Synopses & Reviews
Web site design has grown up. Unlike the old days, when designers cobbled togetherchunky HTML, bandwidth-hogging graphics, and a prayer to make their sites look good,Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) now lets your inner designer come out and play. But CSSisn't just a tool to pretty up your site; it's a reliable method for handling allkinds of presentation--from fonts and colors to page layout. CSS: The MissingManual clearly explains this powerful design language and how you can use it tobuild sparklingly new Web sites or refurbish old sites that are ready for an upgrade.
Like their counterparts in print page-layout programs, style sheets allowdesigners to apply typographic styles, graphic enhancements, and precise layoutinstructions to elements on a Web page. Unfortunately, due to CSS's complexity andthe many challenges of building pages that work in all Web browsers, most Web authorstreat CSS as a kind of window-dressing to spruce up the appearance of their sites.Integrating CSS with a site's underlying HTML is hard work, and often frustratinglycomplicated. As a result many of the most powerful features of CSS are left untapped.With this book, beginners and Web-building veterans alike can learn how to navigatethe ins-and-outs of CSS and take complete control over their Web pages'appearance.
Author David McFarland (the bestselling author of O'Reilly's Dreamweaver: TheMissing Manual) combines crystal-clear explanations, real-world examples, a dashof humor, and dozens of step-by-step tutorials to show you ways to design sites withCSS that work consistently across browsers. You'll learn how to:
- Create HTML that's simpler, uses less code, is search-engine friendly, andworks well with CSS
- Style text by changing fonts, colors, font sizes, and adding borders
- Turn simple HTML links into complex and attractive navigation bars-completewith CSS-only rollover effects that add interactivity to your Web pages
- Style images to create effective photo galleries and special effects likeCSS-based drop shadows
- Make HTML forms look great without a lot of messy HTML
- Overcome the most hair-pulling browser bugs so your Web pages work consistentlyfrom browser to browser
- Create complex layouts using CSS, including multi-column designs that don'trequire using old techniques like HTML tables
- Style Web pages for printing
Unlike competing books, this Missing Manual doesn't assume that everyone in theworld only surfs the Web with Microsoft's Internet Explorer; our book providessupport for all major Web browsers and is one of the first books to thoroughlydocument the newly expanded CSS support in IE7, currently in beta release.
Want to learn how to turn humdrum Web sites into destinations that will captureviewers and keep them longer? Pick up CSS: The Missing Manual and learn thereal magic of this tool.
Synopsis
Web site design has grown up. Unlike the old days, when designers cobbled together chunky HTML, bandwidth-hogging graphics, and a prayer to make their sites look good, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) now lets your inner designer come out and play. But CSS isn't just a tool to pretty up your site; it's a reliable method for handling all kinds of presentation--from fonts and colors to page layout. CSS: The Missing Manual clearly explains this powerful design language and how you can use it to build sparklingly new Web sites or refurbish old sites that are ready for an upgrade.
Like their counterparts in print page-layout programs, style sheets allow designers to apply typographic styles, graphic enhancements, and precise layout instructions to elements on a Web page. Unfortunately, due to CSS's complexity and the many challenges of building pages that work in all Web browsers, most Web authors treat CSS as a kind of window-dressing to spruce up the appearance of their sites. Integrating CSS with a site's underlying HTML is hard work, and often frustratingly complicated. As a result many of the most powerful features of CSS are left untapped. With this book, beginners and Web-building veterans alike can learn how to navigate the ins-and-outs of CSS and take complete control over their Web pages' appearance.
Author David McFarland (the bestselling author of O'Reilly's Dreamweaver: The Missing Manual) combines crystal-clear explanations, real-world examples, a dash of humor, and dozens of step-by-step tutorials to show you ways to design sites with CSS that work consistently across browsers. You'll learn how to:
Create HTML that's simpler, uses less code, is search-engine friendly, and works well with CSSStyle text by changing fonts, colors, font sizes, and adding bordersTurn simple HTML links into complex and attractive navigation bars-complete with CSS-only rollover effects that add interactivity to your Web pagesStyle images to create effective photo galleries and special effects like CSS-based drop shadowsMake HTML forms look great without a lot of messy HTMLOvercome the most hair-pulling browser bugs so your Web pages work consistently from browser to browserCreate complex layouts using CSS, including multi-column designs that don't require using old techniques like HTML tablesStyle Web pages for printing
Unlike competing books, this Missing Manual doesn't assume that everyone in the world only surfs the Web with Microsoft's Internet Explorer; our book provides support for all major Web browsers and is one of the first books to thoroughly document the newly expanded CSS support in IE7, currently in beta release.
Want to learn how to turn humdrum Web sites into destinations that will capture viewers and keep them longer? Pick up CSS: The Missing Manual and learn the real magic of this tool.
Synopsis
Now that Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) have finally come of age, web designers can take complete control of the appearance of their web pages. This text clearly explains this powerful design tool and how to use it.
About the Author
David Sawyer McFarland is president of Sawyer McFarland Media, Inc., a Web development and training company in Portland, Oregon. He's been building websites since 1995, when he designed an online magazine for communication professionals. He's served as webmaster at the University of California at Berkeley and the Berkeley Multimedia Research Center, and oversaw a complete CSS-driven redesign of Macworld.com. David is also a writer and trainer, and teaches in the Portland State University multimedia program. He wrote the bestselling Missing Manual titles on Adobe Dreamweaver, CSS, and JavaScript.
Table of Contents
The Missing Credits; About the Author; About the Creative Team; Acknowledgements; The Missing Manual Series; Introduction; How CSS Works; The Benefits of CSS; What You Need to Know; HTML: The Barebones Structure; XHTML: HTML for the New Era; Software for CSS; About This Book; The Very Basics; Part I: CSS Basics; Chapter 1: Rethinking HTML for CSS; 1.1 HTML: Past and Present; 1.2 Writing HTML for CSS; 1.3 The Importance of the Doctype; Chapter 2: Creating Styles and Style Sheets; 2.1 Anatomy of a Style; 2.2 Understanding Style Sheets; 2.3 Internal Style Sheets; 2.4 External Style Sheets; 2.5 Tutorial: Creating Your First Styles; Chapter 3: Selector Basics: Identifying What to Style; 3.1 Tag Selectors: Page-Wide Styling; 3.2 Class Selectors: Pinpoint Control; 3.3 ID Selectors: Specific Page Elements; 3.4 Styling Tags Within Tags; 3.5 Styling Groups of Tags; 3.6 Pseudo-Classes and Pseudo-Elements; 3.7 Advanced Selectors; 3.8 Tutorial: Selector Sampler; Chapter 4: Saving Time with Inheritance; 4.1 What Is Inheritance?; 4.2 How Inheritance Streamlines Style Sheets; 4.3 The Limits of Inheritance; 4.4 Tutorial: Inheritance; Chapter 5: Managing Multiple Styles: The Cascade; 5.1 How Styles Cascade; 5.2 Specificity: Which Style Wins; 5.3 Controlling the Cascade; 5.4 Tutorial: The Cascade in Action; Part II: Applied CSS; Chapter 6: Formatting Text; 6.1 Formatting Text; 6.2 Changing Font Size; 6.3 Formatting Words and Letters; 6.4 Formatting Entire Paragraphs; 6.5 Styling Lists; 6.6 Tutorial: Text Formatting in Action; Chapter 7: Margins, Padding, and Borders; 7.1 Understanding the Box Model; 7.2 Control Space with Margins and Padding; 7.3 Adding Borders; 7.4 Coloring the Background; 7.5 Determining Height and Width; 7.6 Wrap Content with Floating Elements; 7.7 Tutorial: Margins, Backgrounds, and Borders; Chapter 8: Adding Graphics to Web Pages; 8.1 CSS and the
Tag; 8.2 Background Images; 8.3 Controlling Repetition; 8.4 Positioning a Background Image; 8.5 Using Background Property Shorthand; 8.6 Tutorial: Creating a Photo Gallery; 8.7 Tutorial: Using Background Images; Chapter 9: Sprucing Up Your Site's Navigation; 9.1 Selecting Which Links to Style; 9.2 Styling Links; 9.3 Building Navigation Bars; 9.4 Advanced Link Techniques; 9.5 Tutorial: Styling Links; Chapter 10: Formatting Tables and Forms; 10.1 Using Tables the Right Way; 10.2 Styling Tables; 10.3 Styling Forms; 10.4 Tutorial: Styling a Table; 10.5 Tutorial: Styling a Form; Part III: CSS Page Layout; Chapter 11: Building Float-Based Layouts; 11.1 How CSS Layout Works; 11.2 Types of Web Page Layouts; 11.3 Float Layout Basics; 11.4 Applying Floats to Your Layouts; 11.5 Overcoming Float Problems; 11.6 Handling Internet Explorer Bugs; 11.7 Tutorial: Multiple Column Layouts; 11.8 Tutorial: Negative Margin Layout; Chapter 12: Positioning Elements on a Web Page; 12.1 How Positioning Properties Work; 12.2 Powerful Positioning Strategies; 12.3 Tutorial: Positioning Page Elements; Part IV: Advanced CSS; Chapter 13: CSS for the Printed Page; 13.1 How Media Style Sheets Work; 13.2 How to Add Media Style Sheets; 13.3 Creating Print Style Sheets; 13.4 Tutorial: Building a Print Style Sheet; Chapter 14: Improving Your CSS Habits; 14.1 Adding Comments; 14.2 Organizing Styles and Style Sheets; 14.3 Eliminating Browser Style Interference; 14.4 Using Descendent Selectors; 14.5 Managing Internet Explorer Hacks; Part V: Appendixes; Appendix A: CSS Property Reference; A.1 CSS Values; A.2 Text Properties; A.3 List Properties; A.4 Padding, Borders, and Margins; A.5 Backgrounds; A.6 Page Layout Properties; A.7 Table Properties; A.8 Miscellaneous Properties; Appendix B: CSS in Dreamweaver 8; B.1 Creating Styles; B.2 Adding Styles to Web Pages; B.3 Editing Styles; B.4 Managing Styles; B.5 Examining Your CSS in the Styles Panel; B.6 CSS Properties; Appendix C: CSS Resources; C.1 References; C.2 CSS Help; C.3 CSS Navigation; C.4 CSS and Graphics; C.5 CSS Layout; C.6 Browser Bugs; C.7 Showcase Sites; C.8 CSS Books; C.9 Must-Have RSS Feeds; C.10 CSS Software; Colophon;