[thelist] All CSS Layout and Browser Compatability

[Arlen.P.Walker at jci.com]

> Is it possible to do an entire site using only DIV tags and CSS layout?

Yes. Quite possible, via a couple of approaches:

1) Design the site so it's usable without any stylesheet at all. Add styles
to the stylesheet, then use one of several different hacks to hide that
stylesheet from browsers that don't like it.

2) Again, design the site so it's usable without any stylesheet support.
Then, create separate stylesheets for different classes of browsers, and
choose which one to link via a server-side method (PHP, ASP, JSP, SSI,
whatever).

If you use method 2, make the default stylesheet the one that expects the
most standards support. Then sniff for the exceptions (such as NN4.x) and
substitute the proper sheet. New browsers are expected to be more compliant
than old ones, so this approach allows your sniffer to send the "advanced"
stylesheet to any browser not on it's exception list. which is a good
default approach.

It's important to design the site to be usable without any styles; that
ensures you'll "degrade gracefully" in the older browsers. Remember, it
doesn't have to be beautiful at that level, just functional.

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen.P.Walker at JCI.Com
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