Making simple CSS cross-platform - css

Question

Can anyone help me make this Chrome CSS code cross platform? It doesn't work properly in Firefox or at all in IE8. I really appreciate the help, thanks for reading.
.revision-span-in {
opacity: 0;
}
.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {
transition: 1s;
-webkit-transition: 1s;
}
.revision-span-out {
position:absolute;
opacity: 0;
}
EDIT - Here is the page with the code suggested below, where the issue persists in Firefox. All text on the page should fade in at intervals, but sometimes random parts are appearing without the fade. If it works fine the first time, try refreshing and you'll see what I mean. The page is an output from Twine, and the modified CSS is right at the bottom. Thanks again.
Example HTML page with inconsistent fade ins in Firefox

Answer 1

You just need to throw some browser vendor-prefixes in there.
Based on the current support of transition, you just need -webkit, -moz, and -o:
.revision-span-in {
opacity: 0;
}
.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {
transition: 1s;
-webkit-transition: 1s;
-moz-transition: 1s;
-o-transition: 1s;
}
.revision-span-out {
position:absolute;
opacity: 0;
}
You won't have support in IE9 and lower.

Answer 2

Usually for these experimental features (so in general, if you're not sure about it, look it up) it's best to look up if it's supported by the browser. Since transitions are not completely supported by all major browsers, you need to add the prefix for all browsers that don't fully support it yet. So, according to MDN's Browser support list, and Statcounter's browser usage stats, you should have the following:
.revision-span-in {
opacity: 0;
}
.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {
transition: 1s;
-o-transition: 1s;
-webkit-transition: 1s;
}
.revision-span-out {
position:absolute;
opacity: 0;
}
Since both webkit browsers don't have a generally used version that doesn't fully support it without prefix, and firefox doesn't need a prefix, this should work. The problem you're having shows that you've not updated your firefox in a while, and if you're going to test how your site looks in other browsers, I strongly suggest making sure you've got the up-to-date version. Firefox already supports the syntax without -moz- prefix since version 16, and it's at version 26 now (with 25 being the most commonly used at the moment).
Of course if you really want to support even the browsers that almost nobody even uses anymore due to automatic updating (such as Firefox <16), you should indeed like Zach Saucier (deleted his answer) JoshC says also include the -moz- prefix. The -ms- prefix is not needed at all though, since every version of IE that does support transitions also supports it without needing that prefix.
EDIT: added -webkit- for Android/Blackberry default browser.
Extra bit (after seeing added dropbox link)
Considering the dropbox link, what I think is causing it is this: Firefox is still animating the first element when the second shows up, so it doesn't restart the animation.
This could explain why it happens randomly: it only happens when Firefox has a few milliseconds of lag, and firefox continues playing the animation for the second item from the starting point of the second animation. This is likely caused by the fact that your items are nested, so the animation of the first row would be inherited by the animation of the second row, and so forth.
Since your animation length is 0.5 seconds exactly, and the interval between showing elements is also 0.5 seconds exactly, if there is the slightest bit of lag this cause these problems. I suggest putting a tiny extra space between showing each element (perhaps 10 or 50ms or so), or changing the items from a nested method to a sibling method. So, instead of this:
<div class="body content">
<span class="first">500ms
<span class="second">500ms
<span class="third">500ms
<span class="fourth">500ms</span>
</span>
</span>
</span>
</div>
Use this:
<div class="body content">
<span class="first">500ms</span>
<span class="second">500ms</span>
<span class="third">500ms</span>
<span class="fourth">500ms</span>
</div>
So, instead of appending the spans to the current span, append it to the parent element .body.content. I would give you a demo, but your script looks really quite complicated (probably because it's generated by something), so you'll have to try doing that yourself. You could also try putting a tiny bit of extra space between each item's animation starts and see if that fixes it.

Answer 3

Once again I am going to tell you that css3 is still work in progress.So if you want to invoke the css rules then use the vendor prefix provided by their browsers.Note that Internet Explorer 9, and earlier versions, does not support the transition property.
-moz- for firefox use
-webkit- for safari and chrome because both uses the same browser engines
-ms- for microsoft
-o- for opera
.revision-span-in {
opacity: 0;
}
.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {
transition: 1s;
-webkit-transition: 1s;/*for chrome and safari*/
-moz-transition: 1s;/*for firefox*/
-ms-transition: 1s;/*for ie*/
-o-transition: 1s;/*for opera*/
transition: 1s;
}
.revision-span-out {
position:absolute;
opacity: 0;
}