StylinWithCSS

Cascading Style Sheets allow us to separate content and presentation. CSS both simplifies and complicates web design.

Right now, all of the styles that come with TikiWiki? depend very much on tables. Those work ok, but not great, for visual layout — not at all that great for those who depend on screen readers, or who are accessing the web through palmtops with tiny screens. Wouldn't it be great if we could dispense with the tables, and just have each wiki page be text, ordered by the most important stuff first: the title, the content, then the navigation links to the rest of WasteFlake.

And if we could have separate Cascading Style Sheets for:

• Title on top, content below, navigational links to the left
• Title on top, content below, navigational links to the right
• Content, title, navigational links
• who knows? Make up your own order

With this kind of CSS, people could organize WasteFlake so that it made sense to them — visuall OR aurally.

• A List Apart "explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on techniques and benefits of designing with web standards."
• css-discuss "is a mailing list devoted to talking about CSS and ways to use it in the real world; in other words, practical uses and applications." Check out the css-discuss Wiki for the list's "collective long term memory" — lots of good info and examples.
• css/edge is Eric Meyer's "search for new ways to approach Web-based design." See the wonderful complex spiral. Firefox (Mozilla) displays this the best; Opera does it okay; Internet Explorer just doesn't manage it at all well.
• CSS Zen Garden is "a demonstration of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design." logo design