How to learn CSS I have...

[naitsirch79]

I have homesite and dreamweaver. But what is the best way to learn css.
The one site I am doing the tute with says something about getting style
master to edit your css. What I have will do that or is there something
better recommended?

 

[brucie]

what is the best way to learn css.

plain text editor. yes, really. same with HTML

 

[Mark Parnell]

I have homesite and dreamweaver. But what is the best way to learn
css. The one site I am doing the tute with says something about
getting style master to edit your css. What I have will do that or
is there something better recommended?

I don't know about Homesite, but Dreamweaver is pretty shocking when it
comes to CSS. I always edit the CSS in a text editor (Notepad will work
fine).

 

[naitsirch79]

I am getting the demo from topstyle,

That seems to be the best one out there, nothing but good reviews, and
supposed to be better than even homesite.

hehehe, we shall see.

 

[spaghetti]

I have homesite and dreamweaver. But what is the best way to learn css.
The one site I am doing the tute with says something about getting style
master to edit your css. What I have will do that or is there something
better recommended?

Try to stay away from Dreamweaver, but Homesite is OK, since it's a
text-editor at heart.

Cutting and pasting from an older post of mine:

http://www.westciv.com/style_master/academy/css_tutorial/

And though it seems too complex to consider, the reference on W3 is actually
quite good and easy to understand. Lots of stuff you can skim through. I'd
suggest practicing all the things you learn here with a good CSS browser
like the latest Mozilla or Opera, and then later you can learn the
workarounds required to get your pages to look nice on crummy browsers.

http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/

 

[Chris Morris]

Oh and I hate text editors. you have to save then view in browser, yada
yada yada. When I first got my home site I was so happy. I will never go
back to .txt pad.

Hmm, I hate "WYSISWG" editors for about the same reason. You have to
save, then view in browser, then open a text editor to fix all the
holes the editor put in your code (a decent text editor beats a
"WYSIWYG" editor's code view mode for ease of use any day), *then*
view in browser again to check you got them all.

And if you're going to test the site in multiple browsers anyway, one
extra step to test it in the first one doesn't seem like a lot of
work, especially since most "WYSIWYG" editors have their *own* HTML
rendering engine not found on any browser.

 

[brucie]

Oh and I hate text editors. you have to save then view in browser, yada
yada yada.

only the basic ones

When I first got my home site I was so happy. I will never go
back to .txt pad.

try edit plus http://www.editplus.com/

 

[Daniel Vesma]

Oh and I hate text editors. you have to save then view in browser, yada

yada yada. When I first got my home site I was so happy. I will never go
back to .txt pad.

Is it really that hard?

Alt+F
S
Alt+TAB

DV

 

[Matthias Gutfeldt]

Oh and I hate text editors. you have to save then view in browser, yada
yada yada. When I first got my home site I was so happy. I will never go
back to .txt pad.

For simple and/or amateurish styling I guess some "WYSIWYG" CSS editor
is probably fine, so if that's the level you want to work on, go ahead
with whatever visual editor you find.

But if you want to work with more complex things, or have to work on a
professional, not just "proffesional webdresign" level, you won't get
around actually LEARNING CSS, and the problems many browsers have with
handling it. This is not something a visual editor can do for you. It's
best done with a couple good CSS references, a text editor, and all the
browsers your client wants to have supported.


Matthias

 

[Sid Ismail]

I have homesite and dreamweaver. But what is the best way to learn css.
The one site I am doing the tute with says something about getting style
master to edit your css. What I have will do that or is there something
better recommended?

Learn CSS before you start editing it with StyleMaster.

http://www.westciv.com/style_master/academy/hands_on_tutorial/

Sid

 

[naitsirch79]

Wow you guys are pretty adamant about not using a "wysiwyg". Lets get
something straight. First of all, thanks for all your input.

I have learned a lot. However. I edit my html with homesite. which
someone previoulsy said that is a text editor. So great for that. Secondly
I don't know what wysiwyg even means. LMAO. Thridly, I like topstyle
because it is like homesite. Where homesite kicks but for html editing and
please don't try and tell me notepad is better, than topstyle kicks but for
css editing and management. Now, I don't know how many of you actually
tried and used topstyle or something like it but all I see it does is cut
down dramatically on my learning curve. Think about it, I don't have to
learn each and every capability and command to make that capability happen
for every single moment. You won't be able to do it without some type of
book right beside you as a reference. And that is all I would use topstyle
for. as far as this whole notion as for what you see is what you get. To
me that means something more along the lines of dreamweaver or frontpage.
Not an actuall editor, being you call it text, css, or html editor that is
all they do. You don't have to remember every color code and yada yada
yada.

In conclusion I think the real argument here is whether or not to study
insainley for a couple months, still not be able to remember everything, and
then buy some 80 dollar book to have by my side as a refference. I then
could probably do css just fine and be pretty good at it. However I will
take my chances with an css editor like topstyle and push my learning curve
to weeks and complete compentence in months instead of learning in months
and competence by next year. Again I don't see the wysiwyg part in an css
editor, perhaps somebody could clear that up for me.

 

[spaghetti]

I don't know what wysiwyg even means.

WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get

take my chances with an css editor like topstyle and push my learning curve
to weeks and complete compentence in months instead of learning in months
and competence by next year. Again I don't see the wysiwyg part in an css

I learned to use CSS in just a few days, then learned to adapt it to the
quirks of various browsers in just a few more weeks. Well, that part of it
is ongoing, so I'll probably never be finished learning that...

 

[naitsirch79]

So you agree with me?