| I taught myself HTML back in the mid-nineties and | | | | 2. Install the Web Developer extension |
| was proud of the fact that I was able to accomplish | | | | 3. Open one of your "old" HTML files |
| the design of fairly complex web pages with nothing | | | | 4. View the source, click the "Cleanup the page" |
| more than a starter HTML book, an HTML reference | | | | button |
| book, and the knowledge I had stored in my head. | | | | 5. Check the "replace FONT.....tags by CSS" box, then |
| But back in those days, we web designers had what | | | | Refresh |
| looking back was a fairly limited amount of tools with | | | | Now you have a very neat and tidy piece of code, |
| which to work, and the quality (or lack thereof) of | | | | with all the CSS dirty work done for you! At this |
| sites on the web was lackluster at best. | | | | point you can copy & paste the resulting code |
| Fast-forward to today: The hand-coder has more | | | | and use it in your project and start figuring out what |
| powerful and intuitive software packages available | | | | it's doing. I was amazed at how easily I was able to |
| that will still allow us "to get our hands dirty", which | | | | pick it up and start making changes on my own. |
| brings us to the purpose of this article. With the | | | | When I wanted more information on a certain style it |
| standardization of the much anticipated Cascading | | | | was a just a Google search away to many excellent |
| Style Sheets (CSS) in the late-nineties, the web | | | | CSS resources on the web. I find it much easier to |
| design community has become familiar with a much | | | | learn CSS if I get to apply the modifications to the |
| more powerful and precise method of web page | | | | existing code that I've been working on, and I think |
| layout. | | | | you will too. |
| "But how is an old-time web coder supposed to learn | | | | I hope you find this article helpful and if you follow |
| CSS the easy way?!" Well, I say you should learn it | | | | these steps you should be able to add CSS to your |
| the way I, and countless others, have: | | | | web site design toolbox in no time! |
| 1. Download the Firefox browser | | | | |