FAQ Question #210
» Why does LiveJournal display incorrectly in my browser?
LiveJournal's default layout, the XColibur site scheme, uses JavaScript and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control its appearance. There are
FONT SIZE
If the font on LiveJournal's main pages is suddenly displaying larger or smaller than you are used to, it is possible that you have changed the font size settings within your browser. You will need to consult your browser's help file for help fixing this problem. (I moved this up to the top because it seems to be a more frequent problem, and easier to fix, than problems with stat.livejournal.com. It could also go after the Menus and Buttons section.)
CLICKING ON BUTTONS AND MENUS
If you are unable to click on comment buttons or the drop-down menus do not function, there are several troubleshooting steps you can take.
First, make sure JavaScript is enabled in your browser. Information on how to do this can be found in your browser's documentation. If JavaScript is not enabled, the drop-down menus will not be active, and you will need to navigate using the Site Map located at http://www.livejournal.com/site/.
If the problem is that you cannot click on buttons to leave comments, your browser security settings for livejournal.com are too high. You should name LiveJournal as a trusted site or manually lower the browser security settings for livejournal.com specifically.
If your browser is older or outdated, you may wish to consider upgrading your browser. Newer browsers generally do not have problems with the technology used in LiveJournal's layout.
If upgrading your browser is not possible, and enabling JavaScript has not fixed the problem, you can follow the instructions in http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=186 to select a different site scheme.
LAYOUT AND STAT.LIVEJOURNAL.COM
If entire elements of the XColibur layout display in the wrong place -- for instance, if the elements of the navigation bar are displayed on the bottom of the page instead of at the top -- or if it takes you a long time to load pages on the livejournal.com domain and the layout is wrong when the pages do load, your browser or Internet connection is blocking the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) definitions for livejournal.com. Likewise, if you are unable to load LiveJournal images such as user picture icons, mood icons, or the LiveJournal user or community icons, your browser or Internet connection is blocking access to LiveJournal's image server.
To resolve this, first make sure that you have not selected any option in your browser to prevent loading CSS definitions and images from a different host than the main page. For speed and reliability, LiveJournal serves all its CSS definitions and images from a separate network known as stat.livejournal.com. Some browsers and some ad-blocking software will interpret this as an attempt to load a banner ad and block it.
If you do not have this option in your browser enabled, or your browser does not have this option, another program may have altered your system's configuration files to block access to stat.livejournal.com. Many operating systems have a file called the HOSTS file, which can be used to block access to defined sites. Many programs edit or alter this file. LiveJournal cannot provide information on how to remove that entry from your HOSTS file, as it will involve changing settings on your computer and LiveJournal cannot be responsible for such alterations. You may wish to search using your favorite search engine for instructions on how to remove entries from your HOSTS file. If you are comfortable making such edits, you can then remove the entry that blocks access to stat.livejournal.com.
It is also possible that your Internet provider blocks access to stat.livejournal.com. If none of the above steps help you, you should contact your Internet provider and let them know that you are having trouble reaching stat.livejournal.com. They will need to know that access to this URL is provided by the Akamai content-caching network.