[whatwg] How to make HTML5 easier to teach (Was: several messages about HTML5)

[Henri Sivonen]

On Feb 25, 2007, at 21:45, Keryx Web wrote:

> A few examples that I think is bad practice (99.9 % of the time  
> it's used):
>
> - Inline styles

I might be persuaded to issue one warning per document if the  
document uses the style='' attribute. (What should the warning say  
and why?)

> - Empty p-elements, or p elements containing only  

Currently, these are errors, but I expect Hixie to get rid of the  
requirement for significant inline content. Since the code is already  
written and usable as a pseudo-schema in the generic UI, I could  
continue offering it for those who really want it and know how to  
customize things from the generic UI. However, I think leaving  
significant inline checking on even as merely warnings might lead to  
a pointless arms race with editors doing silly stuff to silence  
warnings.

> - A table within a table cell (Has this ever been used for anything  
> but layout?)

Many sites want to use a main layout table and then proper tables in  
the page content inside the layout table. Encouraging them to use  
positioning or misuse float would only make things worse.

You do get a warning (or in some cases error) if a table has  
unoccupied slots, because that's likely something that the author did  
not intend. However, nested tables are usually intentional.

> - Iframes

So many sites use iframes for ads that emitting a warning would  
probably only cause an inflation of the value of warnings.

-- 
Henri Sivonen
hsivonen at iki.fi
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/