Working with CSS can be a daunting task. It is a powerful language and
once you have considerable expertise of the same, you can craft some
great websites.
Here are some CSS tips to help you employ its features well.
Browser Compatibility Issues
Browser compatibility is a crucial concern in the field of website
development. In order to make sure your website performs well on all
browsers and carters equally to all the website visitors, you need to
ensure that the layout of the website looks the same across multiple
browsers
Different web browsers render web pages in different
ways. And that is why your website can look something on one and
something different on another. Though the layout is not completely
revamped, the placements of certain elements can be altered. This in
tuns impacts the layout and causes inconsistencies.
When you
design your website on a browser and tweak it to perfection, you should
note that it may look a little different on other browsers. Therefore
make sure you test it across different browsers during the development
stages and take constant browser-shots so that you know what the
differences are.
Design for Smaller Browser Resolutions
Developers usually work on large computer monitors to create their
websites. However, not all people are as lucky. Only a chunk of
internet population may be using the large screen monitors to access
the internet and view websites.
Check your analytics program
and see what browser resolutions are used by your visitors to view your
website. A website looks very different on 1024X768 resolution than
what it looks on 800X600 resolution. Therefore, you should be able to
make sure that your website looks good on both the resolutions, small
and large.
Caveat: The problem with smaller browser
resolutions is that images and page elements block one another and
cause improper rendering of the pages
Use Frameworks
There are a number of CSS frameworks available on the internet that
helps you make bulletproof layouts that are not only cross browser
compatible but also tested well. If you don't need a highly radical
solution, CSS frameworks can do the trick.
Use Generic Classes
Instead of naming CSS classes differently each time you develop a
website, try making a simple CSS class that can be used repeatedly
throughout the design without having to refer back to the previous one.
This will make sure that the web design remains constant throughout the
whole design.
Validate your HTML
HTML affects CSS.
You cannot validate your CSS until and unless you have valid HTML.
Moreover, often is the case that HTML causes variations in the website
layout and requires to be validated in order for proper rendering.
Validate your CSS
Always make sure you validate your CSS code and eliminate all the
errors. This way you can get CSS that is cross browser compatible and
that does not break.
Avoid Using Large Background Images
Large images bloat the file size of web pages, we all know that.
Therefore, instead of using one large image for your background, use a
small one that use CSS to repeat it across the background.
Use CSS Judiciously
CSS is an amazing tool. But that doesn't mean you go paint the town
with it. Use CSS only when and where it is the bets solution available.
Using it in places where you could have used another light feature
would only hamper your website performance.
Avoid Using Inline CSS
Avoid using Inline CSS. Though it is easy to use and great for testing
it doesn't work well in the production code. Always keep the HTML and
CSS separate.
Use Few Files
Using too many CSS
files make it very complex for any changes to be done to the layout.
The processing time for files are significantly increased because the
browser makes special request for every one of the files.
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