A project I am working on requires the use of a menuing system (as in, it isn't my choice). In an effort to achieve similar rendering across browsers I added a Transitional DocType to all of the pages on the site. This made things MUCH easier for me to work with, but it also broke the menu appearance and behavior. We sent an e-mail to the makers of this menu software and received this very puzzling response:
------------------------------------ The issue at hand is that [productname] is completely compliant, but is more modern than HTML 4.01. If you remove the doctype tag, all your rendering issues should be resolved. Using one of our older and backwards compatible menu packages might be the only solution if you must have the doctype tag. However the doctype tag is really a formality used for checking compliancy and nothing more. Removing the tag will solve your rendering problems. ------------------------------------ I was not aware that a DTD was a mere formality. In my experience, operating without a DTD puts most browsers into Quirks mode which, by its very definition, isn't a standards compliant rendering mode. Basically, my purpose for sending this is to acquire more understanding of the purpose of the DTD. Is it there to set the rendering mode, or is it, as this support person purports, simply a formality? Thanks, -Sam ****************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ******************************************************
