Re: Table alignment problem

On 2/28/01 at 11:07 PM, Captain F.M. O'Lary <ctfuzzy(at)canopy.net> wrote:

> I'm not slamming recommendations. I'm relaying personal and
> professional experience. I know that 3.2 is THE most supported
> standard in the HTML today.

OK. That makes sense. I accept your argument, although I don't agree
with the basic premise that 3.2 is still the most supported. But I had
assumed you were opposed to anything later than 3.2 on some purist
ground that I could never understand. If you truly believe that only 3.2
is universally supported then I suppose it makes sense to continue to
put your faith in it.

> It is my opinion that the developer MUST stay "on top" of
> developments, and PLAY with all the new stuff that comes along. But
> when I am getting paid to produce, I produce the most widely supported
> code I am capable of.

If that makes your clients happy, then go with it and all the best to
you. :-) 

> I choose to think of it as offering my customers a superior value for
> their money, frankly. I can darned well prove my 3.2 will work in a
> heck of a lot more browsers than ~anyones~ transitional DTD. If you
> were a customer trying to reach the widest possible audience and leave
> a good impression, which DTD would you want? Which brings me to my
> motto: "A well informed consumer, is my best customer." They are
> usually pretty stupid when I get there, they *never* are when I leave.
> I can live with that.

I too always inform my customers. I let them know what is available and
how it may affect the number of people who can access their site.
Together we make the informed decision whether to reach the widest
possible audience or to add features that might limit the audience but
make a greater impression on those who do visit.

> Anyway Ken, I'm not out here telling everyone to go my way or go to
> hell. I'm out here sharing what I know from several years in this
> business works ~reliably~. I'm sure you have seen my very typing on
> this very list say:
> 
> If your demographics support the decision to toss the "rule book" do
> it - HAVE A BLAST!

Well, that kind of paints the argument in terms of good and evil! :-)
Choosing to design a site that will validate to 4.01 Transitional is
hardly tossing the rule book, Fuzzy. You may not believe that it will
work in as many browsers, but 4.01 *is* the current rule book. (Well
actually, XHTML is these days.) 

> Please believe me when I say that they day there is better support for
> 4.X than 3.2 I will dance my best Irish jig and never look back. And
> never mention 3.2 again either, don't you think *I'm* getting tired of
> that dead end DTD too? Sheeesh :-)

I can't wait. I'll play my fiddle while you dance.

Ken


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