Re: [XHTML2] Unicode line and paragraph separators

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ernest Cline" <ernestcline@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [XHTML2] Unicode line and paragraph separators


> ... the default formatting is why the majority of paragraphs in
> current HTML are marked up as paragraphs, even when the content of the
> <p> is not really a parargraph.

Most things are supposed to be in paragraphs, though. For example, a table
of data or an image may actually reside inside a paragraph because they are
part of the concept within that paragraph. However, I am sure you will come
across dozens of illegitimate uses of <p>...</p> as well.

> > One thing occurs to me. If you are suggesting we ignore the structural
> > significance of paragraphs and treat them simply as separated chunks of
> > text, is that not reducing them to something similar to an unordered
list?
> > Perhaps paragraphs should be marked up as lists instead.
>
>
> However, please tell me that you were trying to be humorous with that
> last remark.  In doing my little survey of web pages, I have seen so
> much bad coding practice, it is not funny. I have seen <p>'s used to
> hold content that should have been lists, list-items, headings and
> other semantic elements as well. <td><p>Text</p></td> is also
> depressingly common even in cases where the content was not even a
> sentence, much less a paragraph.
>

I was being more ironic than funny. I have seen plenty of cases where the
wrong structural elements are employed, many of which can be attributed to
crappy WYSIWYG tools. However the concept of using a list to markup
paragraphs is not so strange. I am using list items to wrap blog entries
that contain one or more paragraphs and taking it one step further into
nested lists doesn't seem that big a jump anymore.

Simon Jessey

w: http://jessey.net/blog/
e: simon@jessey.net

Received on Monday, 7 April 2003 07:18:28 UTC