Customer Reviews

CSS: The Missing Manual

5 star:		(81)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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Consider this a "getting started the right way with HTML and CSS" book. As such, it does a marvelous job.

I had a chance to get this beginner's book -- even though my bosses have been grossly overpaying me for years if I really were a beginner! Too many beginner books tend to over-simplify, which becomes a barrier to the more complex issues that a serious beginner will meet down the line. That is not the case here.

Step by step (sometimes even telling you what and when to click!) the book will take you through the basics of creating stylesheets for HTML. You will move from text format basics to moderately advanced layout issues and even print media stylesheets.

The text of the book itself is formatted in an interesting way that is easy to read and makes points clear. There are lots of images and diagrams. I liked the way many of the illustrations jutted out into the outer margin. The effect was a vivid enhancement and the book is bound in a way that lets it sit flat, making it easier to read while keying.

The author also performs a service by introducing, when appropriate, advanced issues and controversies that will surely interest the type of person motivated to go on in this field. The book includes appendices with a CSS Property Reference; CSS in Dreamweaver; and extended CSS Resources.
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I've read and reviewed a number of books on Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and I've learned something from them all. But for whatever reason, this one showed up at just the right time and has me inspired and motivated on a new project... CSS: The Missing Manual by David Sawyer McFarland.

Contents:
Part 1 - CSS Basics: Rethinking HTML for CSS; Creating Styles and Style Sheets; Selector Basics - Identifying What to Style; Saving Time with Inheritance; Managing Multiple Styles - The Cascade
Part 2 - Applied CSS: Formatting Text; Margins, Padding, and Borders; Adding Graphics to Web Pages; Sprucing Up Your Site's Navigation; Formatting Tables and Forms
Part 3 - CSS Page Layout: Building Float-Based Layouts; Positioning Elements on a Web Page
Part 4 - Advanced CSS: CSS for the Printed Page; Improving Your CSS Habits
Part 5 - Appendixes: CSS Property Reference; CSS in Dreamweaver 8; CSS Resources; Index

From the newbie perspective, this book works well. The first part of the book lays out the case for using CSS instead of pure HTML to format your pages and gain control of the style. It takes a subject that can be a bit intimidating and makes it very approachable. From there, you get a section on how exactly CSS works. This is much easier to digest than some of the more formal reference manuals I've seen in the past, and there's not as much focus on the minutia of every little variant that can happen. This is the material you'll use 95% of the time. Part 3 is where I started to get excited. I've been doing CSS for a while now, but over time I've built up designs that "work" but that could be done much better with what I've learned of late. I noticed a number of items that I want to try out on a new project I'm about to start, and I have a feeling that I'll be in a much better situation style-wise on this application than any of the other ones I support. Same with part 4 and the chapter on improving your CSS habits. I was/am guilty of a number of these things, and this information will go a long way towards making me a better CSS junkie (and will make anyone following after me much happier in terms of support).

I think what worked so well for me here was the consistent use of a single "site" for examples and illustrations. The CosmoFarmer site gave the information a thread to hang on to throughout the chapters, and progressions were logical. I appreciated the tutorials at the end of the chapter so that you could try out the new skills. But what I *really* liked were the references to other sites where you could get more information, as well as clarification on what browsers don't do things according to specs, and how to work around these bugs.

Armed with this book, a newbie would be able to become competent in CSS. And if you've been doing CSS for awhile, there's a strong chance that McFarland will deliver some nuggets that will take you to the next level. I know that'll be the situation in my case...

The problem with many of the CSS books that I have read is that most of them just reiterate the CSS specification. While this is useful knowledge, it doesn't cover what you need to know to build robust web applications that work consistently across the myriad of browsers on the internet.

This book covers the usual stuff with CSS: styles, precedence rules (the cascade), text and fonts, padding and spacing, the box model, positioning, tables, etc. It also goes into detail about how to apply this knowledge.

Some of the stuff that is included:
- building tabs with the Sliding Doors technique
- Entire chapter related to IE6 and how it diverges from the spec, and work-arounds (aka hacks) that can be used to correct these problems. Other browsers such as Opera and Safari are also covered throughout the book.
- Entire chapter related to floats and using these to create column-based layous. Work-arounds to problems and unexpected behavior are also covered.
- Entire chapter related to forms and how to use CSS for layout

The book is well edited and contains some really good graphics to explain the layout and positioning. Each chapter has a tutorial to help you work through the techniques.

I started builing my own site early this year with Dreamweaver 8 and "Missing Manual: Dreamweaver 8" helps me a lot. After a while, I find it very difficult to maintain and change with all those "table formating" and I decided to change to pure XHTML with CSS.

After spending months of time on looking at numbers of web sites and books. I can now recommand you to do following (if you are new to XHTML and XSS):-

(1) Read "First Head HTML with CSS and XHTML (you will then know all the basic, with fun); and

(2) Read "Missing Manuel: CSS" (you will then able to build your site as good as the best that you can found).

Enjoy.

A few months ago, I got Head First HTML. Reading it motivated me to update all of the web sites I maintain. This book will likely motivate me to update the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) I use in my web pages. Between the informal writing style and the great step by step tutorials, this book makes learning about CSS quite painless and in fact fun. Whether it's formatting text, creating margins and borders, adding graphics, site navigation or formatting tables, there's a wealth of information here. I used to think CSS was something somehow scary and too difficult to learn. And now I instead realize it's a way to make web sites look awesome without having to resort to JavaScript, Perl or any other web site language (although clearly they can be beneficial too).

The book also contains reference material in the book's appendices, including a CSS Property Reference and online CSS Resources. This book does an excellent job in describing a "web language" every web designer (both pro and amateur) should know.

After searching online and experiencing countless CSS tutorials, I have to say that this book ranks at the absolute top for learning CSS. From the straight-forward examples to the "easy reading" writing style, I have really enjoyed adding to my newbie knowledge of CSS.

If you're tired of trying CSS tutorials that leave you more confused afterwards than you were going in, stop the madness and invest in this manual. I am only half way through the tutorials and, already, this author has cleared up so many things that I hadn't been able to quite grasp before.

You simply cannot go wrong with this one.

I'm not a neophyte with CSS, but when I needed to turn an all-table-layout site into an all-CSS-layout site, I needed help. I turned to McFarland's book, which after a quick flip-through at the store seemed to hit exactly what I needed. Literally two pages of reading covered me, and I was off and running. But when I started reading the rest I was amazed at how much I didn't know about CSS. I really appreciate the real-world focus on browsers like IE5-6, and the inclusion of specific fixes for those CSS-unfriendly browsers. The fact that this book is SO recent - mid-2006 - means it's as up-to-date as a printed publication possible could be. While I'm sure the lengthy tutorials would be useful for someone progressively learning CSS, I like the book for it's logical organization, allowing me to flip to the bit I need, quickly see examples of what's going on (the ample screen shots are appropriate for a visual medium like CSS), and get back to work. I don't buy many computer books (for all that I've written several), but this one earns a permanent place not on my bookshelf, but right on my desk.

A couple of months back I learned the Powers That Be wanted my website's backend to look just as snazzy as the front end. Which makes about as much sense as wallpapering one's fuse box, but hey, what Viacom wants, Viacom gets. And they wanted the backend redone in CSS. With the website's regular programmers fully occupied with recoding a bunch of other stuff, it was left up to me (as the website's Jack of All Trades) to do the actual redesign. And I didn't know the first thing about CSS.

So up to the bookstore I went, and when I came home I had: Dynamic HTML: The Definitive Reference (Dynamic Html); CSS: The Definitive Guide; and CSS: The Missing Manual. Although the first two books have been helpful, I couldn't have done all that I have done in the past couple of months without the third.

I have ADHD. Simply reading a book like this isn't easy. I usually have to try and apply the stuff before anything sinks in. But that wasn't the case with this book. As I read through it, all the little pieces seem to just fit together, and I found myself thinking, "Oh... so THAT's how you do it. Neat!" on several occasions. After four chapters I felt that I had learned enough to do most of what needed to be done. And I had.

My website's backend looks great now. Couldn't have done it without this book.

This is one of those rare gems of a reference guide that manages to build a solid foundation and go from there to a comprehensive and detailed guide to CSS.

The author does not cut any corners: the first part of the book establishes the philosophy of using CSS versus plain old HTML, along with laying down the necessary (and often overlooked) information (ie: the right docType to use, how inheritance really works, how multiple CSS files play with each other, etc.)

All this preliminary information is followed by a well-organized exploration of CSS. The second part deals more with text and margins and more formal methods of formatting content, as well as using CSS to spice up site navigation without sacrificing standards. I appreciate the author's discussions on the different opinions on em's versus pixels, not to mention his easy to read prose. All in all, the book presents the true meat of CSS to users in the second part.

The third part of the book is devoted to layout and positioning. It is here that the user will discover the ins and outs of floating elements and how to use them. This has always been a weak area of mine so this was very helpful.

The book ends with information on good practices for CSS. I am as guilty as the next guy in that more often than not my stylesheet is a mess of ill defined classes and elements. This section is for that.

This book is for both beginners and experienced code monkeys. Beginners with benefit from the meticulous and careful pace off the book while experienced users will most likely find one or two clever tidbits to add to their repertoire.

Do you need to take the pain out of Web Design? If you do, then this book is for you. Author David Sawyer McFarland, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that lets your inner designer come out and play.

McFarland, begins by showing you how to create style sheets and provides an overview of key CSS concepts, like inheritance, selectors and the cascade. Then, the author takes you into the real world of Web design. Next, he helps you with one of the most confusing , but most rewarding , aspects of CSS: controlling the placement of elements on a page. Finally, he shows you how to make web pages look good when printed.

If you're new to HTML, with this most excellent book, you'll learn all about page-building basics in a CSS--friendly way. More importantly, this book shows you how to tweak your CSS so it plays well with any browser it meets.