Status of CSS Regions?

[jensimmons]

https://caniuse.com/css-regions

CSS Regions is marked "WD". And counted in the overall tally of browser scores (on the home page). But the Regions specification is basically abandoned. It will never be implemented. There was a WebKit and a Trident implementation (IE + older Edge), but those have since been removed from Edge, Chrome, and Safari.

Regions is not part of the CSSWG's current Snapshot, for instance: https://www.w3.org/TR/css-2021/

What does Can I Use typically do when a specification showed promise, got a page... but then was rejected by all the browser makers? I feel like this should be marked somehow — maybe as unofficial? Maybe with something in the description that explains the history and current status? It feels unfair for browsers to have a penalty in their score for not implementing something that's not a CSS

The CSSWG believes this is a problem space that needs a solution. But Regions will definitely not be it.

[soluml]

For what it's worth, I hope Can I Use keeps pages such as this around for reference, though I agree it shouldn't be marked as a "WD".

These abandoned specs can be useful when providing alternative layouts for older browsers so having browser support data is useful.

[Fyrd]

If I'm not mistaken, usually in such cases for the specification to be updated with a notice saying it has been abandoned or replaced or the status is reduced to "Note". So I'm not opposed to marking it as "unofficial" but it would be nice if there was a clearer indication to do so other than looking at external evidence. That said, updating the description as you suggested sounds fine to me.

[jensimmons]

I definitely agree we should keep pages like this around for reference. I do not want to delete it. I disagree that web developers should consider using Regions for older browsers, but I definitely believe it's helpful for historical reference, conference talks, etc. I'm constantly looking up when something started being supported as I do spec work or teach web developers something.

I can look and see if the CSSWG has done something more official to say this spec is being abandoned, and if not, raise it with them. And yes, updating the description can provide web developers with more information (and get them to stop expecting this to happen. Meanwhile, the plan is to use overflow as the mechanism for this use case.)