Comments on: Definition list for article comments or IM dialogue

By: Marko Dugonjić

Marko Dugonjić — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:17:51 +0000

@Mario Kostelac: and this is just the start :)

By: Mario Kostelac

Mario Kostelac — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:15:23 +0000

http://24ways.org/2007/my-other-christmas-present-is-a-definition-list
Interesting article describes why using definition lists for markin’ up conversations is wrong. I am confused a bit.

By: Marko Dugonjić

Marko Dugonjić — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:53:09 +0000

@Dragan Babić: How many times did I miss a wrapper for each pair, and most of the time I’d end-up with my first example, wrapping pairs with DL and placing it inside a list-item.

By: Ivan Nikolic

Ivan Nikolic — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:41:33 +0000

I’ve recently used definition lists for marking FAQ dialogue between web site visitor and web site owner, and as Medo said, if you’re working on some compatibility with HTML5 ( element) this could be ideal solution.

By: Dragan Babić

Dragan Babić — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:58:47 +0000

I always considered time to be crucial when it comes to conversations, therefore I have always found ordered lists to be the element for the job (along with cite/blockquote combo.)

On another note — I love definition lists, but they lack a wrapper element around the dt/dd pairs which is making them some times tricky to work with.

By: Medo

Medo — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:28:23 +0000

I can see what you are getting at. I suppose if you’re working on the premise of some form of forwards compatability with HTML 5 then yeah why not? The markup used above and in the specified context is still valid in HTML 4.

On the other hand, and just playing devil’s advocate, could it be argued that representing a dialogue using an ordered list with cite and blockquote elements is still more semantic?