CSS Cookbook

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CSS Cookbook

By Christopher Schmitt

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Final Release Date: August 2004

Pages: 272

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are a powerful way to enrich the presentation of HTML-based web pages, allowing web authors to give their pages a more sophisticated look and more structure. CSS's compact file size helps web pages load quickly, and by allowing changes made in one place to be applied across the entire document, CSS can save hours of tedious changing and updating.But to leverage the full power of CSS, web authors first have to sift through CSS theory to find practical solutions that resolve real-world problems. Web authors can waste hours and earn ulcers trying to find answers to those all-too-common dilemmas that crop up with each project. The CSS Cookbook cuts straight through the theory to provide hundreds of useful examples and CSS code recipes that web authors can use immediately to format their web pages.The time saved by a single one of these recipes will make its cover price money well-spent. But the CSS Cookbook provides more than quick code solutions to pressing problems. The explanation that accompanies each recipe enables readers to customize the formatting for their specific purposes, and shows why the solution works, so you can adapt these techniques to other situations. Recipes range from the basics that every web author needs to code concoctions that will take your web pages to new levels.Reflecting CSS2, the latest specification, and including topics that range from basic web typography and page layout to techniques for formatting lists, forms, and tables, it is easy to see why the CSS Cookbook is regarded as an excellent companion to Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide and a must-have resource for any web author who has even considered using CSS.

Chapter 1 Web Typography
1. Introduction
2. Specifying Fonts and Inheritance
3. Specifying Font Measurements and Sizes
4. Enforcing Font Sizes
5. Setting a Simple Initial Cap
6. Setting a Larger, Centered Initial Cap
7. Setting an Initial Cap with Decoration (Imagery)
8. Creating a Heading with Stylized Text
9. Creating a Heading with Stylized Text and Borders
10. Stylizing a Heading with Text and an Image
11. Creating a Pull Quote with HTML Text
12. Creating a Pull Quote with Borders
13. Creating a Pull Quote with Images
14. Setting the Indent in the First Line of a Paragraph
15. Setting the Indent of Entire Paragraphs
16. Setting Text to Be Justified
17. Styling the First Line of a Paragraph
18. Styling the First Line of a Paragraph with an Image
19. Creating a Highlighted Text Effect
20. Changing Line Spacing
Chapter 2 Page Elements
1. Introduction
2. Eliminating Page Margins
3. Coloring the Scrollbar
4. Centering Elements on a Web Page
5. Setting a Background Image
6. Creating a Line of Background Images
7. Placing a Background Image
8. Fixing the Background Image
9. Placing a Page Border
10. Customizing a Horizontal Rule
11. Example Design: Setting Up a Dynamic Splash Page
Chapter 3 Links and Navigation
1. Introduction
2. Removing Underlines from Links
3. Setting Text to Blink
4. Setting Style Decorations Other Than Underlines
5. Changing Cursors
6. Creating Rollovers Without JavaScript
7. Creating Nongraphical Menus with Rollovers
8. Creating Collapsible Menus
9. Building Horizontal Menus
10. Creating Breadcrumb Navigation
11. Creating Image-Based Rollovers
12. Designing a Dynamic Visual Menu
13. Creating Contextual Menus
Chapter 4 Lists
1. Introduction
2. Changing the Format of a List
3. Writing Cross-Browser Indentation in Lists
4. Creating Custom Text Markers for Lists
5. Creating Custom Image Markers for Lists
6. Creating Inline Lists
7. Making Hanging Indents in a List
8. Moving the Marker Inside the List
Chapter 5 Forms
1. Introduction
2. Setting Styles for Input Elements
3. Setting Styles for textarea Elements
4. Setting Styles for Select and Option Elements
5. Creating Form Buttons
6. Setting Up a Submit-Once-Only Button
7. Designing a Web Form Without Tables
8. Sample Design: A Login Form
9. Sample Design: A Registration Form
Chapter 6 Tables
1. Introduction
2. Setting the Cell Spacing
3. Setting the Borders and Cell Padding
4. Setting the Styles Within Table Cells
5. Removing Gaps from Table Cells with Images
6. Setting Styles for Table Header Elements
7. Sample Design: An Elegant Calendar
Chapter 7 Page Layouts
1. Introduction
2. Developing Hybrid Layouts Using HTML Tables and CSS
3. Building a One-Column Layout
4. Building a Two-Column Layout
5. Building a Two-Column Layout with Fixed-Width Columns
6. Creating a Flexible Multicolumn Layout with Floats
7. Creating a Fixed-Width Multicolumn Layout with Floats
8. Creating a Flexible Multicolumn Layout with Positioning
9. Creating a Fixed-Width Multicolumn Layout with Positioning
10. Designing an Asymmetric Layout
Chapter 8 Print
1. Introduction
2. Creating a Printer-Friendly Page
3. Making a Web Form Print-Ready
4. Inserting URLs After Links
5. Sample Design: A Printer-Friendly Page with CSS
Chapter 9 Hacks and Workarounds
1. Introduction
2. Hiding Certain Styles from Netscape Navigator 4.x
3. Delivering Alternative Values to Internet Explorer 5.x for Windows
4. Removing Web Page Flicker in Internet Explorer 5.x for Windows
5. Keeping Background Images Stationary in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows
6. Keeping CSS Rules from Internet Explorer 5 for Macintosh
Chapter 10 Designing with CSS
1. Introduction
2. Enlarging Text Excessively
3. Creating Unexpected Incongruity
4. Combining Unlike Elements to Create Contrast
5. Leading the Eye with Contrast
6. Building a Panoramic Image Presentation
7. Combining Different Image Formats
8. Making Word Balloons
9. Emphasizing a Quotation
10. Placing a Drop Shadow Behind an Image

Appendix Resources
1. Discussion Groups
2. References
3. Tools
4. Design Resources
Colophon

Title:

CSS Cookbook

By:

Christopher Schmitt

Publisher:

O'Reilly Media

Formats:

Print
Safari Books Online

Print:

August 2004

Pages:

272

Print ISBN:

978-0-596-00576-4

| ISBN 10:

0-596-00576-8

Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of CSS Cookbook is a grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis). The grizzly's distinctive features include humped shoulders, a long snout, and long curved claws. The coat color ranges from shades of blond, brown, black, or a combination of these; the long outer guard hairs are often tipped with white or silver giving it a grizzled appearance. They can weigh anywhere from 350 to 800 pounds and reach a shoulder height of 4.5 feet when on all fours. Standing on its hind legs, a grizzly can reach up to 8 feet. Despite its large size, the grizzly can reach speeds of 35 to 40 miles per hour.Some of a grizzly's favorite foods include nuts, berries, insects, salmon, carrion, and small mammals. The diet of a grizzly varies depending on the season and habitat. Grizzlies in parts of Alaska eat primarily salmon, while grizzlies in high mountain areas eat mostly berries and insects.Grizzlies are solitary, and prefer rugged mountains and forests. They can be found in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories; and the U.S. states of Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, and Montana.The grizzly is considered a threatened species: only about 850 bears exist in the lower 48 states. Before the West was settled, the grizzly bear population was estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000. Threats to the survival of the grizzly bear include habitat destruction caused by logging, mining, human development, and illegal poaching. Mary Anne Weeks Mayo was the production editor, and Audrey Doyle was the copyeditor for CSS Cookbook. Jane Ellin proofread the book, and Mary Brady and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Mary Agner provided production assistance. Judy Hoer wrote the index.Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.David Futato designed the interior layout. This book was converted by Julie Hawks to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XML technologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was compiled by Mary Anne Weeks Mayo.

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Customer Reviews

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oreillyCSS Cookbook

4.2

(based on 5 reviews)

Reviewed by 5 customers

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Displaying reviews 1-5

5/7/2006

4.0

Handy book for designers

By Regnard Kreisler Raquedan

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly CSS Cookbook:

Tables have long been the layout tool of choice for designing sites since the 90's. Although it's semantically incorrect, many web designers have been keeping this practice and doing almost nothing to correct it.

CSS Cookbook from O'Reilly presents developers with quick 180 degree turn to CSS. The good thing about this book is that it shows how CSS can do the typical table-based layouts. For example, the customary 2-column layout is given adequate attention. One very nice chapter demonstrates how CSS can create semanitcally correct code for web form layout.

But the book also explores the workarounds (or "hacks") in dealing with the quirks you have to deal with (Hint: it involves browsers).

Web developers looking for a quick fix of standards-compliant layout and techniques will really appreciate CSS Cookbook.

4/23/2005

5.0

Exactly What I Expected

By Brian Zab

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly CSS Cookbook:

When shopping for computer books, I usually always favor O'Reilly Press over other companies (which will remain nameless :-)). The things I have grown to respect include the straightforward and intelligent way that information is presented to me. As a bonus, all O'Reilly books I have read are peppered with the right amount of humor to make my reading them more enjoyable.

This book was exactly what I was expecting. I don't *need* to learn CSS because I already have a firm enough understanding. What I need is a quick reference book to consult when I have coders' block and a place to turn when I want to learn something new.

"CSS Cookbook" does that for me. I must also recommend the "JavaScript and DHTML Cookbook". It is an excellent accomplice to this book.

Thanks again, O'Reilly. You've come a long way since even "Lex and Yacc". :-)

2/22/2005

4.0

Very useful

By vun

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly CSS Cookbook:

This book has proven very useful to me. It gave me solutions that I hadn't found exploring the web. The rollover menu with hover function worked very well with IE on Mac & PC. (For IE, change the href code, though, for this particular item.) Well done, mr. Schmitt.

2/13/2005

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Centering

By vun

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly CSS Cookbook:

Centering (erratum)

On the pages 46 and 47 of CSS Cookbook "margin-left" should read -128px instead of -138px since 256/2=128.

8/24/2004

4.0

One of the best book about CSS .

By Murrad Tofa

from Undisclosed

Comments about oreilly CSS Cookbook:

I have found this book very helpful.

Before reading this book I have little bit

idea about CSS and I was really searching for

a good book on CSS . Most of the book I have

are doing cut& paste from 'WDG'website .

One of the plus point about this book is

that the author is informative& straight to the

topic .When I saw other website or think

about a design for my website I thought Oh! how

I can do that with CSS? This book give most of the answers I needed . The topics are divided into "Problem","Solution"&"Discussion" and I think this style is very helpful to read and to get clear idea about the topic . It is a really CSS cookbook . Cook CSS with this book ;)

Displaying reviews 1-5


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Chapter 1 Web Typography

Introduction

Specifying Fonts and Inheritance

Specifying Font Measurements and Sizes

Enforcing Font Sizes

Setting a Simple Initial Cap

Setting a Larger, Centered Initial Cap

Setting an Initial Cap with Decoration (Imagery)

Creating a Heading with Stylized Text

Creating a Heading with Stylized Text and Borders

Stylizing a Heading with Text and an Image

Creating a Pull Quote with HTML Text

Creating a Pull Quote with Borders

Creating a Pull Quote with Images

Setting the Indent in the First Line of a Paragraph

Setting the Indent of Entire Paragraphs

Setting Text to Be Justified

Styling the First Line of a Paragraph

Styling the First Line of a Paragraph with an Image

Creating a Highlighted Text Effect

Changing Line Spacing

Chapter 2 Page Elements

Introduction

Eliminating Page Margins

Coloring the Scrollbar

Centering Elements on a Web Page

Setting a Background Image

Creating a Line of Background Images

Placing a Background Image

Fixing the Background Image

Placing a Page Border

Customizing a Horizontal Rule

Example Design: Setting Up a Dynamic Splash Page

Chapter 3 Links and Navigation

Introduction

Removing Underlines from Links

Setting Text to Blink

Setting Style Decorations Other Than Underlines

Changing Cursors

Creating Rollovers Without JavaScript

Creating Nongraphical Menus with Rollovers

Creating Collapsible Menus

Building Horizontal Menus

Creating Breadcrumb Navigation

Creating Image-Based Rollovers

Designing a Dynamic Visual Menu

Creating Contextual Menus

Chapter 4 Lists

Introduction

Changing the Format of a List

Writing Cross-Browser Indentation in Lists

Creating Custom Text Markers for Lists

Creating Custom Image Markers for Lists

Creating Inline Lists

Making Hanging Indents in a List

Moving the Marker Inside the List

Chapter 5 Forms

Introduction

Setting Styles for Input Elements

Setting Styles for textarea Elements

Setting Styles for Select and Option Elements

Creating Form Buttons

Setting Up a Submit-Once-Only Button

Designing a Web Form Without Tables

Sample Design: A Login Form

Sample Design: A Registration Form

Chapter 6 Tables

Introduction

Setting the Cell Spacing

Setting the Borders and Cell Padding

Setting the Styles Within Table Cells

Removing Gaps from Table Cells with Images

Setting Styles for Table Header Elements

Sample Design: An Elegant Calendar

Chapter 7 Page Layouts

Introduction

Developing Hybrid Layouts Using HTML Tables and CSS

Building a One-Column Layout

Building a Two-Column Layout

Building a Two-Column Layout with Fixed-Width Columns