Learning CSS

Cascading Stylesheets
and how they work with HTML

body {
      background-color: #e6e6e6; 
      color: #031B3F; 
      font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; 
      padding:15px; 
      line-height:1.4em
      }

Sample Code!

It helps to learn by looking at sample code for other websites!
We have a model website with HTML and CSS code posted on the introDH-Hub here:
https://github.com/newtfire/introDH-Hub/tree/master/docs
Feel free to browse and apply our sample code to your projects!

CSS syntax

Selector {declaration;

declaration; }

Image credit: https://www.w3schools.com/css/css_syntax.asp

Selector {property: value;

property: value;}

Stacking the code

body {
      background-color: #e6e6e6; 
      color: #031B3F; 
      font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; 
      padding:15px; 
      line-height:1.4em
      }

One CSS declaration per line: keep your code tidy and legible!

Commenting on the code

body {
      background-color: #e6e6e6; /*#C5D3D3*/ /*#B4D6B4*/
     /*trying different shades of grey-green */
      color: #031B3F; 
      font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; 
      padding:15px; 
      line-height:1.4em
      }

"Comment out" values you're experimenting with.
Or write comments to explain what you're trying to do.

How to connect CSS to your HTML:
Three ways

inline HTML (not recommended, makes "code bloat"):
<p style="color:blue;">....</p>
"Separation of concerns":
- Good for one HTML page only: a <style> element inside an HTML <head>
- Good for an entire website: a separately linked .css file:
  <link> element in the HTML <head>

How to connect CSS to your HTML:
<style> element inside the <head>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
    <head>
        <title>My Webpage</title>
        <style>
	body {
          background-color: #e6e6e6 /*#C5D3D3*/ /*#B4D6B4*/;
          color: #031B3F; 
          font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; 
          padding:15px; 
          line-height:1.4em
				}
	p { padding: 2em;
               }
        </style>
    </head>
    <body>
       <p>..some text...</p>
    </body>
</html>

How to connect CSS to your HTML:
<link> element inside the <head>

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
    <head>
        <title>My Webpage</title>
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/syllsched.css" />
    </head>
    <body>
       <p>..some text...</p>
    </body>
</html>

Preferred for a whole website: Update once, updates everywhere!
Relative file association: This one is saved in a folder named "css" in my web folder
- docs/
  - index.html
  - css/
    - syllsched.css

How to link a separate CSS Stylesheet

<link/> element: for linking a CSS file
<script> element can link a JS file

Inside the <head>.....</head>

<head>
  <title>My Portfolio Site</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"/>
</head>

CSS Inheritance

Put CSS declarations for styling across your entire page on top-level HTML elements like <body>. . . </body>
Examples: set a background-color, set a font or font-family, set your normal font color
Inheritance: the declarations you set for one element are passed down the HTML tree (to the elements nested inside it.)

CSS Box Model

To CSS, every element is a box
This includes the block and inline HTML elements
The box has a structure with several properties you can control with CSS:

To adjust how much space goes around your HTML elements, work with

CSS Box Model: Properties

content: literally takes up the space needed for text, image, etc.
padding: a little room inside the box, just outside the content. By default, transparent.
border: this can be made visible around your content (draw the box!)
margin: area outside the border. By default, transparent.
Details: w3schools Box Model Demo

CSS: Units of “length”

Reference: w3schools on CSS units

Absolute (cm or mm) vs. Relative lengths
Why we prefer relative lengths!

Some length units we use most:

em: literally the size of the standard letter “m” in the default font you're using
vw: a percentage of the width of the viewport window (much smaller than an em)
px: technically an absolute dimension: 1 device pixel or ”dot” in your display. Pixel size depends on the device!

Writing CSS Demands

Looking Stuff Up!

Favorite resources for ALL available CSS properties:

1. w3schools CSS Tutorial

Plus: Lets you try as you go
Minus: Often has inline CSS examples (learn to adapt)

2. w3schools CSS Reference

All properties in alphabetical order for lookup!

CSS: Color!

How to reference colors:

by name:
- as in, tomato
- 140 Color Names supported across all web browsers
RGB values:
- Red / Green / Blue values
- scale from 0 to 255
- rgb(0,0,255) = most intense blue
- rgb(0,0,0) = black
- rgb(255,255,255) = white
- rgb(20,20,20) (or make all the values equal): something grey

See w3C colors tutorial for more details.

CSS: Color! Hexadecimal values

Hex value looks like this: #RRGGBB
On base 16 scale: 0 -10, A, B, C, D, E, F
- lowest value: 00
- highest value: FF
- Can refer to them in threes or sixes
  - #FF0000 = red
  - #F00 = same red

See w3C colors tutorial for more details.

Combinations of CSS properties in declarations

body { 
	background-color:SlateBlue;
	color: black;
}

h1 {
  padding: 2px;
  border: 1px solid violet;
}

CSS: Working with Accessible Color Schemes

Color on the web: notoriously variable!
- How do individuals see color?
- How do monitors display it?
Design with variable experience in mind
Reference WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind
- WebAIM feature on color blindness
- Try the Toptal Colorblind Webpage filter on your site (plug in your website address)

CSS: Resources for Choosing Color Schemes

Experimenting with color palettes: Paletton
Foreground against Background color testing: WebAIM Contrast Checker
Tests foreground/background with fonts and font sizes: ColorSafe

HTML @class, @id and CSS

@ (short for attribute)
as in @href in:
<a href="https://behrend.psu.edu/">Penn State Erie</a>
Any HTML display element can hold @class and @id
@class : creates a shared category for group of elements
- everything associated with a topic, or to be arranged
  in a certain area of the page
- Multiple elements can share an @class value.
@id : marks an element as unique, different from all the others.
- Each @id attribute has a unique value (cannot be used again anywhere else on the page).
- You can have lots of elements with @id on your page, but each one has its own unique value.
These attributes are useful for CSS styling.
- Write CSS rules for all elements of a particular @class
- Write CSS rules for a specific element with a distinct @id

HTML with @id and @class for a navigation bar

        <nav id="menu">
            <div class="button"><a href="index.html">Home</a></div> 
            <div class="button"><a href="resume.html">Resume</a></div> 
            <div class="button"><a href="gallery.html">Gallery</a></div>
            <div class="button"><a href="essays.html">DIGIT 100 Essays</a></div>
        </nav>

CSS rules to match

nav#menu {padding:2vw; }

/* This means: style the <nav id="menu"> element. */

.button { 
  border:2px; 
  border-style:solid;
  border-color:red; 
  padding:2vw; 
  background-color:#E6E6FA; 
  color:yellow; 
  width:10%; 
  display:inline;
  border-radius: 20px;
 }
/* This means: style ANY element that as an @class set to button, as in */
/* <li class="button"> or <p class="button"> or <div class="button">. */

        <nav id="menu">
            <div class="button"><a href="index.html">Home</a></div> 
            <div class="button"><a href="resume.html">Resume</a></div> 
            <div class="button"><a href="gallery.html">Gallery</a></div>
            <div class="button"><a href="essays.html">DIGIT 100 Essays</a></div>
        </nav>

You could also write it like this:

#menu {padding:2vw; }

/* This means: style the <nav id="menu"> element. */

.button { 
  border:2px; 
  border-style:solid;
  border-color:red; 
  padding:2vw; 
  background-color:#E6E6FA; 
  color:yellow; 
  width:10%; 
  display:inline;
  border-radius: 20px;
 }
/* This means: style ANY element that as an @class set to button, as in */
/* <li class="button"> or <p class="button"> or <div class="button">. */

# means @id, . means @class

        <nav id="menu">
            <div class="button"><a href="index.html">Home</a></div> 
            <div class="button"><a href="resume.html">Resume</a></div> 
            <div class="button"><a href="gallery.html">Gallery</a></div>
            <div class="button"><a href="essays.html">DIGIT 100 Essays</a></div>
        </nav>

or, like this (no spaces between element name and . or #)

#menu {padding:2vw; }

/* This means: style the <nav id="menu"> element. */

div.button { 
  border:2px; 
  border-style:solid;
  border-color:red; 
  padding:2vw; 
  background-color:#E6E6FA; 
  color:yellow; 
  width:10%; 
  display:inline;
  border-radius: 20px;
 }
/* This means: style ANY element that as an @class set to button, as in */
/* <li class="button"> or <p class="button"> or <div class="button">. */

# means @id, . means @class

LearningCSS

By Elisa Beshero-Bondar

LearningCSS

Slides to help with learning CSS

1,658

Elisa Beshero-Bondar PRO

Professor of Digital Humanities and Chair of the Digital Media, Arts, and Technology Program at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

Learning CSS

Sample Code!

CSS syntax

Selector {declaration;

declaration; }

Selector {property: value;

property: value;}

Stacking the code

Commenting on the code

How to connect CSS to your HTML: Three ways

How to connect CSS to your HTML: <style> element inside the <head>

How to connect CSS to your HTML: <link> element inside the <head>

How to link a separate CSS Stylesheet

Inside the <head>.....</head>

CSS Inheritance

CSS Box Model

CSS Box Model: Properties

CSS: Units of “length”

Some length units we use most:

Writing CSS Demands

Looking Stuff Up!

CSS: Color!

CSS: Color! Hexadecimal values

CSS: Working with Accessible Color Schemes

CSS: Resources for Choosing Color Schemes

HTML @class, @id and CSS

HTML with @id and @class for a navigation bar

CSS rules to match

You could also write it like this:

or, like this (no spaces between element name and . or #)

LearningCSS

More from Elisa Beshero-Bondar

How to connect CSS to your HTML:
Three ways

How to connect CSS to your HTML:
<style> element inside the <head>

How to connect CSS to your HTML:
<link> element inside the <head>