Welcome to comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets, this is our newsgroup FAQ v1.92
Alan J. Flavell
Archive-name: www/stylesheets-faq
Posting-Frequency: twice a week (mondays and thursdays)
Last-modified: October 3, 1999
Version: 1.92
URL: http://css.nu/faq/ciwas-mFAQ.html
Maintainer: Jan Roland Eriksson <r...@css.nu>
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets FAQ v1.92
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00: ===== T O C =====
01: What is <comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets> ?
02: What kinds of posts are acceptable in this news group ?
03: What kinds of posts may be acceptable in this news group ?
04: What kinds of posts are not acceptable in this news group ?
05: Where are the technical resources for this news group ?
06: How do I get best possible answers to my questions ?
07: How do I enable style sheet handling in my browser ?
a) Microsoft IE
b) Netscape
c) Opera
08: How do I create my own default style sheet ?
09: Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ ?
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01: ===== Q & A =====
Q: What is <comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets>
A: This is an unmoderated news group which passed its vote for
creation by 166:19 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on
20 Mar 1997.
The charter of this news group, as culled from the vote result
announcement, states the following:
"This unmoderated news group is intended for the discussion of Web
style sheets. Style sheets can make an author's life much easier.
With style sheets, one only needs to specify presentational
preferences once, and the style can be applied to an entire site.
Not only that, but style sheets also reduce download time when
one file contains all the style information."
02: ===== Q & A =====
Q: What kinds of posts are acceptable in this news group ?
A: Topics for this news group include:
* How to achieve a particular effect with style sheets,
* The relative advantages of different style sheet languages,
* Specifications versus implementations,
* Bugs and limitations in implementations, and
* Questions on XSL related subjects.
03: ===== Q & A =====
Q: What kinds of posts may be acceptable in this news group ?
A: Articles on related subjects (e.g. HTML mark-up, Scripting
languages, etc) that may be required for discussion of a specific
CSS problem.
On general terms:
* questions on HTML mark-up should be posted in
news:comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html
* questions on XML mark-up should be posted in
news:comp.text.xml
* questions on DSSSL may be posted in
news:comp.text.sgml
* but the most correct forum might be the DSSSL mailing list at
http://www.mulberrytech.com/dsssl/dssslist/
* questions on scripting languages
(e.g. Javascript, Jscript etc) should be posted in
news:comp.lang.javascript
04: ===== Q & A =====
Q: What kinds of posts are not acceptable in this news group ?
A: Some examples of inappropriate posts include:
* Chain letters, including "Make Money Fast" articles
* Known hoaxes (like the "Good Times Virus")
* Announcements of non-relevant Web pages and services
* Personal introductions or requests for e-mail
* Off topic questions or responses
* Test articles
* Articles cross-posted to several news groups
* Articles posted as separate copies to many groups ("spam")
* Articles with significantly more quoted than new content
* Articles offering items for sale and commercial advertisements
* Articles which aren't primarily text in a standard alphabet
(e.g. binaries, pictures, Rot13, etc.)
05: ===== Q & A =====
Q: Where are the technical resources for this news group ?
A: Available info on the subject of Cascading Style Sheets is too
extensive to be written in a posted document like this.
It is suggested that you research your technical questions on the
use of CSS in one of the following places on the World Wide Web.
* The official recommendations for CSS level 1 & 2 from W3C
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS1
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/
* Syntax checkers for CSS are available online from here
http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/csscheck/
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
* True HTML syntax validators are available online from here
http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/
http://validator.w3.org/
* A commercial Windows front end for James Clark's 'nsgmls'
SGML parser/validator is available from here
http://arealvalidator.com/
* Eric A. Meyer has designed a test suite for CSS1
http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/Test/
* Todd Fahrner has designed a set of core stylesheets
http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/Core/
* Todd also designed a CSS interface for IE 4.01 for Mac.
http://www.verso.com/agitprop/misc/favorites.html
* The Web Design Group has a CSS reference here
http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/css/
* WDG has also published an add on CSS tool set for Win IE4.0x
http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/widgets/
* The HTML Writers Guild CSS FAQ
http://www.hwg.org/resources/faqs/cssFAQ.html
* Brian Wilson has a comprehensive reference site at
http://www.blooberry.com/
* Information on various browsers CSS compatibility
http://www.webreview.com/guides/style/mastergrid.html
* Braden McDaniel and Eric A. Meyer have pages describing the
level of CSS support in MSIE3.0x for Windows and Mac
http://www.endoframe.com/css/ie3.html
http://www.cwru.edu/dms/homes/eam3/css1/msie-css1.html
* Not found your answers yet?
Rest assured, you will find it through the CSS pointers page.
http://css.nu/pointers/
06: ===== Q & A =====
Q: How do I get best possible answers to my questions ?
A: In the list of resources (Q&A #5 above) you can find a number of
URL's pointing to "syntax validators" for both HTML and CSS.
These on-line resources can be among your best friends when you
are having problems with your web page designs.
Regular posters in "ciwas" like to validate their css snippets,
and/or external CSS files along with their HTML, before posting
a question to the NG.
If you still have problems, after having followed advice given
by the validators, chances are that you having an encounter with
a browser bug and/or a bad CSS implementation in a particular
browser. Regulars in ciwas know about most of them and will be
able to help you find a suitable "work around" for your problem.
The final advice now is for you to provide a URL to an example
page that includes your problem.
07: ===== Q & A =====
Q: How do I enable style sheet handling in my browser ?
A: The following guidelines may be used to enable style sheet
handling in some popular browsers. (note: information valid for
release versions of browsers only)
a) Microsoft Internet Explorer
v3.0x, on Windows platforms
At the menu selection "View -> Options...", activate selection
"Advanced" and checkmark the box labeled "Use Style Sheets".
It is possible to add a user stylesheet to the MS IE3.0x family
of browsers. Be warned though that this involves editing the
Windows95/NT registry, and anyone not comfortable with the use
of Windows Regedit, should perhaps stay out of this.
Information on proper procedure can be found here...
http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/css/topics/stylefaq.htm#fourteen
A warning from the author of this FAQ:
Please note that the support for CSS in MSIE3.0x can at best
be described as "rudimentary". Do expect problems in rendering
of documents that are guided by style sheets, while style sheet
handling is enabled in this browser.
(the style sheet for the Web document containing
this FAQ, has not been "optimized" for use with
MSIE3.0x in style sheet enabled mode)
v4.0x, on Windows platforms
At the menu selection "View -> Internet Options..." in the
"Preferences" dialog, select the "General" tab (if it isn't
already selected). Activate the "Accessibility" button and make
sure that the first three boxes (labelled "Ignore color on Web
pages", "Ignore font style on Web pages" and "Ignore font sizes
on Web pages") are all UNchecked.
Additionally, if you want to see backgrounds printed out,
go back to the main Internet Options dialog, select the
"Advanced" tab, and scroll down in the list until you see the
option "Print background colors and images".
Make sure it's checked.
MSIE4.0x also has provisions to let the user specify a local
stylesheet, to be used to set a base rendering preference for
all viewed pages.
To set your own user stylesheet, follow the directions above to
get into the "Accessibility" dialog. Once there, check the
"Format documents using my style sheet" then use the "Browse..."
button to select your style sheet.
v5.0, on Windows platforms
At the menu selection "Tools -> Internet Options..." select the
"General" tab (if it isn't already selected). Activate the
"Accessibility" button and make sure that the first three boxes
(labelled "Ignore colors specified on Web pages", "Ignore font
styles specified on Web pages" and "Ignore font sizes specified
on Web pages") are all UNchecked.
v4.0x, on Macintosh
Please find the menu selection "Edit -> Preferences..." and
activate the section "Web Content" (under "Web Browser").
Checkmark the options "Show Style Sheets", "Allow page to
specify colors" and "Allow page to specify fonts".
(info on how to set a user stylesheet not know at the moment)
v4.5, on Macintosh
Use the same procedure as for the v4.0x browser.
the v4.0x and v5.0 browsers in general
Please note that Microsoft IE v4.0x and v5.0, on all of its
platforms, is very "liberal" on what CSS it accepts. They most
always tries to do "something" with any bogus code that is
thrown at it, leading authors to believe that their CSS code
is Ok and that they have found bugs in other browsers when
they in reality do behave according to specs, and the error is
really to be found in the authors own CSS code.
b) Netscape Navigator/Communicator
v4.0x and v4.5x, on Windows platforms
These browsers needs to have both style sheet and JavaScript
handling enabled in order to start interpreting external style
sheets.
Please find the menu selection "Edit -> Preferences...",
activate selection "Advanced" and checkmark the boxes labeled
"Enable JavaScript" and "Enable style sheets".
(info on how to set a user stylesheet not know at the moment)
v4.0x and v4.5x, on Macintosh
Use the same procedure as for the Windows platform.
(info on how to set a user stylesheet not know at the moment)
v4.0x and v4.5x, on Unix platforms
Use the same procedure as for the Windows platform.
(info on how to set a user stylesheet not know at the moment)
v4.0x and v4.5x browsers in general
Please note that the support for CSS in Netscape N/C v4.0x,
and v4.5x on all of its platforms, is far from being up to
specifications. Do expect problems in rendering of documents
that are guided by style sheets, while style sheet handling is
enabled in this browser.
c) Opera
v3.5x and v3.6x, on Windows platforms
Opera comes with stylesheet handling enabled by default.
Rendering of documents with or without CSS support is easliy
toggled ON/OFF by means of the "Toggle Document Settings" button
that is just to the left of the document address field in each
open document window.
It's my experience that even better CSS rendering results can be
had in Opera if one takes some time to do a careful configuration
of _all_ possible font selections available in the menu selection
"Preferences -> Document Appearance" most especially the "Generic"
fonts should be set to personal preference.
All details on how to set a user stylesheet is also available in
the "Document Appearance" dialog and its context sensitive help.
Opera's support for CSS1 comes close to being correct to specs.
It still has a few minor "quirks" but over and all for not overly
complex stylesheets it will render CSS documents in a way that it
can be used as a personal "reference" browser for CSS1.
Support for CSS2 is close to non existant.
08: ===== Q & A =====
Q: How do I create my own default style sheet ?
A: If you want to specify a default style sheet, here's how:
First, write a default style sheet using your favorite text
editor, and save it to your hard drive as something like
"default.css".
If you are using MSIE 4.0x then follow the directions above to
get into the "Accessibility" dialog. Once there, check the
"Format documents using my style sheet" and then use the
"Browse..." button to select your style sheet.
If you are using MSIE 3.0x for Windows95/NT then follow the
directions above on how to edit your registry to set the path
name of your stylesheet
That should be all you need!
09: ===== Q & A =====
Q: Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ ?
A: This FAQ was last updated 1999/10/03 copyright 1998, 1999
Jan Roland Eriksson.
Permission to freely reproduce this document electronically is
given as long as the document remains uncut and unedited.
This FAQ is posted periodically to the NG every monday and thurs-
day and I'll endeavor to use the same subject line at all times
so that those of you who have seen it can kill-file the subject.
FAQ version number in subject line will be changed whenever the
document has been revised. You should be able to use that fact
when setting your kill filter to make sure that you have the
latest version available at all times.
This FAQ is also available in HTML on the World Wide Web at...
http://css.nu/faq/ciwas-mFAQ.html
and as a text document at...
http://css.nu/faq/ciwas-mFAQ.txt
with the revision history of this FAQ at...
http://css.nu/faq/ciwas-mFAQ-rev.html
10: ===== E N D =====
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