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XHTML and CSS books

July 25, 07 //
1

Web Standards Solutions by Dan Cederholm

My online nii-san1 , Mark, has lent me his books since he figured I may need them for my line of work. And I must say, they are indeed very very helpful.

One is Web Standards Solution by Dan Cederholm. I initially thought it will be a handy dandy markup and style reference book, but it’s also a how-to book. A handbook for a web designer indeed.

This is where I learned that you can’t escape tables, and they are still semantic. Besides, floating rows and rows of tabular data (calendars, spreadsheets, charts and schedules) with CSS is very dodgy.

Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm

The second one is another book by Dan Cederholm, Bulletproof Web Design. It gives tips and techniques on how to make a bulletproof design that will stand against accessibility, usability and browser compatibility issues, and other worst-case scenarios. Am planning to use what I have learned so far from this book to Sugoi Stuff’s redesign.

The Zen of CSS Design

The other one is really cool. The Zen of CSS Design by Dave Shea and Molly E. Holzschlag. It is a compilation of several beautiful and usable submissions to the CSS Zen Garden project2 with notable techniques and tips on how they did it. So much eyecandy!

They are indeed very helpful to a lowly web designer such as I. And I believe, these are still very helpful for successful designers as well.Now, if there is only a cheaper alternative to buying these imported books. Until then…

Mark, can I return these books to you next year? smiley


  1. Japanese term for older brother. Why I call him that when we’re not even blood related, is a long story ↩
  2. It is a collaborative demonstration of what can be accomplished visually through CSS-based design. You can learn more about it at their website. I’ve been wanting to create a layout to submit to them for a long time already. ↩

Classical Minimalist

May 23, 07 //
11

I was supposed to be finishing my filing today, due to certain changes in my life.

But no~ The urge to code 2 web layouts were much more stronger than sorting through files and punching holes for them fasteners.

I worked on 2 layouts. One of them you’re currently seeing on my actual blog. The other is a bit complicated so it’s taking awhile. I will announce it soon once that’s done. smiley

Anyhow, for this layout, I might still work on the header to make it more interesting, but I’m mostly done. I honestly just wanted this out of the way so I can focus on that other layout.

I was going for a simple and elegant design, but yes, it still needs an accent. Hnm~

I’ve also ported already to the latest version of Wordpress, Getz. And I am still trying to understand the power of Widgets.

That’s about it. Please do check the layout and tell me if anything seems out of place. smiley I tried to be XHTML and CSS valid, yanno. And that’s hard work!

Now, to work on my pending Sugoi assignments!

Rainy Days Are Here To Stay

July 12, 06 //
9

Though not for good, they are definitely staying for the meantime.

And since my mood fits the weather, I went ahead and did a new layout — Rainy Days.

It’s blue, greys and a tinge of green.

And as far as I have tested it, sucks when viewed via Internet Explorer1 but renders very, very nicely with Mozilla Firefox2

Rainy Days Screenshot

If you’re not using Firefox and/or the layout seems wonky, too bad. But I still keep the “White and Green” Layout that is IE-compatible for people like you, just in case3. If you want to make heads and tails of this, go click this link or go to the Site Skins link at the navigation menu.4

Just the inspiration of the rainy season and the mood am currently in.

Despite the storm I am facing, I trudge on…

That’s my working tagline anyway for this ^^;

Layout Specs
Layout Title : Rainy Days
Colors : Blues, greys and hints of green
Image Header : c/o Delcaldo of Stock Xchange
And only works with Firefox! Har!

I am personally proud of this layout, mainly because working around with the 3-column partition below — where the categories, flickr images and metameta are — was a b*tch. And I wasted countless hours trying to figure out how to make it work. And also the segragation of the divisions as well — with backgrounds!!!

Am happy on how it turned out. It IS a bit template-y (is there such a word?), but I love it.

And I do hope you like it too. I would appreciate when you comment if you see anything wrong so I can fix it quickly.

…

Site-related as well, there are new plugins installed. And, if you have noticed, the footnotes and recent comments are just a couple of them. Go click on “The System” on the navigation menu or [here] to see the rest and the descriptions.

That’s it for now.

Now, to write better entries smiley


  1. Curse you IE with your so-called standards!!!!! Curse you!!!! ↩
  2. I love you. Firefox ↩
  3. Aside for the fact that I absolutely lurve that layout and can’t let go. Ironic, ne? ↩
  4. I personally know that you can still read this entry clearly as I’ve tested the layout with IE. But there are some details that are iffy, so if you’re infuriated with small details going bad, switch to Firefox or use the “Following
    Your Heart skin”smiley)

    The Story?
    For this layout? There is no story! ((I would’ve failed the thesis defense now if I tried that. ↩

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