Re: Semantic Purity: Page Layout and Inline Style

On 24 Jan 2003, Chris Hubick wrote:
>
> Where I have trouble is regarding styles used to define the basic layout
> of a page. For instance, if you have a specific image on a specific
> page you want floated left/right.

You only want it floated left/right in a particular alternate stylesheet
set. There is nothing that _requires_ that image to be floated at all, in
fact. It could be absolutely positioned in the margin.

If the image is a sidenote, not part of the main flow, then a class such
as "note" may be appropriate.

If the image is part of the main flow of text, then a class may be
inappropriate (there is nothing special about the image). In those cases,
selectors such as :nth-of-type become useful.

The key to good markup is to write the document without having any
default presentation in mind, and describing the semantics using the
available markup elements and attributes. Then, and without in any way
touching the original document, style can be added.

See also http://tantek.com/log/2002/12.html#L20021216t2238

-- 
Ian Hickson                                      )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
"meow"                                          /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
http://index.hixie.ch/                         `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'

Received on Saturday, 25 January 2003 09:35:20 UTC