I started web design back in ’09. \u00a0I don’t have any training; it was just “look up and learn”. \u00a0Though not the quickest way to do so, I made progress.<\/p>\n
Eventually I wanted to rotate some text. \u00a0I’m not sure why – had I seen it done somewhere? \u00a0By then, I was used to researching the web. \u00a0I set out to find the technique.<\/p>\n
As it turned out, rotating text was not so easy as I’d expected. \u00a0Mozilla (Firefox) had the -moz-transform<\/em> method; Chrome (fairly new at that time), the -webkit-transform<\/em> method (related, I believe, to what Apple products would use). For IE (Internet Explorer), the corresponding-ms-transform<\/em> had yet to become available.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, I was convinced a solution was possible for IE. By then, web programming had shown me that there were usually two ways to approach a problem: the “generic” way and the Microsoft way. Normally, both had to be done for a cross-browser solution. If Firefox had a way to rotate text, so must IE. Moreover, 40% of people used IE back then; it couldn’t be ignored.<\/p>\n It wasn’t the easiest topic to find, but eventually I stumbled onto VML – vector markup language. I don’t know why, but Microsoft was very modest about it, keeping it in what seemed to be their “back pages”. Within minutes I saw the potential.<\/p>\n I got busy around then, so never used VML much. Next thing I knew, -ms-transform<\/em> was available on IE9.<\/p>\n Here is the history of VML – vector markup language – as I understand it. VML was developed by Microsoft as a proposed format for web graphics. From it and several other simultaneous proposals, SVG developed. For some time, SVG has been supported by all the major browsers.<\/p>\n Officially, VML is not supported past IE9 (likely because SVG is supported instead). However, VML remains embedded in other Microsoft applications. From my point of view, it’s an elegant format that is still fun to experiment with. You can even view VML effects on a current IE browser, if you know how.<\/p>\n My research indicates that while only 8% use IE today, 80% use Windows operating systems of some kind. Therefore, people commonly have access to IE.<\/p>\n Next post I’ll provide a file you can visit to see VML in action:)<\/p>\n Sources:<\/p>\n w3schools os stats<\/a><\/p>\n w3schools browser stats<\/a><\/p>\n caniuse.com<\/a><\/p>\n wikipedia<\/a><\/p>\n w3schools<\/a><\/p>\n