This week UCL have updated their homepage with a new design that I translated into XHTML, CSS, and Javascript.

UCL will gradually be updating other parts of their website as they move forward. You can read the UCL blog post about their new homepage and the history of the UCL homepage.

I was responsible for producing the XHTML, CSS, and Javascript that makes up the templates for this redesign. The members of UCL’s Web Services team then integrated the templates (and modified them as required) into their CMS.

The clearfix hack is a popular way to contain floats without resorting to using presentational markup. This article presents an update to the clearfix method that further reduces the amount of CSS required.

Demo: Micro clearfix hack

Known support: Firefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, Chrome, Opera 9+, IE 6+

The “micro clearfix” method is suitable for modern browsers and builds upon Thierry Koblentz’s “clearfix reloaded”, which introduced the use of both the :before and :after pseudo-elements.

Here is the updated code (I’ve used a shorter class name too):

/**
 * For modern browsers
 * 1. The space content is one way to avoid an Opera bug when the
 *    contenteditable attribute is included anywhere else in the document.
 *    Otherwise it causes space to appear at the top and bottom of elements
 *    that are clearfixed.
 * 2. The use of `table` rather than `block` is only necessary if using
 *    `:before` to contain the top-margins of child elements.
 */
.cf:before,
.cf:after {
    content: " "; /* 1 */
    display: table; /* 2 */
}

.cf:after {
    clear: both;
}

/**
 * For IE 6/7 only
 * Include this rule to trigger hasLayout and contain floats.
 */
.cf {
    *zoom: 1;
}

This “micro clearfix” generates pseudo-elements and sets their display to table. This creates an anonymous table-cell and a new block formatting context that means the :before pseudo-element prevents top-margin collapse. The :after pseudo-element is used to clear the floats. As a result, there is no need to hide any generated content and the total amount of code needed is reduced.

Including the :before selector is not necessary to clear the floats, but it prevents top-margins from collapsing in modern browsers. This has two benefits:

• It ensures visual consistency with other float containment techniques that create a new block formatting context, e.g., overflow:hidden
• It ensures visual consistency with IE 6/7 when zoom:1 is applied.

N.B.: There are circumstances in which IE 6/7 will not contain the bottom margins of floats within a new block formatting context. Further details can be found here: Better float containment in IE using CSS expressions.

The use of content:" " (note the space in the content string) avoids an Opera bug that creates space around clearfixed elements if the contenteditable attribute is also present somewhere in the HTML. Thanks to Sergio Cerrutti for spotting this fix. An alternative fix is to use font:0/0 a.

Legacy Firefox

Firefox < 3.5 will benefit from using Thierry’s method with the addition of visibility:hidden to hide the inserted character. This is because legacy versions of Firefox need content:"." to avoid extra space appearing between the body and its first child element, in certain circumstances (e.g., jsfiddle.net/necolas/K538S/.)

Alternative float-containment methods that create a new block formatting context, such as applying overflow:hidden or display:inline-block to the container element, will also avoid this behaviour in legacy versions of Firefox.

Applying conditional classnames to the html element is a popular way to help target specific versions of IE with CSS fixes. It was first described by Paul Irish and is a feature of the HTML5 Boilerplate. Despite all its benefits, there are still a couple of niggling issues. Here are some hacky variants that side-step those issues.

An article by Paul Irish, Conditional stylesheets vs CSS hacks? Answer: Neither!, first proposed that conditional comments be used on the opening html tag to help target legacy versions of IE with CSS fixes. Since its inclusion in the HTML5 Boilerplate project, contributors have further refined the technique.

However, there are still some niggling issues with the “classic” conditional comments approach, which Mathias Bynens summarized in a recent article on safe CSS hacks.

1. The Compatibility View icon is displayed in IE8 and IE9 if you are not setting the X-UA-Compatible header in a server config.
2. The character encoding declaration might not be fully contained within the first 1024 bytes of the HTML document if you need to include several attributes on each version of the opening html tag (e.g. Facebook xmlns junk).

You can read more about the related discussions in issue #286 and issue #378 at the HTML5 Boilerplate GitHub repository.

The “bubble up” conditional comments method

Although not necessarily recommended, it looks like both of these issues can be avoided with a bit of trickery. You can create an uncommented opening html tag upon which any shared attributes (so no class attribute) can be set. The conditional classes are then assigned in a second html tag that appears after the <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible"> tag in the document. The classes will “bubble up” to the uncommented tag.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible"
          content="IE=edge,chrome=1">
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <!--[if lt IE 7]><html class="no-js ie6"><![endif]-->
    <!--[if IE 7]><html class="no-js ie7"><![endif]-->
    <!--[if IE 8]><html class="no-js ie8"><![endif]-->
    <!--[if gt IE 8]><!--><html class="no-js"><!--<![endif]-->

    <title>Document</title>
  </head>
  <body>
  </body>
</html>

Fork the Gist

The result is that IE8 and IE9 won’t ignore the <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible"> tag, the Compatibility View icon will not be displayed, and the amount of repeated code is reduced. Obviously, including a second html tag in the head isn’t pretty or valid HTML.

If you’re using a server-side config to set the X-UA-Compatible header (instead of the meta tag), then you can still benefit from the DRYer nature of using two opening html tags and it isn’t necessary to include the conditional comments in the head of the document. However, you might still want to do so if you risk not containing the character encoding declaration within the first 1024 bytes of the document.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<!--[if lt IE 7]><html class="no-js ie6"><![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7]><html class="no-js ie7"><![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 8]><html class="no-js ie8"><![endif]-->
<!--[if gt IE 8]><!--><html class="no-js"><!--<![endif]-->
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Document</title>
  </head>
  <body>
  </body>
</html>

Fork the Gist

The “preemptive” conditional comments method

Another method to prevent the Compatibility View icon from showing was found by Julien Wajsberg. It relies on including a conditional comment before the DOCTYPE. Doing this seems to help IE recognise the <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible"> tag. This method isn’t as DRY and doesn’t have the character encoding declaration as high up in the document, but it also doesn’t use 2 opening html elements.

<!--[if IE]><![endif]-->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<!--[if lt IE 7]><html class="no-js ie6"><![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7]><html class="no-js ie7"><![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 8]><html class="no-js ie8"><![endif]-->
<!--[if gt IE 8]><!--><html class="no-js"><!--<![endif]-->
  <head>
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1">
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Document</title>
  </head>
  <body>
  </body>
</html>

Fork the Gist

While it’s interesting to explore these possibilities, the “classic” method is still generally the most understandable. It doesn’t create invalid HTML, doesn’t risk throwing IE into quirks mode, and you won’t have a problem with the Compatibility View icon if you use a server-side config.

If you find any other approaches, or problems with those posted here, please leave a comment but also consider adding what you’ve found to the relevant issues in the HTML5 Boilerplate GitHub repository.

Thanks to Paul Irish for feedback and suggestions.

Two prominent medical experts — AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleriya and Dr. Manish Suneja — flew into Ahmedabad on Friday following instructions from the Home Minister to guide local doctors

Sisakhti, Reza, author

Britt, Thomas W., 1966-

Phillips, Michael, author

Arora, Pankaj

Clark, Robert A., author

Tate, Jon, author

Interview with Mehraneh D. Jafari, MD, and Kasra Ziai, MD, authors of Association of Compensation From the Surgical and Medical Device Industry to Physicians and Self-declared Conflict of Interest

Interview with Rajendra S. Apte, MD PhD, and Gregory P Van Stavern, MD, authors of Association of Preclinical Alzheimer Disease With Optical Coherence Tomographic Angiography Findings

Interview with Benjamin Besse, MD, author of Hyperprogressive Disease in Patients With Advanced Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Treated With PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitors or With Single-Agent Chemotherapy

Interview with Mikel Izquierdo, Ph.D, and Nicolás Martínez-Velilla, PhD, authors of Effect of Exercise Intervention on Functional Decline in Very Elderly Patients During Acute Hospitalization: A Randomized Clinical Trial, and William J. Hall, MD, author of A Novel Exercise Intervention and Functional Status in Very Elderly Patients During Acute Hospitalization

Interview with Andreas M. Zeiher, MD, author of Association of Mutations Contributing to Clonal Hematopoiesis With Prognosis in Chronic Ischemic Heart Failure, and Peter Libby, MD, author of CHIPping Away at the Pathogenesis of Heart Failure

Interview with Robert A. Tessler, MD, MPH, and Frederick P Rivara, MD, MPH, authors of Trends in Firearm Injury and Motor Vehicle Crash Case Fatality by Age Group, 2003-2013

Interview with Anna L. Bruckner, MD, MSCS, author of Assessment of the Timing of Milestone Clinical Events in Patients With Epidermolysis Bullosa From North America

Interview with Joseph M. Unger, PhD, author of Association of Patient Comorbid Conditions With Cancer Clinical Trial Participation

Interview with Christopher R. Cederroth, PhD, author of Association of Genetic vs Environmental Factors in Swedish Adoptees With Clinically Significant Tinnitus

Interview with Paul A Heidenreich, MD, MS, author of Association of Statin Adherence With Mortality in Patients With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

Interview with Peter Rhee, MD, MPH, and Bellal Joseph, MD, authors of Nationwide Analysis of Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta in Civilian Trauma

Interview with Christopher W. Goodman, MD, author of A Clinical Overview of Off-label Use of Gabapentinoid Drugs

Interview with Bohdan Pomahac, MD, author of The Evolving Clinical Presentation of Acute Rejection in Facial Transplantation

Interview with J. Donald Easton, jdeaston, author of Risk for Major Hemorrhages in Patients Receiving Clopidogrel and Aspirin Compared With Aspirin Alone After Transient Ischemic Attack or Minor Ischemic Stroke: A Secondary Analysis of the POINT Randomized Clinical Trial

Interview with Steven C. Cramer, MD, MMSc, author of Efficacy of Home-Based Telerehabilitation vs In-Clinic Therapy for Adults After Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Interview with Stephen W. Waldo, MD, author of Association of Coronary Anatomical Complexity With Clinical Outcomes After Percutaneous or Surgical Revascularization in the Veterans Affairs Clinical Assessment Reporting and Tracking Program

Interview with Adrian F. Hernandez, MD, MHS, author of Clinical Effectiveness of Direct Oral Anticoagulants vs Warfarin in Older Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Ischemic Stroke: Findings From the Patient-Centered Research Into Outcomes Stroke Patients Prefer and Effectiveness Research (PROSPER) Study

Interview with Alex V. Levin, MD, MHSc, author of Association of Preoperative Disclosure of Resident Roles With Informed Consent for Cataract Surgery in a Teaching Program

Interview with Emma B. Holliday, MD, author of Women’s Representation Among Lead Investigators of Clinical Trials in Oncology

Interview with Kausik K. Ray, MD, author of Effect of 1 or 2 Doses of Inclisiran on Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels: One-Year Follow-up of the ORION-1 Randomized Clinical Trial, and Maarten JG. Leening, MD, PhD, author of Safety and Tolerability of Sustained Lipid-Lowering Therapy: Trial Data and Public Perception in a World Where Vaccines and Statins Are About to Collide

Interview with Justin S. Golub, MD, MS, author of Association of Subclinical Hearing Loss With Cognitive Performance