New CSS/HTML standards

[dwhalen]

Hello,

I work for a company that makes a web application. When I first started, I convinced my boss that we should convert the entire application over to style sheets...you know separate style from content. It worked out great, allowing our users to be able to select from 8 different styles. And I can keep adding styles by just making new style sheets and not having to change the application itself. It makes for a very flexible user interface.

However, my boss now wants to get into curves, colour fades (alpha levels) and much more, which is really beyond what style sheets can do at the moment (without using images of course).

What I am wondering is, are there any big changes on the horizon for style sheets? Are curves or rounded edges in the near future? Or am I just going to have to move to SVG instead?

We have complete control over what browser and what version our users use (it is nice not to have to worry about Netscape 4! ) so browser limitations do not concern me....accept for the latest version of course.


Thanks for the help.

 

[MikeBronner]

Check this out:

http://www.w3.org/Style/CSS/current-work

There are ways to do rounded corners and even alhpa blending... just not on IE... Mozilla supports rounded corners... not sure about the alpha blending and other goodies, those might be IE only...

Take Care,
Mike

 

[dwhalen]

Thanks for the link.
Do you have any links for the rounded corners and/or alpha blending?

Thanks

 

[MikeBronner]

http://www.albin.net/CSS/roundedCorners/

http://www.daltonlp.com/daltonlp.cgi?item_type=1&item_id=217

Take Care,
Mike

 

[ChrisHunt]

"[curves are] really beyond what style sheets can do at the moment (without using images of course)."

Then use images! There's a nifty article on making rounded corners with CSS at

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/customcorners/

Check out the "Discuss" section of the article for some other ideas on how to do it too.

-- Chris Hunt

http://www.extracon.com

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

http://www.napitalia.org.uk

http://www.leicesteryha.org.uk

 

[dwhalen]

Then use images! There's a nifty article on making rounded corners with CSS at


Yeah, I know how to do it with images, we just want to stay away from images as much as possible. Images take time to download and require bandwidth. I think since CSS is supposed to work with svg, I might go that route.

Thanks for the help and resources.

later

 

[MichiganRon]

There's a reason that people in the industry call using new versions or new technologies being on the "bleading edge". It often causes programmers hours, days, or even months of headaches and problems trying to get them to work reliably.

My suggestion: Don't use new technologies until they have been tested by others.

Often new version of a standard (like CSS) are not supported in the major browsers for years after they are released. This is a sore issue for me, so I won't get into it. Just be cautious with using new versions!

-Ron


-We all play from the same deck of cards, it's how we play the hand we are dealt which makes us who we are.

 

[MikeBronner]

Darkshadeau has an excellent point. This is also a very sore issue for me, as it tends to hamper efficient design and forces one to use workarounds and other silly fixes that shouldn't be necessary.

Not all latest versions of all browsers will be up-to-date to the latest releases of technology, like CSS. That's why its always good to stay 1 version behind the latest release.

I guess it boils down to how necessary the latest and greatest features are, and how much they will increase the value and usability of your site. Will you only support an exclusive few that can see these features, or will you design for the mainstream that most likely can't? Or will you design for both? That might be the best way to go for now, until these features are more widely supported, depending on how much work you want to put into it.

Take Care,
Mike

 

[petey]

One of the cool things coming up in CSS is border backgrounds. The border of a box is segmented into four corners and four sides. You'll be able to position images in these segments and control tiling and overlap. Background stretching and column layout are also in the draft. Imagine the possibilities.

Will the draft be finalized in the next couple of years? Will Microsoft's next big browser (2006-ish) implement it properly? Will Moz/Opera/Safari implement it? Who knows, who knows...

http://www.drpeterjones.com/

News and views of some obscure guy