Remove the star HTML hack for IE6

[ocean90]

WordPress 3.2 will drop IE6 support for the admin screen.

Some admin stylesheets still include the ​star HTML hack to fix some odd IE6 bugs.

The patch will remove the code blocks because they aren't needed anymore.

[scribu]

Isn't IE7 also affected?

[scribu]

I guess it won't, based on the Wikipedia article.

[ocean90]

Right, it's a special selector for IE 4 to 6 which was fixed with IE 7, see ​Root node selection.

[azaozz]

Well, we are stopping support for IE6, doesn't mean we have to kill it completely :-) Think we can leave the existing CSS as is, especially in ie.css.

[scribu]

That's like saying "we are stopping support for PHP4, doesn't mean we have to fix #16918".

[nacin]

No, it's really not.

Perhaps we can concentrate this stuff in ie.dev.css.

[scribu]

Please explain why it's not the same. I don't get it.

[dd32]

Droping IE6 support is more of a symbolic thing, It should still function in IE6, it's just that we're no longer going to write code specifically to support it.

If we write a new admin screen for example, it might work in every browser and IE9, Another line of CSS will make it work in IE7/8. If it's going to require a JS hack to make it work in IE6, then ignore IE6 as it's "not supported". However, If that line of CSS for IE7 can also fix it for IE6, then so be it.

If it currently works in IE6, no reason to break it, just don't pull your hair out trying to support it..

The patch for example removes 10 lines from the admin bar css file, If I was writing the admin bar css today, I'd still include those as it's minimal and due to the admin bar being shown on the front screen for some sites (ie. BuddyPress powered sites or similar) and it's not a purely admin-based functionality.

[ocean90]

Replying to dd32:

The patch for example removes 10 lines from the admin bar css file, If I was writing the admin bar css today, I'd still include those as it's minimal and due to the admin bar being shown on the front screen for some sites (ie. BuddyPress powered sites or similar) and it's not a purely admin-based functionality.

That's right my mistake.

+1 for scribu's argument and +1 for dd32 argument.

Solution: Try to concentrate this stuff in ie.dev.css, nacin's point, and close it as maybelater. Compromise? :)

[ocean90]

17232.2.patch:

• Press this doesn't include the IE stylesheet
• #themeselect isn't used anymore
• #template is used for the theme/plugin editor, so transfer it into IE stylesheet

[ocean90]

#18199

[helen]

I don't see any more of the * html hacks in the main stylesheet now, and there's an IE6 leftovers section in ie.css. Do we really need to specifically remove it, or can it just ride?

[ocean90]

In 47771:

Administration: Remove any CSS related to Internet Explorer versions 6 – 10.

In WordPress 3.2 support for IE6 was dropped, IE7 followed a few versions later. With the 4.8 release, WordPress officially ended support for Internet Explorer versions 8, 9, and 10. Yet, we still have shipped CSS for the unsupported IE versions....until now! Goodbye to ie.css and star hacks!

• Removes ie.css and ie style handle.
• Removes IE specific class names and any related CSS.
• Drops support for IE8 and older in wp_customize_support_script().
• Updates compatibility mode for CSS minification to ie11.

Props ayeshrajans, isabel_brison, afercia, netweb, peterwilsoncc, ocean90.
Fixes #17232, #46015.