CSS Resources
Anna Taylor
Overview
CSS is a language used by designers to define the layout of a page or site outside of the HTML content. While CSS has made uniformity across pages vastly more efficient on the web, it is a difficult skill to master. Even after months of practice, there are still small and seemingly unsolvable issues that crop up. And even if you're a CSS veteran, sometimes getting started can be difficult.
So whether you're just starting off with style sheets or returning from a technology hiatus, getting into CSS can be a challenge. This streamlined collection of links are for designers who are just starting out as well as CSS veterans looking for some quick ways to boost creativity. "Learning About CSS" contains some history with embedded tutorials to get your feet wet, "Recommended Tutorials" can help you build some code or figure out a tricky piece of the style sheet, and the "Alternate/Advanced Resources" section has design challenges with serious coders in mind.
Learning About CSS
The W3C Style Home PageThis is the W3C’s starting place for all things style sheets, and a starting place that novices and veterans alike should keep in mind when setting out to design a project. The W3C is where everything begins in terms of standards on the web. Their mission is as follows: “To lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing protocols and guidelines that ensure long-term growth for the Web.”
Cascading Style SheetsThe Wikipedia article on CSS is a detailed explanation of the style sheet language. It includes history as well as its uses, limitations, and recommendations for the future. This is useful for anyone interested in the background of CSS and a solid explanation of what exactly CSS is used for. Because the concept of CSS can at first seem abstract to novices, this is an excellent resource to help solidify the idea.
W3C CSS HomepageLinked directly from the W3C style sheet homepage, this is the prominent home on the web for authoritative CSS information. The CSS homepage includes a basic definition of what CSS is, and then provides many links to recent developments of CSS in world society. The W3C is constantly developing CSS, and the list of links is comprehensive—including information from and about symposiums, workshops, and seminars hosted by the W3C. Other CSS resources, including tutorials, are linked from this homepage.
Recommended Tutorials
W3C HTML Tutorial/ExamplesAlthough this is not technically a “CSS resource,” it is useful for understanding the framework that CSS rests upon. This is a more-than-handy collection of 100+ examples—and one of the best ways to learn (or refresh rusty skills) with HTML is by example. This is for anything HTML that might have fallen through the cracks.
W3C First CSS TutorialThis is a tutorial meant for the true beginner. While text-heavy, it provides large chunks of example coding that take the reader from the sample HTML to adding the CSS—and breaks down the process into many smaller steps. The example HTML and CSS can be used for configuration practice.
About.com CSS TutorialThe benefits of this website are twofold—beginning with a basic explanation of CSS and ending with a collection of links to everything CSS. For the casual browser looking to improve CSS technique, this article can serve as a basic resource to keep open in a browser while writing the code or a jumping-off point to the extensive about.com collection on CSS.
CSS Zen Garden Resource GuideThe CSS Zen Garden Resource Guide is a must visit for anyone learning or using CSS. While not exactly a tutorial, it functions as a database with some common CSS tips for designers ranging from beginner to experimentally advanced.
Alternate/Advanced Resources
The CSS Zen Garden OnlineSeparate from its resource guide, the CSS Zen Garden website is one that every advancing designer should experiment with at least once—perhaps twice, or three times. The designs on the website are innovative and the code is readily available. The entire site is excellent for practice and even more so for inspiration.
Switching StylesheetsSwitching between style sheets is an issue every developer has to tackle if designing sites for multiple browsers. Using wit and bits of humor to break up the dry material, this article takes the reader through the process using alternate style sheets so that everyone can see the page. The author breaks down the types of style sheets that can be used as well as explaining in detail the procedure for implementing them into the code. This is definitely a resource for the advanced CSS user.
Taking CSS To The LimitThis is a creative resource for the advanced CSS user. This is a site that’s all about creativity, even at the expense of cross-browser compatibility. Webmaster Eric Meyer’s introduction says that “css/edge is intended, first and foremost, to be as relentlessly creative with CSS as we have been practical all these years.” This is for everyone who likes to play around with CSS or wants an opportunity to push the limit of the code.
© 2006 Anna Taylor