Strict mode pages - How can FP do it ?

[Guest]

It seems to me that creating "HTML 4.01 Strict" pages is really hard in
FP2003.
Strict mode doesn't accept <font> and other oldies (won't validate), and
applying styles is difficult (see next).

So most of the formatting toolbar means are useles...

I have a large number of styles in external syle sheets. FP won't show these
external styles in the listbox (Styles dialog). However, it does show them in
the styles drop-down on the toolbar.

But, when you select some text and apply the style, it applies it to the
whole paragraph, instead of the selection. "User-defined styles can be
applied only to a parent tag, not to an inline element (such as an embedded
string). The <SPAN> tag is supposed to support inline application of generic
classes, but FP2003 does not support it." ...found this on
http://www.faughnan.com/fp/traps.html

Is it really NOT POSSIBLE to apply a style in FP ??? (unless edit code). I
find this hard to believe.

What did I miss?

 

[Jens Peter Karlsen [FP-MVP]]

To apply a style to part of a paragraph in FP2003 do this:
Place the cursor where the style should begin and press enter.
Place the cursor where the style should end and press enter.
Apply the style to the wanted section.
Place the cursor at the beginning of the section and press backspace.
Place the cursor at the end of the section and press delete.
Finished.

Regards Jens Peter Karlsen. Microsoft MVP - Frontpage.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the idea... but it didn't work...
When you do backspace, you delete the <p> and that takes the class with it.

And there are many other issues related to HTML 4.01 Strict; for instance,
default alignment is "center" in strict mode. In the Design tab, you see
default alignment "left" (Design tab cannot render in strict mode), so what
you see is not anymore what you get.

But maybe FP has a switch that turns it into a strict mode editor... Does it ?

 

[Wally S]

I never had any problem with this, even with a strict doctype. Use the quick
tag editor to put <span> tags around your text. Then, on the quick-tag
toolbar at the top of the document, make sure the <span> tag is highlighted.
Then apply your style.

Wally S

 

[Wally S]

As far as <font> tags go, it's better to do all that with CSS, and it works
fine with a strict doctype. It should not be any problem.

Wally S

 

[Guest]

Thnak you !
Yes, the <span> tag is highlighted, but you cannot apply an external style
(one may try to pick it from the toolbar drop-down, but that applies it to
the parent tag.) The only way I can see is to double-click the <span> tag in
the quick bar and then type the style name, but this is not safe, as it
involves typing and it's prone to errors.

 

[Guest]

Hi Wally, I just figured what you meant (thanks!).

It's interesting that when <span> is highlighted on the quickbar, applying
the style/class from the drop-down next to fonts does not work (goes to
parent tag), but applying the same from the Styles toolbar (Class drop-down)
works.

However, the Class list is not sorted, making it really hard when you have a
large number of classes. Is there a way to sort the drop-down Class list
(Styles toolbar) alphabetically?

 

[Jens Peter Karlsen [FP-MVP]]

You are right it will remove the <p> but insert a <span> with the
style.
The default alignment for text in a table is left both in strict and
loose html 4.01.
It is up to you to only use things that are allowed in strict mode.

Regards Jens Peter Karlsen. Microsoft MVP - Frontpage.

 

[Wally S]

I don't know any way to sort it (groan), but here's what I did to reduce the
problem. There are certain classes that you only apply to certain tags, so
you can name the classes so that they only apply to that one tag, like
table.photoleft or div.smallstory, etc. This way, when you highlight a tag,
you will only get styles that can be applied to that tag. If you highlight a
<span> tag, you won't get photoleft or smallstory in the dropdown menu.

If you apply a style to only two tags or three tags, you can do it like
this: p.smallstory, div.smallstory {...}.

Also, you may have some styles that are only applied once on a page, like
..pagetitle or something like that. In this case, make it an ID instead of a
class so it will not appear in the class dropdown.

Wally S

 

[Guest]

Thank you, very much appreciate your help !

 

[Wally S]

My pleasure.

Wally S

Thank you, very much appreciate your help !