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by Ian Lloyd

compact (HTML attribute)

Browser support full matrix
IE7 FF2 Saf3 Op9.5
None None None None
Spec
Depr. Version
Yes HTML 2
compact="compact"

Example

Here’s compact applied to the maintenance instructions we saw earlier:

<ol compact="compact">
  <li>Remove the outer casing by pushing the plastic rivets through.</li>
  <li>Disconnect the main power harness from the inner unit (unclip).</li>
  <li>Remove connection to the glow plug.</li>
  <li>Extract unit, keeping upright at all times.</li>
</ol>

Description

The compact attribute’s purpose is to instruct the browser to render the unordered list into a smaller text block by reducing the spacing between lines and/or reducing the default indentation.

This attribute is now deprecated, and is highly presentational in its nature. The desired visual effects can all be achieved with CSS and, as such, this attribute should not be used—it is presented here for informational purposes only.

Value

The only acceptable value is "compact".

Compatibility

IE5.5None
6.0None
7.0None
Firefox1.0None
1.5None
2.0None
Safari1.3None
2.0None
3.0None
Opera9.2None
9.5None

Very poor support is provided for this attribute (that is, not a single browser responded to the compact attribute), but given that it’s a deprecated attribute and the desired effects can be achieved using CSS, this shouldn’t cause any problems.

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