I just came across this while I was writing a script to do import notifications via Growl:
If I create a webarchive of slashdot.org, it doesn’t display any body text in DTP, just blackness. But if I use “Open With…” and open the same webarchive in Safari, it all displays correctly.
John
Hi, I assume you meant http://slashdot.org/.
Is this a trick question? 
Actually, that seems to be a dynamic page. When I capture a WebArchive of such a page, sometimes I can see the page as designed, sometimes not.
If you only see the black background of the page in your database, turn off AirPort. Now select that WebArchive document again. What do you see?
Apple’s page is often dynamic, with changing text and images. You may see similar behavior if you capture a WebArchive of Apple’s main page.
WebArchive files can be viewed offline; sometimes that’s the best way to view them.
Just added a web archive of http://slashdot.org from DA to DTP but the rendering is correct over here. Does this work on your machine too?
Interesting, it works fine with DEVONagent (even if AirPort is still on), but I get the black background with Safari (with AirPort on).
John
Do you mean that a web archive created by Safari has a black background or that a web archive viewed in Safari (and created by DA or DTP?) has a black background?
What I meant to say is that when capturing from Safari into DTP, DTP will not display any of the body text (the articles), only the black background that is normally behind them. It’s like the page is “empty”, except that you can still see the sidebars and the header. When I capture from DA into DTP, everything is just fine.
John
I’ve seen this phenomenon before, with dynamically-changing (“push” technology?) Web pages like Slashdot’s.
I’m more likely to see the full page including text if I capture the WebArchive from DEVONagent using the contextual menu option, compared with clicking the Archive bookmarklet button in Safari (perhaps a matter of timing during the capture?). But sometime the WebArchive captured from DEVONagent will also look incomplete.
If repeated WebArchive captures are made from the Slashdot page, the most recent capture may show only a black screen where the text should be. Strangely, once that has happened, the previously ‘good’ captures now display that black screen.
But the text data really was captured, as can be confirmed by selecting a different document, turning off AirPort, and once more selecting the Slashdot WebArchive. Now the text is displayed!
Is this a WebKit bug? An artifact (bug) of the WebArchive format? I don’t know, but I can replicate it on several sites, including Apple’s main page.
What does happen if you view a web archive created by Safari in Safari itself after clearing the cache, quitting Safari and launching it again?
I don’t even have to do all of that. It always looks right in Safari itself.
John
Seems to be a minor bug. Just disable the filtering of ads (see Preferences > Web) in the meantime.