[Rails] Re: Re: [ANN] Ruby on Rails Searchable and AnnotatableDocs

Dominique Rose-Rosette
Wed, 17 May 2006 23:52:25 -0000

Le Jeudi 18 Mai 2006 01:07, Ross Dawson a ?crit?:
> > body#rails_outertrack_com {
> >   font-size: 14px /* Be kind to these li''l eyes of yours,
baby */
> > }
> >
> > Dominique Rose-Rosette
>
> Be kinder by specifying {font-size 1em} so that it''s scalable.  My
pixels
> are smaller than yours baby.
>

Sure! There''s definitely no arguing on that. Yet, this CSS definition
would
not impact you, or anyone besides me for that matter, as I was referring to a
* user-defined * stylesheet (typically
~/.mozilla/firefox/[profile]/chrome/userContent.css for *nix Firefox users)

Granted, this is no general and immediate cure to the font-size problem, as it
requires manual intervention, but that unfortunately seldom used body#id tag
trick would a nice little addition, imho.


> Seriously though folks,  please try and move away from absolute sizes for
> elements (px).  Unless they''ve fixed it IE can''t resize a
14px font (View
> -> Text Size).  Your also assuming that 14px is the same size on all
> monitors and that ain''t the case.


Generally speaking, yes, em-based font sizes are far more accessible and
convenient, at least theoretically. But they sure have their fair share of
practical drawbacks, the least of which being the HUGE default pixel size for
IE (16 pixels). (Two freshly googled references:
http://builder.com.com/5100-6371-5210803.html and
http://css-discuss.incutio.com/?page=FontSize)

So the different-base-font-size-across-platforms problem you mentioned
goes for em at least as sharply as with other units. At least, they are
resizable, that''s right. But finding a good practical default implies
resorting to clever hacks in your site''s stylesheet. It''s not
as simple
as changing em for px in the stylesheet.


So, as much as I would advocate using a em-based default font size
in the site''s stylesheet - and I totally agree with you this - I think
that
providing a convenient way for individual users to further refine the
site''s
appearance according to their specific constraints and needs would be a dead
simple yet efficient bonus.



DRR