HTML, XHTML and Microformats

At the moment I’m writing a script for a DVD tutorial on microformats  that I will be recording for New Riders at the end of February. While designing some shiny new examples for the hCalendar event microformat, I’ve been revisiting the problems and discussions of accessibility that surround the date design pattern and thinking about possible design solutions.

Enrique Ramírez wrote to me yesterday with a few questions about Microformats and markup. I’ve been asked these questions before, a few times. So rather than send Enrique my answers on a postcard, I’m replying in public, with Enrique’s permission of course.

Peachpit Web Design Reference have published the first in a series of my articles on Microformats, Microformats: The Fine Art of Markup. In this series instead of focussing on the technical aspects that so many people have done far better, I will be combining talk of Microformats with the wider issue of the importance of writing meaningful mark-up. I’ll be finishing up each of the subsequent articles with what are hope are cool new ways to style Microformat rich mark-up using CSS.

The one where Malarkey admires Code Snippets; not another two-point-oh! photo/blog/rss combo platter.

The one where Malarkey reveals screenshots from the IE7 MIX 06 beta release

Invasion of the Body Switchers updated

I recently came across Google’s Site-Flavored Google Search lab experiment. But looking at Mr. Google’s cut-and-paste HTML made me reach for my happy pills

The Web Standards Trifle. Let’s get cooking!

Eric Meyer’s comments about my original ‘What’s in a name’ column have prompted me draw some conclusions. My original thinking lacked depth, so I started thinking of an approach which would allow for the greatest flexibilty.

You love someone. Sometimes they love you back and that feels so good. But sometimes your love is in vain. No matter how hard you try to get close to them, that special someone puts up barriers that prevent you from being together. That’s how it is between me and Mr. Google, so I thought I’d write a letter.

A number of designers and developers have asked me for recommendations on laying out product pages using lists and CSS. So I decided to write a mini tutorial.

If standards conscious designers follow conventions when naming elements on their web pages, can we make it easier for users to create their own stylesheets which will work more efficiently across a wide range of sites?