CSS Competitors

[Jake]

I'm pretty new to this so I realize that my questions may not be the brightest. I was just wondering: Does CSS have any competitors? If so, what are some of the advantages of using CSS over those competitors?

[havik]

I haven't looked into this because honestly I was under the impression that CSS is the standard for adding style to web documents. Doing a quick search on the topic didn't find me anything about CSS competitors, so I believe none exist. I could be wrong though.

[pyro]

No, havik is correct. CSS is the way to style one's documents. Apart from that, some people tend to think that using presentational HTML is a way to do that, but apparently they don't realize that HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language... Thank God we got through the browser wars era...

[Charles]

Netscape 4 supports text/javascript type style sheets. It's has some advantages but no other browser known to me supports it.

[Robert Wellock]

I used to use JSS a great deal when I began teaching myself HTML and started to learn about stylesheets.

There are other Stylsheet types for HTML but use CSS.

[Jake]

By Stylesheet types you are referring to inline, embedded, and external style sheets, right? Which style sheets do you most prefer to use?

[pyro]

External, whenever possible, as it save you loads and loads of bandwidth, as users only have to download it once.

[Robert Wellock]

I was referring to different types of Styles sheets like JavaScript Style Sheets (JSS) and XSL though of course you wanted to know about mainstream HTML compatible styles sheets.

Yes I agree with Pyro there on the linking method.

[spufi]

Another great aspect of external CSS is the fact that if you need to make a change for something like your menu, you only have to change the CSS file and not every single page where you defined your menu styles on if you have your CSS hardcoded within all of your pages. So, not only does it save the user time(less downloading), but it saves you on maintenance.

[Jake]

What makes CSS so different (in a sense that it is better) than JSS and XSL?

[nkaisare]

Jake
Easier, powerful, accepted and standardized.

XSL is likely to be the next thing.
HTML:XHTML :: CSS:XSL :)

[Paul Jr]

XSL? What is this XSL, and where can I find more information on it?

[nkaisare]

eXtensible Stylesheet Language
http://www.w3.org/Style/XSL/

[Paul Jr]

Ooh...thanks.

[Jake]

Originally posted by pyro
Thank God we got through the browser wars era...
What exactly was the browser wars era?

[pyro]

Mid to late 90's; NS 4, IE 4; my browser (has more proprietary features that will kill web developers) is better than your browser...

[asbjoern]

well well, I supose that what is being refered to is the battle between IE and NS standards. But ulike pyro I find no relief in the end of this "browser war era" since the only reason that it has come to a end is that microsoft has crushed the opposition. Now we all suffer from the lack of cabability in the IE 6 such as prober representation of the png format, ico files and positioning of frames and layers. Because of microsofts ultimate power they and they alone can control the pace of browser development.


That is why I strongly support projekts like http://www.mozilla.org . Consider all the cool websides a simpel thing as PNG would enable.

[Albatross]

Originally posted by asbjoern
well well, I supose that what is being refered to is the battle between IE and NS standards. But ulike pyro I find no relief in the end of this "browser war era" since the only reason that it has come to a end is that microsoft has crushed the opposition. Now we all suffer from the lack of cabability in the IE 6 such as prober representation of the png format, ico files and positioning of frames and layers. Because of microsofts ultimate power they and they alone can control the pace of browser development.


That is why I strongly support projekts like http://www.mozilla.org . Consider all the cool websides a simpel thing as PNG would enable. Don't remind me :p

While proprietary tags in general should be avoided, there are some in particular that I find really useful in IE. Specifically the bgproperties="fixed" and embedding audio files. I have heard that CSS can do the former in the same manner as the standard (soon to be obsolete) HTML and is cross-compatible. Is this true? Also, is it possible to embed (hide) audio files using either CSS or JavaScript Style Sheets?

[pyro]

Originally posted by Albatross
I have heard that CSS can do the former in the same manner as the standard (soon to be obsolete) HTML and is cross-compatible. Is this true?Yes, except that the so-called "HTML way" (bgproperties="fixed") never was standard.

<style type="text/css">
body {
background: url("image.png") fixed;
}
</style>

[Albatross]

Originally posted by pyro
Yes, except that the so-called "HTML way" (bgproperties="fixed") never was standard.
Which is why I said it was an IE proprietary tag.

Thanks for the heads up Pyro. I had read in a book (Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide) (publishing date: 2000) that it worked only in theory since the browsers weren't supporting it at the time. I knew things had to have changed in nearly four years (the introduction pins the date as 23 February 2000).

Ah, the joy of obsolete books :p

[Bigjohn]

Originally posted by pyro
Yes, except that the so-called "HTML way" (bgproperties="fixed") never was standard.

<style type="text/css">
body {
background: url("image.png") fixed;
}
</style>

so let me ask - this code would make the background NOT SCROLL with the contents of the page? I could put a fixed picture there and the content would scroll OVER it?

John

[pyro]

Yes, that is correct.