thanks. firefox actually recognizes the ie7 declaration and uses it. I have used this code many times before in other cms/blogging software without issue.
firefoxes source code indicates through color that it is recognizing the
<!--[if IE 7]><!--></a><!--<![endif]-->
declaration and using it to close the tag.
it’s the strangest thing i have ever come across.
when I insert a conditional comment to place a closing tag where needed for firefox it still doesn’t work

<!--[if ! IE]><!--></a><!--<![endif]-->
and i get an extra closing tag when validating.
Sheri