The Highly Extensible CSS Interface ~ The Series
~ 25 February 2008 ~
It’s been nearly three years since publishing a series of articles on this site. I’ve got an irresistible yearning to publish anew.
Introducing “The Highly Extensible CSS Interface,” a four-part series of how-to’s and savvy conversation to be published in the coming weeks, with the first article debuting this week. The phrase “highly extensible” is in reference to designing and coding interfaces that are flexible enough to adapt in ways the designer or developer may not foresee when handing off coded templates, while still retaining the overall aesthetic integrity of the layout. I hope you come to discover extensibility as being broader than just “bulletproofing,” though bulletproofing is certainly a significant part of it.
Here’s what to expect:
- Part One: The Foundation
This first article will briefly discuss the importance of producing visually rich interfaces with semantic, accessible, and portable markup underneath. We’ll then dive into code with a reset stylesheet and structure for a resolution-dependent layout. - Part Two: CSS Selectors & jQuery
Shifting to a more intermediate discussion of code, this second article will present examples that demonstrate how to take advantage of the now-supported CSS2 and CSS3 properties previously ignored by Internet Explorer, such as min/max-width, child and adjacent sibling selectors, and others. We’ll also take a look at jQuery, a lightweight scripting library for enhancing UI elements. - Part Three: Adding Ajax Interactivity
The third article will lightly cover Ajax implementation and its role within the interface. This won’t be a highly technical discussion that covers such things as XMLHttpRequest, but rather a demonstration of a few ways to leverage Ajax judiciously. - Part Four: Testing for Extensibility
Lastly, the final article will look back at the chunks of code presented in the three previous articles to assess how they combine to produce a completed interface. We’ll then subject the interface to a series of “extensibility tests” such as translation, text resizing and browser width resizing, the addition of new content, and so forth.
Code samples will be available for viewing and downloading with each article. Much of the discussion will be based on material and a demo interface created for a recent workshop, the likes of which you can preview by clicking this screen capture:
See you back here in a couple days.
43 Comments
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very much looking forward to this!
Thank you in advance for putting the time into this. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Really looking forward to this, Cameron!
Looking forward to this too! I was actually just looking through your ‘worn’ series.
This new series seems to be just what I’m looking for.
Looking forward to reading it! Always enjoy how you present things.
You wouldn’t happen to be fond of Meta Serif at the moment would you? ;)
Can’t wait to read these articles, Cameron. (How in the world do you have time to do this?)
Can’t wait! I’ve been feeling that my CSS is missing that element of extensibility. It seems like CSS is written ad hoc — just so long as everything renders like the mock-up it’s done. Foresight lacking, definitely.
Great googilly moogilly am I antsy. Know that your efforts to provide free reference to the masses does not go unappreciated Mr. Moll. Thank you.
Sounds great. Looking forward to it Cameron!
Excellent! Looking forward to it Cameron!
Excellent! Looking forward to it Cameron!
Fantastic! Looks like a good series.
Sounds great, looking forward to it.
If one were to judge by the number of exclamation points in the comments, one could deduce I’m setting a rather high expectation for the series…
Sweet, bring it on bro!
I’ve been visiting your site for years now and have always pronounced your name as “Mole” for some reason (My bad). In the video, hearing you say your name correctly, I was like “duh”. Anyway, great intro video to a series that looks pretty interesting.
I’m really looking forward to these posts. This was the whole reason I even started coming to your blog, way back when you used to do these more often. So it will be good to learn some more from your “imparted wisdom”
I’m sure you’re not alone, Michael.
Great idea, looking forward to it!
Sounds great! Looking forward to reading the series : )
Sam
PS - Not too sure if you’d get the Twitter reply, but Warioware is a great Wii game for groups. It takes a bit of getting used to but it’s a laugh : )
Gosh! What font did you use in title-extensible.gif? I think I’m in love… :-) Great article, by the way!
fantastic article really love it
I think I may faint with the anticipation of it all.
No pressure though ;-)
(I am, seriously, really looking forward to the articles. I think maybe I need to get out more.)
Here are some more exclamation points for you: !!!!!!!! I’ve been waiting for you to do another series for a long time! Keep it coming! (see, told you there’d be exclamation points)
Looking forward to the series.
Been waiting for this since you teased with the screenshot months ago when you were preparing for your presentation. Awesome!!
What font did you use in title-extensible.gif? I think I’m in love…
That would be the newly released, and yes lovely, FF Meta Serif.
pretty interesting… hmmm… my authentically boring wisdom eh?
HMMM….
!!!!!
Sounds good Cameron - looking forward to it. Thanks. :)
I always find myself needing a quick CSS refresher when I haven’t been coding for a while. I’m looking fwd to the rest.
Thanks Cameron.
Good stuff. Can’t wait for the rest of the series.
Awesome, thank you for your contribution to the design world.
Nice - can’t wait for the full series. Really interested in seeing what you’re presenting. Can’t make it to MA but I’ll be on board for the web stuff - thx.
That sounds great! I’m very excited about it!
Very thanks Cameron.You are nice coder :)
Very nice stuff. Looking forward to the rest of the series!
Hi Cameron, thanks for the great articles. Look forward to the rest of it.
Great tutorial Cameron, it is rare to see such quality material on the web! In case you are interested, I’ve written a quick review on my blog. Thanks!
Fantastic work, very inspiring! Thanks a lot!
Thank you for contributing to a better user experience on the web. I hope your tutorial will be adopted by many.I know I will implement many features.
Also very nice and clean layout.
10x man.
Very nice stuff. Looking forward to the rest of the series!
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1 Hamish M ~ 25 February 2008
Gosh, yeah. It has been a while.
I’m looking forward to it, Cameron.