Steve wrote (before the List hiatus): > If you write your code to the standard, then it's a >problem with the browser if it's not rendered correctly. > > In order to accomodate as many browsers as possible, >I write to 4.0 Transitional without CSS. I believe in >the "any-browser" philosophy, and I believe that using >a subset of that particular instruction set will enable >the highest number of browsers to render it "somewhat >as I intend." ;-)
Agreed, but that goes in hand with there being a smaller subset available if we choose to test with a wider range of browsers, and want the page to display "somewhat nearer to what we intend". Using CSS makes matters worse :-( > That said, I'm also coming round to the point that >v3 browsers are almost non-existent, and that I really >should start using CSS, which would leave the display >for v3 browsers in simple black and grey. ..... >I continue to use NS 3.04 as my default >browser, though I have PINE set up to launch Arachne >whenever I click a link from e-mail. One of those non-existent v3 browsers? :-) >> Then along comes an attack from Ruritanians armed with flowerpots... > > I'm not familiar with the reference. You've heard of the penguin that roared, which itself alluded to "The Mouse That Roared". There are reviews on Amazon, but this one is for the movie: "The economy of the teeny-tiny European duchy of Grand Fenwick is threatened when an American manufacturer comes up with an imitation of Fenwick's sole export, its fabled wine. Crafty prime minister Count Mountjoy (Peter Sellers) comes up with a plan: Grand Fenwick will declare war on the United States. Grand Duchess Gloriana (Peter Sellers again) is hesitant: how can meek little Grand Fenwick win such a conflict? Mountjoy explains that the plan is to lose the war, then rely upon American foreign aid to replenish Grand Fenwick's treasury. Bumbling military officer Tully Bascombe (Peter Sellers yet again) leads his country's ragtag army into battle. They cross the Atlantic in an ancient wooden vessel, then set foot on Manhattan Island, fully prepared to down weapons and surrender. But New York City is deserted, due to an air raid drill. While wandering around, Sellers comes upon an atomic scientist and his daughter. The scientist has been working on the deadly "Q Bomb," a football-sized weapon with the destructive capacity of a hundred hydrogen bombs. Suddenly seized with patriotic fervor, Tully captures the scientist, his daughter and the bomb and brings them all back to Grand Fenwick. Tully has "won" the war - precisely what he'd been told not to do. The upshot of this "victory" is that every world power converges upon Grand Fenwick to claim the Q Bomb for themselves." If parts of this scenario sounds unhumorously familiar, see: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig2/wallace2.html and http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/9905/0091.html Ruritania, I now see, was the setting for "The Prisoner of Zenda". My mention of flowerpots was to remind us of Arachne's place in the scheme of things. Incidentally, Fravia's Searchlores site suggests that serials and cracks for the Opera browser are so easily available to ensure that Opera gets used by more people than would normally buy it (while getting at least some registration payments). Just another example of how to participate in the Browser War. >> Quoting from HTML: The Definitive Guide (Musciano & Kennedy, >> O'Reilly & Associates, revised 1998) pp.46-47: >> >> "It's also unclear what doctype to use when including in >> the HTML document the various tags that are not standards, >> but are very popular features of a popular browser -- the >> Netscape extensions, for instance, or even the deprecated >> HTML 3.0 standard, for which a DTD was never released. >> >> Almost no one precedes their HTML documents with the SGML >> doctype command. Because of the confusion of versions and >> standards, we don't recommend that you include the prefix >> with your HTML documents either." EOQ > > Argh! But then look at the grammar. "[O]ne" is >the singular subject followed by the plural pronoun, >"their." Is it any wonder that people without a grasp >of grammar for their spoken language would likewise be >deficient in the "grammar" of their markup language? > I would probably just throw that book in the garbage! >;-) Well, breaking or stretching the rules of human language doesn't usually stop the intended message getting across. The errors in software documentation are usually far more gross, but the programming disciplines and error corrections generally give a workable product, even from the seemingly illiterate. So, I'll keep the book, and it was a gift :-) > Don't write for any specific agent. Just write to >the standard. Even that allows a wide latitude. >I can't imagine any complainers, but if they do pop >up occasionally, just point them to somewhere like >http://amigaphil.planetinternet.be/bugsEN.html or http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/publications/guidelines/webguidelines/websites/index.htm -- quite a few grammatical errors in the referenced documents. Some selective quoting for my own battles: 4.1: Introduction This section reinforces the requirement that public sector websites must be designed with the end-user in mind, in a style that is readable to as wide a section of users as possible. The aim is to be inclusive, bearing in mind the wide range of users' circumstances and technical knowledge. They may be using a browser that does not allow frames, or they may use Access Technology that reads the contents of the site and relays it in audio format. They may be unable to view active content, and they may have their screen set to a lower or higher resolution to that in which the site was designed. It is essential that websites are designed to be open and not to disenfranchise sectors of the population. This section details basic HTML implementation requirements for designing websites in accordance with this principle. It may be that web teams depart from these requirements for the provision of material for specialist audiences or in order to develop improved services. In doing so, it is essential that they first consider the risk of further exclusion of part of the audience and the cost of downloading large files or unfamiliar plug-ins. 4.5.1: Open Internet standards Websites must be designed using accepted open Internet standards e.g. The World Wide Web Consortium (HTML). Content must be made available in a standard HTML format. Where information is provided in a proprietary format an alternative HTML version must also be made available. Browser compatibility must be considered at all times. Websites must not be designed around single web browsers and must function correctly in those most often used by the client group. <end quote> The last half of the last sentence is the get-out clause :-( Regards, Jake
