RE: Welcome. some problems with Launchpads (OOPS-664C1133...)

["Philippe Verdy" <verdy_p@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I wrote:
> After looking at the code, this seems related to a bug in the website CSS
> stylesheet:
> 
> http://launchpad.net/+icing/rev3/style.css
> line 70:
> 
> #maincontent {
>   ...
>   display:inline;
>   float:left;
>   position:relative;
> }
> 
> A "display:inline" element cannot float left... This should be
> "display:block". And if it is floating, it can't be positioned at relative
> position. There's some contradiction, and the result is unpredictable, as
> one of these properties must be ignored (normally the last option wins,
> but
> this is not guaranteed).
> 
> Changing it to "display:block" should solve the problem.

Did someone investigate this CSS problem (bug) in the Launchpad website
(this is apparently what is causing the fact that IE displays a blank
content)?

If I read the CSS2 specification (section 9.7. Relationships between
'display', 'position', and 'float'):
http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/visuren.html#dis-pos-flo

[quote]
* 1. If 'display' has the value 'none', then 'position' and 'float' do not
apply. In this case, the element generates no box. 
* 2. Otherwise, if 'position' has the value 'absolute' or 'fixed', the box
is absolutely positioned, the computed value of 'float' is 'none', and
display is set according to the table below. The position of the box will be
determined by the 'top', 'right', 'bottom' and 'left' properties and the
box's containing block. 
* 3. Otherwise, if 'float' has a value other than 'none', the box is floated
and 'display' is set according to the table below. 
* 4. Otherwise, if the element is the root element, 'display' is set
according to the table below. 
* 5. Otherwise, the remaining 'display' property values apply as specified.
[quote]

Let's look at the intended behaviour:
* 1. does not apply (because we have "display:inline", not "display:none")
* 2. does not apply (because we have "position:relative")
* 3. does apply so "float:left" should be honored, and "display" should be
as in this documented table:

+ Specified "display" value : Computed "display" value 
+ inline-table : table 
+ inline, run-in, table-row-group, table-column, table-column-group,
table-header-group, table-footer-group, table-row, table-cell,
table-caption, inline-block : block 
+ others : same as specified

So "display:inline" should be interpreted as if it was "display:block", and
"position:relative" will be ignored.

So I suggest changing the CSS by specifying directly the intended
"display:block", and removing "position:relative" that is superfluous (and
should be ignored according to CSS specs):

> http://launchpad.net/+icing/rev3/style.css
> line 70:
> #maincontent {
>   ...
>   
>   display:block;
>   float:left;
>   /*position:relative;*/
> }

It seems that IE6 and IE7 do not fully respect the CSS2 specs and
applies/computes "display:inline" and/or "position:relative" where it should
not...
(only "display:none" takes precedence before the "float:" property, and if
"float:" is not "none", then "position:" is ignored, so it's best to
suppress it!).

There may be other problems in your complex CSS stylesheet, because there
are many selectors in it and complex cascading rules.

Please could you investigate the Launchpad pages so that they display
properly in IE (even if this is a IE bug), because the Launchpad site is
also hosting applications for Windows where IE is so frequently used, and
not displaying correctly your site desserves your interest to promote free
software.