Cascading Style Sheets enable you to rapidly create web designs that can be shared by hundreds or even thousands of web pages. It accelerates development cycles by centralizing text and layout information for easy editing and updates. This book teaches you everything you need to know to start using CSS in your web development work, from the basics of marking up your content and styling text, through the creation of multi-column page layouts without the use of tables. Learn to create interface components, such as drop-down menus, navigation links, and animated graphical buttons, using only CSS  (no JavaScript required). Discover how to design code that works on the latest standard-compliant browsers, such as IE7 and current versions of Firefox, Safari, and Opera, while working around the quirks of the older ones. With a mastery of CSS, your web design capabilities will move to a new level, and everything you need to know to get started and build your skills is right here in this book. You?ll be stylin? in no time!

Cascading Style Sheets enable you to rapidly create web designs that can be shared by hundreds of web pages, accelerating development times and centralizing text and layout information for easy editing and updates. Stylin’ with CSS teaches you everything you need to know start using CSS in your web development work, from the basics of markup of your content and styling text, through to creating multi-column page layouts without the use of tables. Learn how to create interface components, such as drop-down menus, navigation links, and animated graphical buttons, using only CSS – no JavaScript required. Discover how to design code that will work on the latest standard-compliant browsers, while working around the quirks of the older browsers. With a mastery of CSS, your web design capabilities will move to a new level, and everything you need to know to get your started and build your skills is right here in this book. You’ll be stylin’ in no time!

Looks like an eye-candy book, yet serves as a reference
This book is easy to read and the pages have color throughout. There is a companion web site where you can download all the code, which really adds to the usefulness of the book. It is rare for a reference book to be engaging reading, but whoever laid out the pages here visually complemented the depth of material perfectly. I guess the author and publisher know that, as this is already the second edition of the book. Along with the second edition of Dan Cederholm’s Bulletproof Web Design and CSS Mastery by Andy Budd, this is a great way to learn the ins and outs of CSS. I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I like books that build examples step by step, where this book gives the finished code all at once, then discusses notable parts of the markup.

Get the bones and the meat on CSS
I bought this book sometime last month and I agree with one of the reviews that this is the first book I should have bought on Cascading Style Sheets.I have four other titles on the same subject and I have learned much from all of them, but this Author has a unique way of imparting the knowledge,even to a novice.This book does not read like a mantra,he gives you the code,applies it and "BOOM" you see the result. However,One bone I picked with the Author was on the issue of Opera browser.Though I use Firefox.IE 6 & 7,Safari and other less know browsers,Opera is my primary browser.On pages 82 and 83 where he discussed Font-Weight Property and the result of his experiment with different browsers,Opera was conspicuously missing, and I could not open the books website with Opera browser.The Author was kind enough to reply to my e-mail and allay my fears, because he assured me that he is looking into the Opera issue. In my opinion there is something in this book for every level,especially for beginners. Did I mention the excellent organization of the topics and the superb teaching method. This is one of the best.
emesobena

Excellent CSS Reference Book
I have read various books on CSS and this is by far my favorite. I feel that the author provided in-depth details on why, where and how CSS is used. I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to purchasing the author’s other book Codin’ for the Web.

So far so good!
I bought this as a textbook for my web design class. I already know a lot about CSS, and so far I’ve only read the first chapter, but it seems extremely easy to understand. Each concept is explained (in plain English!) and technical terms are defined clearly. And when sample code is supplied, you’ve already read about each part of it and know WHY it’s there. I recently bought a book from a different author and publisher on ActionScript 3.0, and its so abstract, I don’t think I know much more about AS than I did at the beginning. Stylin’ with CSS, on the other hand, has defined even the basics (that I already mostly knew) so well that I’ve learned a few things already. I was so impressed that I ordered Charles Wyke-Smith’s other book, Codin’ for the Web, right away. I haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet, but I already know I’m going to learn quite a few things from it.

I wish I’d bought this book first...
The explanations in this book leave very little to the imagination. In other words they are clear & concise & the author makes no assumptions about previous knowledge. I had read Elizabeth Castro’s "XHTML & CSS" then Andy Budd’s "CSS Mastery" & although they both gave me a good understanding of what can be done they failed to truly explain how to use markup & styling like this guy does. I like the fact that he doesn’t seem like he’s full of himself either. It really does take more than one book & a lot of hands on to get good at this stuff & I’d recommend this book as either the starting point for a beginner or to round off the edges of an intermediate designer.

Good for an old HTMLer
One of the better CSS books I’ve picked up. I’m a long-time Html-er who erm...hasn’t kept up with the times. I tried a few times to start using CSS/Style sheets, but frankly wasn’t really picking it up and it seemed more work than it was worth. Of course now that I found a book that laid it all out clearly without bogging it down with too-much-info and kept it interesting I can definitely see that it’s well worth the time to update my coding.

The examples are simple enough to follow, but interesting enough to *want* to follow. There are some goodies in the downloadable files that are invaluable (like the niftycorners). Well worth the purchase.

Tools for the rest of us
Most CSS tool books cater to the professional. While this book could teach many professionals a thing or two, it is an outstanding handbook for the amateur web builder, no matter how complex a website you imagine.

It helps you generate a clean, and changeable design in the simplest and most straightforward way possible. Good examples and good illustrations.

Easy read, gets you up and running with CSS fast
Clear and easy to understand, thorough in it’s coverage. I read it twice and it really helped me more than any other CSS book or tutorial.

A God Send!!!
An absolutely brilliant book.

I would strongly recommend it to anyone struggling with CSS, not quite grasped it yet, or who’s just completely new to building their own websites.

Very well illustrated, commented, and some great take-away resources such as style libraries etc.

Brilliant! :) You’ll be coding your own XHTML and CSS in just a few days with this book.

Smokin’ CSS
Charles Wyke-Smith definitely has away with disarming technical issues and instilling you with a desire and determination to accomplish your coding goals. This book explain CSS in a straight forward and easy to understand way and this book will continue to serve you well as a handy reference.

Bestst Source on How CSS Works
Stylin’ with CSS: A Designer’s Guide (2nd Edition) (Voices That Matter)RE: Wilke-Smith’s CSS Book: I’ve come to appreciate this book so much that I don’t know where to begin in recommending it. I had read (studied) several books on how to mark up and style web pages, but not until I began reading this one did lingering questions finally get answered at the very outset. For Example, Chapter 2 "How CSS Works" masterfully gives you such insight into concepts like inheritance, the cascade, sequences, precedence, specificity, etc. that it inspires new-found confidence you can implement web design with precision. The author rightfully states "Truly understanding just a few techniques can turn a struggling newbie into a competent CSS journeyman." He teaches you how to exploit the latest W3C Standards so you can produce sleek and powerful styling. In 300 pages he describes, and abundantly illustrates in color, a wide range of the latest techniques helpful to experts as well as to beginners.(Read back cover for range of topics.) I found it hard to put this book down, and carried it everywhere. Once, I spilled coffee on it in a restaurant, but the paper quality is so good a few hours exposure to the sun restored it like new. Try comparing this book with others and you will see why I recommend it enthusiastically.

Bestst Source on How CSS Works
Stylin’ with CSS: A Designer’s Guide (2nd Edition) (Voices That Matter)RE: Wyke-Smith’s CSS Book: I’ve come to appreciate this book so much that I don’t know where to begin in recommending it. I had read (studied) several books on how to mark up and style web pages, but not until I began reading this one did lingering questions finally get answered at the very outset. For Example, Chapter 2 "How CSS Works" masterfully gives you such insight into concepts like inheritance, the cascade, sequences, precedence, specificity, etc. that it inspires new-found confidence you can implement web design with precision. The author rightfully states "Truly understanding just a few techniques can turn a struggling newbie into a competent CSS journeyman." He teaches you how to exploit the latest W3C Standards so you can produce sleek and powerful styling. In 300 pages he describes, and abundantly illustrates in color, a wide range of the latest techniques helpful to experts as well as to beginners.(Read back cover for range of topics.) I found it hard to put this book down, and carried it everywhere. Once, I spilled coffee on it in a restaurant, but the paper quality is so good a few hours exposure to the sun restored it like new. Try comparing this book with others and you will see why I recommend it enthusiastically.

Excellent CSS Book - even for programmers!
I looked at this book over at B&N and it got me hooked. Especially the chapter on how to do some basic page layout. I could not believe how simple it could be! The author really got me very interested and that eventually led to me buying this book. I’m glad I did. :-)

If you’re a Java developer like me or a CSS beginner, this is a great book to get you started. It’s really easy to read. Complex concepts are explained in an easy to understand fashion. And the author follows and breeds best practices. These and many others, make this book excellent.

The book is broken in 7 chapters.

The 1st chapter explains the basics of HTML, the different standards and how the page is structured. Simple chapter, but it’s important to understand the basics.

The 2nd chapter, How CSS Works, is really a CSS 101. Basic stuff as well, but as in the first chapter, this is a fundamental knowledge.

Chapter 3 is more of a reference guide on how to style fonts and text. Some very useful info.

Chapter 4 is where the interesting stuff starts: positioning elements. An excellent overview of the box model and some good information about floating and clearing.

Chapter 5 is the best chapter in the book. It goes over several ways to create page layouts. Want to create a 2-column layout? A simple example is shown. How about a 3-column layout? 3-column liquid layout? With the techniques presented by Charles, you can create any type of a layout and you will actually understand what’s going on. Really neat stuff.

In chapter 6, focus is on styling tables, forms, and menus. The author basically presents some techniques on how to style tables for tabular data, and explains the technique on how to create CSS menus. Good chapter to dive in when you’re involved with these.

Chapter 7 summarizes the overall process of building a real site.

I learned several new techniques and tips from this book. I love how the book makes complicated things simple: this is my type of a book. Also, Charles has a good way of making sure these things come across and stay in your head. Not a simple thing to do, but he did a great job.

Fantastic! Easy Read
What a great book and easy read. The author assumes nothing and explains everything. I am more of an audio learner and reading this book was like having someone talk to me.

I read it cover to cover, taking notes and highlighting items to come back to when I’m at the screen working on my site. It’s doubtful that I have ever before read a technical book so quickly (if ever in entirety).

Delightful Instruction
As the title of my review states, this book provides - with its conversational tone and very clear writing - a delightful nuts-and-bolts take on important aspects of CSS coding. It really feels as if the author is at your side, even anticipating your questions along the way.

It helps if the reader has read at least one primer on (X)HTML and CSS before starting this book. A mark-up/presentation language newbie can certainly benefit from this book. But with an introductory text behind him or her, the reader can really appreciate the best-practice advice Charles Wyke-Smith has on offer here.

Can’t wait to read the author’s "Codin’" book.

The best CSS book I’ve read
I love this book! It is easy to follow, the examples are simple yet thorough, and I "walked away" with the best understanding of CSS I’ve had (this is book 3). To that, as a bonus, this book is less than a third the size of the other two I’ve read. Even the page layout is superb. There is plenty of margin area for our notes, something I fill books with. Full color, good kerning and leading, I could go on. This is a great book. I just bought "Codin" and I am "chopping at the bit" to start it. Thank you Charles.

Stylin’ With CSS
This book is a must have for any beginning to intermediate wanna-be web builders. It provides an excellent introduction to both CSS as well as XHTML using a light-hearted, almost nonchalant, approach. The author begins with the bare basics and builds on these basics with each successive chapter using examples as he goes. I found that there were a few small errors in code provided in the text, but the author very plainly states that the reader should download his code from the book’s website and use that code for any examples. He makes any necessary updates to code provided in the book on his web site.

After finishing this great tutorial, I began applying what I had learned to a web site I built a couple of year ago and was in need of a good update. I used much of what I had learned and found a couple of problems in implementing some of the code from his drop-down menu lessons using nested ul (unordered list) tags. However, I went to the books web site and found a form on the `Contact Us’ link. I described the problem and within a couple of days the author emailed me with the resolution.

Try it! You’ll like it!

I love the book
I really like the book. It is simple and easy to understand. It is small so you can finish it, unlike most of coding books that are huge and imposible to finish

A great tool to finish your website!
If you are learning from "scratch" to do your own simple website, this is the book for you - it lets you create what you want, explains how you can create the look you want to achieve, and allows you to finish the site with the graphics to make it pop! As a graphic designer, my area is print material, not web, but this allowed me to create my own web page for people to view my work and I’m currently working on another link to my web page for the sale or printed material - thanks Charles for making my life easier!

Real world applications from a real designer
I read many many books on this topic. This book is the only one that seems to be written by someone who actually builds websites with CSS. Not only are there plenty of actual real world examples, but the author addresses the problems that you immediately run into when you start to apply CSS to your designs. Everything from the "clearfix" to the IE6 idiosynchrosis that plague CSS web design. Sylin’ with CSS is easily my first recommendation for people learning CSS.

A real page turner...
I just got my copy of Edition 2 and I haven’t been able to put it down. This is one of the very best resources I’ve ever encountered for Web professionals. His descriptions are incredibly clear and accessible, and the information he provides is practical and useful. Thanks to Charles, I’ve learned to embrace CSS.

Great for all levels experience
As a developer of web applications for 8 years, I have focused on the behind the scenes function primarily. Once I started paying more attention to the "experience" of the user and not just the functionality, I realized how much CSS really brought to the table as a design and implementation tool.

I’ve owned Charles’ book for about a year now. This book has been both a great reference book for getting things done in the browser with CSS as well as a solid discussion of how best to use CSS and HTML for maximum effect.

I highly recommend this book if you are just starting out with web site design and creation. I also highly recommend it if you have already been working on web sites and need a good reference for CSS and tips/techniques about design and implementation.

Clear, concise and funny
Charles Wyke-Smith has written a very clear CSS book. I thought it might be too elementary. No way! It helped me right from the first chapter, and I’ve been coding in CSS for 5 years. I’m so glad to have this new tool.

An indispensable resource
A person can drown in the sheer volume of CSS information available in print and on the web. In my quest to learn the ins and outs of CSS, I found plenty of primers, tutorials, how-to articles and resource sites. I did not find a unifying document that would allow me to assemble all of that information into the knowledge needed to use CSS effectively until I found this book. The author has done a fine job of bringing the underlying tenets of CSS and XHTML together in a way that makes all the other sources make perfect sense. He also writes in a way that shows he is smart and writing to smart people. It may not be perfect, but it is extremely useful, even indispensable. As the 2d edition will be available November 13, this edition is probably best checked from the library. But if you are new to CSS, this book is must-read material.

An indispensable resource
The first edition of this book was excellent, a great place to start for learning CSS and XHTML. It was the book that gave me the knowledge needed to use CSS effectively and start writing sites. I liked it so much I pre-ordered Second Edition and Amazon finally delivered it. The new edition is outstanding.

The content is updated and well structured. The author goes through all the steps for writing CSS and XHTML pages, including the ways to style a document, how to write CSS rules, how to specify fonts and assign text properties. He then discusses the box model and it pitfalls, as well as the all-important positioning properties. Then, it’s time to start building pages. Charles discusses multi-column layouts, site architecture, and many other useful topics.

The book provides plenty of technical detail along with practical applications that are really useful. The author’s writing style is clear and concise with a familiar tone. Also, the production values are excellent. The book has heavy paper, full color images, color coded text, and an efficient, friendly layout.

I’ve read several good CSS books. No book is perfect; but for me, this is the keeper. The author’s web site, stylinwithcss.com, includes all the source code from the book’s examples plus a library of code modules for building functional pages more quickly. All in all, I think this book deserves 5 stars now more than ever.

SECOND EDITION EXCELLENT
An indispensable resource!

Review rewritten for second edition January, 2008

The first edition of this book was excellent, a great place to start for learning CSS and XHTML. It was the book that gave me the knowledge needed to use CSS effectively and start writing sites. I liked it so much I pre-ordered Second Edition and Amazon finally delivered it. The new edition is outstanding.

The content is updated and well structured. The author goes through all the steps for writing CSS and XHTML pages, including the ways to style a document, how to write CSS rules, how to specify fonts and assign text properties. He then discusses the box model and it pitfalls, as well as the all-important positioning properties. Then, it’s time to start building pages. Charles discusses multi-column layouts, site architecture, and many other useful topics.

The book provides plenty of technical detail along with practical applications that are really useful. The author’s writing style is clear and concise with a familiar tone. Also, the production values are excellent. The book has heavy paper, full color images, color coded text, and an efficient, friendly layout.

I’ve read several good CSS books. No book is perfect; but for me, this is the keeper. [...].

Great seller
Great seller book arrived as fast as amazon 2 day shipping. The book itself was in excellent condition, I will buy something from this seller in the future.

Easy to follow
This book is easy to follow and gets into the nitty gritty of css. You’ll be coding in no time, and will understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. I love it. It’s so informative, and has given me the confidence to really run with css.

This is a great book!
I’m currently taking a CSS class online and often find myself scratching my head witht the 2 books required for the class - this NOT being one of them - I picked this one up on my own and now it’s like - "Oh, so that’s what those other books meant" - this one is easy to follow and understand - I’m a designer by trade - so any type of code makes my head hurt - this books makes it so much easier!

An Excellent Start to CSS
I have bought and read many HTML books over the years in an attempt to write even a simple web page or two, but with little success. HTML always seemed very clumsy and totally illogical. Layout code seemed to be repeated time and time again and could hardly be seen amongst the content (and vise versa). Then along came CSS - this, I thought, must be the way to do it!

A few more books on CSS later (Amazon are making a fortune out of me) but still no headway. The reason, I decided, was that all the books I had read were written by programmers (no disrespect, I do a bit myself). What I needed was a book written by a designer, someone who can tie together the XHTML and CSS from a designer’s viewpoint but in a structured and logical way.

Enter Charles Wyke-Smith and Stylin’ with CSS.

If any of the above description fits you, then this book is what you’re looking for. The treatment is logical, well paced and above all relevant. It is written by someone who understands page design and shows you how to setup a descent web site using CSS. OK there are more typos in the first print than there should be, but they shouldn’t throw you off course.

It is not the definitive design manual - it never pretends to be. It is an excellent book to start you on the right path to understanding CSS and using it correctly. I whole heartedly recommend it.

CSS for the novice
After struggling to teach myself css from three other books, I found "Stylin’ with CSS: A Designer’s Guide." By far the best of the lot! Easily understood, excellent examples, concise tutorials and an up to date web site to support the book. What more could you ask?

A refreshingly different kind of CSS book....
You (if you’re like me) have seen a ton of books on CSS. They repeat the basics without increasing you knowledge- or without telling you what you want to know. This book is different. You know the basics- Wyke-Smith tells you how to use create the pages you want. Finally a book that doesn’t read like a spec sheet. To the author, Thanks.

Great book!
This book explained to me how to write CSS code. It’s well written, has scads of examples and there’s a web site to download the examples. If you want to quickly learn CSS, I recommend this book.

Can’t wait to get Wyke-Smith’s next book!
I really like this book and this author. I ordered his next book, Codin’ for the Web, about building web sites with form validation, PHP, databases, and SQL, as soon as it was available last month. I hope he writes more books.

Let me say right off the bat that the errata complained about by other reviewers have been fixed in the second printing (still first edition). I am a very thorough proof-reader, and I think I only found one or two mistakes or typos in the whole book while reading it from cover to cover.

This is a book you can sit in an easy chair and read before you get up to go try the code on your computer. You can actually understand it as you read it. He’s good at explaining concepts. You can get the overall idea before you start to code. (Not so with Gosselin’s JavaScript book that was also a text for the same intermediate web programming course. The "aha" moments came only after slavishly typing in the exact code in the book to see what it would do.) With Stylin’ for the Web you get the "aha" moment and then go try it.

You’ll need a CSS reference eventually (like Visibone charts), but if you could only have one CSS book, I’d say this is it. (I also tell friends that if you could only have one cookbook, it’d be an older edition of Joy of Cooking. And if only one X/HTML book, it’d be Molly Holzschlag’s (although "Head First HTML" may prove worthy competition.) Neil Bradley’s XML Companion is in the same category, but it’s out of print. I have yet to find a one-and-only JavaScript or PHP book.)

Cascade learning for CSS: A++
Charles has a great presentation style that takes you through a step by step seperation of style sheets from HTML markup. The writing style was easy to follow, starting with fundamentals, and then moving on to more advanced styles.

The examples were created for CSS compliant browsers in the step by step, with explanations for the non-conforming gorilla. Then, hacks were provided to overcome lacking implementations.

There is a correction site published for the few minor mistakes that made. I would recommend that you go there FIRST and insert the corrections. And if you find something new, share the wealth.

Having tried to explain some of this myself, I am further impressed with Charles’s ability to put an concepts into easy to understand English with a little humor now and then.

Thank you for a great quick step by step guide to CSS. I am a Sun certified Java Programmer and maintain a JUG web site and found this book most enlightening and expansive. Now when I look at a source page, I understand all the CSS code and how it cascades together.

Look no further!
If you want to learn CSS, look no further. This book is easy to follow, for the beginner, or experienced programmer. A little HTML would be helpful, but that is all you really need. When I read this book, I knew a good amount of HTML, and I had touched upon CSS. I wish I had read it earlier. I finished it in two weeks, during my spare time, and now I can setup my pages with ease. If only I had know it would be this easy!

author brilliantly combines what and how with why of css
this book is excellant. the author does a great job of teaching css by providing clear examples which build upon one another. he combines what and how with why and makes if fun in the process. this is a very efficient learning tool. i’ll be sure to buy his coding book when it comes out. great job!

Probably the best CSS book I’ve ever read.
I’ve never written a book review before but feel compelled to comment on this one.

I think this book is fantastic. I’m a long time CSS coder (5+ years) but have always wanted to understand it and its nuances a lot better. Not only does this book explain all the fundamental principals clearly, it does so in a very readable way, thanks to the author’s writing style. It’s one of the rare technical books that I’ve actually read cover-to-cover. With all due respect to Eric Meyer who knows more than just about anyone about CSS, I’ve found that the style of his books just doesn’t fit my reading style.

The reviewers who have complained about the lack of good design examples should read the Introduction where the author states (page xi) that "This is not a book about design, per se, but it is a book for designers...". In other words, this book is about teaching designers how to use CSS effectively, not about how to design (after all, if you’re a designer then you already know how to design).

This book really just teaches all the fundamentals of CSS and it’s up to you to use them to create as simple or complex designs as you desire. You really don’t need any more than that.

Great, Straight-Forward, No Fluff
This book is an incredible guide to writing Web code the right way from the design side. Most websites are so poorly coded, and most texts I’ve used to make sense of using XHTML/CSS have fallen short. But Stylin’ delivers real-world, extremely useful examples like the drop down menus. You will walk away from this book understanding clearly how to structure your pages with clean, standardized markup (XHTML) and how to style them perfectly across clients (CSS). Imagine (for example) a dynamic dropdown menu built solely from a super-clean ul list!

One note: as will all books of this nature, make sure you visit the author’s website for the few bits of errata first! This will ensure a good experience, as he is very responsive to his readers.

A CSS Handbook at its best!
This book is awesome! This book helped me write my son’s web site. It has provided the best standards and practices for writing professional looking web sites. In addition, it is not one of those bulky books that has close 1000 pages of sometimes useless data; but it holds a ton information.

lightweight css
They obviously spent a lot of money publishing the book - paper quality, color, etc. Unfortunately the content doesn’t live up to the wrapper. It’s a light overview of css, with only basic examples. Disappointed for the money.

A MUST HAVE FOR ALL PROGRAMMER’S/DESIGNERS!!!
This is the ultimate CSS book! The author makes everything easy to understand like no other book! Background colors or pictures, hacks, margins, divs, spans, ids, anything having to do with CSS, you name it, he’s got it! This book is easy to understand, funny, but yet you learn something from it! I sat in the book store for 2 hours looking through it! And, hey, I’m a twellve year old and it’s easy for me to understand so you’ll understand it too! You’ve gotta get the best web design book in the world!!!!! The choice is yours...

Finally, a book on CSS I can understand!
Great book for someone venturing into the world of CSS. The author is very good at explaining how things work, why they work, has good analogies and some web history to boot. He also explains what doesn’t work with some browsers, and how to work around that (if possible). I can finally start using CSS beyond basic formatting here and there. I’m looking forward to getting his next book as well!

All of the essentials are here.
Title: Stylin’ with CSS
Author: Charles Wyke-Smith
Publisher: New Riders
ISBN: 0-321-30525-6
Pages: 265 pages
Reviewer: Philip High
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I admit it. I’d rather read a really good "How To" book than the latest "Whatever Code" adventure. And for me, this title did not disappoint. Early into the attractive and logically designed pages I would have enthusiastically given out 5 stars. Unfortunately I had to pull back from that a little for a couple of reasons I will go into later. Still, for content and readability I would not hesitate to recommend this book.

I have been using CSS styles and style sheets for 6 or 7 years via Macromedia’s Dreamweaver. Yet, I always felt I wasn’t really maximizing their potential. And after reading this book I confess, I was basically clueless! Now I am enlightened; let the brethren rejoice. From now on, content and presentation will be safely segregated in my brain and on my web pages. Well, actually it might take a while to reach this Valhalla, but such is the quest of "Stylin’ with CSS."

All of the essentials for implementing the power of Cascading Style Sheets are here. From basic text styles to total page control, including multi-column fluid layouts with drop-down roll-over menus floating in the horizontal center of a vertically tiled background image -- Charles Wyke-Smith has got you covered. And any "deeper knowledge" not encoded here is conveniently referenced in the text and in the many, actually informative, sidebars. Can I get a witness?

Yes, the information is abundant. But, what really sets this book apart is the writing. The style is both clear and entertaining with the lessons building skillfully and solidly on each other. Code examples are helpfully separated from the text by paragraph style, font, and color, with new lines highlighted in red each time they are added. The author also makes use of the time-honored teaching technique of "tell ’em what you’re gonna tell ’em - tell ’em - then tell ’em what you just told ’em." Sound boring and redundant? Actually it’s very effective and herewith handled transparently so that you don’t even mind having your ignorance thrice pummeled!

I also appreciated the writer going beyond just the "how" of rules to include illuminating bits of "why," such as the move to XHTML and the rationale behind a "web standards" approach that separates content from presentation (to accommodate multiple platforms and media). And, do you know what pseudo-classes really are besides esoteric cryptology? They are styles that cause rules to be applied dynamically when certain events occur! Amazing!

Now for the stale bread and whiney part. The subtitle says this book is written for designers (i.e. me) but the examples are less than inspiring visually. I know, it’s for clarity and focus. But at least a little "dazzle" would help to motivate the sometimes nodding back row. Thankfully there are some inspiring sites referenced for your own research. OK, forgiven. But the worst sin is that the glorious path to stylistic freedom is littered with piles of typos! I’m not just talking about the odd gum wrapper here. Sometimes it gets a little confusing and definitely distracting. Perhaps this is the result of contemporary budgets and schedules that have replaced hands-on editors with spell-check, but maybe we should reconsider and S L O W D O W N just a little.

I realize I point this out at my own peril as a frequent offender myself, but then nobody is paying to read this! To be fair, this is not the only book or publisher that suffers in this way. It’s practically a trend! The author has gracefully acknowledged the problem on the related website and asked for feedback to improve the next edition. That website, by-the-way, also contains very helpful downloads of the written examples. So heaven smiles again. Final judgment -- if you are a designer with beginning to intermediate web building skills and are interested in the fundamentals of CSS -- get this book. Amen.

Stylin with CSS - A Designer’s Guide Book Review

Title: Stylin’ with CSS - A Designer’s Guide
Author: Charles Wyke-Smith
Publisher: New Riders
ISBN: 0-321-30525-6
Pages: 265 pages
Reviewer: Philip High
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I admit it. I`d rather read a really good "How To" book than the latest "Whatever Code" adventure. And for me, this title did not disappoint. Early into the attractive and logically designed pages I would have enthusiastically given out 5 stars. Unfortunately I had to pull back from that a little for a couple of reasons I will go into later. Still, for content and readability I would not hesitate to recommend this book.

I have been using CSS styles and style sheets for 6 or 7 years via Macromedia’s Dreamweaver. Yet, I always felt I wasn’t really maximizing their potential. And after reading this book I confess, I was basically clueless! Now I am enlightened; let the brethren rejoice. From now on, content and presentation will be safely segregated in my brain and on my web pages. Well, actually it might take a while to reach this Valhalla, but such is the quest of "Stylin’ with CSS."

All of the essentials for implementing the power of Cascading Style Sheets are here. From basic text styles to total page control, including multi-column fluid layouts with drop-down roll-over menus floating in the horizontal center of a vertically tiled background image - Charles Wyke-Smith has got you covered. And any "deeper knowledge" not encoded here is conveniently referenced in the text and in the many, actually informative, sidebars. Can I get a witness?

Yes, the information is abundant. But, what really sets this book apart is the writing. The style is both clear and entertaining with the lessons building skillfully and solidly on each other. Code examples are helpfully separated from the text by paragraph style, font, and color, with new lines highlighted in red each time they are added. The author also makes use of the time-honored teaching technique of "tell `em what you’re gonna tell `em - tell `em - then tell `em what you just told `em." Sound boring and redundant? Actually it’s very effective and herewith handled transparently so that you don’t even mind having your ignorance thrice pummeled!

I also appreciated the writer going beyond just the "how" of rules to include illuminating bits of "why," such as the move to XHTML and the rationale behind a "web standards" approach that separates content from presentation (to accommodate multiple platforms and media). And, do you know what pseudo-classes really are besides esoteric cryptology? They are styles that cause rules to be applied dynamically when certain events occur! Amazing!

Now for the stale bread and whiney part. The subtitle says this book is written for designers (i.e. me) but the examples are less than inspiring visually. I know, it’s for clarity and focus. But at least a little "dazzle" would help to motivate the sometimes nodding back row. Thankfully there are some inspiring sites referenced for your own research. OK, forgiven. But the worst sin is that the glorious path to stylistic freedom is littered with piles of typos! I’m not just talking about the odd gum wrapper here. Sometimes it gets a little confusing and definitely distracting. Perhaps this is the result of contemporary budgets and schedules that have replaced hands-on editors with spell-check, but maybe we should reconsider and S L O W D O W N just a little.

I realize I point this out at my own peril as a frequent offender myself, but then nobody is paying to read this! To be fair, this is not the only book or publisher that suffers in this way. It’s practically a trend! The author has gracefully acknowledged the problem on the related website and asked for feedback to improve the next edition. That website, by-the-way, also contains very helpful downloads of the written examples. So heaven smiles again. Final judgment - if you are a designer with beginning to intermediate web building skills and are interested in the fundamentals of CSS - get this book. Amen.

The Cure for CSS-Phobia
As a technical person who hasn’t done much web development, I never quite got the knack of CSS. I’m used to programming with reference books and nothing else, but that never seemed to work for html, css, and java. Thanks to this book, I can now say I have a good grasp of the basics of CSS, and how it can be used for much more than just fonts and colors. It presents CSS from the ground up, with a great summary visual at the beginning of each chapter, and lots of pictures. Using this book, I was able to quickly create a couple of nice web sites uncluttered by style markup. Whether you’re technical or not, this would be a great introduction to CSS.

Average read for intermediate skills
With an intermediate skill set in CSS, I found this book to be average. It is geared more towards beginners. I found several errors which I reported to the publisher and learned that the book had a tight production schedule.

If you have intermediate skills, don’t bother with this book. If you’re a novice, you will find it’s easy-to-read style helpful to learning CSS.

Just get it!
This book is a quick, easy read - jam-packed with clear explanations and very visual examples. I’ve learned so much from it and re-read portions of it often.

It’s probably geared towards beginners in CSS or someone, like me, who used CSS, but didn’t fully understand the hows and whys of it.

I’m looking forward to Charles Wyke-Smith’s next book: Codin’ for the Web.