TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Lyndsey Amott wonders: <<I need to indent some text on my web site, but
<blockquote> and <ul> indent the text too much. So, using Microsoft
Paint, I created a transparent gif to use as a pixel shim. The problem
is that it is visible on my web page--it looks like a depressed button.
How can I make it truly invisible? >>
The elegant way would be to use CSS (cascading style sheets) in your
Web authoring software to define the position of the text with respect
to the margins of the screen. Somewhat less elegant: Create a
two-column table, with the first column defined as the exact number of
pixels you want for the indent, then drop the text into the second
column.
Even less elegant, yet graphical as in your original approach: color
the 1-pixel GIF file the identical color of the background of the page
so that it blends in rather than overlying the page. You may also have
to futz around with the properties of the GIF, depending on how your
authoring software imports it.
--Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
