Web Design - Lessons Learnt
Jun. 16th, 2010 11:54 pmFor years CSS has been something I've never been able to get my head round. I had learnt to format pages using tables for formatting which it seems was never the intended way to use tables. I've always learnt how to do webdesign by breaking apart other pages and looking at the code to see what it does but there was something about CSS that never seemed to make logical sense. However with the new version of my SlyCat's Pad site, I had decided to use it as a training ground to do a full site completely without the aid of tables and use CSS for formatting. Needless to say I came across countless pitfalls where I just didn't understand how things worked but now, I have finally got a good understanding of the logic behind it all. Ultimately, it's all about the CSS box model with the margin, border and padding to consider. When using containers and elements, you have to consider these features with everything you do. I wouldn't say that I know know CSS, but I do now grasp the basics and can get sites to look how I want. Floating and clearing also seem to be very important as containers like to collapse due to floated elements being detached from the containers they're within... but again I seem to be getting the hang of it.
So while the design isn't finalised, I've got the basics down for my new site. I'm also trying to get the site to basically update itself with all the pages being built with dynamic content. I've now done this for the homepage with my twitter feed and the videos page with feeds from YouTube and Vimeo. All that's left really is to do the blog page to include LJ posts and then I'll consider it done. Shouldn't take me long to do but won't be doing it tonight.
Feel free to take a look and let me know what you think. I know it's a bit lacking in images and artistic flair, but I've never really been good with making sites look pretty, just functional. There's always room for improvement and so I imagine I'll continue playing with it as time goes by. All that remains to be added is one of those stylish "Under Construction" workman signs everyone used back in the late 90's :P

So while the design isn't finalised, I've got the basics down for my new site. I'm also trying to get the site to basically update itself with all the pages being built with dynamic content. I've now done this for the homepage with my twitter feed and the videos page with feeds from YouTube and Vimeo. All that's left really is to do the blog page to include LJ posts and then I'll consider it done. Shouldn't take me long to do but won't be doing it tonight.
Feel free to take a look and let me know what you think. I know it's a bit lacking in images and artistic flair, but I've never really been good with making sites look pretty, just functional. There's always room for improvement and so I imagine I'll continue playing with it as time goes by. All that remains to be added is one of those stylish "Under Construction" workman signs everyone used back in the late 90's :P

