CSS Best practice

CSSBEST PRACTICE

Best practice

“Best practice” is a very looseand often poorly defined term.

“Best practice” often comes down to personal opinion.

“Best practice” can depend on the team environment you are working in.

“Best practice” may also dependon the applications you have to work with.

Your personal “best practices”may change radically over time!

With that in mind, here are some tips that may help you whensetting up CSS files in the future.

Applying CSS

1. Avoid using inline styles as they are hard to maintain and increase file size. Avoid<body><h2 style=“color: red;”>! Heading here</h2>

2. Avoid using header styles as they are also hard to maintain and increase file size. Avoid<style> p { color: red; }</style>

3. Avoid using @import within the HTML as this will slow down IE browsers. Avoid<style> @import "a.css";</style>

4. Avoid using multiple CSS files, or combine all CSS files before final production. Avoid<link rel="stylesheet" href="reset.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="grids.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="text.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="modules.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="colors.css">

Writing CSS rules

5. Use multiple declarations where possiblep{! margin: 0 0 1.5em;! background: green;}

6. Use multiple selectors where possibleh1, h2, h3, h4, h5{! color: #666;! margin: 0 0 .5em;}

7. Use shorthand properties where possiblebody{ Avoid margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 10px;} Preferredbody { margin: 20px 10px; }

8. Avoid !important as it is often unnecessary - especially when you understand the cascade.p Avoid{! margin: 0 !important;}

9. Avoid complex selectors (taxing for browsers). Try to be only as specific as needed. Avoid#navigation ul li a { margin: 0; }#navigation a { margin: 0; } Preferred

10. Avoid universal selectors. Avoid.nav * { margin: 0; }

11. Avoid qualifying selectors as this is often unnecessary. Avoiddiv.nav { }.nav { } Preferred

12. Avoid IE-proprietary ﬁlters as they slow page performance. Avoidfilter:Alpha(Opacity=40);-ms-filter: "Alpha(Opacity=40)";

13. Avoid IDs. Where possible use classes instead. Avoid#header { ... }.header { ... } Preferred

14. Try not to use too many font-size declarations.h1 { font-size: 200%; } Avoid.nav { font-size: 80%; }.widget { font-size: 70%; }.intro { font-size: 110%; }.sidebar { font-size: 85%; }

Optimisation

15. Some people like to use a CSS minifier to reduce your overall CSS file size: http://refresh-sf.com/yui/

16. Optimise images as much as possible

17. Where possible, combine images into sprites.

18. If possible, use CSS3 rules instead of images to reduce server requests and page size. Avoidp { background: url(round-corners.png); }p { border-radius: 10px; } Preferred

Russ WeakleyMax DesignSite: maxdesign.com.auTwitter: twitter.com/russmaxdesignSlideshare: slideshare.net/maxdesignLinkedin: linkedin.com/in/russweakley

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CSS Best practice

by Russ Weakley

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