CSS: The Missing Manual

About This Book

The World Wide Web is really easy to use. After all, grandmothers in Boise and first graders in Tallahassee log onto the Web every day. Unfortunately, the rules that govern how the Web works aren't so easy to understand. The computer scientists and other techie types who write the official documentation aren't interested in explaining their concepts to the average Joe (or Joanne). Just check out http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/ to get a taste of the technical mumbo-jumbo these geeks speak.

There's no manual for Cascading Style Sheets. People just learning CSS often don't know where to begin. And the finer points regarding CSS can trip up even seasoned Web pros. The purpose of this book, then, is to serve as the manual that should have come with CSS. In this book's pages, you'll find step-by-step instructions for using CSS to create beautiful Web pages.

CSS: The Missing Manual is designed to help readers at every technical level. To get the most out of this book, you should know a sampling of HTML and maybe even CSS. So if you've never built a Web page before, then check out the tutorial that starts in Section 2.5. The primary discussions in these chapters are written for advanced-beginners or intermediates. But if you're new to building Web pages, special boxes called "Up to Speed" provide the introductory information you need to understand the topic at hand. If you're an advanced Web page jockey, on the other hand, then keep your eye out for similar shaded boxes called Power Users' Clinic. They offer more technical tips, tricks, and shortcuts for the experienced computer fan.

UP TO SPEED: The Different Flavors of CSS

Like operating systems and iPods, CSS spins off new versions continuously. CSS 1, introduced in 1996, laid the groundwork for Cascading Style Sheets. The basic structure of a style, the selector concept (Chapter 3), and most of the CSS properties in this book were all in that very first version.

CSS 2 added new features, including the ability to target your CSS to different printers, monitors, and other devices (Section 13.1). CSS 2 also added new selectors and the ability to precisely position elements on a Web page.

This book covers CSS 2.1, which is the current accepted standard for Cascading Style Sheets. It incorporates all of CSS 1, adds several new properties, and corrects a few problems with the CSS 2 guidelines.

CSS 2.1 isn't a radical change from version 2, and most Web browsers have adapted to the new rules just fine, thank you. (A notable exception is Internet Explorer 6 for Windows—that's why you'll find helpful workarounds for dealing with browser differences sprinkled throughout this book. Thankfully, Internet Explorer 7 has fixed most of the hair-pulling bugs of its ancestors.)

CSS 3 is just around the corner. Although the W3C still has to finalize this standard, some Web browsers are already adopting a few of its new guidelines and features. Safari's ability to add multiple images to the background of a single element, for example, is thanks to CSS 3. However, since CSS 3 is still evolving, most browsers don't deal with it much—and neither does this book.

Note

This book periodically recommends other CSS books, covering topics that are too specialized or tangential for a manual. Sometimes the recommended titles are from Missing Manual series publisher O'Reilly Media—but not always. If there's a great book out there that's not part of the O'Reilly family, we'll let you know about it.

About the Outline

CSS: The Missing Manual is divided into four parts, each containing several chapters:

• Part 1, CSS Basics, shows you how to create style sheets and provides an overview of key CSS concepts, like inheritance, selectors, and the cascade. Along the way, you'll learn the best HTML/XHTML writing practices when working with CSS. Four tutorials reinforce the part's main concepts and give you a good taste of the power of CSS.

• Part 2, Applied CSS, takes you into the real world of Web design. You'll learn the most important CSS properties and how to use them to format text, create useful navigation tools, and enhance your page with graphics. This section also provides advice on how to make Web pages look better when printed and how to make attractive tables and forms.

• Part 3, CSS Page Layout, helps you with one of the most confusing, but most rewarding, aspects of CSS: controlling the placement of elements on a page. You'll learn how to create common designs (like 2 and 3-column layouts) and how to add sidebars. You'll also learn about floats and positioning—two common CSS techniques for controlling page layout.

• Part 4, Advanced CSS, teaches you how to make web pages look good when printed and covers advanced techniques for using CSS more effectively and efficiently.

• Part 5, Appendixes, provides three sets of resources. The CSS Property Reference summarizes each CSS Property in small, easy-to-digest, chunks so you can casually brush-up on what you already know, or quickly learn about other useful CSS properties that you may not remember. The last two appendices cover tools and resources for creating and using CSS, from how to create CSS in Dreamweaver to lists of helpful Web sites and books.

Living Examples

This book is designed to get your work onto the Web faster and more professionally. It's only natural, then, that half the value of this book lies on the Web.

As you read the book's chapters, you'll encounter a number of living examples—step-by-step tutorials that you can build yourself, using raw materials (like graphics and half-completed Web pages) that you can download from http://www.sawmac.com/css/. You may not gain very much by simply reading these step-by-step lessons while relaxing in your porch hammock. But if you take the time to work through them at the computer, you'll discover that these tutorials give you insight into the way professional designers build Web pages.

You'll also find, in this book's lessons, the URLs of the finished pages, so that you can compare your work with the final result. In other words, you won't just see pictures of how the Web pages should look: You'll find the actual, working Web pages on the Internet.

About MissingManuals.com

At the Missing Manuals Web site (http://www.missingmanuals.com), you'll find articles, tips, and updates to the book. In fact, we invite and encourage you to submit such corrections and updates yourself. In an effort to keep the book as up-to-date and accurate as possible, each time we print more copies of this book, we'll make any confirmed corrections you've suggested. We'll also note such changes on the Web site, so that you can mark important corrections into your own copy of the book, if you like. (Click the book's name, and then click the Errata link, to see the changes.) In the meantime, we'd love to hear your suggestions for new books in the Missing Manual line. There's a place for that on the Web site, too, as well as a place to sign up for free email notification of new titles in the series.