Conquering CSS - Page 2

Touted as a guide to "quick solutions to common CSS problems," I find the recipe book analogy to be particularly appropriate. The book is divided into ten chapters, each of which contains anywhere from ten to twenty examples of common "projects" undertaken using CSS. Each "recipe" contains a short description of the project, a snippet of CSS code that can be used to do it, and then further resources and explanations, sometimes going into surprising depth (i.e., a research project on the effectiveness of breadcrumb navigation, etc.).

So, for example, say you'd like to use HTML's handy bulleted list function (<ul>), but you have a small icon of your own design you'd like to use as the bullet instead of the default dot or square. Schmitt explains how to redefine the ul property so that your image can be used, gives visual examples of what this might look like in implementation, and then makes some important notes on bullet sizes, inheritance and so forth.

The book wraps up with a chapter containing examples on how to design using CSS--that is, how to create unconventional or unusual effects using CSS to make a particular page "pop." While some of these effects are clever and useful (e.g., placing a drop shadow on an image), others seem as though they'd be easier accomplished in Photoshop. Given some browsers' tendencies not to render CSS correctly, especially some earlier iterations of Netscape and even Microsoft Internet Explorer to some extent, if you want to insure that graphic elements on the web look correct, I wouldn't recommend relying on CSS to create sophisticated graphical effects.

Especially useful for the less-seasoned designer who isn't tremendously familiar with CSS, and equally helpful for the web designer who just wants to add a few tricks to his or her "repertoire," this hearty volume provides a wide variety of plugin-ready tricks and tools that just about anyone (short of the most knowledgeable designers) will find invaluable.

Article Author: Ryan Eanes

Ryan Eanes is a freelance writer, designer and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University, and is completing a MA in Media Studies at The New School in New York.

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