What is CSS?

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a language used to style and design websites. While HTML is like the structure of a house, CSS is like the paint, decorations, and furniture that make the house look nice. CSS controls how HTML Elements appear on the screen—such as the colors, fonts, layout, and spacing—making the website visually appealing.

Think of HTML as the skeleton of a webpage, and CSS as the clothing and accessories that make it look attractive. Without CSS, web pages would look plain and boring, with no color or layout structure.

How CSS Works

CSS works by styling and designing HTML elements to enhance the visual presentation of web pages. Here’s a simple explanation of how it functions:

  • Selectors: CSS selectors target specific HTML elements that you want to style. Selectors can be based on element names, classes, IDs, or other attributes. For example, p targets all paragraphs, .class-name targets elements with a specific class, and #id-name targets an element with a specific ID.
  • Properties Define the Style: CSS works by assigning properties to HTML elements. These properties control things like font size, background color, borders, and much more.
  • Values Set the Look: Each CSS property has a value that defines how it looks. For example, the property “color” could have the value “blue” to make text blue.
  • Cascading and Inheritance: CSS stands for “Cascading Style Sheets” because styles can “cascade” or flow from one rule to another, allowing multiple styles to apply at once. The order in which styles are written affects how they are applied.
  • External, Internal, and Inline Styles: CSS can be applied in three ways:
    1. External styles: Using a separate .css file linked to the HTML document with the link tag.
    2. Internal styles: Using a style tag within the HTML document’s head section.
    3. Inline styles: Directly within an HTML element using the style attribute.
  • Box Model: CSS uses the box model to control layout. Each element is treated as a box with content, padding, border, and margin. By adjusting these properties, you can control the spacing and positioning of elements.

When a browser loads an HTML document with associated CSS, it applies the CSS rules to the HTML elements, rendering the styled content on the web page. CSS allows you to create visually appealing, responsive, and consistent designs across your website.

Why is CSS Important to Learn for Web Designers?

CSS is crucial for web designers because it controls the entire visual experience of a website. It allows designers to craft beautiful, user-friendly, and responsive designs that look good on all screen sizes. Without CSS, websites would look plain and unappealing, making it harder to engage visitors.

For web designers, knowing CSS means having full control over the design and ensuring their vision comes to life. Mastering CSS also allows designers to be more creative and innovative, building layouts and designs that stand out, making it an essential skill for anyone in web design.

How to Apply CSS to HTML

Learning how to style HTML with CSS is crucial for anyone looking to create visually appealing and functional websites. CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, is the language that controls the presentation of web pages, allowing for the separation of content (HTML) and design (CSS). This separation enhances maintainability and flexibility, making it easier to update and manage websites. Mastering CSS enables developers to create responsive designs that adapt to various devices and screen sizes, improving user experience. It also provides the tools to implement advanced visual effects, animations, and layouts, which are essential for modern web aesthetics. Moreover, understanding CSS is fundamental for ensuring cross-browser compatibility, ensuring that websites look consistent across different platforms. Ultimately, the ability to style HTML with CSS is a foundational skill that empowers web developers to build engaging, user-friendly, and professional web applications.

External CSS Example

In this example, we are applying “external” css style to the entire page based on the style.css file.

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Internal CSS Example

In this example, we are applying “internal” css style to the body, the h1 and p.

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Inline CSS Example

In this example, we are applying css “inline” style to only the h1 and p.

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Commenting in CSS

In CSS, comments are used to explain or clarify code without affecting the styling. Comments can help make stylesheets easier to read and maintain, especially in larger projects. To add a comment, you enclose the text between /* and */.

Example

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Comments can be placed anywhere within the CSS file, including within attribute blocks. They will not appear in the rendered web page and are ignored by the browser.

Example

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Frequently Asked Questions

The term “Cascading” in CSS refers to the order in which styles are applied. If multiple rules target the same element, the browser follows specific rules to determine which style to apply, based on importance, specificity, and the source order of the rules.

External CSS makes it easier to maintain consistent styles across multiple pages, allowing updates to be made in one place. If you plan on having more than a single page now or in the future, external CSS is the best alternative.

Yes, you can use inline, internal, and external CSS together, but it’s recommended to use external CSS for easier management, and avoid inline CSS.

When CSS rules conflict, the browser applies the most specific or latest rule based on the cascading order.

Pseudo-classes are keywords added to selectors that define a special state of an element. For example, :hover applies styles when a user hovers over an element.

Tools & Resources

These are most of the tools and resources we continuously use to develop HTML websites. For a comprehensive list, visit our resources and tools pages.

Domain Names

Buy all TLDs and save when you buy in bulk. Easy to manage DNS and overall settings.

Web Hosting

You will need a server for publishing your HTML website, and for working on remote files.

HTML Templates

Find great HTML templates for every project. Get creative designs and affordably.

Windows Laptop

A Windows laptop is the best tool for editing HTML files, specially necessary for local files.

WinSCP

WinSCP

This may be one of our most used tools. It allows us to connect remotely and update files.

Google Chrome

There are many free browsers, but we love Google Chrome and its many developer tools.