IE Box Model Hack Or Something More Serious?

[phppete]

Don't use all these CSS hacks, Microsoft have provided Conditional Comments to deal with the box model problem

<!--[if IE 5.0]>
<style>
styles here for IE5 ...
</style>
<![endif]-->

References:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...omment_ovw.asp

http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/cc2.shtml

Let me know if you need an example creating.

Pete

[MPaul]

I personally don't like to deliver different stylesheets using HTML hacks, since it seems like written in stone. If I had to deliver a different style sheet to IE 5 I'd use the Mid Pass Filter which sort of isolates the hack. I'd use this over the box model hacks. This way, once IE 5 is no longer used in the World, you can simply remove the stylesheet and the hack, instead of removing it from hundreds of pages. Here is an example:


@media tty {
i{content:"\";/*" "*/}} @import 'ie5win.css'; /*";}
}/* */


Every browser will ignore the rule, except for IE5.

[phppete]

Marv,

Conditional comments are not HTML hacks.

<!--[if IE 5.0]>
<style>
@import 'ie5.css';
</style>
<![endif]-->

is also valid as is anything between the conditional comments, be it HTML, CSS, JS.

This way, once IE 5 is no longer used in the World, you can simply remove the stylesheet and the hack, instead of removing it from hundreds of pages.

If you have to remove anything from hundreds of pages then there is something seriously wrong with your design structure, includes should be used on every web site to avoid duplicated content.

How do you know your CSS hack will not break a new version of IE or some other browser in the future?.. you don't.

Conditional comments for IE specific problems is the most robust solution, CSS hacks are just that and have the potential to break future browsers, Conditional Comments don't carry that risk.

Continue to use whatever hack you want to but I'll be opting for the best solution for the job and Conditional Comments are exactly that.

Pete

[Andilinks]

I don't know which menu script you're using, but fwiw with a Milonic menu I solved the "menu collapsing in Opera" problem by replacing all the spaces in the menu labels with non-breaking spaces (& nbsp;).

I'm not sure why this worked, but it did.

Andi

[Andilinks]

Oh and the beta page menu is still collapsing in my v 7.2 Opera, as of this writing.

[MPaul]

How do you know your CSS hack will not break a new version of IE or some other browser in the future?.. you don't.

I agree, there is no way to know that CSS hacks won't break in future browsers, and using CSS hacks should be avoided as much as possible. But when I need to give a broswer a different style I favor CSS hacks, because I don't like touching at the HTML after I've set my mind, it's just my personal preference.

Conditional comments (CC) are great, and I've used it on a page in my website where IE was misbehaving, and that I found CCs to be the easiest solution. It all has to do with personal preference and the best tool for the job.

[MPaul]

Oh and the beta page menu is still collapsing in my v 7.2 Opera, as of this writing.

I'm not too sure, but what do you mean by collapsing? Could I see a screenshot or something? I've looked at the page in Opera and don't see anything different from the other browsers.

[Andilinks]

I reloaded the page just 2 minutes before making the screenshot and posting this message. The pointer does not show in the screenshot but as you can see all the menus are visible, just collapsed upon each other. This is nearly identical to the problem I had with my Milonic Menu in Opera until I replaced all the spaces with non-breaking spaces.

Andi

[MPaul]

Very strange. I've looked at the page now in Opera 7.23 (the last 7.2 version), it looks just fine and I haven't made any changes to the page or CSS since my second update this afternoon. My guess is that you're using an older buggier 7.2 version. Browsers drive me crazy

But I assume 7.2 users upgrade to 7.5

[Andilinks]

I just downloaded the most recent Opera and am now seeing the menu properly...

I rechecked the old Opera and found that it was not 7.2 but 7.02. quel difference!

I suppose we just must be resigned to the fact that some people just won't see things the way we do... Very much like the real world actually.

Andi