I am very new to this and have a very hard time understanding my lecturer (who unfortunately helps me very little)
This is my assignment (image below). It's a mock up clothing website and my desired layout is on the left, whereas my current progress is on the right. This is my first ever attempt at HTML/CSS so if you could please help me out that would make me a happy man!
Paragraphing the categories like I have to the right
Aligning the black text boxes with the photos above them
Floating the titles on the left, with the paragraphs to the right. (I have tried multiple things with this but to no avail)
Also, I put <h1> for each heading but they aren't going to that size?
using CSS you can set "position: absolute" then use something like "left:100px;"
that is assuming your div tags are correctly set up (or set up in general) from your last statement "Also, I put for each heading but they aren't going to that size?" it seems that your div id, or class id's are incorrectly labelled.
I highly recommend taking a look at http://jsfiddle.net/
It's very possibly the single most useful tool I've ever encountered for css/html/javascript testing/editing/learning. (short of something like Dreamweaver, I suppose).
There are plenty of good tutorials around on how to use it, but it'll really let you toy with little options along the learning process, and will help you 'teach yourself' when things get rough with the teacher.
Related
I am just learning to code and have been looking everywhere for an answer on this one and for some reason cannot find anything.
I noticed that it seems to be common practice to put an image inside of a container or wrapper. For instance, rather just having:
<img src="url"/>
Everyone seems to be in agreement that it needs to be this way:
<div class="container">
<img=src"url"/>
</div>
What is the purpose of wrapping the img inside of a div in this way? It seems to have something to do with "responsive design", but I'm not 100% sure. Is it just so that we have something to size the image relative to, rather than using definite sizing like pixels on the image selector in css? The more I think about it as I write this, the more it seems to be the right answer, but I'm not sure if there's something else I'm missing on this one.
Any insight would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
unfortunately there is no "single" correct answer for this.
There can be many reasons as to why one would wrap any element in another element, it is not specific to <img /> tags :)
In your question I read something like this (converted to real world example):
I see that it is common practice to put a frame around a photo.
Where the "frame" would be the wrapper element, and the photo would be the <img />.
Looking at it this way might make it seem more clear. The photo is the most important part, technically speaking you don't need a frame to show the photo. If you have just a photo, you won't be able to hang it on your wall without damaging it by driving a nail through the top or applying some tape. If you have a frame though, you can make that photo take up any amount of available space within it, you can use the clip to hang it on a wall and if you put multiple photo's in the frame, you can move them all at once since they are in the same frame.
The reason most people put that image in a "container" is because they get some sort of advantage out of it over using an image alone, this could range from aspect-ratio locks to relative positioning. In some cases, a wrapper is required to achieve certain (notably more complex) animations as well.
Websites are built out of "logical" pieces that, together, form a website. The individual pieces are all "frames" that "flow" together to create any page layout you see on every website.
It is merely a structural way of thinking, if the purpose of that image was to be used as a background image for the entire page, a better alternative would be to use CSS background-image property on the <body> tag and not use the image at all. But if the image is meant to be part of a smaller part of your website, it should probably be contained as appropiate.
This answer is in no way a guide to go by, nor a ruleset or anything like that, they are just the thoughts of another developer. There are countless reasons for wrapping an element and this answer doesn't even cover 0.0000001% of those cases. I'm just saying -- there's no specific reason to do or don't here.
I think this has been asked a million times, but with different definitions of the problem. And it's probably either easy to fix or a long lasting wish from web designers and still unanswered. note: I did do a search on css float on stack, but although some look like my problem, so far I haven't found a similar one.
What I'm trying to do will become clear if you see the attachment. I want them in rows of 3 neatly stacked under each other, where the height of each <li> item is different. In other words: the heighest <li> element in a row is leading, and the next row of items should wrap under this one. Right now the items on the new row bump into the content of a longer list item at the beginning, preventing the first item of the new row to fully float to the left.
Please note that I don't want to solve this with php or js, I think a pure css solution must be out there... Because with php, I could of course add a class like "new-row" to it and apply a clear: both to it and it will wrap. If I want to do the same thing in CSS then I can't without using poorly supported :nth-of-type stuff. Besides, the content block is variable in width, so sometimes there are 3 on a row and sometimes maybe only 2 or up to 6.
Who can help?
Use "display:inline-block" for LI, not "float:left"
I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I think you have to use tables for this, or a display: table-* construct. (I personally would go with tables - this is somewhat tabular data.)
Only table rendering can resize a whole row according to its tallest member's height.
It's the only way I can see to do this without JS or PHP.
use jQuery.
Pretty sure this is impossible using just CSS. Unless you're going to use absolute positioning and forget floats all together.
I hope I am wrong though! :)
(Would love to be able to do this w/ css)
Somehow my news is pushed down in Internet Explorer 7 (on all other browsers its ok).
I want to get rid of the gap between the menu's and the news, so the news will fit to the menu area's.
Any idea where I can find the missing link?
Website is: http://www.e107webdesign.nl
Help would be appreciated.
There is a much simpler way of solving this. Just change the source order and wrap divs around the ones on the left side, and ones on the right.
http://work.arounds.org/sandbox/57
Otherwise it will be a PITA to solve this. I hope you are able to modify this somewhat easily and are not constrained by e107 ( horrible CMS imo ).
If source order does matter, you'll probably have to rely on a negative margin + float technique.
PS: For the love of god use -moz-border-radius/-webkit-border-radius/border-radius and DD_roundies script instead of wrapping 90000 divs for rounded corners.
This is the first time i am properly coding in HTML,CSS. in my code i have used whole lot of div's to position and also to put the content in place. i am not sure if i am coding the right way. i have loads of contents too in a single page. here is the link to my code i have used.
http://jsfiddle.net/32ShZ/
can you please suggest. is it really bad in structure and shape?
Absolutely not. You don't want to go overboard though (it's called "div soup" when you do). If you find that a div has no purpose but to hold a background image, or to clear a float, etc that means you've done something wrong. By using wrappers (e.g. 3 levels deep of div tags for a content area that has some backgrounds, etc is OK), you can properly achieve any layout that you need without resorting to "div soup". Take a look at http://www.digitalperfections.net/ for an example of good (x)HTML with a lot of div tags.
To further expand, and answer the question about your code specifically, I noticed one thing right off the bat: <div id="divider"></div> - this is bad because you're using this div purely for non-semantic purposes (for decoration only).
The general principle is use as less HTML for layout as possible. And try to give Style to your page with the help of CSS. So if a minimum number of divs can achieve your task, you should go for it. This helps to make page lighter and maintainable. But yes how small structure (HTML) you can have in your page depends on your experience and design.
I generally use a manual process:
Look at the page, figure out the semantic elements, and build the HTML
Slice up the images I think I'll need
Start writing CSS
Tweak and repeat different steps as necessary
Got a better approach, or a tool?
I have a fairly natural way of coding. The key is to treat the page like a document or an article. If you think of it like this the following becomes logically clear:
The page title is a top level heading
Whether you make the site title or actual page title the h1 is up to you - personally I'd make About Us the h1 rather than Stack Overflow.
The navigation is a table of contents, and thus an ordered list - you may as well use an ol over a ul.
Section headers are h2, sections within those sections are h3s etc. Stack them up.
Use blockquotes and quotes where possible. Don't just surround it with ".
Don't use b and i. Use strong and em. This is because HTML is structural rather than presentational markup. Strong and emphasis tags should be used where you'd put emphasis on the word.
<label> your form elements.
Use <acronym>s and <abbr>s where possible, but only in the first instance.
The easiest: always, always give your images some alternate text.
There's lots of HTML tags you could use that you probably haven't - address for postal addresses, screen code output. Have a look at HTML Dog for some, it's my favourite reference.
That's just a few pointers, I'm sure I could think of more.
Oh, and if you want a challenge write your XHTML first, then write the CSS. When CSS-ing you aren't allowed to touch the HTML. It's actually harder than you think (but I've found it's made me quicker).
Well, when I build a website I tend to try and forget about the design completely while writing the HTML. I do this so I won't end up with any design-specific markup and so I can focus on the semantic meaning of the elements.
Some pointers how to markup things:
menu - use the UL (unordered list) element, since that's exactly what a menu is. an unordered list of choices. example:
<ul id="menu">
<li id="home">Home</li>
<li id="about">About</li>
</ul>
if you'd like an horizontal menu you could do this:
#menu li {
display: block;
float: left;
}
Logo - use a H1 (heading) element for the logo instead of an image.Example:
<div id="header">
<h1>My website</h1>
</div>
And the CSS (same technique can be applied to the menu above if you would like a menu with graphical items):
#header h1 {
display: block;
text-indent: -9999em;
width: 200px;
height: 100px;
background: transparent url(images/logo.png) no-repeat;
}
IDs and classes - use IDs to identify elements that you only have one instance of. Use class for identifying elements that you got several instances of.
Use a textual browser (for instance, lynx). If it makes sense to navigate in this way, you've done good when it comes to accessibility.
I hope this helps :)
I essentially do the same thing Jon does, but here are a few other ideas:
Use Guides in Photoshop (and lock to them). Figure out all of your dimensions for each box/ region ahead of time.
Collect all of your dimensions and color hex values into an info file (I use a txt file) that you can easily reference. This will reduce your alt-tab tax and selecting colors in Photoshop multiple times.
After all my Guides are in place, I slice out the entire website into my images folder, starting with photos and grouped elements, and ending with the various background tiles/images, should they exist. (Tip: Use ctrl-click on the layer preview to select that layer's content).
Notes on using Photoshop:
Use Guides or the Grid.
Use the Notes feature for any pertinent information
Always use Layer Groups for similar elements. We need to be able to turn entire regions off in one click. Put all 'header' content in one Layer Group.
Always name your layers.
You can put each page template in one PSD file and use nested Layer Groups to organize them. This way we don't have to setup all of our guides and notes for each page template on a site.
No shortcuts :) but everybody works slightly differently.
This tutorial that popped up in my feedreader yesterday shows the process from start to finish and might help people who have never done it before but as you are an old hand it's just about streamlining your own methods.
EDIT:
The listapart link certainly is more automated for 'flat' designs where both imageready and fireworks have had pretty good support from day one and it's got better and more semantic with every release but if you have a more complex design it's the twiddly bits that make the design what it is and these have to be done by hand.
I just thought it was worth pointing out that in addition to the excellent advice you've had so far I'd recommend getting a printed version of the design, using a red pen to mark up all the block elements on the design you think you can spot and sitting down with the designer for half an hour and talking through how they envisioned their design working for the use cases that don't fit the static design.
What happens when more text is put in the navigation?
Is this width fixed or fluid?
Is this content pane to the right fixed height or fluid? If it's fluid why did you put a background on it that can't be repeated?
You have a border extending down the page that breaks two otherwise connected elements. Visually it makes sense, but semantically I not can't just use an li to house both those elements. What do you think is more important?
It'll also help you spot potential problems that you might otherwise not have realised were going to be issues until your elbow deep in css.
Not only does it make your job easier after a few times doing it your designer will get a much stronger sense of what is involved in marking up their work - some designers have real trouble comprehending why something they think looks visually very simple will take a few days of css tweaking to make work.
Some of the designers i know, usually uses Illustrator to make the design elements.
This page shows how to do it a little more automated.
Also, get to know the "Layer Comps" feature. I use this for changing button states.
Create layer comps for normal, hover, and active.
In each of these, set up the effects/color overlays and visible layers which belong with that state.
Save for web: go to a different folder for each state, unless it's easier to rename each slice (otherwise your hover button slices will overwrite your regular slices).