[whatwg] The blockquote element spec vs common quoting practices

[Nils Dagsson Moskopp]

"Jukka K. Korpela" <jkorpela at cs.tut.fi> schrieb am Sun, 12 Feb 2012
12:04:13 +0200:

> 2012-02-12 8:36, Nils Dagsson Moskopp wrote:
> 
> >> Since in current usage, <blockquote>  means just “indent” more
> >> often than not, browsers and search engines should not and will
> >> not imply any specific semantics for it. Thus it will be pointless
> >> to use it.
> >
> > Riveting tale, chap. Can you provide proof?
> 
> Regarding browsers and search engines, what else could constitute a 
> proof than the absence of any information about them doing anything
> with <blockquote>? Apart from the obvious default rendering, with
> indents, that is.

Maybe I am missing something here, but absence of evidence is not
evidence of absence. Also, you may be conflating intended meaning
(author intent) with interpretation (what browsers, search engines do).

Default rendering in Browsers is abysmal for most elements – but many
authors use blockquotes prominently decorated with graphical quotes.
This is used to let (visual) readers know in a most explicit way that
these are quotations.

For example, see this article (in German), which quotes from and links
to several essays regarding copyright and culture
<https://netzpolitik.org/2012/kulturkampf-konnt-ihr-haben/>.


Cheers,
-- 
Nils Dagsson Moskopp // erlehmann
<http://dieweltistgarnichtso.net>