[uf-discuss] Microformats versus Microdata

[Micky Hulse]

Hi Stephen,

On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 11:23 AM, Stephen Paul Weber
<singpolyma at singpolyma.net> wrote:
> Somebody claiming to be Micky Hulse wrote:
>>Purely from a readability perspective, I like that microdata is not
>>using CSS classes
>
> Ah, that's a common misconception.   HTML classes have nothing to do with
> CSS.  You can style classes with CSS because you can style *many* selectors
> (ids, tag names, and any other attributes) with CSS.  The class attribute
> has no more to do with CSS than the tag name or the id or anything else.
> HTML classes provide a mechanism for extending the semantics of the
> document, which many microformats make use of (along with other useful HTML
> semantics such as the href attribute of <a> tags, etc).

Thanks for the clarification, I really appreciate it.

I should have clarified... I don't mind that microformats use CSS
classes, I just think my HTML looks a tad more readable when using
microdata. For example:

<https://gist.github.com/2898578>

(Sorry that the HTML is different)

Maybe that's not the best example, but my gut feeling is that I prefer
the microdata because it's not using the class attributes. Of course,
my opinion is based on personal preference. For example:

<div class="sig vcard">

vs.

<div class="sig" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">

Clearly the microdata is more markup, but I like that the "data
format" has bee separated from the class attribute.

Going back to the microdata FAQ:

"...reuse of the class tag can cause conflicts with website CSS."

I think they make a good point there.

...

I've read about microformats on/off for years now (I even bought the
Microformat book when it first came out), and I am new to microdata
(just digging my teeth into it now)... I'm keeping an open mind, but
there's something in my gut that wants to go with microdata over
microformats.

On the other hand, who's to say one can't use both? Right?

O.K., crawling back into my hole now. Sorry if I hijacked this thread. :(

Thanks again Stephen!

Cheers!
Micky