The argument I was swayed by was that XHTML was more future-proof, since in the future everyone will use XML (and drive atomic cars). This means that the designer coming after me won't have to do as much work to do on the next redesign (which is especially good if I'm the next designer). I usually use an XHTML transitional doctype which I understand is a bit more forgiving on table layouts than strict, but still moving towards the 21st Century! David
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nando Sent: Friday, 1 October 2004 6:16 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [WSG] doctypes, quirks/standards mode and positioning Hi all, I've been trying to get my head around the use of doctypes and their eventual influence on layouts via whether they force the browser into standards mode or not. What i've come to so far is if you use tables mixed with css for positioning you're better off staying with an HTML 4 doctype (and in quirks mode) rather than using an XHTML doctype and forcing the browser into standards mode. The reason i'm asking is i'm working contractually with a company who's using XHTML doctypes on their templates and often improperly formed tables, (almost as far from XHTML as you can get sometimes and still get something to appear on the page) for their layouts and they're asking me for help to fix it. I've read somewhere that one should only use an XHTML doctype if you're using XML on the page or using css positioning exclusively. Anyone have a take on this or a good reference to consult? Note: i'm trying to be practical here - it's an urgent job, it's clear the company doesn't have anyone who knows anything about css positioning on board, and i'm a student of css positioning, not an expert. So at this point i tend to use tables to position the chunks and css to position the detail within the chunks. thanks, Nando :) ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ Proud presenters of Web Essentials 04 http://we04.com/ Web standards, accessibility, inspiration, knowledge To be held in Sydney, September 30 and October 1, 2004 See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ****************************************************** ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ Proud presenters of Web Essentials 04 http://we04.com/ Web standards, accessibility, inspiration, knowledge To be held in Sydney, September 30 and October 1, 2004 See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
