WARNING: Non-media-related rant follows.
One of the items on my to-do list is a redesign of this site, driven partly by the desire for change and partly by the need to get some items under control. I need to deal with the index bar on the left, because it’s a little messy at present and there’s another badge to add (more on that in a post coming soon). I need to apply some formatting to the Squibs to set them apart. I need to solve the problem with the unequal length of the columns on some pages.
But every time I make a start at resdesign, frustration sets in fairly quickly. I want to design to standards, using HTML and CSS but the problem is these officially-adopted standards are anything but. In order for the site to be seen as designed in the wide variety of browsers being used, I have to add a number of hacks and workarounds to the standards (making it non-standard).
I’m reminded of this when I surf, too. There are web sites I try to visit that won’t work with my chosen browser (Safari). Some don’t recognize browser plug-ins, some won’t deliver multimedia, some just plain don’t load. Here’s the thing: I’m not going to change browsers to visit those sites, so those designers (and their clients) lose my attention.
Some day soon I’ll have to screw up my courage to the sticking point and work through the frustration to a new design. But please, folks, if you’re going to agree that there be standards, can you start sticking to them?
TAG: WEB STANDARDS
Mark, I had the same frustrations you do when I first delved into CSS. After a while, I began to suspect that there was a tipping point of CSS knowledge that when reached would make the whole thing coherent. I was right.
The best teaching tool I found was the Edit CSS plugin for Firefox. I haven’t tried out CSS Vista yet, but I imagine it will be a joy next time I sit down to put together a site.
The tip I wish I’d gotten when I started was to design for simplicity. If you find yourself sniffing around for too many hacks, rethink your template. And honestly, don’t be afraid to use a table or two where it makes sense. Snarkmarket is my CSS testing ground, but the whole of it is enclosed in one big table.