The IE6 Box Model

Kevin

Senior Member
So, with all the fuss about IE6 must die... I brought up the IE6 box model the other day while talking to Tim. Now, I learned semantic, standard-compliant coding about two years ago. IE6 was a far more common browser back then and I learned some techniques to cover bugs in the archaic IE5.5 (which have been long forgotten now). So, as anyone learning how to code correctly, the box model is something they should know by heart. For those who don't, here it is.

mltdfn.png


The differences are quite obvious, W3C pushes your container outwards, while IE6 pushes your content inwards. And I've always been of the opinion that the IE6 box model was far more logical and efficient than the one the W3C had made up. Why? Think about all the extra complications they made by pushing the container outwards. You have to revise your container width so you don't break your layout. Of course, this can be quite confusing for someone who is new to coding and hasn't figured out the box model yet.The IE6 box model is, from the top of my head (but I don't expect to come up with anything else, even if I tried hard), the only thing I'll miss about IE6.

Why did the consortium not see how outward padding would break the natural layout without having to tamper with it?
Overseeing this grave error of the consortium, and perfecting the slightly (and much less than the W3C) flawed IE6 box model, I present you... the Onartis box model, which is currently supported by all browsers that can show a JPEG file (see attachment) :lol:

Any opinions?
Oh and I think I might put this article on my future blog.
 

Attachments

  • boxmodel.jpg
    boxmodel.jpg
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I agree with you Onartis the ie6 model does actually make more sense. That way you can work out at a glance the width of something without adding on the padding. I'm used to it with all the other browsers obviously being the opposite but it was a mistake to make that the standard really in my opinion.
 
I agree with the 'onartis box model' - i think that's why it took me so long to figure out why things were screwing up in IE6 after changing to Firefox.
In my mind, thats how it should work; margin and border on the outside, pad your text in the inside.
 
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