How to clear this properly in IE 7? - html

Question

I have a div container with a series of p tags. Each p tag will float to the left. I want two p tags per line, so think field/value.
Title: Some Title
Author: Some Author
<div id="container">
<p class="field">Title</p><p>Some Title</p>
<p class="field">Author</p><p>Some Author</p>
</div>
If I set the "field" class to clear: both, I get the desired functionality in most browsers except IE 7 (not worried < 7). However, in IE 7 if the containing div is wide enough, the clear: both seems to be ignored and I'll get something like this:
Title: Some title Author:
Some Author
A couple of thoughts:
I can monitor the width of the containing div so that only two p tags can sit on one line but that seems very brittle.
I can muddy up the markup by placing clearing divs after every two p tags. It would work but makes me feel dirty inside.
How can I overcome this issue?

Answer 1

Use this pattern (span is optional - for additional styling if needed). Lists make more semantic sense than re-purposing the wrong tags. This is a list. :)
<ul>
<li><label>Title</label><span>Some Title</span></li>
...
</ul>
CSS:
ul, li {
padding:0;
margin:0;
list-style-type:none
}
li {
clear:both
}
label {
float:left;
width:150px;
}

Answer 2

http://jsfiddle.net/QUL9v/1/
Using the p tags....
<div id="container">
<p class="field">Title</p><p class="field">Some Title</p><div class="clear"></div>
<p class="field">Author</p><p class="field">Some Author</p><div class="clear"></div>
</div>
with css:
.field {
float: left;
}
.clear {
clear: both;
}
This is just sticking to the use of the p tag. Personally, this is how I would accomplish it (http://jsfiddle.net/QUL9v/3/):
<div id="container">
<div class="field">Title</div>
<div class="field">Some Title</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
<div id="container">
<div class="field">Author</div>
<div class="field">Some Author</div>
<div class="clear"></div>
</div>
The only reason I'm recommending this is because since this is more of a layout issue, it feels more natural to me to use the div as opposed to p element. Also, it will ensure the position of the text, regardless of what you put inside the divs (anchors, forms, tables, etc).
Another thing you should pay attention to is I'm using the clear as the last sibling instead of the first (as in your examples). If you're clearing the front; then its possible that since your trailing elements are floated and inline, you're going to potentially run into errors down the road, especially with IE7. A lot of the times, the floating rule will get passed on to elements you never intended or thought it would be passed to. Clearing at the end ensures that this doesn't happen.