Limitations of HTML 5
HTML 5 looks very exciting, and it points to fascinating new capabilities. However, it isn’t here yet. Most of the browser manufacturers support at least some form of HTML 5, but none support every feature. One notable developer has stayed far away from the HTML 5 specification. As of IE8, Microsoft does not support the or tags, the tag, or the semantic elements described in this chapter. To be fair, Microsoft has allowed embedded fonts for quite some time, but only using the proprietary EOT font format. Microsoft has not committed to including any HTML 5 features in IE9. If Microsoft continues to go its own way and Internet Explorer remains a dominant browser, HTML 5 technologies may never gain traction. It’s also possible that Microsoft’s refusal to abide by standards will finally erode its market share enough that they will decide to go along with developer requests and support these new standards in an open way.HTML 5 is not yet an acknowledged standard, and one of the most prominent browsers in use doesn’t support it. For that reason, I still use XHTML 1.0 strict as my core language, and most examples in this book use that standard. However, I do highlight potential uses of HTML 5 when they occur in this book.Book IIStyling with CSSChange your fonts, colors, and backgrounds with CSS.Chapter 1: Coloring Your WorldIn This ChapterIntroducing the style elementAdding styles to tagsModifying your page dynamicallySpecifying foreground and background colorsUnderstanding hex colorsDeveloping a color schemeXHTML does a good job of setting up the basic design of a page, but face it: The pages it makes are pretty ugly. In the old days, developers added a lot of other tags to HTML to make it prettier, but it was a haphazard affair. Now, XHTML disallows all the tags that made pages more attractive. That sounds bad, but it isn’t really a loss. Today, XHTML is almost always written in concert with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). It’s amazing how much you can do with CSS to beautify your XHTML pages.CSS allows you to change the color of any image on the page, add backgrounds and borders, change the visual appearance of elements (like lists and links), as well as customize the entire layout of your page. Additionally, CSS allows you to keep your XHTML simple because all the formatting is stored in the CSS. CSS is efficient, too, because it allows you to reuse a style across multiple pages. If XHTML gives your pages structure, CSS gives them beauty.This chapter gets you started by describing how to add color to your pages.Now You Have an Element of StyleThe secret to CSS is the style sheet, a set of rules for describing how various objects will display. For example, look at basicColors.html in Figure 1-1.Figure 1-1: This page is in color!As always, don’t take my word for it. This chapter is about color, and you need to look at these pages from the CD or Web site to see what I’m talking about.Nothing in the XHTML code provides color information. What makes this page different from plain XHTML pages is a new section that I’ve stashed in the header. Take a gander at the code to see what’s going on:“http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd”>basicColors.htmlRed text on a yellow backgroundYellow text on a red backgroundAs you can see, nothing is dramatically different in the XHTML code. The body simply contains
HTML 5 is not yet an acknowledged standard, and one of the most prominent browsers in use doesn’t support it. For that reason, I still use XHTML 1.0 strict as my core language, and most examples in this book use that standard. However, I do highlight potential uses of HTML 5 when they occur in this book.
Book II
Styling with CSS
Change your fonts, colors, and backgrounds with CSS.
Chapter 1: Coloring Your World
In This Chapter
Introducing the style element
Adding styles to tags
Modifying your page dynamically
Specifying foreground and background colors
Understanding hex colors
Developing a color scheme
XHTML does a good job of setting up the basic design of a page, but face it: The pages it makes are pretty ugly. In the old days, developers added a lot of other tags to HTML to make it prettier, but it was a haphazard affair. Now, XHTML disallows all the tags that made pages more attractive. That sounds bad, but it isn’t really a loss. Today, XHTML is almost always written in concert with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). It’s amazing how much you can do with CSS to beautify your XHTML pages.
CSS allows you to change the color of any image on the page, add backgrounds and borders, change the visual appearance of elements (like lists and links), as well as customize the entire layout of your page. Additionally, CSS allows you to keep your XHTML simple because all the formatting is stored in the CSS. CSS is efficient, too, because it allows you to reuse a style across multiple pages. If XHTML gives your pages structure, CSS gives them beauty.
This chapter gets you started by describing how to add color to your pages.
Now You Have an Element of Style
The secret to CSS is the style sheet, a set of rules for describing how various objects will display. For example, look at basicColors.html in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1: This page is in color!
As always, don’t take my word for it. This chapter is about color, and you need to look at these pages from the CD or Web site to see what I’m talking about.
Nothing in the XHTML code provides color information. What makes this page different from plain XHTML pages is a new section that I’ve stashed in the header. Take a gander at the code to see what’s going on:
“http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd”>
Yellow text on a red background
As you can see, nothing is dramatically different in the XHTML code. The body simply contains