Re: HTML & CSS

[Barry Campbell <barry -at- WEBVERANDA -dot- COM>]

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?
>
>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?

(raising hand) Right here.  We've experimented a little with CSS
on our intranet, but we are *not* using CSS on our external site
and have no plans to do so.

Here's why:

(1) Neither Netscape nor Microsoft currently offers anything resembling
    a complete CSS implementation, even in their most recent browsers--
    and at least 40% of our site's audience doesn't use a 4.0 browser.

(2) What Netscape and Microsoft *do* implement, they often implement
    differently.

(3) To use CSS effectively, currently you must either

    (a) limit yourself to the subset of CSS that Netscape and Microsoft's
        CSS-aware browsers (IE 3.0, 4.0, Netscape 4.x) can handle and treat
        similarly--hardly worth the bother--

        OR

    (b) develop and maintain two completely separate page sets, with a
        script to check which browser you're running on and switch
        accordingly.  What a nightmare.

In short:

CSS is a good idea in theory; so far, implementation has been terrible,
because it is deeply inconsistent from browser to browser.

For good information on the current state of CSS, check out Webmonkey's
CSS tutorials:


http://www.hotwired.com/webmonkey/stylesheets/?tw=stylesheets

Once you read up on CSS inconsistencies, if you'd like to get *really*
depressed about cross-platform development, start reading up on the
differences in the Document Object Model between browsers.

(heavy sigh)


--
Barry Campbell        |   barry -at- webveranda -dot- com
Web Architect         |    (list/personal mail)
Summit Systems, Inc.  |   bcampbel -at- summithq -dot- com
22 Cortlandt Street   |    (business mail)
New York, NY 10007    |   http://www.summithq.com

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