Web Development

  1. Introduction to CSS
  2. Getting the Lay of the Land
    • CSS in Context
    • The Basic Purpose of CSS
    • Why Most But Not All Tables Are Bad
      • Tables Mean Long Load Times
      • Use of Transparent Images Slows Us Down
      • Maintaining Tables is a Nightmare
      • When its OK to Use a Table
    • What is CSS, Really?
    • Parts of a CSS Rule
    • Types of CSS Rules
      • What Properties Can CSS Rules Affect?
      • What Elements Can CSS Affect?
      • Where Can CSS Styles Be Defined?
    • Why Bother?
    • Summary
  3. Putting CSS Into Perspective
    • What is CSS Good For?
      • Color and CSS
      • Fonts and CSS
      • Pseudo-Class Animation and CSS
      • Images and CSS
      • Multiple Style Sheets, Users, and CSS
    • What CSS Alone Cant Do For You
    • CSS and Web Accessibility
    • CSS and the Ever-Shifting World of Browsers
      • Accommodating Older Browsers
      • Dealing with Broken Browsers
    • Summary
  4. Digging Below The Surface
    • Applying CSS to HTML Documents
    • Using Shorthand Properties
    • How Inheritance Works in CSS
    • Selectors and Structure of CSS Rules
      • Universal Selector
      • Element Type Selector
      • Class Selector
      • ID Selector
      • Pseudo-Element Selector
      • Pseudo-Class Selector
      • Descendant Selector
      • Parent-Child Selector
      • Adjacent Selector
      • Attribute Selectors
      • Selector Grouping
    • Expressing Measurements
      • Absolute Values
      • Relative Values
    • Summary
  5. Page Layout with CSS
  6. CSS Web Site Design
  7. Building the Skeleton
    • Enumerating Design Types
      • How Many Page Types?
      • How Many Design Elements?
    • CSS Positioning and Multi-Column Page Layouts
      • The CSS Box Model
    • The display Property
    • CSS Positioning and Multi-Column Layouts
      • Absolute, Relative, and Positioning Contexts
      • Basic Three-Column Layout
      • Adding a Top Header Area
    • Summary
  8. Putting Things in Their Place
    • More on Positioning Page Blocks
      • Measurement Units and Types Influence Design
      • The float Property
      • The clear Property
    • Absolute Versus Relative Heights and Widths
    • The z-Index Property and Overlapping Content
    • CSS Layout in Practice: Footbag Freaks
    • Summary
  9. Styling Text and other Content with CSS
  10. Splashing Around a Bit of Color
    • Whos in Charge Here?
    • Color in CSS
      • How to Specify Colors
      • Color Selection and Combining Colors
      • Setting body Color
      • Transparency, Color, and User Overrides
    • Interesting Uses of Color
      • Warnings and Cautions
      • Coloring Alternate Rows of Data Tables
    • Summary
  11. Making Fonts Consistent
    • How CSS Deals With Fonts
    • The font-family Property
    • The font-size Property
      • HTML Sizes Versus CSS Sizes
      • Variability Across Browsers and Platforms
      • Relative to What?
    • Other Font Properties
      • The font-style Property
      • The font-variant Property
      • The font-weight Property
      • The font Shorthand Property
    • Standard Versus Non-Standard Font Families
      • Specifying Font Lists
      • Using Nonstandard and Downloadable Fonts
    • Conversion Tips
    • Summary
  12. Text Effects and the Cascade
    • Using the span Element
    • Text Alignment as a Design Technique
      • Text Alignment in CSS Versus HTML
      • Moving from Crowded to Airy Design with Alignment
    • First-Line Indentation
    • Horizontal and Vertical Spacing
      • The line-height Property
      • The letter-spacing and word-spacing Properties
    • Text Decorations
    • Shadowed Text Without Graphics
    • Styling Hyperlinks
    • Styling Lists with CSS
      • The list-style-type Property
      • The list-style-position Property
      • The list-style-image Property
    • Cascading and Inheritance
      • Basic Principles of Cascading
      • Sort Order
      • Specificity
      • Origin
      • Weight (!important)
    • Summary
  13. Adding Graphics to the Design
    • Alignment of Images and Text
      • Placing Text On Top of Images
    • Clipping HTML Content
    • Summary
  14. Non-Obvious Uses of CSS
  15. Improving the User Experience
    • Basic List Styling With CSS
    • Enhancing the Look of the Menu
    • Creating a Submenu within the Main Menu
    • Modifying the Cursor on the Fly
    • Using a Background Image as a Fixed Canvas
    • Summary
  16. Validation and Backward Compatibility
    • Validating Your CSS
    • Adjusting for Backward Browser Compatibility
      • Which Are the Non-Conforming Browsers?
      • Basic Approaches to Non-Conforming Browsers
      • Accommodating Netscape 4.x
    • Making Modern Browsers More Accommodating
    • Summary
  1. CSS Miscellany
    • At-Rules
    • Aural Stylesheets
    • CSS and JavaScript
  2. CSS Color Reference
  3. CSS Property Reference
  4. Recommended Resources