Document mode mismatch

When you preview a message or landing page communication in the Message Editor, the system compares the document mode of the communication template to the operating mode of the Message Editor. The system displays a document mode mismatch message when the modes are different.

Web browsers automatically run in standards mode when the browser detects a doctype declaration at the start of the HTML code for the page. However, the Message Editor is configured to always run in quirks mode. It does not automatically switch to standards mode when the communication that you preview includes a doctype declaration.

When you preview a communication that declares a doctype, the Message Editor displays the page in quirks mode instead of standards mode. The resulting preview might not exactly predict how the message or landing page appears in a browser or email client that is running in standards mode. In Microsoft™ Internet Explorer, the Message Editor displays a message to warn that the document mode and the preview browser mode do not match.

The difference between how the page displays in the Message Editor preview and how it displays in a web browser that is running in standards mode depends on the design of the communication and the behavior of the browser. You can often ignore the document mode mismatch if you are confident that the design of the message or landing page does not rely on non-standard browser features.

To prevent the document mode mismatch message from displaying every time that you preview a communication, you can set the Editor Preference to never display the warning message. You can change the preference setting at any time.