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On Thursday 26 Jun 2003 11:20 pm, Jonathan Melhuish wrote: > Yeah, sure, I see how seperating style and content is valuable. So my data > goes in my database, the style goes in the template. They're seperate > until they're served up; as HTML, plain text or WML or whatever. Is that > not going far enough? I'm not thinking so much of database type data. The HTML is for the structure - it's the framework of the page, the bricks and mortar - a basic blueprint. The information itself is then added to the framework however you please. CSS contains the presentation over the bare bones. The template would need to contain HTML and CSS - you'd need a framework of HTML tags to surround the real database output and stylesheets add the, well, style. > Anyway, if you are specifying the layout through CSS, what's the > difference? My web sites are pretty easy to read with a text-based browser > (or, I guess, a screen-reader) - just read the table cells top to bottom, > left to right! You don't get the choice with a text-based browser - the page is presented in line with the source code flow. If your table cells are that easy to read then you'll have no problems converting to CSS. > Presumably if you read a completely-CSS web page without the > stylesheet, it just comes out in much the same way? Much improved. Try browsing those sites with Lynx and get a feel for how a text-based browser really feels. The point about CSS is refinement - you can do so much more than just imitate existing pages. The DCLUG site was a 'behind-the-scenes' upgrade as the overall appearance of the pages wasn't significantly altered, despite the trauma to the HTML framework. > I mean that the style of the magazine/web site *is* important, especially > if you're selling something rather than just providing information. Exactly, so don't compromise the information for the style. Make the information accessible to all and add the style for those who are able to view it. At present, your preference for HTML based style is restricting the access to your information. > Because linux rocks! Perhaps CSS rocks, I just can't see it yet ;-) > > Jon Haven't you ever wanted to place a graphic, paragraph or other element EXACTLY where you want it - in ALL browsers, all resolutions? CSS can do that, HTML cannot. Have you ever wanted to overlap images or elements, dynamically move or hide images or complete elements without the need for Flash overkill? Overlay images without having to create yet another file on the server? Have you ever waited ages for a big table or complex table layout to display? Why not make your style appear with a bit of zip by ditching the layout tables and using CSS to instantly apply the positioning, colour, text decoration, formatting and highlighting? Have you ever wanted to change one feature of a site and had to change 5,000 files to make it a consistent change across the site? I can change every file in all the archives (>7,000) with one simple edit - change the colours, (with the new scheme even change the position of paragraphs on the page), change all the fonts or font sizes. The font changes alone can reduce the overall file size of your pages by 30-50%! With CSS2 I am looking forward to having intelligent stylesheets that can look for specific sets of tags and attributes in messages in the site and change the style to match. Even make style decisions based on the language used in the page. Have you ever had too much content to fit into a specific space? Wouldn't it be nice to have dynamic control over the overflowing text / content without resorting to a dummy form? What if your database query results in more output than you expected, it could ruin your careful table layout by distorting the cell size. With CSS you could let the overflow just disappear (perhaps if the extra content is due to an error somewhere), or create a dynamic scrollbar in the HTML if and when required. You can hide entire elements of the page with a single mouse click or CSS change. (Not just hide but completely remove - no gaps or blanks.) -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.codehelp.co.uk http://www.dclug.org.uk http://www.wewantbroadband.co.uk/
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