CSS3-box: Small stuff

Just some stylistic issues + an error.

Throughout

   Try to avoid using the first person. For example - 
 
   "We don't define where the intrinsic size of replaced
    elements comes from, but we assume there is one."

   can be rewritten as 

   "The CSS3 box model doesn't define where the intrinsic
    size of a replaced element comes from, but assumes
    there is one."

   In many places, 'we' refers to CSS3 or the CSS3 box
   model. The document should refer to itself in the third
   person, not the first person, as it is the authors who
   are speaking and not CSS3.

   In other places, 'we' is used to introduce terminology.
   I'd favor the passive voice over 'we' in sentences such
   as this one: "We say that such margins collapse."
   Use "Such margins are said to collapse" or similar.

   You could also use the pronoun 'one' as the French use
   'on' (since that's what 'we' really translates to in
   these instances). It's not a very common practice in
   English, though.
 
   As I see it, this is a formal document and should be
   written as such. The only place where the use of the
   first person contributes to the writing is in a few of
   the examples.

Section 4
    http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-css3-box-20010726/#L706
    |
    | run-in
    |    The effect depends on what comes after the element.
    |    If the next element (in the depth-first, left to
    |    right tree traversal, so not necessarily a sibling)
    |    has a 'display-model' of 'flow',
                                   ^^^^
  This value is undefined.

    |
    | table-...
    |    See the Tables module [[CSS3-tables]].

  I suggest changing table-... to table*, as it also includes
  'table'.

Poor wording - Sections 5, 6, 8
    http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-css3-box-20010726/#the-padding
    |   'Padding' is a shorthand that sets the four other
    | properties at the same time. If 'padding' has 4 values, 
    | they are for top, right, bottom and left in that order.
    | If left is omitted, it is the same as right. If bottom is
    | omitted it is the same as top, if right is omitted it is
    | the same as top.

  This is not very easy to understand. Moreover, it doesn't say
  what you want it to mean. Copy the CSS2 wording. Same thing
  for borders and margins.


Section 15

    | Here is an illustration of the rules. Assume this source
    | fragment:

  This is a really nice example.

    | A float can overlap boxes in its parent flow (e.g., when
    | a normal flow box next to a float has negative margins).
    | When an inline-level box overlaps with a float, it is
    | rendered in front of the float. When a block-level box
    | overlaps, it is rendered behind the float.

  "e.g. when a float has negative margins" presents less of an
  edge case; thus, it's easier to understand. On the whole,
  though, I think this paragraph's wording is an improvement
  over CSS2.

~fantasai

Received on Wednesday, 3 October 2001 16:11:16 UTC