[thelist] free tips

[Mark Gallagher]

Matt,

 > Even though I couldn't find a SINGLE reference to it (I went looking
 > for exactly which version began using XHTML), MovableType outputs as
 > XHTML, using divs and whatnot. Had I known this before installing, I
 > probably wouldn't have chosen it to run my blog (no, I'm not going to
 >  plug it, even though I know you want me to). I've already had
 > Netscape 4 users report that they can't view it at all, which annoys
 > me so much that I *almost* want to rewrite the templates in html
 > 4.01.
 >
 > just an fyi, since they don't tell you on the release notes, the
 > documentation, the about page, or the faq page.

Actually, earlier versions at least (i.e. 1.2) gave the option of HTML
or XHTML.  I don't know about later ones, though, because on those rare
occasions in which I've remembered/bothered[0] to upgrade I've been
happy to leave it as XHTML.

But in any case, merely using XHTML is not enough to crash even
Netscape.  What's crashing Netscape is that you're (presumably) using
the default templates in a LINKed stylesheet, and Netscape is seeing the
whole "position:" thing and shitting itself[1].

Using HTML4.01 with CSS-P is going to cause similar problems; you can
also use table-based layouts in XHTML *and* HTML4.01 (but if you're in
"strict" you shouldn't use either).

Not sure if this has been said this week/month/whenever, but:

<tip type="browser bugs" author="Mark Gallagher">
   Having problems with Netscape Navigator's CSS support (or lack
thereof)?  It's easy to simply "switch off" CSS support on your site
using the @import method.  More here:
http://www.alistapart.com/stories/journey/5.html
</tip>


[0] MT is a bitch to update when you've only got text-based FTP

[1] Incidentally, while we're on the topic of relative safety of CSS
     positioning vs. tables, mattwarden.com exists almost entirely in a
     few hundred pixels to the right of my (1023x947) browser window,
     meaning I annoyingly have to scroll to see what's going on.  Just
     thought I'd give you a heads up :o)


--
Mark Gallagher
http://cyberfuddle.com/infinitebabble/