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Subject:Re: HTML & CSS From:"Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 7 Dec 1998 07:09:57 -0700
At 02:47 PM 12/7/98 +0100, John Cornellier wrote:
>Isn't CSS an idea whose time has come? Good DTP uses styles, and not
>character formatting, right?
Yes, it's a grand idea.
>If it isn't being implemented, why not? Because it's too easy to create
>template docs in the HTML generator tools? Lack of support for CSS in HTML
>editors? People aren't willing to invest the time in the long-term benefits
>of CSS in a fast-changing environment? Has anyone considered CSS and opted
>not to implement?
Yes, we did.
We're not using it on the RayComm site because of the spotty
and erratic implementation across _ALL_ browsers that
claim to support it, let alone the backwards compatibility
issues of supporting non-CSS browsers. We've written
books that cover it fairly extensively (and are actually revisiting
the subject right now), but thanks to non-support from Netscape and
Microsoft, we'll not be implementing it wholesale any time soon.
What's particularly pathetic about CSS Implementation is that a chapter
of one of our books (written in July 1997) that pans CSS implementation
and cautions against using it for any non-trivial purposes wouldn't
need much revision to reflect the state of the art
in December 1998. Lots of potential, lousy implementation.
The Zeldman site refers to "bizarre Cubist renderings" of
styles, and that's a fair assessment in many cases.
Check the dates as you read through other Web-based references--the
highly enthusiastic ones are between 9 and 18 months old,
while the more cynical ones are newer.
If you're going to use CSS, also use browser-detection scripts
to make your authoring easier--just provide different
sites for IE w/ CSS, Netscape w/ CSS, and other. Sigh.
BTW, IE5 offers little encouragement for better support.
No telling yet about Mozilla/Navigator 5. Opera's support
isn't bad in the newest version.
Eric
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Eric J. Ray RayComm, Inc. http://www.raycomm.com/ ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
*Award-winning author of several popular computer books
*Syndicated columnist: Rays on Computing
*Technology Department Editor, _Technical Communication_
