Hi, I have seen some ready nice looking sites done with css. Where should I go to learn css and how long should I expect it to take to be very good with it? Thanks
http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/learning (most important) http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp http://www.echoecho.com/css.htm
Css is not really hard to learn. You will know lots really fast if you just make some basic sites using Dreamweaver or FrontPage and practice. Like pachecus said, www.w3c.org also has some very good tutorials.
is it mostly done by hand coding or is there shortcuts for dreamweaver or some other program to make it easier. Is it a long process to build a site or is it something that once you get the basics done , goes fast?
Dreamweaver makes it very easy for you to build basic and complicated sites with many examples and "shortcuts". You can build a site in as little as a few hours. CSS is hand coded but like you said; "once you get the basics" it's very easy. If you have a smaller site you can even just use "tables" instead of css and that is as easy as learning basic "html"
The links Pachecus gave you are very good. Study the tutorials, and practice the lessons. For css layouts, Google for that search phrase. There are lots of layout tutorials too. Do not use Dreamweaver or Frontpage thinking you will learn from their generated codes. The code they churn out is crap. Do not even think about using table layouts. Once you achieve a degree of proficiency, you will be able to rough out a page almost as quickly as you can type. There is still the usual tweaking, but if you've used well structured, semantic and valid html along with well thought out css posotioning, it will be an easy go. CSS is a powerful tool set. Use the right tool for the job, and it's easy. Choose the wrong tool/method, and things can get very complicated very quickly. cheers, gary
Easiest way (how I learned) was learning to edit an existing CSS design to your liking, then after some experience try coding some sites by hand. Building in a WYSIWYG editor is helpful too, as you can create the overall layout then tweak it by hand (how I do it most of the time, I only fully code simple stuff by hand - way to time consuming and I always find I have trouble figuring something out).
I agree mdvaldosta, I was trying to say something similar in my post. Worked for me. People always try to make it sound so complicated. Dreamweaver rock's yeh!
Downloaded a free css template and played around with it. Seems like the hardest thing is finding the right place to edit in the areas that you want to edit. All the areas in the css style sheet are labeled and its comments are hard to understand what does what. If that makes any sense the way I am saying it.
You can learn basic syntax of Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) at W3schools.com Please visit this link: http://www.w3schools.com/css/default.asp ok Example CSS: Set the font of a Text <html> <head> <style type="text/css"> h3 {font-family: times} p {font-family: courier} p.sansserif {font-family: sans-serif} </style> </head> <body> <h3>This is header 3</h3> <p>This is a paragraph</p> <p class="sansserif">This is a paragraph</p> </body> </html>
The best way to learn is to dissect some css you find on the web or by using dreamweaver to assist you. Also, if you don't like always reading you can watch some videos provided by lynda.com. http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=216 http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=47
CSS can be overwhelming if you try to learn everything at once. Just start with something simple. For example: learn how to change backgrounds, or learn how borders work, play with fonts, change margins and padding, etc... There's still stuff I don't totally understand, so take it step by step.
I can`t make a CSS script from scratch but i managed to customise a CSS template without any CSS special skills. It isn`t so diffcult. But is very important to know what you are doing.
There's nothing like having some paper books to read though! Bulletproof Web Design by Dan C is a brilliant place to start and will really give you a solid foundation.
Okay! I started playing around with a css template. Tell me what you think http://www.get-paid-at-home.com Thanks. Still not able to do it from scratch ..Yet.