[uf-discuss] XOXO, the 'compact' attribute is deprecated

[Tantek Ç elik]

On 12/2/05 1:06 PM, "kenny heaton" <kennyheaton at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I am new to microformats,

Hi Kenny, welcome to the list!


> but excited about them and eager to learn
> and start using them.

Great!  There are plenty of experts and experienced folks here who have
successfully done so, so you've found the right place.


> But as I was reading over the XOXO format, it
> uses the attribute compact which was a part of the HTML specification
> but is deprecated. Is this something that has been discussed elsewhere
> and is there a reason for including a deprecated attribute in the XOXO
> format? I personally would think it better not to use any deprecated
> elements.

I think it has been discussed somewhere, but nowhere that I can find on the
wiki or the mailing list.

In short:

The 'compact' attribute as specified in HTML4 is purely presentational and
as such was deprecated.  Since this attribute has been little used, we have
repurposed it as a semantic attribute in XOXO that actually preserves the
state of whether or not the ''user'' has twiddled an an outline item and all
its children in the open state vs. the closed state.  We recycled the
'compact' attribute instead of making a new attribute to minimize
reinvention, and to make an otherwise useless attribute useful again.

Your question is a good one and I have added it to the XOXO FAQ:

 http://microformats.org/wiki/xoxo-faq

Thanks,

Tantek