418785 - minimum font changes layout to defective

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[john]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.12) Gecko/20080201 Firefox/2.0.0.12
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.12) Gecko/20080201 Firefox/2.0.0.12

trying to identify what it is about FF and this site's page [and other sites] such that when a minimum font size is set, the rendering engine kills part of the visible page.   In this case, particularly, the second row of buttons ends up underneath content which is normally just below it on the page.

In my case, I chose a minimum font size of 14, avoiding issues with reading glasses.

Is this a defect in the layout engine, or is there something inherently wrong with the way the site's author[s] code the page?

This layout issue happens on other sites in similar form; this happens to be a common site I visit, and shows the layout error/issue simply.



Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.  set minimum font size to 14, instead of none
2.  go to www.lsba.org
3.
Actual Results:  
title area [after first line of buttons], and the second line of buttons, end up underneath subsequent content on the page.  The title and buttons are not visible.  

Expected Results:  
The title area and the second line of buttons should expand vertically, and push subsequent content further down the page.

Comment 1

[Felix Miata]

The subject URL is a tag soup mess (invalid markup created by an incompetent author or a grossly deficient web page creation application). You're lucky you see anything at all.

It's well known that minimum font size can adversely affect layout. This is more an authoring deficiency than a browser deficiency, but see also http://www.gunlaug.no/contents/wd_1_03_04.html & http://fm.no-ip.com/SS/Clagnut/bbcnSS.html

Comment 2

[john]

Thinking on your comment, and wondering, now, if the error, on the site "www.lsba.org" isn't directly tied to the font sizes, but rather, to the site author's choice to fix graphics to a certain point, rather than allowing FF to laydown graphics?

In this, though, I wonder if there is an improvement to the algorithm in FF which, when font size minimums are enforced, would also push down such graphics.

 

Comment 3

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

This bug was originally reported on Firefox 2.x or older, which is no longer supported and will not be receiving any more updates. I strongly suggest that you update to Firefox 3.6.6 or later, update your plugins (flash, adobe, etc.), and retest in a new profile. If you still see the issue with the updated Firefox, please post here. Otherwise, please close as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME
http://www.mozilla.com
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+mode