Back in October, Andy Budd wanted to have min- and max-padding in CSS3, so it seems only fair that for my 200th post here I can also give my $.02 and ask (and maybe stomp my little feet) for something in CSS3 (after all we can celebrate together in well, roughly 2010 when all browsers support it – that is if we still use browsers then):

I want nested declaration blocks!

I basically want them as I hate repeating myself, and I hate repeating code when it is not needed. (more…)

It has been quite a while since I started the CSS Toolshed, and I expected a lot of submissions after hundreds of people downloaded the templates, but now – more than two weeks later – I only got one good submission to show.

OK, I get the message: I cannot expect developers to work in conditions like these to submit something for a project they don’t get any money from. It is frustrating enough having to deal with these at work, but at least there is a paycheck in it.

So, to make it a bit easier, I updated the templates pack to include

• all the necessary images
• more templates containing almost all elements of the building block gallery
• pre-defined CSS selectors with all the content elements

As the pièce de résistance, I created a new demo design called Happy Cock and wrote down what I was doing while developing it.

So if you need to get an insight as to how to create a CSS Toolshed entry (or simply a flexible CSS layout) go and read:

• Cocking up – How the Happy Cock CSS Toolshed submission was done

Hopefully this will help the toolshed get some more submissions, I’d hate simply to let it die…

I remember finding A List Apart and Evolt.org very early in my career and it helped me heaps, and I learnt a lot from the Forums on Sitepoint.com and really way back at experts exchange. I’ve also been a regular on the list and CSS-Discuss for some years and on IRCnet in #html since almost 1997.

And lately I must say I am getting the feeling that we are grinding down to a halt. It is not a matter of content in most cases, it is a matter of style and etiquette in asking and answering. (more…)

I got 5 test emails from different web developer friends today asking me if this christmas ecard in email format looks good in my email client. Most looked messed up in one way or another, and all had the images initially blocked and flagged up the loading as a security issue.

So here are some of my thoughts on HTML email:

• email is probably the most spammed way of technological communication
• most security issues and virus breakouts are caused by email or messaging software and users who do not know better than to click a link or run an attachment
• If I wanted to know that you read my emails, I’d embed a cgi script as an image
• the display size of email programs is totally unknown, and I don’t know anybody who opens emails fullscreen by default
• Multipart emails (embedded images and HTML) might be filtered out as spam or possible virus threats
• different email clients support CSS/HTML to different degrees, in addition to online email clients like gmail, yahoo or hotmail. It is a bit like trying to make everything perfect for about 20 different browsers.
• Multipart HTML email can get rather big

Now, do you want to spend a lot of time on something that is very likely not to work out and spook your clients or wish them happy christmas?

The solution for wishing them a happy christmas: Host your ecard on a server, send them a link. You’ll know that the email will arrive and not cause warning lights to go on and you draw visitors to your site to boot.

Yesterday was Molly’s geek dinner in the hog’s head in Bond Street, and it was quite a good social gathering.

Check the flickr photos to see what was going on.

My findings:

• geekdinner is a rubbish tag, as you can see at number on non-related pictures (including the pita goatse )
• if you ever want to give a speech in a place where nobody will be able to hear you, choose the hog’s head – poor Ian, Molly and Andy tried their best though
• All the christmas lights in the West End are normal christmas lights again – last year everything was branded with “The Incredibles”
• Too many pints make me stop writing things at night