cj wrote:
>from what i understand, one newbie to another, is that you can
>*either* float or display, but both don't happen at the same time
>(unless you consult with IE).  if you float, it means that "display"
>is effectively ignored by standards-comliant browsers.

Well, almost.  When an element is floated, its "display" value is 
automatically set to "block".  That's almost the same thing, but not quite.

>floating means that the <li> no longer has a real height or width.

Again, not quite.  In modern browsers that follow the CSS2.1 spec, 
the float gets the width of the content (sometimes referred to as 
"shrink-wrapping") up to 100% of the available space, at which point 
the content will wrap.  The exception is IE5/Mac which slavishly 
follows the 2.0 spec and will default to 100% width.  If you need to 
support IE5/Mac, you will need to supply a declared width.  (Em-based 
widths often work well for this purpose.)  The height is defined as 
the height of the content, subject to the wrapping rule I mentioned.

>displaying them inline keeps kind of their same basic characteristics,
>but they are no longer "block" and therefor don't take up 100% width.

If they are links, inline display means they are not clickable over 
the entire width and height; only the text itself can be 
clicked.  Floating links are clickable anywhere.  On the downside, 
centering a menu based on floats requires extra markup.

HTH,


-Adam Kuehn 

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