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CSS Reference

By Lee Underwood

The original concept of Cascading Style Sheets was proposed in 1994 by Håkon Wium Lie who later headed the CSS development team at W3C with Bert Bos. While style sheets had been around since the early 1990s, CSS became the first concept which included the "cascading" method. This allowed the document to inherit styles from more than one style sheet. The W3C published the CSS level 1 recommendation in December 1996. CSS level 2 was later released in 1998.

Today, CSS is used in conjunction with (X)HTML to create Web pages that are more semantically correct than before. CSS has also opened up a whole new world of Web site creation. One of its main advantages is the ability to make changes to one file and have it affect an entire Web site.

The links below have been assembled to help you, no matter what your level of HTML expertise.

Also, don't forget our forums. You can always find an answer there.

Specifications and Usage

• CSS 2.1 Properties
• W3C Level 2 Specifications
• W3C Level 1 Specifications
• Benefits of Cascading Style Sheets

For Beginners

• The WebDeveloper.com Guide to Cascading Style Sheets
• WebReference.com CSS Tutorial: The Human Factor
• So You Want A Style Sheet, Huh?
• WDVL CSS Tutorial
• Cascading Style Sheets
• Introduction to Style Sheets
• Putting Style Sheets in Perspective

Advanced

• How do I Select Thee, Let Me Count the Ways
• Advanced CSS Layouts: Step by Step
• CSS Positioning, Part I
• CSS Positioning, Part II
• CSS Floats, Part I
• CSS Floats, Part II
• Making Headlines With Cascading Style Sheets
• Saving Bytes by Using Multiple CSS Classes on Elements
• HTML Goodies Cascading Style Sheets Tutorials

Tables

• Toss out Your Tables! CSS Is the Scene!

The Box Model

• Boxing with CSS, Part I: The Theory
• Boxing with CSS, Part II: Borders, Browsers and Boxes

Editors and Tools

• Software Review: Style Master v.3.5

Validation

• W3C CSS Validation Service

Miscellaneous

• Cascading Style Sheet References
• CSS: Spacing and Areas