[Pmwiki-users] rendering question about lists (somewhat important)

[Patrick R. Michaud]

This is a somewhat important question regarding the vertical spacing of
bullet, numbered, and definition lists in PmWiki.  

By default, most browsers add a blank line before and after a top-level
list.  Thus, the markup

   Here is some text
   * bullet 1
   * bullet 2
   * bullet 3
   Here is some more text

usually ends up being displayed with blank lines before and after
the bullet list.

Using CSS I can turn this behavior off, so that the resulting bullet
list appears next to the surrounding text, same as it appears
in the markup.  I'd like to do this by default in PmWiki's stylesheets
--is that a really bad idea or would that cause anyone any heartache?

If a WikiAuthor wants blank lines displayed around the bullet items 
then she can add them using the markup:

   Here is some text

   * bullet 1
   * bullet 2
   * bullet 3

   Here is some more text

If a WikiAdministrator wants to restore the browser default behaviors,
he can do so by overriding or modifying the default stylesheets.

The advantages:  authors get much greater control over the vertical layout
of items.  The disadvantages:  It might not work correctly in some older
browsers, although it should degrade very gracefully.  Also, it would change 
the look of pages that people have already authored somewhat (but an
admin can quickly restore the previous behavior).

Comments? 

Pm