why paragraphs have a space on top in FireFox?

[lkrubner]

Am I wrong, or do paragraphs have extra space on top in FireFox, when
compared to Microsoft IE. The top of this page is an example:

http://www.publicdomainsoftware.org/...php?pageId=299

The text in the box at top looks like it has an extra 10 or 20 pixels
of padding at the top, when FireFox is compared to IE. Why is that?

[Rob T.]

On 19 May 2005 10:30:48 -0700, lk******@geocities.com wrote:

Am I wrong, or do paragraphs have extra space on top in FireFox, when
compared to Microsoft IE. The top of this page is an example:

http://www.publicdomainsoftware.org/...php?pageId=299

The text in the box at top looks like it has an extra 10 or 20 pixels
of padding at the top, when FireFox is compared to IE. Why is that?

I guess <P> implicitly has a top margin in Firefox/Netscape. In your
stylesheet for P add:

margin: 0px auto;

Rob

[David Ross]

lk******@geocities.com wrote:

Am I wrong, or do paragraphs have extra space on top in FireFox, when
compared to Microsoft IE. The top of this page is an example:

http://www.publicdomainsoftware.org/...php?pageId=299

The text in the box at top looks like it has an extra 10 or 20 pixels
of padding at the top, when FireFox is compared to IE. Why is that?

There are only three explicit paragraphs on the page, indicated by
the <p> element. This does not include one "null" paragraph,
indicated by <p> </p> (which is contrary to the HTML 4.01
specification per §9.3.1).

The HTML 4.01 specification (§9.3.5) indicates there should indeed
be white-space above and below each paragraph without indicating
how much white-space. Your style-sheet effectively provides for a
margin above each line of a paragraph by having "font-size: .9em"
with "line-height: 1.2em". Per the CSS1 specification §6.1, the
latter is supposed to be interpreted relative to the former. Thus,
there should be margin above the line 20% greater than the height
of the font.

I viewed the page with Mozilla 1.7.8 and RealPlayer 10.0. (I had
to use RealPlayer, which uses an IE clone for a browser, because I
have disabled IE.) There is only a slightly greater space above
the "Public Domain Software: A project" paragraph in Mozilla.
There is significantly LESS space above the "Printer Friendly"
paragraph in Mozilla. With both browsers, the "Login" paragraph is
vertically centered in the black box.

--

David E. Ross
<URL:http://www.rossde.com/>

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See <URL:http://www.mozilla.org/>.

[Jim Moe]

lk******@geocities.com wrote:

The text in the box at top looks like it has an extra 10 or 20 pixels
of padding at the top, when FireFox is compared to IE. Why is that?

You are using HTML 4.01 Transitional. This invokes the "quirks" mode
for each browser. IE and Firefox have different opinions about spacing in
quirks mode.
Convert the page to HTML 4.01 Strict, which sets the "Standards" mode,
and almost all of the spacing differences disappear.

--
jmm dash list (at) sohnen-moe (dot) com
(Remove .AXSPAMGN for email)

[C A Upsdell]

Jim Moe wrote:

lk******@geocities.com wrote:

The text in the box at top looks like it has an extra 10 or 20 pixels
of padding at the top, when FireFox is compared to IE. Why is that?

You are using HTML 4.01 Transitional. This invokes the "quirks" mode
for each browser. IE and Firefox have different opinions about spacing
in quirks mode.

Wrong. Transitional only triggers quirks mode when the DOCTYPE's URL is
absent, and the OP's page has the URL, so the page WILL be rendered in
standards mode.

[Henri Sivonen]

In article <cP********************@rogers.com>,
C A Upsdell <""cupsdellXXX\"@-@[e-mail]"> wrote:

Wrong. Transitional only triggers quirks mode when the DOCTYPE's URL is
absent, and the OP's page has the URL, so the page WILL be rendered in
standards mode.

Transitional with URL triggers the Almost Standards mode in Firefox. It
doesn't make a difference with paragraph margins, though.

--
Henri Sivonen
hs******@iki.fi
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/
Mozilla Web Author FAQ: http://mozilla.org/docs/web-developer/faq.html

[C A Upsdell]

Henri Sivonen wrote:

In article <cP********************@rogers.com>,
C A Upsdell <""cupsdellXXX\"@-@[e-mail]"> wrote:

Wrong. Transitional only triggers quirks mode when the DOCTYPE's URL is
absent, and the OP's page has the URL, so the page WILL be rendered in
standards mode.

Transitional with URL triggers the Almost Standards mode in Firefox. It
doesn't make a difference with paragraph margins, though.

Yeah, I know. I did not mention this detail for fear of confusing the
OP with information not strictly relevant to him/her.

[Gus Richter]

Jim Moe wrote:

You are using HTML 4.01 Transitional. This invokes the "quirks" mode
for each browser. IE and Firefox have different opinions about spacing
in quirks mode.
Convert the page to HTML 4.01 Strict, which sets the "Standards" mode,
and almost all of the spacing differences disappear.

My information is that HTML 4.01 Transitional triggers Quirks Mode.
HTML 4.01 Transitional "with URL" triggers Standards Mode (which he uses).

--
Gus

[Gus Richter]

Rob T. wrote:

On 19 May 2005 10:30:48 -0700, lk******@geocities.com wrote:

Am I wrong, or do paragraphs have extra space on top in FireFox, when
compared to Microsoft IE. The top of this page is an example:

http://www.publicdomainsoftware.org/...php?pageId=299

The text in the box at top looks like it has an extra 10 or 20 pixels
of padding at the top, when FireFox is compared to IE. Why is that?

I guess <P> implicitly has a top margin in Firefox/Netscape. In your
stylesheet for P add:

margin: 0px auto;

Rob

Yes, or simply: margin-top:0;

--
Gus