[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #25898: Twenty Fourteen: consider removing non-standard `::selection` selectors

[WordPress Trac]

#25898: Twenty Fourteen: consider removing non-standard `::selection` selectors
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 Reporter:  lancewillett           |       Owner:  lancewillett
     Type:  defect (bug)           |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  normal                 |   Milestone:  3.8
Component:  Bundled Theme          |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                 |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  2nd-opinion has-patch  |
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Changes (by celloexpressions):

 * status:  closed => reopened
 * resolution:  fixed =>


Comment:

 I'd argue that just because it's non-standard doesn't mean we shouldn't
 support it. Many, many web users are in the habit of highlighting text
 when reading (I use it a lot, it can help with focus,
 [https://twitter.com/nacin/status/378663870740451328 several other
 WordPress people use it too]).

 `::selection` has wide support across all browsers (Chrome 1+, Firefox 1+
 w/ -moz-, IE 9+, Opera 9.1+, Safari 1+). Yes, there are slight variations
 between behavior but changing color and background-color doesn't break
 anything. Using it doesn't make anything worse, and almost always makes
 things better. The appearance of a color that is completely foreign to the
 design of a website when selecting text is just plain bad design.

 The MDN article is a big exaggeration; the
 [http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2008Oct/0268.html W3C
 discussion] they reference is centered on details of slight inconsistent
 behavior between vendors, and concerns with nesting, etc. We're using it,
 like most sites that do, in the most widely accepted way (one rule for the
 whole site), using only the widely accepted color and background
 properties. It's only a matter of time before it re-enters the standards,
 as usage continues to increase and it is an excellent design touch.

 The `<meta>` viewport is non-normative too (though almost everyone uses
 it), and [http://dev.w3.org/csswg/css-device-adapt/#viewport-meta-element
 the standards currently recommend that it is mapped to the standard
 `@viewport` css declaration] (since that should really be done in css, not
 html, but Apple made up their own standard and everyone followed). But we
 aren't pulling that out, because it's necessary for the design of the
 website to work. IMO this is exactly the same situation, using a widely-
 adopted non-standard to achieve a better design. (See #25888 for adding
 that, or at least the required -ms- prefix to all of the responsive
 bundled themes).

 I really think we should revert [26062], it's a step in the wrong
 direction (trying to fix something that really isn't broken). Reopening
 for discussion, and because there's another patch up to finish removing it
 anyway.

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/25898#comment:5>
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