Sent by Matthias Gutfeldt on 4 February 2003 14:02
- Adrian Simmons [EMAIL-REMOVED]: * Alan K. Gay
> [EMAIL-REMOVED]) wrote:
> > But I too would like the W3C to
> > recognize that interconnected grids are fundamental design
> > tools that deserve to be enriched.
>
> Well, grids have certainly been a fundamental design tool in
> the print world, and that has carried over to web design
> with the use of tables for layout.
>
> But I'm not so sure that grids as your used to thinking of
> them are the way to go with CSS. Print based design is
> usually aimed at certain fixed and standardized formats, you
> have almost complete control over the output. Ditto for TV
> or Film.
>
> On the web however things are getting more and more diverse,
> you have almost no control over the output. Given that, it
> seems foolish to force the user to view your document in the
> grid that looks nice on *your* device.
Exactly, that's what the CSS gurus have been preaching for years. See
e.g. <http://css.nu/faq/ciwas-aFAQ.html#QA01> and
<http://www.westciv.com/style_master/house/good_oil/not_paper/> for
further reading.
The problem is that if you don't want to use the grids model, there
aren't many other options left. In fact, if you want to be really
logical, there is really only one: Forget multi-column layouts,
absolute positioning, and all the other CSS properties that let you
change the natural flow, and just let the HTML elements flow
according to their formatting model without as much as changing a
width or a height.
However, few will want to go down that road; it's simply too limiting
for most authors. But there's a fairly well-established compromise
between total control and none at all:
Multi-column grid-like layouts using 'liquid' design techniques.
These techniques allow certain elements to be fixed, and others to be
sized relative to the available screen real estate.
Examples: The ever-popular <http://glish.com/css/#techniques> and
<http://www.bluerobot.com/web/layouts/>. Of course there are dozens
more.
But nobody stops you from going down the road of pure HTML 'layout'.
It can be fun, too :-).
Matthias
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