Re: [css3-multicol] Editorial Comments

Håkon Wium Lie wrote:
> fantasai wrote, on 11 Dec 2007:
> 
>  > http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-css3-multicol-20070606/
>  > 
>  > Overall, I suggest giving the property subsections some
>  > kind of descriptive text in addition to the property name,
>  > like in the CSS3 Text drafts:
>  >    http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-text/
> 
> I'm unsure if that format increases readability in this case.

I think it increases the findability of what you're looking
for when you're scanning the TOC. If you know the name of the
property you're looking for, great, but if you don't, or you're
looking for a concept that relates to an as-yet unfamiliar
property...

>  > Dependencies on other modules
>  > -----------------------------
>  > 
>  >    I think we can remove this section and maybe move
>  >    the conformance section up front. You're already listing
>  >    all the normative references in the References section.
> 
> The template document still prescribes a "Dependencies on other
> modules" section:
> 
>   http://www.w3.org/Style/Group/css3-src/css3-template/Overview.html
> 
> I could probably support a change, shouldn't we change the template
> first?

Bert, any objection here?

>  > Introduction
>  > ------------
> 
>  >    Examples II and III should have some explanation of the expected
>  >    results, just like Example I.
> 
> Added.

# In this example, but the number and widths of columns is set:

s/but/both/

# body { columns: 2 }
# body { columns: 12em }
# body { columns: 2 12em }

Given that the first two rules get thrown out, this example doesn't
make much sense. Maybe the explanatory sentence should be

| The 'columns' shorthand can set 'column-width', 'column-count', or both,
| as in the examples below.

# Setting both properties rarely makes sense, as described below.

"described below" should probably link to said description, since it is
a significant jump in spec navigation.

>  >    # Finally, ‘column-fill’ and ‘column-span’ give style sheets
>  >    # a wider range of visual expressions in multi-column layouts:
>  > 
>  >    I think this sentence is too vague to be useful to anyone. Not
>  >    sure what to replace it with, though.
> 
> The section isn't normative, so I think it's ok.

Well, that makes it not harmful, certainly. But it's still not adding
any value here! It's just taking up space at best, and putting the
reader in suspense at worst. :)

~fantasai

Received on Tuesday, 24 February 2009 00:51:45 UTC