Adding this to the chronicles on September 7, 2026.
At my first Information Technology (IT) Job at Global Managements Systems, Inc. (GMSI), I was working on a project where I needed to convert a paper document into a web page. The web page needed to look just like the printed document. It also needed to print the same way. No PDF – just straight HTML. I used JavaScript so that hidden elements would populate with the forms data as it changed, and used CSS Printing Extensions to control what was visible and hidden when the page was printed out.
At the time, the printing extensions were part of the CSS2 recommendation. I had trouble controlling headers and footers (a problem that still exists today), so I turned to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) mailing lists, www-style, for guidance and got a response.
CSS Printing Extensions: W3C Working Draft 26-June-97 (See archive)
From: Robert Stevahn <rstevahn@boi.hp.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 16:34:31 -0700
To: www-style@w3.org
Cc: howcome@w3.org, Lewis.Moten@gmsi.com
Message-Id: <9810062237.AA21417@hpbs972.boi.hp.com>
Lewis Moten <Lewis.Moten@gmsi.com> wrote:
I have recently found the working draft for CSS extensions and I am trying to find out who or where to post requests for future additions to the draft. So far it tackles most of the common printing options except 2. How to define headers and footers.
If you can direct me to the correct place to inquire about these options, I would appreciate it. Thank you for your time and effort.
Both www-style and www-printing are excellent places to discuss this. The CSS Printing Extensions are now part of the CSS2 Recommendation. Support for headers and footers are high on the list for a future version of CSS. Hopefully the working group will have a headers/footers requirements document available for public feedback sometime soon. Meanwhile, please feel free to discuss your needs on www-style or www-printing.
Regards,
—
Robert Stevahn — mailto:rstevahn@boi.hp.com
+1 208 396 4787 — HP LaserJet Solutions Group
Personal: mailto: rstevahn@pobox.com
Received on Tuesday, 6 October 1998 18:34:49 UTC
