Differences between version 4 and revision by previous author of CascadingStyleSheet.
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| Newer page: | version 4 | Last edited on Sunday, February 23, 2003 1:44:31 am | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
| Older page: | version 1 | Last edited on Saturday, February 22, 2003 8:28:17 am | by MattBrown | Revert |
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
-Cascading Style Sheets or
(CSS) as they are commonly referred to are
a web
standard designed
to allow
the seperation of
content and design
.
+[CascadingStyleSheet]s
(or [
CSS]
) is
a [W3C]
standard that attempts
to reestablish
the distinction between
content ([HTML])
and appearance. A stylesheet is used to tell a browser how to display an [HTML] page without resorting to the abuse of [HTML] for specifying exact fonts, sizes, positions, et cetera. You specify a set of classes which define various attributes of elements
.
-You specify
a set
of classes which define various attributes
of elements. These classes
can be defined in an external file which can then be linked in to all of the pages on your site, allowing you to make global changes to the look of your site with one simple
edit.
+Using [CSS] to separate content from presentation has
a number
of benefits, most importantly easier maintainability
of a site: your stylesheet
can be defined in an external file which can then be linked in to all of the pages on your site, allowing you to make global changes to the look of your site with one single
edit.
-Cascading Style Sheets are currently in their second? or third revision and
the amount
of stuff that you
can do
with them
is getting cooler all
the time
.
+Additionally,
the capabilities
of [CSS], esp since version 2, go far beyond what
can be done
with [HTML] abuse. Elements of an [HTML] document can be positioned and styled freely, making many capabilities previously only available in specific [HTML] tags usable for any element where they may be desired. The range of features even includes generation of additional content when its purpose
is purely for
the benefit of presentation (such as "back to top" links or maybe decorational graphics)
.
-*
http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/css/edge/ - A very cool site showing heaps
of things that you can do with
CSS. (Also tests your browsers compatability with
the standards)
-* http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ - 3wc
provides a tool that you can use to validate CSS scripts.
-* http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/ - Cascading Styel Sheets level 2 specification (I believe this is the current one)
-* http://devedge.netscape.com/toolbox/sidebars/ - Devedge has some
very good quick references.
+Further possibilities include the ability to specify styles depending on the presentation media (eg, use different styles for the on-screen vs a printed version of a webpage) as well as the ability to specify multiple stylesheets from which the user can choose whichever they prefer. To see this in action, have a look at the [W3C homepage|http://www.w3c.org]. Currently, only [Opera] (''someone please add how'') and [Mozilla] (via the ''View'' menu) expose this feature to the user.
+
+For a stunning demonstration of the visual effects that become possible through [CSS], have a look at [css/edge|
http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/css/edge/]. The [complexspiral distorted|http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/css/edge/complexspiral/glassy.html] demo is especially impressive.
+
+;: __Note__: currently, only [Mozilla] implements enough
of the [
CSS] standard to meaningfully render those pages; [Opera] has trouble and [InternetExplorer] is completely broken
.
+
+Other notable sites of interest on
the topic:
+
+* http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/ - w3c
provides a tool that you can use to validate stylesheets
+* http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/ - Cascading Styel Sheets level 2 specification
+* http://devedge.netscape.com/toolbox/sidebars/ - very good quick references
