CSS Web Design For Dummies

385 Pages·2005·12.49 MB·English

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CSS Web Design
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
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CSS Web Design
FOR
DUMmIES
‰
by Richard Mansfield
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CSS Web Design For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
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About the Author
Richard Mansfieldwas the editor of COMPUTE!Magazine from 1981 to 1987.
During that time, he wrote hundreds of magazine articles and two columns.
From 1987 to 1991, he was editorial director and partner at Signal Research.
He began writing books full-time in 1991 and has written 36 computer books
since 1982. Of those, four became bestsellers: Machine Language for Beginners
(COMPUTE! Books), The Second Book of Machine Language(COMPUTE!
Books), The Visual Guide to Visual Basic(Ventana), and The Visual Basic
Power Toolkit(Ventana, coauthored by Evangelos Petroutsos). His books
combined have sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide and have been
translated into 12 languages.
Richard’s recent titles include Office 2003 Application Development All-in-One
Desk Reference For Dummies, Visual Basic .NET All-in-One Desk Reference
ForDummies, Visual Basic .NET Weekend Crash Course, Visual Basic .NET
Database Programming For Dummies, Visual Basic 6 Database Programming
For Dummies (all published by Wiley), Hacker Attack(Sybex), and The Wi-Fi
Experience: Everyone’s Guide to 802.11b Wireless Networking(Pearson
Education, coauthored by Harold Davis).
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to David Lee Roach.
Author’s Acknowledgments
I want to thank acquisitions editor Katie Feltman for her thoughtful and help-
ful advice. I’ve worked with Katie before, and she knows her stuff. I was also
lucky to have two strong editors improve this book. Project editor Linda
Morris asks the right questions, makes lots of good suggestions, and overall
stands in as a representative of the reader. She requests clarification when
necessary, and ensures that the reader will find consistent, useful informa-
tion. She deserves credit for her taste and the high quality of her editing.
The technical editor, Vanessa Williams, reviewed the entire manuscript for
technical quality. For that I thank her. I’m happy to report that she found few
flaws in the programming code, but I’m certainly glad to have an opportunity
to fix the few flaws she did spot. Vanessa also suggested alternative CSS tech-
niques and additional resources, deepening the technical information avail-
able in the book.
To these, and all the other good people at Wiley who contributed to the book,
my thanks for the time and care they took to ensure quality every step along
the way to publication.
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Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form
located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and Composition Services
Media Development
Project Coordinator: Adrienne Martinez
Project Editor:Linda Morris
Layout and Graphics: Carl Byers, Andrea Dahl,
Acquisitions Editor:Katie Feltman Lauren Goddard, JoyceHaughey,
Stephanie D. Jumper, Melanee Prendergast
Copy Editor:Linda Morris
Proofreaders: Leeann Harney, Jessica Kramer
Technical Editor:Vanessa Williams
Indexer: TECHBOOKS Production Services
Editorial Manager:Carol Sheehan
Media Development Manager:
LauraVanWinkle
Media Development Supervisor:
Richard Graves
Editorial Assistant:Amanda Foxworth
Cartoons:Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley,Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings,Vice President and Publisher
Mary Bednarek,Executive Acquisitions Director
Mary C. Corder,Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele,Vice President and Publisher
Joyce Pepple,Acquisitions Director
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey,Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey,Director of Composition Services
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction ................................................................1
Part I: The ABCs of CSS .............................................13
Chapter 1: CSS Fulfills a Promise ...................................................................................15
Chapter 2: Getting Results with CSS ............................................................................31
Chapter 3: Up and Running with Selectors ..................................................................47
Part II: Looking Good with CSS ...................................67
Chapter 4: Taking a Position ..........................................................................................69
Chapter 5: All About Text ..............................................................................................85
Chapter 6: Managing Details in Style Sheets ..............................................................107
Chapter 7: Styling It Your Way .....................................................................................127
Part III: Adding Artistry: Design and Composition
with CSS .................................................................153
Chapter 8: Web Design Basics ......................................................................................155
Chapter 9: Spacing Out with Boxes .............................................................................169
Chapter 10: Organizing Your Web Pages Visually ....................................................183
Chapter 11: Designing with Auto and Inline Elements ..............................................197
Chapter 12: Handling Tables and Lists
(And Doing Away with Tables) ..................................................................................207
Chapter 13: Creating Dramatic Visual Effects ............................................................233
Part IV: Advanced CSS Techniques ............................251
Chapter 14: Specializing in Selection ..........................................................................253
Chapter 15: CSS Moves into the Future ......................................................................265
Chapter 16: Programmatic CSS ....................................................................................279
Chapter 17: Testing and Debugging ............................................................................297
Part V: The Part of Tens ...........................................317
Chapter 18: Ten Great CSS Tips and Tricks ................................................................319
Chapter 19: Ten Topics That Don’t Fit Elsewhere in the Book
(But Are Important) ....................................................................................................329
Index.......................................................................339
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