In CSS a lot is based around the box model, but what is that, and how does it work?
A box or a block?
In the css specs of the W3C they mention the box model, which also applies to block elements. However, they also apply to for example tables, and even to the body element. An […]

When writing for the web start with the most important conclusion, then work down to the facts that lead you to that conclusion. That is a nutshell how you write for the web.
This is because people read differently when they visit a website. Most of the time your visitors will be looking for some […]

As developers gradually start to get used to using css based layouts instead of tables there is a new pitfill waiting around the corner, the use of semantically incorrect code. There isn’t much you can’t do with div and span, add a <a> element you’re almost at the end of the small list of elements […]

On my last blogpost I got this comment:
John Dowdell Says:
January 20th, 2006 at 2:12
For what it’s worth, Google has been databasing the text within SWFs for quite some time… try search term “filetype:swf contrary evidence” to test. (This was the purpose of the Flash Search Engine SDK release a few years ago.)
But aqs always, good […]

I recently got a question in my e-mail on how to do seo with flash. Maybe something with xml? Would that be indexed better? And, won’t it be seen as spam?
Well, this guy is definately thinking in the right direction, xml is the way to go.
Use RSS for indexing
Instead of using just ‘a’ xml […]

There are enough different ways to define font-size in css, but what do they all mean, and when to use them? Three are variable sizes, depending on their surroundings to figure out what size they’re shown at. Those are the em, ex and px. The rest are absolute heights, for when you really need to […]

In the Netherlands we have a store called Hema. This store has a specific format they always use in their folders and commercials. And mainly includes big pictures with text over it and lots of white. When I find one of their folders on the doormat I’ll connect it with Hema instantly. Without even seeing […]

Search engine optimalization was easy some years ago. All you needed was your normal site and add a lot of keywords under that in white, and you’d rank high in the SERP’s. That trick got recognised by Google and other search engines soon enough, but others were still being used.
In May of 2005 a lot […]

Rounding error example
This example from positioniseverything.net shows perfectly when you should not use percentages specifying width and height. If you look at that page, and resize your window missing pixels will appear. The theory behind this is simpel.
When you have 101 pixels and devide that in four even blocks (25%) all of those will […]

You know all about childs electors, pseudo classes and pseudo elements. But is that all CSS you need to know? Not with CSS 3 coming. The W3C has put out a working draft for CSS 3 selectors on the 15th of December. But what’s in it?
Do remember that there is only a working draft right […]

When I started working at connectholland I made a great form, which would change the colours of the fields that were incorrectly ordered. But only after you pressed the ’send’ button. The next website had a form that checked with javascript before even sending the information.
Nowadays however that’s just not good enough. But how […]

Building your first website is very easy when you use a WYSIWYG. But is it still feasable to use such a program when building more complicated sites or should you switch to hand coding?

A lot of good stuff can be done with CSS 2 (w3c recommendation 1998), but unfortunately a lot of it is still badly supported. However, with the new browsers (firefox, IE7 soon) a lot more of CSS 2 will be implemented. One of the cool things you can use is the attribute selector.
Suppose you have […]

With css you get the ability to style your lists better than you could before. And example of that would be the dropdown menu’s that can be made with css (usually done with lists), but most people forget about the use of different styles for lists items.
Traditionally used is the disc, a small black circle.
However […]

Images with a rollover effect are easy to make with the use of javascripts onRollOver function. However, it doesn’t work with javascript disabled. Luckily this is also possible with CSS.
My favorite way to do this works with an image that contains both the rollover and the normal state of the image, thus making it […]

1. More classes
So you’ve mastered classes? But did you know you can use more than one class per element?
<p class=’first big’>text</p>
This way, the CSS rules for both ‘first’ and ‘big will apply to this paragraph. If any rules overlap the one that’s closests to the bottom in the css will prevail.
2. Descendant selector
HTML is […]

A happy new year to everyone and the best of wishes.
Sonja