Re: [CSS3 Text] Thoughts on hanging-punctuation property

Daniel Aleksandersen wrote:
> Hi again list,
> 
> Here are pros and cons of hanging punctuation:
> 
> http://www.blueflavor.com/blog/design/thoughts_on_hanging_bullets.php
> http://web.archive.org/web/20070309101159/http://www.blueflavor.com/blog/design/thoughts_on_hanging_bullets.php
> 
> The most important point Kevin makes on the above web page is that the 
> decision should be left to the designer. CSS should offer mechanisms for 
> all kinds of hanging punctuation. Left edge and right edge hanging 
> punctuation. For quotation marks, brackets, and whatnot. 

There's a balance between power and complexity. We can add every feature
ever requested, but then
   a) it will take forever to get them all specced and implemented
   b) it is that much harder for someone to understand and use CSS

I see a lot of examples where
   * punctuation is hung at the beginning or end of the paragraph in Western
     typography
   * hyphens are partially hung at the end of the line in Western typography
   * Stops are hung at the end of the line in Eastern typography

I haven't seen an equivalent demand for hanging other punctuation at the
start or end of every line. This could be because I haven't run across the
right publications, or it could be because it's not as common, and therefore
not as important for us to add to CSS at this point in time.

So for right now, I'm leaning towards adding a 'hyphens' keyword to
'hanging-punctuation', defining 'end-edge' as appropriate for Japanese (not
Western) layout, defining 'start' and 'end' to apply to all punctuation, and
not adding anything else.

~fantasai

Received on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 00:04:08 UTC