Why do I see "MIME-Version: 1.0 Cache-Control: private Last-Modified:..." at the top of pages?

Question:

On some or all pages I see something like "MIME-Version: 1.0 Cache-Control: private Last-Modified: Mod,
12 Aug 2001 13:45:04 GMT Content-type: text/html Content-length:90210" or other similar HTTP header information appearing.

Answer:

In all cases this is due to a problem with one or more custom macros and/or custom client side JavaScript that is breaking the browser's parsing of the normal HTTP header information being sent out by Web Crossing, causing the browser to render the header instead of interpreting it.

In macros, this can be caused by accumulated white space being sent to the browser before the actual HTML gets to the page. Of course as with any macro bug, this may happen due to trickle down effects of buggy macros prior to the one where you believe the error is occuring.

To troubleshoot such issues requires standard debugging methods. Some tips can be found here.

Buggy client side JavaScript can cause this too and is particularly evident in Netscape, while IE seems more tolerant.