I’ve used to admin WP for a year now), I use Firefox go to the WPForms main page and then either:

    (A) click to edit an existing form in the listing (proof that I was until recently able to do the basic thing I’m now not able to do) or,

    (B) make a new one (the first for this site, using the “make your first form” button).

    RESULT:

    Same results in Firefox from either action: I get a blue screen with the “Bear” icon (it is a bear, right? I don’t want to offend any cartoon hamsters, prairie-dogs or meerkats) and a curiously incorrect message reading:

    > Oh, hi there!
    > Our form builder is optimized for desktop computers and tablets.
    > Please manage your forms on a different device, or if you’re on
    > a tablet, try rotating it.
    > [ GO BACK ]

    CONCLUSION:

    Firefox v92.0.1: NOT working
    Safari v11.0.2: Works
    Brave v1.30.87: Works

    Based on what I can see, it appears that the latest upgrade to WPForms has dropped support for Firefox, causing this screen to appear. This makes me sad.

    I’m a bit of a monk, but I am aware that Firefox is now only 4% of the browserspace. I guess the lifecycle is winding down, which is a shame.

    If anyone can help me understand why WPF causes Firefox to suddenly tell me I’m NOT using the type of computer I AM actually using?

    Or, please help me ask this in the correct place, if this is not it.`

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

  • HI @ciphr,

    Thanks for reaching out to us!

    That is a strange issue that you’re coming across here. Just to clarify, we have not dropped support for Firefox, and I myself still use it on occasion without the issue you’ve described.

    The error screen you’re reporting is designed to only appear when the view screen that the form builder is being displayed on is too small, such as when the browser window isn’t maximized, and so it cannot display all the elements of the form builder properly, hence the error notification.

    If the screen that you’re working with is already a desktop and the window is maximized, it may either be the screen resolution, or that your site’s theme is applying some kind of media query which is forcing the site to load in a smaller size, hence causing this error screen to pop up.

    Could you please try on another machine which has a higher resolution screen to see if the issue still occurs?

    You can also try switching your site’s theme to a different (WordPress default) one, like Twenty Twenty, or searching your site’s CSS for any Firefox specific media queries. In case it helps, some information about Firefox specific media queries can be found here: https://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/css-hacks-targeting-firefox/

    Please let me know how it goes.

    Kindly,

    Hi @ciphr,

    We haven’t heard back from you in about a week, so I’m going to go ahead and close this thread for now. But if you’d like us to assist further, please feel welcome to continue the conversation.

    Thanks!

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
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