HTML/CSS I

Introduction to HTML & CSS

"Front-end" Languages

A basic website can be built with...

What is HTML?

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.

 

HTML is used to create the structure of our web applications.

HTML Tag Syntax

To create a tag in HTML, use the <> symbols to open the HTML element and </> to close the element. Within the carrots will be the HTML element you are using, and between the opening and closing tags is the content for that element. 

<tagname>content</tagname>

HTML also has what are called 'void tags' or 'self-closing tags', that contain no content, and need no closing tag.

<voidtag />

Setting up HTML

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <title>The Title</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <!-- This is a comment -->
  </body>
</html>

Tells the browser what type of file to expect

Tells the browser everything between the head tag should be read as HTML

Data about our website goes in here

Website content goes in the body tag

Continued...

Setting up HTML Continued

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="description" content="best website ever made">
    <meta name="keywords" content="greatest, best">
    <meta name="author" content="matias perez-ferrero">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>The Title</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    
  </body>
</html>

Meta tags are tags that contain data about your website.

 

Meta tags can include a description, author, keywords, and more.

Continued...

Setting up HTML Continued

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="description" content="best website ever made">
    <meta name="keywords" content="greatest, best">
    <meta name="author" content="matias perez-ferrero">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <link rel='stylesheet' href='styles.css'>
    <title>The Title</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    
  </body>
</html>

The <link> tag creates a link between the HTML document and external resources

 

External resources could include fonts, stylesheets, and more

HTML Elements

<h1-6></h1-6>
<header></header>
<div></div>

Header tags are containers for header information, such as    navigation links.

Heading tags denote a heading for content. The lower the      number, the more important it is.

Div tags are containers for your content.

<section></section>

Section tags are containers for your content.

<nav></nav>

Nav tags denote a list of navigation links.

<a></a>

Anchor tags denote a link to a file or other website.

<p></p>

Paragraph tags are for sections of text.

<span></span>

Span tags are for sections of text. They are great for styling    specific parts of text within a paragraph tag. 

Continued...

HTML Elements Continued

<hr/>, <br/>

<hr> and <br> are separation tags.  <hr> will create white space between elements. <br> will create a line break. 

<ul></ul>, <ol></ol>

Un-ordered <ul> and Ordered <ol> list tags denote a list,                ordered by bullets (<ul>) or by number (<ol>).

<li></li>

<li> tags denote a list item, used in both <ul> and <ol> lists.

<input/>

<input> tags provide input boxes for users to type into.

<button></button>

<button> tags provide a clickable button.

<img/>

<img> tags are for displaying images on a web page.

<form></form>

<form> tags denote a form for collecting user input.

<table>, <tr>, <td>

<table> tags create tables. <tr> creates a table row. <td> creates a table cell.

<footer></footer>

<footer> tags denote a footer, generally containing copyright info, authorship info, or navigation links.

Parents, Siblings, and Children

HTML elements have relationships to one another

Elements containing other elements are called parents
 

Elements contained within other elements are called children
​

Elements next to one another are called siblings

<body>
<div class="parent">
	<p class="child">I'm a paragraph tag</p>
</div>

<footer class="sibling"></footer>
</body>

Semantic HTML

Semantic HTML provides context and meaning to the structure of our web pages.

 

Using semantic HTML elements improves accessibility and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

<!-- Non-semantic HTML -->
<div></div>
<span></span>

<!-- Semantic HTML -->
<section></section>
<header></header>
<h1></h1>

You should ALWAYS use semantic tags when available

As of 2019, businesses that fall under ADA Title I or ADA Title III are required to develop a website that offers "reasonable accessibility" to people with disabilities.

HTML Attributes

HTML attributes allow you to add more information to an element. Attributes are added into the opening tag of the element.

<tagname attributeName="value">content</tagname>

Example: Input elements use a type attribute to denote what type of input they are. 

<input type="text" />
<input type="password" />
<input type="radio" />

Display Properties

HTML elements come with a built in 'display' property value

 What is CSS?

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets

 

 CSS is a presentational language.

 

CSS is used only for the layout and styling of HTML elements.

CSS Selectors

Selectors are patterns used to select the elements to be styled.

Selectors are followed by a set of curly braces ( { } ) which contain individual style declarations.

Element selector: ( element )

Selects elements by their tag name

Class selector: ( . )

Selects elements by their class attribute

Universal selector: ( * )

selects all elements

Id Selector: ( # )

Selects elements by their id attribute

p {
    background-color: cyan;
}
.something {
    background-color: cyan;
}
#anotha-one {
    background-color: cyan;
}
* {
    background-color: cyan;
}

Ways to Write CSS

Is written directly into the opening tag of an HTML element

<section style="color: blue;font-size: 18px;">Content</section>

 Is written by adding a <style> tag in the header and adding CSS to it

<head>
  <style>
    h1 {
      color: blue;
    }
  </style>
</head>

1) Inline CSS

2) Internal CSS

Continued...

Ways to Write CSS Continued

 External CSS is the most common way to write CSS 

External CSS is written by creating a separate CSS file and connecting it to the HTML file using a <link> tag in the header.

<head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">
</head>

3) External CSS

Reset CSS

Web browsers apply different initial styling to HTML elements.

 

 This can make styling for all browsers difficult.

 

We can use a Reset CSS file to remove default, browser applied styling.

https://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/

CSS Combinators

Selectors can also be used with combinators for more specific styling

Group combinator: ( , )

Combines selectors into one block

Descendant Combinator: (space)

Applies to the right-most selector, which is a descendant of the element to its left

Child Combinator: ( > )

Selects all specified direct children of an element

Adjacent Sibling Combinator: ( + )

Selects the first specified sibling element from the same parent element

General Sibling Combinator: ( ~ )

Selects all specified siblings of an element

div p {
    background-color: cyan;
}
div, p {
    background-color: cyan;
}
div + p {
    background-color: cyan;
}
div > p {
    background-color: cyan;
}
/* Paragraphs that are siblings of and
   subsequent to any image */

img ~ p {
    background-color: cyan;
}

Pseudo Classes

Pseudo classes are keywords that can be added to a selector to specify a special state of the selected elements.

div:hover {
	background-color: blue;
}

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/Pseudo-classes

CSS Specificity

When an element has conflicting styles added to it, CSS specificity determines which style is used.

 

It works like a point system. The highest score styling block is applied.

Selecting the element: 1 point

Selecting the class: 10 points

Selecting the id: 100 points

Inline Styling: 1000 points

<body>
    <div class="test" id="test"></div>
</body>

HTML

CSS

#test {
    height: 100px;
    width: 100px;
    background-color: cyan;
}

.test {
    height: 100px;
    width: 100px;
    background-color: blanchedalmond
}

The Box Model

The box model refers to the design and layout of an element, and consists of margin, border, padding, and content. 

Box Sizing Properties

When applying margin, border, and padding to our element, we are changing the total size of the element.

 

To control how the total size is calculated, this we can use Box Sizing Properties.

box-sizing: content-box

  • Default setting
  • Adds margin, border and padding to the overall size of the element even if height and width are explicitly specified

box-sizing: border-box

  • Margin, border, and padding do not increase the total size of the element beyond a specified height or width

CSS Text Properties

font-size: changes the font size of selected text

color: changes the font size of selected text

font-family: changes the font family of selected text

line-height: determines the space between two inline elements

text-align: aligns the text within an element

font-weight: changes the boldness of selected text

letter-spacing: determines the space between each character

CSS Background Properties

background-color: changes the background color of an element

background-image: assigns an image to the background of an element

background-size: assigns the size of a background image

background-position: adjusts the alignment of a background image

background-repeat: determines how the background image is repeated

CSS Height and Width Units

CSS has various units to determine height and width.

pixels (px): pixels are the most common absolute unit

percent (%): relative unit based on the size of the parent container

view-height (vh): percent relative to the viewport

view-width (vw): percent relative to the viewport

Commonly Used Units

CSS Float Property

The float property places an element to the right or left of its container, and allows inline elements to wrap around it.

Wireframes and Mockups

Made with Slides.com