If you want your pages to look good in both the major browsers, I suggest you install Netscape Navigator AND Internet Explorer... and experiment!
Here are some of my discoveries... results of experimenting with Netscape Navigator 3.01 and Internet Explorer 3.02.
Did you know that it is 'safer' to use   instead of if you want a non-breaking space? Apparently some older browsers don't support
You can use non-breaking spaces to indent paragraphs. I have used five of them in this paragraph.
You can also use them to leave extra white space between paragraphs. Use the following for three blank lines:
<P> 
<P> 
<P> 
Use blank lines at the top of your page for a top margin.
We read narrower text more easily... it's easier on the eyes... that's why columns are good... in print media... not on screen...
I find columns hard to read on screen... because I have to keep scrolling up and down... but... text all the way across the screen is a bit much too... (especially at 800 by 600 and 1024 by 768) I've read that the ideal is 10-14 words per line...
On this page I am using a single transparent pixel at the left... and another (the same pixel, actually!!) at the right... You can vary the 'size' with width and height tags... here I'm using width=90 on both sides of the page.
Some commands are interpreted differently in Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape Navigator (NN) ... if you design your page for NN, those with IE may not be able to read it properly.
If you use a background with a left hand border and you use <UL> to get your indent, the indent will be smaller in IE ... and some of your text could be in the border. I've seen some pages with beautiful borders and bullets spoiled in IE because the bullets are partly or wholly in the border...
<UL> is meant to be an indent for items in a list. You can use <blockquote> to indent text at the left AND the right... reminds me of Science... you know... an equal and opposite reaction...
Each of the following examples will be inside the transparent pixel borders... ie the indents are relative to the main text on the page. I will add enough text to make margins and indents obvious.
While writing and testing the following examples I found that <blockquote> acts differently in NN when used with the single pixel borders... so I will make a copy of the following lines without the pixel borders.
This is without an indent it is without an indent it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is it is
- This is using one start and end <UL> q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p There's no right indent
- ... and two <UL>s q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p - notice there is still no right indent?
One start and end <blockquote> See that in IE this is the same size as two <UL>s with a right indent as well as a left indent. In NN it's the same size as one <UL> ... with a right indent in some cases.
... and two <blockquote>s q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q q w e r t y u i o p q w e r t y u i o p q- with bigger left and right indents
If you're reading this in NN, please check the copy without the pixel borders, or you might think I'm crazy!... there are no right indents here in NN... are there?... except in the first line of each paragraph with a <blockquote>???
|
You can use tables for a narrower 'page'... This table is 280 pixels wide. It is not centred... there's no alignment tag, so the default must be aligned left... remember we have a 90 pixel wide border... in NN each cell in a table needs a font tag if you don't want the default font. I have not included the font tag in this table - to show that IE does not need it, and NN does... We read narrower text more easily... it's easier on the eyes... that's why columns are good... in print media... not on screen... I find columns hard to read on screen... because I have to keep scrolling up and down... but... text all the way across the screen is a bit much too... (especially at 800 by 600 and 1024 by 768) I've read that the ideal is 10-14 words per line...
|
|
This table is 280 pixels wide and aligned right...to the border We read narrower text more easily... it's easier on the eyes... that's why columns are good... in print media... not on screen... I find columns hard to read on screen... because I have to keep scrolling up and down... but... text all the way across the screen is a bit much too... (especially at 800 by 600 and 1024 by 768) I've read that the ideal is 10-14 words per line...
|
|
This table is 280 pixels wide and centred. We read narrower text more easily... it's easier on the eyes... that's why columns are good... in print media... not on screen... I find columns hard to read on screen... because I have to keep scrolling up and down... but... text all the way across the screen is a bit much too... (especially at 800 by 600 and 1024 by 768) I've read that the ideal is 10-14 words per line...
|
These are single column tables... you could use two columns... with the left or right one empty... experiment!