M
michael_maberly
(I am a complete beginner to both FP 2003 and web page design, so I
apologize, in advance, for any misconceptions and incorrect assumptions that
may be contained in what follows.)
I just learned about "doctype" at Eric Meyer's
http://www.ericmeyeroncss.com/bonus/render-mode.html. It seems to be a very
important topic for anyone trying to ensure his/her web page displays
similarly on different browsers. I then discovered MS' page "Working with
HTML DOCTYPE declarations in FrontPage
(http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa218654(office.11).aspx). It
states:
"As with most modern Web development tools, FrontPage may use design-time
proprietary code and attributes for HTML tags that does not validate
according to the standards of the W3C. . . FrontPage does not include
DOCTYPE declarations in new pages by default. . .â€
If I understand Meyer’s article correctly, here are some of the ways in
which code written in older programs (like FP 2003) will change when being
viewed in an up-to-date (eg, IE6) browser:
Table content display: in older code, padding, etc, is added to the content
area of a table; in up-to-date code, padding, etc, is taken away from the
content area of a table, resulting in different-sized content displays.
Dimension values (eg, width): in up-to-date code, dimensions must specify
units used (eg, “pxâ€); however, in older code (which includes FP 2003, from
what I can tell), dimensions do NOT specify units being used. This can
result in display discrepancies.
Case sensitivity: in older code, “class†and “id†attributes were case
insensitive; in up-to-date code, these attributes must be case sensitive.
This can result in styles not being applied where there are any differences
in upper/lower case.
It seems that anyone using FP 2003 is confronted with a serious dilemma: if
one wants their web page design to display properly in IE6 and other
up-to-date browsers, one must (manually or otherwise) change the way FP 2003
writes code. On the other hand, if one does this, one’s design will NOT
display the same way in pre-IE6 (and in other older browsers). On top of
that, one has to find out how to convert FP 2003’s default behaviour so as to
match a doctype that will be acceptable to an up-to-date
(standards-compliant) browser.
What advice would you offer to a complete neophyte on how to approach this
problem?
apologize, in advance, for any misconceptions and incorrect assumptions that
may be contained in what follows.)
I just learned about "doctype" at Eric Meyer's
http://www.ericmeyeroncss.com/bonus/render-mode.html. It seems to be a very
important topic for anyone trying to ensure his/her web page displays
similarly on different browsers. I then discovered MS' page "Working with
HTML DOCTYPE declarations in FrontPage
(http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa218654(office.11).aspx). It
states:
"As with most modern Web development tools, FrontPage may use design-time
proprietary code and attributes for HTML tags that does not validate
according to the standards of the W3C. . . FrontPage does not include
DOCTYPE declarations in new pages by default. . .â€
If I understand Meyer’s article correctly, here are some of the ways in
which code written in older programs (like FP 2003) will change when being
viewed in an up-to-date (eg, IE6) browser:
Table content display: in older code, padding, etc, is added to the content
area of a table; in up-to-date code, padding, etc, is taken away from the
content area of a table, resulting in different-sized content displays.
Dimension values (eg, width): in up-to-date code, dimensions must specify
units used (eg, “pxâ€); however, in older code (which includes FP 2003, from
what I can tell), dimensions do NOT specify units being used. This can
result in display discrepancies.
Case sensitivity: in older code, “class†and “id†attributes were case
insensitive; in up-to-date code, these attributes must be case sensitive.
This can result in styles not being applied where there are any differences
in upper/lower case.
It seems that anyone using FP 2003 is confronted with a serious dilemma: if
one wants their web page design to display properly in IE6 and other
up-to-date browsers, one must (manually or otherwise) change the way FP 2003
writes code. On the other hand, if one does this, one’s design will NOT
display the same way in pre-IE6 (and in other older browsers). On top of
that, one has to find out how to convert FP 2003’s default behaviour so as to
match a doctype that will be acceptable to an up-to-date
(standards-compliant) browser.
What advice would you offer to a complete neophyte on how to approach this
problem?