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A Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) is, in its simplest form, a way to format text
and position elements on HTML pages. However, style sheets are much more
powerful in that they can provide information for printers and aural (speech
synthesizers and sound effects) devices.
Style sheets are governed by two specifications: CSS1 and CSS2. Netscape 6 is
currently the most compliant browser, with Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6 not far
behind. Both Internet Explorer 4 and Netscape Navigator 4.x support style sheets
to some extent. Each browser maker also has added their own style elements.
Style Sheet FAQ Helpful hints:
- Define dimensions using "em" and "%" if how the page
looks on the screen is important as these are relative measurements. Points, pixels, centimeters, and inches are only good
if you are trying to control the printed look.
- If you are trying to set a dimension to zero, put in "0.01" instead
because of a bug in Navigator.
- Don't use an underscore ("_") in your style sheet name or in the name of
any style. Due to a bug in Internet Explorer, styles for some elements will
not work properly.
- Although not strictly a CSS issue, this does apply. When applying themes
in Microsoft FrontPage, don't use the "apply using CSS" option if you have a
text input box that you want people to be able to use in Netscape Navigator
versions prior to 6. Otherwise, the box doesn't show up properly.
The following
links to non-ASIJ sites give an introduction to CSS basics or provide a more
complete CSS reference.
- W3Schools.Com
CSS Tutorial
- The W3Schools is a quick way to get started with Cascading Style Sheets provides tutorials in many areas, not just Cascading Style
Sheets.
- Apple Internet
Developer-CSS
- Apple maintains resources for developers and this site provides a short
tutorial as well as more advanced techniques for style sheets.
- WebReview.com Style Sheet Reference
Guide
- WebReview.com has compatibility charts that help you determine which browser supports
which CSS elements.
- The World Wide Web Consortium's CSS
Home Page
- The World Wide Web Consortium® (W3C) developed the specification and here
is the logical place to find links to many resources.
- W3C Cascading
Style Sheet Validator Service
- The W3C also provides a validator service to help determine if your style
sheets meet the standards.
- Cascading Style Sheets
Level 1 Specification
- Cascading Style Sheets
Level 2 Specification
- These official specifications for Cascading Style Sheets are definitely not recommended for the faint-hearted.
Revision B
Last Updated
08/23/03
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