[thelist] Proper markup of extended quotes

Timothy J. Luoma luomat at operamail.com
Mon Dec 23 04:03:01 CST 2002


Scenario: I have a quote, several lines long, which I want to include, as
well as show a link to the source.

This is how I have it marked up:

<blockquote
cite="http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/beauty_is_only_screen_deep.php">
<p>
It used to be that we thought we needed to pretty up the web so people
would use it. Those days are long gone. Today's web user is after a
meaningful experience, not just a good time, and has little need for
adornments. Maybe it's because we've grown up some: the technology, and
those who use it. I can now see that the beauty of the web lies in its
function, not its form, and I would rather that my sites attract attention
because they are widely useful and usable than because they are pretty.

&#8212; <a title="Full text of article Beauty is Only Screen Deep"
href="http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/beauty_is_only_screen_deep.php">Beauty
 is Only Screen Deep by Sarah Horton (BoxesAndArrows)</a> </p>
</blockquote>

The only problem with this (to me) is that the link really isn't part of
the quote, so it shouldn't be in the <blockquote>, right?

Plus we've got a duplication, the URL is in there twice when it really
shouldn't need to be.


So I tried this instead:

<blockquote 	title="'Beauty is Only Screen Deep' by Sarah Horton"
	cite="http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/beauty_is_only_screen_deep.php">
<p>
It used to be that we thought we needed to pretty up the web so people
would use it. Those days are long gone. Today's web user is after a
meaningful experience, not just a good time, and has little need for
adornments. Maybe it's because we've grown up some: the technology, and
those who use it. I can now see that the beauty of the web lies in its
function, not its form, and I would rather that my sites attract attention
because they are widely useful and usable than because they are pretty.
</p>
</blockquote>

With this in the CSS file
	blockquote:after { content: "Source: " attr(title)" ("attr(cite)")" ;}

Looked very nice in Opera and Phoenix... hrm... I suppose I ought to check
that "other" browser....

Yup, IE6/Win doesn't support generated content.  It does put the TITLE as a
tooltip IF the user put the mouse over the blockquote.... but not the URL.
Not great.


Once again, it seems that I'm forced to make the decision between proper
markup or having it work in IE.

Can anyone suggest a middle road?

TjL

--
Timothy Luoma <luomat at operamail.com>
30 Days to Becoming an Opera (6) Lover http://tntluoma.com/opera/lover/
(an Opera7 version will follow once it is officially released)
Opera Etc Blog: http://tntluoma.com/beyond30





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