[Bug 22996] Modify blockquote element definition to allow citations

https://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=22996

--- Comment #3 from Leif Halvard Silli <xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no> ---
(In reply to comment #2)

> I think this is an interesting solution to the problem but, since
> <blockquote> is a sectioning root, I think <footer> is more apt for
> <blockquote> metadata. It also requires less markup and (for me at least!)
> less congnitive reconfiguration. 

It is not clear to me why you consider that the section root feature has as
consequence that the metadata element should be kept inside (rather than
outside) <blockquote>. And, FWIW, <figure> is a sectioning root as well.

(The meaning of 'section root' is: """can have their own outlines, but the
sections and headings inside these elements do not contribute to the outlines
of their ancestors""".)

> In addition, I think the <figcaption> has a less coupled relationship with
> its sibling <blockquote> than the <footer> would as a child element.

Well, they would then both be generic children of <figure>, and as such they
would be on equal footing and 'together'. (It could perhaps be a useful pattern
for footnotes?) If we are talking about the generic level, then it can also be
seen as a good point to keep them separete. After all, one (blockquote) is a
quotation while the other (figcaption) is not a quoation ...

AT the HTML5doctor page, Oli pointed to a reply from Hixie [1]. In this reply,
Ian suggested to introduce a new <credit(s)> element rather than changing
<footer>.[1] And such a new element seems like a better idea than <footer> if
first we want to place metadata inside <blockquote>. Quoting Ian:

"""
I expect we will eventually create a <credit> element that goes inside 
<blockquote>, <figure> or <figcaption>, <caption>, and maybe other 
contexts as well. At the moment, I'm deferring adding it so that we can 
see how <figure> and the other new elements do in the wild.
"""

The pros of <credit> are that it:
  a) avoids the problem of "what if I want to quote a <footer>?",
     and thus is easier to understand.
  b) is a new element - we don't need to change the semantics
     of an existing elemen - plus that it is easier to fine tune
     a new element for this purpose, rather than adding more 
     gotchas to an existing element
  c) can be used for giving credit also inside <figure> and 
     eventually in other elements.
  d) does not have a name that indicates that it should be 
     placed at the foot of the element - a <credit> could
     just as well go at the start of the element.

[1]
http://lists.whatwg.org/htdig.cgi/whatwg-whatwg.org/2012-February/034822.html

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Received on Sunday, 18 August 2013 14:08:23 UTC