Product Description

This book is your indispensable guide to cutting-edge CSS developmentall you need to work your way up to CSS professional.You'll learn how to:Plan, organize, and maintain your stylesheets more effectivelyApply the secrets of liquid, elastic, and hybrid layoutsCreate flickr-style image maps, remote rollovers, and other advanced CSS featuresLay out forms using pure CSSRecognize common browser bugs, and how to fix themWhile CSS is a relatively simple technology to learn, it is a difficult one to master. When you first start developing sites using CSS, you will come across all kinds of infuriating browser bugs and inconsistencies. It sometimes feels like there are a million and one different techniques to master, spread across a bewildering array of websites. The range of possibilities seems endless and makes for a steep and daunting learning curve.By bringing all of the latest tips, tricks, and techniques together in one handy reference, this book demystifies the secrets of CSS and makes the journey to CSS mastery as simple and painless as possible. While most books concentrate on basic skills, this one is different, assuming that you already know the basics and why you should be using CSS in your work, and concentrating mainly on advanced techniques. It begins with a brief recap of CSS fundamentals such as the importance of meaningful markup, how to structure and maintain your code, and how the CSS layout model really works. With the basics out of the way, each subsequent chapter details a particular aspect of CSS-based design. Through a series of easy-to-follow tutorials, you will learn practical CSS techniques you can immediately start using in your daily work. Browser inconsistencies are the thorn in most CSS developers' sides, so we have dedicated two whole chapters to CSS hacks, filters, and bug fixing, as well as looking at image replacement; professional link, form, and list styling; pure CSS layouts; and much more. All of these techniques are then put into practice in two beautifully designed case studies, written by two of the world's best CSS designers, Simon Collison and Cameron Moll. Summary of Contents:Chapter 1: Setting the FoundationsChapter 2: Visual Formatting Model RecapChapter 3: Background Images and Image ReplacementChapter 4: Styling LinksChapter 5: Styling Lists and Creating Nav BarsChapter 6: Styling Forms and Data TablesChapter 7: LayoutChapter 8: Hacks and FiltersChapter 9: Bugs and Bug FixingCase Study 1: More Than DoodlesCase Study 2: Tuscany Luxury Resorts

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36560 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Customer Reviews

Bookshelf Essential
There's a plethora of books and Internet resources on the subject of designing websites with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) but whether you are just starting out as a complete novice or have solid, intermediary experience this book offers a very useful grounding in theory and application.

The foundation chapter provides a clear and easy to understand introduction to meaningful markup techniques for CSS "hooks" - divs, spans, ids and classes as well as discussion on DOCTYPEs, browser modes and validation before diving in to CSS selector types, the cascade and specificity. The chapter finishes with discussion on how best to organise your stylesheets - no, don't just lump it all together in a single file ;)

The second chapter is a very useful recap of the visual formatting model (i.e. the box model and absolute / relative / float positioning) and will serve as a great reminder for when your complex layouts start to misbehave - something that all CSS practioners will experience at some point.

The bulk of the book covers styling specific elements of your design and includes layout, image replacement, styling links, lists, forms and tables. People tend not to get too adventurous with styling tables and forms so that chapter is welcome and the advanced treatment of visited and external-website links is also of interest.

The major selling point for me was the two chapters on CSS hacks (filters) and bugs (and bug fixing). There are a number of websites that cover these issues but I lack that particular resource on my bookshelf and call me old-fashioned, but I do like my books to pull stuff together in this manner. Inside these chapters you'll learn about the (in)famous star hack, the !important hack and bugs such as the three-pixel text jog and the "HasLayout" effect to name but a few. Armed with these two chapters I may well spot a problem in the stylesheet before seeing it in a browser and save a few hours of debugging later on - incidentally, the section on debugging will certainly reduce any feeling of headless chicken in that regard.

The book bows out with the obligatory case studies that pull together a couple of websites using the techniques previously explained.

Highly recommended.

Good for learning advanced CSS
If you've covered the basics of CSS and HTML, but want to know the difference between divs, classes and styles, this is a good book. Covers from start to finish on how to build table-less sites.

One scary point, though: the two example sites that they have built are both broke in IE7, though fine in Firefox. Admittedly, the book was written before the current release of IE7, but they should update their site and issue guidance on where the box is wrong.

I would recommend the book as the best on the market for self-teaching advanced CSS concepts, but there's room for something better.

A great book for web designers juniors and seniors alike
Since I bought that book, it's been on my desk rather than in the book shelf like most others.

It's very accessible, and it covers basics (always good to be reminded) as well as more adanced CSS. I'm very happy with that purchase and use it everytime I code, and take it along with me when working on-site at clients offices.

That book replaced my beloved Zeldman's "Designing with Web Standards" which needed an upgrade.

Same handy format, nice and clear info, answers off-hand for most tricks and a no-nonsense approach from a well-known dude in the web design community.

Thumbs up Brighton!