Compatibility Issues php, xhtml, css and the like...

[chiiyo 0]

I'm a big fan of being absolutely compatible, I still design my sites so you can view them at 640x480 screen resolution (and get laughed at because of so), and since I've been on the board for some time I find that my coding ideals are somewhat outdated. I still have the impression not all browsers can read CSS, so I still design my pages with html tables and even though I have an external CSS stylesheet, I still use tags like < font >, that basically repeat my CSS, but ensure that browsers without CSS can see my website.Problem is, am I doing something really stupid? Is CSS like compatible everywhere, more compatible than basic HTML 4.01? Because when I read people's comments on XHTML and how you need to separate the content from the layout using CSS, I don't know whether I should still stick to using HTML tags as a backup to my CSS. For me, using DIV tags feel very incompatible, as opposed to using TABLE tags...Also, I'm thinking of learning php. Is php also like compatible with everything out there? Would my page screw up really badly if the particular browser doesn't understand php?I think I sound pretty noobish... O-o.

[miCRoSCoPiC^eaRthLinG 0]

Check out this site --> http://www.westciv.com/style_master/academy/browser_support/

It lists a few common browsers that support CSS1 & 2 and any browsers based on these engines will support CSS. This site also dicusses various aspects of CSS and the style attributes associated with it in good details. Here's a quick list from their site.

Browsers tested
Our tables have browser support information for

    * Internet Explorer 4 for Windows
    * Internet Explorer 5 for Windows
    * Internet Explorer 5.5 for Windows
    * Internet Explorer 6 for Windows
    * Internet Explorer 4 for Macintosh
    * Internet Explorer 5 for Macintosh
    * Netscape Navigator 4 (all platforms)
    * Netscape Navigator 6 (all platforms)
    * Netscape Navigator 7 (all platforms)
    * Opera 3.5 (all platforms)
    * Opera 5 (all platforms)
    * Opera 7 (all platforms)

Also don't forget the CSS Guide at w3.org: http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/

[Hercco 0]

I think I'm a bit of a compatibility nut too. I want people to be able to view my site regardless of their computer/software. However, reaching full compatibility means huge sacrifices from design, and that's where I don't want to go. The line I draw is in CSS support. I think it's safe to assume that people have at least CSS1 compatible browsers. So my opinion is that... yes you go a bit too far with all tables and especially < font > tags. I used to be a in all tables design but I switched to divs and full CSS positioning about years and a half ago. Remember that if the less than a per cent of your visitors who don't have CSS compatible browsers should still be able to read the page, even if the menus and colours are not on their right places.

[Muddyboy 0]

I think your taking it a bit too far there. Most people would have now days upgraded their browsers to the lastest or later version, and if they havnt then they are stupid because they are asking to be abused by websites with the vunrabilties of their outdated browser.If you still want to i suggest making 2 version, a nice clean css version without the font tags etc, and a older version without the css, not a mix of both, and use php with a switch (link down the bottom so if it doesnt detect its a later version and it is it will allow the user to change) that way you can keep the older browser support and allow the newer browsers to use the css with font tags etc so the page load is down