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DaveX
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CSS - 7/11/2005 18:45:10
Can anyone explain to me simply what CSS is and does? Benefits and drawbacks? I know this may sound silly but I just don't get it.
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dpf
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RE: CSS - 7/11/2005 19:13:12
css = cascading style sheets... the word sheets is somewhat deceiving because css can be included in your page or in a seperate file. frankly, there are no drawbacks to css. when it first came out, the huge drawback was that the late 90s browsers didnt support it.
at its simplest, css allows you to describe "styles" that are applied accross the entire page or multiple pages with a single line. A few years ago, I was asked to give a price on changing the font in a web site from red to blue - simple, eh? well, I quoted $400 and the owner was shocked. I didnt make the site and it didnt use css - instead, every paragraph in every one of 450 pages had the <font tag with attribute color="red". each had to be changed. an external stlye sheet would have had that description one time accross all 450 pages.
Im not even doing it justice so I will leave it for others to give you a better answer.
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DaveX
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RE: CSS - 7/11/2005 19:18:08
So, basically, it's a set of instructions revolving around the layout and look of the site that is refered to by all the pages in the site?
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dpf
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RE: CSS - 7/11/2005 19:28:20
exactly..the beauty of css is that it can get incredibly complex and do amazing things but that domplexity, which can be scary, can be arrived at slowly. you can start with very very simple things like control fonts and move on gradually. there are some css zealots here who love to guide newcomers..<smile> ultimately, it reaches the point where it can be used for postioning; placing elements on the screen exactly where you want them and even 3 dimension - oneoverlapping another which previously you needed to do in a graphics program and insert into html as an image.
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DaveX
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RE: CSS - 7/11/2005 21:26:21
I'm intrigued...
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DaveX
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RE: CSS - 7/12/2005 14:14:08
So is the CSS stored within a particular page and referenced by other pages or is it stored in the directory?
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dpf
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RE: CSS - 7/12/2005 14:20:07
there are 3 types of css
1. in-line where you have a style that only impacts that line of html
2. embedded which is within a <style></style> tag set placed in the head section and which impacts the entire page but only this page
3. external - you place you css in a text file and usally name it with a .css extention and then link to it -every page that links to it will be impacted -- so if you name your file style.css, you add this in the head section:
<LINK href="style.css"
type=text/css rel=stylesheet>
the cascade part derives from the fact that the closest of the three prevails. for example, if the external says that the basic page text is red but the embedded says an H1 header is blue, the headers will be blue. however, if an in-line style for H1 says red, that (and only that) H1 will be red.
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DaveX
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RE: CSS - 7/12/2005 15:32:04
Can you add one after a site is built or does it need to go in at the beginning?
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dpf
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RE: CSS - 7/12/2005 15:40:41
oh it can be added anytime
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Tailslide
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RE: CSS - 7/12/2005 17:15:07
I did the "CSS or nothing" route too - nothing wrong with me (*twitch*).
I would imagine if you're doing it bit by bit you'll find that you'll reach a point in the CSS learning thing where the balance will tip and then you simply will not want to go back. If that sounds a bit "holier than thou" or smug then it's not meant to - it's just that the more you can do with CSS, the more you'll want to do with it.
You'll start off setting fonts and colours and pretty soon you'll be examining CSS Zen Garden stylesheets and swearing about IE - you'll see (*twitch*) uh huh, uh huh, you'll see...
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c1sissy
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RE: CSS - 7/13/2005 9:32:31
quote:
Womble
True. Launching in with both feet isn't a good idea if you want to preserve your sanity, as I discovered
womble, I have to agree with you on this one! This is how I went at it. Full speed and full force. And since there is so much to learn, and this changes constantly, it is better to start with basics and work your way up.
btw, got your email and will reply sometime today
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As decreed by Jesper 5-24-2003.
The only stupid question is... the one that is never asked!!
http://directory.css-styling.com
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DaveX
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RE: CSS - 7/16/2005 21:01:18
Wow! Thanks for all the input!
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FlowerPower
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RE: CSS - 7/18/2005 0:34:18
I'm replying just to give the perspective of someone who only just recently embarked on the journey to CSS nirvana. I guess it's a never-ending journey, really, but I think everyone who's responded above are much further along the road than I. 
I first started experimenting with CSS two years ago, but only did formatting stuff. I taught basic css to junior high school students as part of a basic course on HTML and web site making, but didn't have time to learn positioning properly at the time.
Now, I have a web site for my students made with frames - I can't believe I'm admitting to that  - I've been meaning to fix it up for ages, but just haven't had time to make something new. However, just this last week I have completely redone it - actually, I have made it again from scratch using CSS for both formatting and layout this time. It is really cool, but was also quite frustrating at times when I just couldn't work out the positioning. Luckily, the people here are very friendly and helpful, and I got some help along the way.
I feel that just this last weekend, I have progressed immensely, and don't think I'll ever go back to any other way of designing my site. But I must say I agree with the above posts - you may easily feel yourself getting overwhelmed if you try to learn it all at once, so maybe just use tables for the layout, and use CSS for the formatting at first.
The cool thing, as was pointed out above, is that you can add things incrementally and test them out immediately. I find myself using http://www.w3schools.com a lot, and I like the TryIt editor they have there.
And then when I think I'm done, it's crunch time: http://www.w3.org has a CSS validator which is great for weeding out mistakes.
Good luck, and have fun!
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briesmith
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RE: CSS - 7/19/2005 10:37:02
CSS is the way forward but you'll still need tables but only for what they're really good at - ie presenting data in columnar format - rather than as a workround for all the things browsers won't do.
Talking about things browsers won't do leads me on to the question of IE versus FireFox versus Godzilla (sic) etc. Browsers usually don't malfunction because of incompetence but because the standards published by W3C and others require, depend on or allow interpretation and it's there that the differences creep in.
Two things are apparent in the browser world.
FireFox is now too big for the volunteer ethic to effectively support and drive it forward; the FireFox team's performance is now at least as bad as the Great Satan's and because it has wider presence it's now attracting the virus, worm and horse makers' attention.
The ever encroaching issue of standards will have the same effect on browser technology it had on COBOL. So many powerful interests will have massive investments in the status quo getting agreement for change will become impossible. COBOL was the programming language but even while millions of lines of it were continuing to be written every day it was already dying simply because it couldn't go forward.
This is the future for web software technology. The ony reason we continue to progress at all is because Microsoft don't give a tinker's for anybody else's opinion; once they're brought to heel that'll be the end.
Can you imagine any committee that included the US and Europe agreeing on anything? Can you hear the French representative ever saying, "that's a good idea, Bill"?
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dpf
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RE: CSS - 7/19/2005 12:07:26
quote:
COBOL was the programming language but even while millions of lines of it were continuing to be written every day it was already dying simply because it couldn't go forward. to me, thats like saying the model T died out because it didnt move forward - it died out because the core designcouldnt handle new develments after 20 years - cheaper and better to start building upon a new and more appropriate core. cobol was a 60's language that became outdated - not suited for objects and clunky - intended for mainframes and attempts to adapt to pc were made but couldnt compete with C based models
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