Freepages-Help-L Archives

Archiver > Freepages-Help > 2005-09 > 1125823155


From: Rod Dav4is <>
Subject: Re: [FreeHelp] FONT & BASEFONT attributes in HTML webspages
Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2005 04:39:15 -0400
References: <001401c5b09b$40a56dd0$c914bd50@Kennedy>
In-Reply-To: <001401c5b09b$40a56dd0$c914bd50@Kennedy>


Hi,
Your best check for html validity on your pages is to use the
"official" validator <http://validator.w3.org/>;. You don't even have to
put the page online, as there is an interface that will suck it up from
your PC.
It's real picky, and wants to see strict conformance to the
"standard", e.g. as defined here <http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/>; (or more
accessible, here <http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/>;). You will
find many instances where the validator complains, but your browser
figures it out and does "the right thing". Don't rely on your browser to
be your validator! A different browser may render malformed html
entirely differently -- or not at all!
re fonts: Be warned that your choice of fancy fonts may not be
apparent at all on any given user's PC. S/he may not have that font
installed, or may have told his browser to always use a font that s/he
likes, not what the author likes (i.e. you).
Also, I should point out that HTML does not, nor is it intended for,
defining a particular style of presentation. It's tags (with some
exceptions, which are being phased out) define only what a particular
item is, not how it should be rendered for presentation by a user agent
(i.e. browser). Defining how to render items is the domain of CSS. In
the absence of CSS styling directions, browsers are pretty much allowed
carte blanch w/r/t style. What this means is that your carefully tuned
page, absent CSS, may look entirely different in browser X than it does
to you (using browser Y).
And, don't get me going on tuning for a particular browser -- "Best
viewed with ..."! >:o

-R.

Pauline & Arthur Kennedy wrote:

>Please can anyone advise me on the correct procedures for changing font
>faces and sizes in HTML when creating fairly simple web pages and without
>using CSS (which I understand not all browsers support)?
>
>What I have read suggests that if you are using a non-default font face
>and/or size for several adjacent paragraphs of text you should close the
>FONT tag at the end of each paragraph and redefine the font attributes at
>the start of the next. Is this correct, and is it strictly necessary?
>
>(As it happens, my browser (IE6) doesn't seem to mind if I use a P tag
>without first closing the FONT tag, and displays the page exactly the same
>whether I use start and end FONT tags in each individual paragraph, or only
>at the start and end of a section consisting of several paragraphs. However,
>I know that just because my browser accepts something doesn't necessarily
>mean I'm using the correct HTML, and I'd prefer to get it right now than
>have to change it later.)
>
>Also, if I want to use a different font from the default Times New Roman
>throughout a web document, is it good practice to define this as a BASEFONT
>attribute, rather than as a FONT attribute for each element on the page?
>Some reference guides seem to suggest that defining the face in BASEFONT is
>poorly supported and therefore better avoided - but it's obviously a lot
>quicker and easier than repeatedly redefining the FONT attributes.
>
>If I do use BASEFONT to define the font face, will it work in tables? I
>gather that some browsers ignore any defined BASEFONT size in tables, but
>does this apply to the other attributes as well?
>
>Any help gratefully received
>
>
>

--
Regards, Rod Dav4is / P.O. Box 118 / Hyde Park, NY 12538 / USA
Genealogy, et Cetera: http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~dav4is/ <http://freepages.rootsweb.com/%7Edav4is/>; 417 ancestral & collateral families,
mostly 17th - 19th century New England & European roots, total population: 98,400+
Annex: http://www.gencircles.com/users/dav4is/
email: <mailto:>
"Life goes on, having nowhere else to go." D. Ackerman


This thread: