CSS, JavaScript and XHTML Explained

On January 18, 2012, to display opposition to SOPA, the internet killing so-called Stop Online Piracy Act, this blog will be temporarily shut down.

If you would like to show your opposition to SOPA and PIPA, I created a small JavaScript snippet that you can include on your web pages (I included it in the footer of this blog for example). When users visit your site on January 18th, client side, the browser will hide the content and display the message “Stop SOPA”.

You can fork the code here: https://github.com/estelle/StopSOPA or read more about it at Standardist: Stop SOPA

If you want to target Webkit only, use this in your CSS:

@media all and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1){
     selectors {
           properties: values;
     }
}

Put all your Webkit only properties and valus withing the @media at-rule block.

Safari 5 came out today. I am still testing. Safari 5 does not support all CSS selectors. While webkit (the engine behind Safari) has been supporting all CSS selectors, including all proposed CSS3 selectors for a long time now, today’s release does not support a:link and a:visited. There is a grid of CSS3 Selectors and Browser support at my other blog, Standardista.com.

I’ll be testing further over the next few days, but since this one is a doozy if it is a bug, and undocumented (my Google skills are failing me at this hour), i wanted to let y’all know now instead of waiting for my full post. Does anyone know if this is a new security feature, or if it is a bug?

You can download safari.

UPDATE:

According to a somewhat hidden security file at Apple, support.apple.com/kb/HT4196, this seems like it is actually a security feature:

WebKit: Available for: Mac OS X v10.4.11, Mac OS X Server v10.4.11, Mac OS X v10.5.8, Mac OS X Server v10.5.8, Mac OS X v10.6.2 or later, Mac OS X Server v10.6.2 or later, Windows 7, Vista, XP SP2 or later
Impact: A maliciously crafted website may be able to determine which sites a user has visited

Description: A design issue exists in WebKit’s handling of the CSS :visited pseudo-class. A maliciously crafted website may be able to determine which sites a user has visited. This update limits the ability of web pages to style pages based on whether links are visited.

At the time of this writing, it was at the way bottom of the page.

To target only webkit, which includes Google and Safari, encompass all the CSS that you want to use just to target Webkit in the following @media block:

@media screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio:0) {
     .myClass { background-color: #FF0000; }
     #myId {color: #0000FF;}
     p, a, li {text-shadow: 3px 3px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);}
}

Put the above code anywhere in your CSS file. The other browsers will read the rest, but only webkit reads the -webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio of the declaration, and therefore only Chrome and Safari will abide by the rules in the CSS code block.

The important stuff to learn:

@media screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio:0) {
     /* put webkit CSS here*/
}

I just wanted to point out 2 articles I wrote elsewhere that may be of interest to you.

JavaScript Variable Scope: Local and Global Variables

In writing JavaScript functions, variable functions can trip you up. A common error is overwriting a global variable because the variable in a function didn’t have local scope. If that last sentence didn’t make any sense, then this article is for you.

This article covers tips and tricks for understanding variable scope in JavaScript. Read more »

Community MX has over 3,400 articles on web development and design. check it out. They’re also looking for new writers if you’re is interested.

HTML5 Web Forms and Browser Support

HTML5 Web Form specifications are not yet complete, but some browsers are supporting many of the proposed features. I’ve been testing all of the new values in different browsers (want to send me an iPad so I can test, feel free … hint, hint). To see what browsers are supporting as of last week, read more ».
It’s still a work in progress, and i’ll be adding more details to the bottom until it’s complete.

Standardista.com is my new blog where I write about CSS3 and HTML5. There are a lot of excellent (if i do say so myself) browser support grids there. Dig in deep, there isn’t that much there, but what’s there is really thorough.

If you are going to be in Austin for SXSW this weekend, make sure to come to our panel discussion: View Source Has a Posse.

The “view source” functionality of browsers is near and dear to my heart, as it’s how I learned to code, it’s how I judge who to hire, and it’s how I help trouble shoot bugs and quirks when developers ask me for help.

Here’s the summary from the the interwebs:

View Source Has a Posse – my.sxsw.com/events/event/5005

“View source” is a feature of all modern browsers that few people use, and that more probably wouldn’t miss if it disappeared. Still, viewing other people’s source code has played an undeniable role in the Web’s development, spurring a culture of creativity and sharing, and cementing values of openness and transparency in developer practices.

However, as the Web becomes increasingly dedicated to social interaction and applications rather than static documents, the value of viewing machine-generated source code raises a critical question: will view source be relevant to the next generation of Web apps? And what might be lost if new Web applications refuse to include its functionality?

Panelists include Aza Raskin from Mozilla, Chris Wilson from Microsoft, Michael Lucaccini of Archetype, and Alex Russell of Dojo & Google, and ME!.
Questions addressed will include:

1. what is View Source?
2. how have web developers and designers use View Source?
3. what were the original intentions of the feature?
4. how has view source functionality changed with things like Firebug and Web Inspector?
5. what alternatives exist to support iterative hacking on other people’s code?
6. how might tools and communities like GitHub augment or replace View Source?
7. how important is view source to learning to program complex web applications?
8. UserStyles, UserScripts, JetPacks and similar end-user web customizations – will these kinds of innovations be stifled if View Source goes away?
9. how can view source functionality be added to other “non-web” software? How would it be different than open source software?
10. is there a larger point to be made about the relevance of open source in the social/cloud era of computing?

The panel is 3:30 on Saturday in room 12AB. I hope to see you there. Please do say ‘hi’.

At this blog you’ll find my summary article on all the CSS3 properties, values and browser support. CSS3 has many different components, and I am digging into each category. I just posted CSS3 Border Properties & Browser Support tonight, and CSS Background Properties: possible values, default values, browser support and DOM last week…. but at my new blog.

I will continue to maintain this blog, but Standardista.com will hopefully be better organized, and less of an eyesore.

Here are some of the CSS3 articles you’ll find in my new online home:

CSS Properties Index

Below is every most CSS3 Properties, all the possible values for that property, and the support for each property value from grade-A browsers

This grid does not include animation, tranforms, grids, columns, layouts or templates. I have a separate post for CSS3 Background Properties and CSS3 border properties. Those are all coming soon. Sorry for the slow download, but this table is over 8000 lines worth of HTML. I am breaking this out into smaller, related sections. I’ll be posting those at my new site. And, yes, I know this table breaks the layout of the page. This whole blog theme is ugly, but some of the content hopefully makes this eyesore worth it The new site should be ready soon: and way prettier!

body {
    background-color: transparent;
    background-position: 0% 0%;
    background-size: auto auto;
    background-repeat: repeat repeat;
    background-clip: border-box;
    background-origin: padding-box;
    background-attachment: scroll;
    background-image: none; }