Unwanted margin-top and margin-bottom styles

Question

Editing a template-based page in Contribute CS3, there is no
List Properties option (Help file says "Note: This option is not
available for template-based pages or in tables.")
So how do I specify a class for a <ul> entry?
If I create the text first with a chosen class, then convert
to "Bulleted List", I end up with:
<ul style="margin-top: 0;">
<li><span class="reversed" style="margin-top: 0;
margin-bottom: 0;">
- which is not what I want (I want to set a non-zero bottom
margin, for example).
I am using an external CSS file, and there is no UL or LI
entry in the list of HTML styles that can be chosen in Contribute.
Should there be?
Is there some way of setting default styles for these tags in
the dwt template?
John Geddes

Answer 1

From what I know, in Contribute their is some tag users can't
apply style on.
Typical are <div> and <ul>, mainly because you
can't create them or select them. Only the CSS can give style to
these elements and have to be defined by the website
admin/designer.
If their is no style, default will apply (and margin depends
from browser). And if the way paragraph are marked (see
Admin>Users>Modify, Space between paragraphs either one line
using CSS and will ad inline styles to your tag <ul
style="margin: 0 0;" or two line using <p> which let
everything be controlled by the CSS.
A trick is to have a class style defined in the CSS and a
template element where users can apply the style.
For exemple putting a div in a table cell (I know this is
hell) in your editable region in your Template will allow users to
apply the class style to the selection (the table) and the cascade
will apply the style to the div or your list.
CSS:
table div, table ul {
margin: 0 0 2em 0;
or
td div , td ul {
margin: 0 0 2em 0;
But again, you need to be or have a very kind webmaster.
Usually, list are already design in the CSS by the webmaster
depending the region you are, exemple:
#content ul {
margin: 0 0 2em 0;
#head ul {
margin: 0.5em 0 1em 0;
Hope it helps.