No good CSS replacement for HTML start=

[KLB]

Okay, I was doing some fine tuning on my site today and randomly pulled an older page to validate in HTML and CSS. I validate to HTML4.01 Strict and the page in question had ordered lists (<OL>) on it that were using the "TYPE" and "START" attributes. Much to my chagrin, I discovered that both attributes had been depreciated and were not valid for HTML4.01 Strict.

Replacing the Type attribute was easy enough in that I created some CSS classes that replaced the TYPE attribute with CSS style "list-style-type". After some quick search and replaces, I had the type attribute swapped out for the new CSS classes.

The sticking point came with the START attribute. I discovered there is absolutely no easy or straight forward CSS replacement for the HTML START attribute. Furthermore the START attribute isn't a display element, it is a structural element and it actually belongs in the HTML source, not in a CSS file.

There is a really convoluted work around using the style "counter-reset", but this requires a whole series of CSS instructions and basically has a whole mess of undesirable side effects, which then have to be addressed.

I find it absolutely amazing that the intelligent people over at the W3C could depreciate out an attribute like START and then not provide a straight forward CSS replacement for it. This is completely illogical.

As a result of this boneheaded move by W3C, I now have three web pages that can not be made to validate to HTML4.01 Strict without jumping through a mess of obscene hoops.

[Johnny Gulag]

It's removal from the HTML4 specification is considered a bug (so I read) I would just use: <ol start="#"> and not worry about it validating.

[KLB]

I would just use: <ol start="#"> and not worry about it validating.

That is exactly what I decided to do.