minor browser annoyances

[JakeFrederick]

I have been running into something quite annoying lately which I've never really been bothered by before for some reason. I'm talking about the default values different browsers give to certain things. For example when testing a site I noticed that the default margin settings seemed to vary from browser to browser. This is itself is not a huge deal and is only a difference of a few pixels, but if there are more varations like this is the page they can add up. Anyone want to shed some light on dealing with this? I'd like to make a list of these variations so I could know which values to set when working on a page so the layout will be more consistent.

[tedster]

Hi Jake,

Did you see this thread about controlling body margins?
[webmasterworld.com...]

Just a few days ago, I found a page that listed the default body margins for many browsers. (Sorry, I can't locate it right now) The list was really all over the map, ranging from 6 to 15 pixels for various browsers and OS. Even the same browser can vary from version to version -- it's just too much for me to worry about!

The best web design philosophy I can find is to build in as much "fluidity" as possible. The web was created to be very fluid -- in its roots the web is about information, and not appearance, so we often run into trouble when we try to control layout too much. Those who came to web design with print experience in their past often struggle to get that shift of mindset.

Knowing generally where the browsers and OS differ helps to raise a warning flag for me when certain design concepts come up, but I can't conceive of keeping track of all the exact differences.

PS: For those who think body margins can be sticky, what about frame margins! Trying to match images across two frames is often not even possible. Just one more reason to avoid them in most cases.