ISSUE
Google has pushed out an update to Chrome the week of 2/10/2020 that has broken a large number of websites across multiple industries. Unfortunately, this includes many HVAC related sites. The update made it so security certificates are required where they were not previously. This prevents the sites from loading graphics. The site may load correctly at first, and then after navigating around within things start to break or fail to load completely. The image below is from an affected system.
Am I Affected?
Unfortunately, the way Chrome updates there is no user interaction. It will just reach out and download an update on its own and install it. Neither the user nor Woodman has any control over it. If your HVAC site shows the below warning and you are using a version of Chrome that came out within the last week, you will likely be affected.
In order to check your version of Chrome
1. Click the 3 dots on the top right corner of Chrome
2. Select “Help” and then ”About Google Chrome”
The versions of Chrome that have this issue will be anything greater than 80
Work Around
For now, we have tested Firefox and it will get you around this issue. Since our systems were designed using Chrome, Firefox may not provide the same experience. However, it will work for now with little to no differences.
You can get Firefox from https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
Other browsers like Internet Explorer or Edge may work as well however we have not tested those.
Expected Fix
Google is aware of the issue and test builds have a fix in place. Once Google has finished testing and rolled out the update publicly, Chrome will return to be our approved browser. The update is expected within the next 3 to 4 weeks. As this affects a multitude of industries, not just HVAC, hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.
If you have questions or concerns about this particular issue, send an email to info@woodmaninc.com