Whenever I see these old W3C docs mentioning old standards (MathML, in this case), it reminds me of how short-lived and little supported VRML was in browsers.
I remember a scant few months were it would run in maybe Netscape? And then there were a couple years it was supported via Java Applets before being completely phased away. At least, in the web space; maybe it found purchase elsewhere.
If you're looking for something similar still you may want to checkout https://aframe.io/ -- it's JS library(s) and you load them, then use custom tags in HTML to create VR worlds. it's rad.
I remember being like 15 and being excited about vrml. I think I knew one page with a working demo, and I used to tell people it was going to be the future.
Assuming you’re talking about MathML, there’s nothing outdated or short-lived about it. Browser support is reasonably good nowadays[1], MathJax always supported it, KaTeX by default outputs MathML alongside HTML, etc.
I didn't mean MathML specifically was unused, just that it reminded me of other niche/auxiliary standards that have been supported, many of which have been dropped.
I still come across people using the term HTML5 as if it's "a thing". For example "our system has been updated to HTML5".
Whereas HTML5 spans more than a decade of continuous browser improvement and extension. It is an "era" or "mindset" not a "specification".
HTML5 was a way of discarding the mindset of "versioning the web" - now browsers implement specific functionality as they choose. The Web Serial API might be in this "HTML5 browser" but not in that "HTML5 browser".
The number is misleading in that sense. It implies a fixed moment in time. And it does that but only in a "before and after" sense.
HTML5 is actually an acronym, it stands for "Cool Shit That Won't Work In IE6". Unfortunately someone typo'd it a bit, so like Referer we're stuck with it now.
Actually, W3C published a number of HTML specs under the "HTML 5" moniker beginning in 2014 ([html5]) until 2017 ([html52]) based on (the loose group of people on github mostly working for Google on Chrome called) WHATWG's HTML specs. From 2020 on W3C again attempted to publish WHATWG snapshots, without redaction this time around; the January, 2020 snapshot ([html2001]) is the only one that made it into a W3C recommendation under that process, while later snapshots were rejected and simply no new snapshot was reviewed by W3C, Inc.'s HTML working group since (whose chapter is closing down these days last I checked). [is-this-html6] has the details, but in a nutshell, the so-called "HTML5 outlining algorithm" spec, one of Ian Hickson's innovations going along with "main", "header", and "footer" elements and the concept of sectioning roots that never was implemented/honored in browsers was removed by Steve Faulkner going to great lengths editing the upstream WHATWG HTML spec.
So in this sense, as is argued by the linked blog post, "HTML 5" refers to those W3C specs, while "HTML 2020" could refer to later specs.
Ian Hickson’s steadfast commitment to web standards and rejection of the xHTML bandwagon who did not understand the difference between catastrophic failure and silent failures and its implications accordingly build the foundation of everything we have now that is called web.
While others evolved into spec warriors, Hixi put users and usability first by looking beyond specs.
He is an unsung hero whose contributions made the difference. He faced so much hostility, yet was the only one who maintained and understood every aspect of these specs. One after another he won open standard evangelists over.
It is like Linux vs Windows and not Google vs the rest.
Yes and no. Yes Chrome (and Chrome derivatives) have a lot of market share. But Safari is important if only because of iDevices. And Firefox is still I the mix - single digit market share still adds up to a lot of users.
HTML5 was the last time it had a marketing version number. Henceforth, it was agreed to be just HTML. Now, it is like people saying Web 5, Industry 7, or something like that. It is no longer “the way” and is more of a cringe. Saying Web 2.0 was kind of like more of a big upgrade signifying a leap and a lot less about versioning.
I’ve fond memories of the term “HTML5”. I sold the domain html5.in to an agent who was buying for Microsoft. The Microsoft part was discovered later after I sold it for single digit thousand dollars.
For a bit I think HTML5 was a bit of a short-hand for 'we're doing modern, javascript heavy app'. Now I think HTML5 on a job description is just a default, with the '5' void of meaning. There's only HTML5
Does anyone know where I can find old HTML4 templates that used to be all the rage back in the day? (Similar to the few that can be seen here https://www.bryantsmith.com/template/, or used to be provided on hpage.com)
The terms you would be looking for are "PSD layouts", "sliced layouts", "website templates PSD", "table-based website templates", etc.
Basically these are all websites that were fully designed in something like Photoshop or PaintShop Pro and then manually sliced into graphics that would then be finagled into a table layout manually (with zero borders). Usually with coord-based anchor links that were super finicky, especially if you wanted hover/click effects (usually achieved via HTML+JS versus CSS). Certain portions of the layout were designed to be repeatable for the content-based section of the website, so that would be a <TD> with a fixed width but non-fixed height and background-image with an x-repeat (again, usually in HTML tag properties versus CSS).
Nowadays, it would probably be easier to find a graphic designer to just make you one to your specs and "slice"+table it yourself. It would certainly use better/more modern HTML/CSS.
I built an early site using those techniques in oh, 1996 I think? (stomped.com) Using zero border/padding tables was a clever way at the time of accomplishing a fancy graphics tab/menu without resorting to calling a CGI script.
Also integral to this kind of design was the spacer gif. A 1x1 transparent gif that you’d give different width and height values to in the img tag, in order to create spacing in the page.
I remember a scant few months were it would run in maybe Netscape? And then there were a couple years it was supported via Java Applets before being completely phased away. At least, in the web space; maybe it found purchase elsewhere.
[1] https://caniuse.com/mathml
Whereas HTML5 spans more than a decade of continuous browser improvement and extension. It is an "era" or "mindset" not a "specification".
HTML5 was a way of discarding the mindset of "versioning the web" - now browsers implement specific functionality as they choose. The Web Serial API might be in this "HTML5 browser" but not in that "HTML5 browser".
The number is misleading in that sense. It implies a fixed moment in time. And it does that but only in a "before and after" sense.
So in this sense, as is argued by the linked blog post, "HTML 5" refers to those W3C specs, while "HTML 2020" could refer to later specs.
[html5]: https://www.w3.org/TR/2014/REC-html5-20141028/
[html52]: https://www.w3.org/TR/2017/REC-html52-20171214/
[html2001]: https://html.spec.whatwg.org/review-drafts/2020-01/
[is-this-html6]: https://sgmljs.net/blog/blog2303.html
Make that "browser", as in singular, and replace "they" with "Google", the same ones who came up with the oxymoron "living standard".
Html 4.0 meticously specified various doctypes and the associated semantics, but no mainstream browser have ever supported any of this.
Ian Hickson’s steadfast commitment to web standards and rejection of the xHTML bandwagon who did not understand the difference between catastrophic failure and silent failures and its implications accordingly build the foundation of everything we have now that is called web.
Web Development back then was a total mess and he alone took matters in his hands for the better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hickson
While others evolved into spec warriors, Hixi put users and usability first by looking beyond specs.
He is an unsung hero whose contributions made the difference. He faced so much hostility, yet was the only one who maintained and understood every aspect of these specs. One after another he won open standard evangelists over.
It is like Linux vs Windows and not Google vs the rest.
I’ve fond memories of the term “HTML5”. I sold the domain html5.in to an agent who was buying for Microsoft. The Microsoft part was discovered later after I sold it for single digit thousand dollars.
Basically these are all websites that were fully designed in something like Photoshop or PaintShop Pro and then manually sliced into graphics that would then be finagled into a table layout manually (with zero borders). Usually with coord-based anchor links that were super finicky, especially if you wanted hover/click effects (usually achieved via HTML+JS versus CSS). Certain portions of the layout were designed to be repeatable for the content-based section of the website, so that would be a <TD> with a fixed width but non-fixed height and background-image with an x-repeat (again, usually in HTML tag properties versus CSS).
Nowadays, it would probably be easier to find a graphic designer to just make you one to your specs and "slice"+table it yourself. It would certainly use better/more modern HTML/CSS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacer_GIF
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/s.gif