HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
Likewise, if you are tasked with building a site where you know you have
older browsers in that A- or B-grade classification (Chapter 2), you proba-
bly will want to avoid some of the unsupported selectors or cutting-edge
CSS3 features while building the site. This will ensure that your targets
are met and your site displays properly, even without JavaScript enabled,
in the largest segment of your user base.
These bridge libraries are best when you have a few noncore elements
of the design you'd like to see supported in a wider space or when you're
looking to help out the lower-grade browsers that you'd still like to
deliver the full experience to.
With so many millions of sites being designed each year, it is a good
assumption that any new project that comes along will have a layout
grid or other layout properties that may have already been built for
another site. Perhaps there are details or contexts of content items that
will be unique, but patterns will emerge from the layout grid or other
areas that can be transferred from one project to another.
Open source frameworks allow developers to share these patterns and
conventions, start with a tested baseline of code, and spend time on the
specifics instead of retyping code.
These frameworks include not only a style sheet but also HTML markup
patterns and examples for accomplishing common tasks such as a
layout grid.
If you're using a popular content management system (CMS), there
may be a theme or template that combines a CSS framework with the
basic markup and application features already included. The Sandbox theme for
WordPress is a good example of this generic baseline with which to work from.
