User:JWSchmidt/Blog/12 February 2007

Round corners  Soon after the launch of Wikiversity User:Sebmol put some code into the Monobook.css file that allows some browsers to make rounded corners for the buttons and other features of the wiki interface. A few days later there was a complaint and then the rounded corners code was shut off. Months later the code for rounded corners was again switched on. More than a month went by and then another complaint was made. See the discussion at MediaWiki talk:Monobook.css.

There seem to be several points of view with respect to the rounded corners.
 * "I like the rounded corners, lets keep them"
 * "I think they are ugly, get rid of them"
 * ""The code is valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional but not valid CSS. We should only use W3C-validated code."

My understanding of the World Wide Web Consortium is that it functions as a way to generate standards that can guide the creation of software such as web browsers. The purpose of these standards is to prevent problems that would arise from multiple incompatible methods of coding that might arise without a central set of standards. In the case of rounded corners, some browsers can use non-standard CSS that will generate the rounded corners. Some browsers do not use this non-standard CSS and they simply display the corners as right angles. In other words, the CSS for rounded corners does not cause any problems, it is simply a type of code that is not part of the W3C standards.

It has been suggested during the discussion that there is a way to make rounded corners while remaining within the W3C specifications (rounded corners, rounded tabs). Hopefully someone can figure out a way to provide an acceptable (to all) option for those who want to use round corners.