CSS and HTML Coding Today: PubCon Las Vegas Dec 2007, Day 3

CSS today is almost synonymous with Web 2.0. We have come a very long way from the days of simply tweaking your links to remove the underline. Panelists will discuss the cut corners, the non-underlined links, the freaky mouse-overs, and other code beautification techniques. HTML, on the other hand, has moved closer towards XML and feeds. Our panelists will discuss how to update your code to match what is evolving on the web.

Moderator:

• Ted Ulle

Speakers:

• Ted Ulle, Partner, The MEWS Group
• Marc Juneau, Founder, Nolagraphics.com
• Bryan Gmyrek, President, Traffic Programming LLC
• Rainer Ahlfors, VP of Engineering, Wildcat Software

Many of the speakers were unable to make it. Nevertheless, Marc Juneau, the founder of Nolagraphics.com is here to speak first. It seems he started with GoDaddy.

Marc begins by giving a history of the web. What began with 1 site now has over 160 million websites. Initially it was all text, now it has graphics, Flash you name it. In 1996, problems started to show when all websites used for aesthetics were images and Flash.

Why are Flash, images make it hard for websites?

• Search engines only see HTML
• Sites were coded in HTML
• Most of the times, there was more code then content

Marc says W3c Gets seen. There are two schools of thought for this. While designing make it look good no matter what the HTMLis. Keep high standards while designing.

This proves advantageous as when many people are working on something, everyone is aware of the standards.

Next up is Ted Ulle, a partner with The MEWS Group. Ted feels that XHTML is a misstep. He feels XHTML should not be use. In this regard, there is a thread in Webmaster World which should be read.

• HTML has semantic Meaning
• CSS has visual rendering

Under used CSS, there are quite a few common elements that deserve their own default style rules, such as p tag, h1, and so on.

CSS Toolkit gives you flexibility

• .c – text align center
• .s – is a small font
• Line-height
• Set ratio (1.25) not px or pt
• Better with readability and comprehension
• Plugs Usability News and how it is a must read

Abused CSS

• Hidden Anchors
• Avoid aesthetics from trumping communication
• Use redundant link cues
• Color/background-color
• Font variations
• Hover behaviors
• Links are the core of the web

Span Tag should be used extremely rarely as it exposes a weak CSS plan. In terms of H1 and H2, avoid it during presentations. Use an imitation style for H1 and H2.

In a presentation, Ted shows what a standard CSS menu is. Also shows a dynamic sample that can be written in PHP, Perl, ASP or any other language.

Advantages

• Less code
• Less storage
• Faster download of CSS

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