The next meeting of the PACS CSS Workshop will be this Saturday, April 16, at our usual 9-10 hour.
We took a detour at the March meeting into some new topics, and this month we will be back on track to finish up CSS resets. I want to go over some specific items that show up in several different resets and see why those items might be important. We will then put a wrap on the topic with some final thoughts.
Our next topic is wire frames. We will have a video that introduces us to what they are and how to use them, and then we will look at some examples.
April 13, 2011
March 20, 2011
March 2011 Meeting Report:
QR Codes and More
At our March 2011 meeting, we started with the announcement from the Associated Press that their stylebook will now drop the hyphen in the spelling of "email."
With that out of the way,we looked at a couple of websites to follow up on topics from prior meetings:
We also looked at sites for actually making QR codes:
With that out of the way,we looked at a couple of websites to follow up on topics from prior meetings:
- 10 Useful Chrome Extensions for Web Designers from Template Monster Blog.
- CSS Sprite Generator from Project Fondue.
We also looked at sites for actually making QR codes:
- The Google URL Shortener creates a shortened version of a URL, but it will also create a QR code. As we noticed, it appears you have to be signed in to Google in order to use the QR feature. The Workshop's code below was generated by Google.
- Quirify lets you create a text message that can be read by a QR reader.
- This article from the NY Times lists other utilities for QR codes -- note the reader comments which have additional useful information.
- If you use bit.ly to shorten URL's, QR Codes are now included on the info page for every bit.ly link, and can also be generated by appending .qrcode to any bit.ly link.
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| CSS Workshop QR |
March 17, 2011
March 2011 Meeting Announcement
The next meeting of the PACS CSS Workshop will be this Saturday, March 19, at our usual 9-10 hour.
There have been a few interesting issues in the browser resets that we have been discussing at our recent meetings. This month, I want to spend a little time looking at those issues, and then wrap up the subject with a final overview.
The next topic in our website makeover series will be grids, a way to create advanced layouts on a web page. We should be able to start on that subject this month. But I also want to demonstrate a very fast-growing technology that you might have seen recently without realizing what it was. Here's a hint: Remember the late, great :CueCat?
There are some other new developments that I hope to cover briefly, so we'll see how the time goes.
There have been a few interesting issues in the browser resets that we have been discussing at our recent meetings. This month, I want to spend a little time looking at those issues, and then wrap up the subject with a final overview.
The next topic in our website makeover series will be grids, a way to create advanced layouts on a web page. We should be able to start on that subject this month. But I also want to demonstrate a very fast-growing technology that you might have seen recently without realizing what it was. Here's a hint: Remember the late, great :CueCat?
There are some other new developments that I hope to cover briefly, so we'll see how the time goes.
February 20, 2011
February 2011 Meeting Report:
Accessibility and Resets
This month, started with a few odds and ends before getting into our main topic.
We checked out a site with ten good developer extensions for the Chrome browser as well as a site about jQuery for Mobile. We then looked at two utilities for testing a site to see how it looks for viewers with different types of color blindness, ColorDoctor and Chrometric.
For the main session, we continued on browser resets by focusing on specific items in a reset and how they relate to the rest of your style sheet. We watched two videos from SitePoint: Practical CSS - lesson01: Exercise part 2 on basic styles and Exercise part 4 on styling lists.
We checked out a site with ten good developer extensions for the Chrome browser as well as a site about jQuery for Mobile. We then looked at two utilities for testing a site to see how it looks for viewers with different types of color blindness, ColorDoctor and Chrometric.
For the main session, we continued on browser resets by focusing on specific items in a reset and how they relate to the rest of your style sheet. We watched two videos from SitePoint: Practical CSS - lesson01: Exercise part 2 on basic styles and Exercise part 4 on styling lists.
February 17, 2011
February 2011 Meeting Announcment
The next meeting of the PACS CSS Workshop will be this Saturday, February 19, at our usual 9-10 hour.
We have been working with browser resets for a couple of meetings. It turns out that Eric Meyer has just posted a final version of his influential take on what goes into a reset. We will look at that and finish up the topic by testing different resets and then considering whether and when they are a good idea.
Our next topic is wire frames. Depending on time, we will use a video to get an idea about what they are and how to use them. I also want to touch on an accessibility issue. One way or the other, we will be busy.
We have been working with browser resets for a couple of meetings. It turns out that Eric Meyer has just posted a final version of his influential take on what goes into a reset. We will look at that and finish up the topic by testing different resets and then considering whether and when they are a good idea.
Our next topic is wire frames. Depending on time, we will use a video to get an idea about what they are and how to use them. I also want to touch on an accessibility issue. One way or the other, we will be busy.
January 16, 2011
January 2011 Meeting Report:
More on Resets
At our January meeting, we spent the first half following up on some topics from earlier meetings, including CSS sprites and Google Fonts. We also looked at some recent statistics on browser use, noting the decline of Internet Explorer in percentage terms and the rise of Chrome and Safari. Check these sites for the stats:We then did some more work with CSS browser resets. In addition to material from Sitepoint, we looked at two other resets and tried them on a sample page. Those two resets are Eric Meyer's latest version and the Yahoo YUI2 Reset CSS.
January 11, 2011
January 2011 Meeting Announcement
The next meeting of the PACS CSS Workshop will be this Saturday, January 15, at our usual 9-10 hour.
In December, we started looking at what are known as "browser resets," a subject that lately has generated some active commentary in the blogosphere. We watched a couple of videos last month, and this month, we will look at some different resets and try them out on sample web pages.
If we have time, we may get into our next topic, wire frames, but if not, we will hold that for February.
In December, we started looking at what are known as "browser resets," a subject that lately has generated some active commentary in the blogosphere. We watched a couple of videos last month, and this month, we will look at some different resets and try them out on sample web pages.
If we have time, we may get into our next topic, wire frames, but if not, we will hold that for February.
December 28, 2010
New Typefaces
Following on our meetings about using Google Fonts, I have changed the typefaces on the workshop blog. The top-level heading (h1) now uses the font called JustMeAgainDownHere. Second level headings (h2) use JustAnotherHand. More information on these are at the Google Font Directory.
December 19, 2010
December 2010 Meeting Report:
Browser Resets
At the December meeting, we started on the topic of browser resets. We watched two videos from Sitepoint that are part of an online course called Practical CSS. The videos are Practical CSS - lesson01: CSS resets and Practical CSS - lesson01: Exercise part 1. The specific reset file used in the videos is available at A Comprehensive Guide to CSS Resets. Scroll down to the heading Simple Reset. Russ Weakley, the creator of that reset, is the person who did the videos.
We will continue on this topic next month.
We will continue on this topic next month.
December 15, 2010
December 2010 Meeting Announcement
Following our theme this year of website makeovers, we finished with the @font attribute in November. This month, we will look at what are known as "browser resets," a topic that we did not get to last month.
Many times, the first step in starting or revising a site is to replace the default styles that browsers use and load some basic style declarations to give you a blank slate to work with. We will show some videos on resets and look at some examples, and then consider whether resets are a good idea.
For a little background on this topic, check these articles from Six Revisions that just happened to come out this month.
Many times, the first step in starting or revising a site is to replace the default styles that browsers use and load some basic style declarations to give you a blank slate to work with. We will show some videos on resets and look at some examples, and then consider whether resets are a good idea.
For a little background on this topic, check these articles from Six Revisions that just happened to come out this month.
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