Here’s a collection of techniques on emulate min-width, max-width, min-height, and max-height in IE6:

Max-Width for IE6

Max-Width Right Aligned

Max-Width in IE6 using Opposing Floats and Negative Margins

Min-Height Div Demo

CSS Min-Height Explained

Min-Width Div Demo

Using CSS to Solve Min-Width in IE

Min-Width Workaround using a Placeholder Div

Natural Min-Width using Padding and Negative Margins

Min-Width in IE5 and IE6

Min-Width in IE6 using Padding and Borders

IE6 Min-Width Solutions

Minimum and Maximum Width Explained

Forms are part of almost every website. Whether it’s a simple contact form or a complex sign-up form, filling one out is usually a mundane task. When possible, you should try to make form completion for the user easier and more enjoyable. Here are 12 jQuery plugins that can help you enhance your forms.

Read full entry here»

http://webdesignledger.com/resources/12-excellent-jquery-plugins-for-enhancing-forms

There is a new web resource for freelancers similar to Scriptlance that launched yesterday. Gigapxmedia.com offers the design services you would expect from a collective of freelancers but is also geared toward linking professionals up with clients.

Read more at Gigapxmedia’s Blog

Here’s a collection of articles on avoiding truncated borders and content when using negative margins in IE6 and IE7:

The Definitive Guide to using Negative Margins
The Positive Side of Negative Margins
Border Chaos
Solution for Negative Margins and Indentation
Clipping of Negative Margined Blocks in a hasLayout Container
Negative Margin hasLayout Bug

Web designs need not look exactly the same in all browsers. I recognise that’ s a topic i’ve written with regards to and spoken on a fair amount before, but in some way i’ m at all times amazed by the reactions that I get when the subject comes up.

Although this idea isn’t new (and only for the record I recognise I didn’t create it), when I teach my design philosophy at workshops and conferences i’m often amazed to hear that the notion that people using different browsers (even up-to-date ones) may deliberately see deviations in visual design sounds new.

The belief that all browsers will have to see the same design often requires us to resort to presentational markup, forked css and javascript dom wizardry. It can come from:
A deeply embedded feeling that the web shares print’s need for pixel perfection
The desire of brand stewards to control each appearance of a design
A misunderstanding among clients and managers possibly reinforced by
An old fashioned workflow that has its roots in print design and pre-press

Thinking with regards to alternatives

Please allow me to clear up a common misconception. When I discuss designs not looking exactly the same in all browsers I am not discussing making bad designs for people using older or abandoned software. I would never receive that. Or that a design will have to look poor or broken. Or that somebody could be refused admission to content or services whether or not they’re using a fewer able browser. What I am discussing is creating a visual design that looks best to people who are using innovative software and at the same time thinking carefully with regards to what somebody using fewer able software will see. This approach is merely based around thinking with regards to number of things from which only one can be chosen. It’s small different to the way that I hope we have been taught to think with regards to web accessibility.

You could just be thinking that it’s strange for me as a visual designer introductory, that I would advertize an approach where a lot of people see a lesser design that others. But i’m similarly a pragmatist and I recognise that in my business, I would quite ask my clients to spend their cash wisely on things that will improve their business, than to waste it on hours of unnecessary development.

Not everybody will agree with this approach and of course whether or not you do agree, how far you take it will count upon assorted components and your own circumstances. i’ve my limits too. So here are five examples of css design deviations that I can live with and do live with day after day.
Demonstration file

Before reading on, take a consider a activity of formally presenting something xhtml/css design file from one of my recent projects. I hope you think it looks great. I hope you find that nothing looks broken or out of place. I hope that you think that whether or not you were reading this page, that you would find everything just where you need it to be, irrespective what browser you are using.

more at: http://blog.alphastudiobg.com

No need of javascript to make tooltips. I got this simple css trick to make it.

CSS Code

a:hover {
background:#ffffff; /*BG color is a must for IE6*/
text-decoration:none;
}

a.mytooltip span {
display:none;
padding:2px 3px;
margin-left:8px;
width:200px;
}

a.mytooltip:hover span{
display:inline;
position:absolute;
background:#ffffff;
border:1px solid #cccccc;
color:#6c6c6c;
}

HTML Code

<a href=”#” class=”mytooltip”>Vikas Khera<span>http://vikaskhera.wordpress.com</span></a>

Example

CSS

#abcxyz_logo {
background-image: url(mhtml:http://www.abcxyz.com/css/uris.mht!abcxyz_logo);
}

MHT(uris.mht)

Content-Type: Multipart/related; boundary="_URI_DELIMITER"; type="text/html"

--_URI_DELIMITER
Content-Location:abcxyz_logo
Content-Type:/image/gif
Content-Transfer-Encoding:base64

mylogoissocoolyourlogoisforfoolsschooltoolrulegruelpoolsocruel...
--_URI_DELIMITER--

Here’s a series of articles on using MHTML and server-side scripting to create cross-browser Base64 encoded image data:

Use MHTML:URIs when you need Data:URIs in IE7 and under

Key Concepts of MHTML

When you should use Base64 for images

Data URIs in CSS Cross-browser

Data URIs using the Object Element

Embedding Base64 Image Data into a Webpage

Aptimize for Realtime Spriting and converting bitmaps to MHTML/Data URIs

Base64 Encoded Images for Internet Explorer

Building MHTML Files from URLs

Data URI Examples for IE6/7

MHTML Test Messages

Short Summary of the MHTML Standard

Concept : Clean, Simple, Black.

Making With : Flash, PHP, CMS edited ,Javascript.

Link : http://www.yogaraharja.com

Here’s a few references on ways to emulate fixed positioning in IE6 along with their caveats:

Fixed Positioning for Standards and Quirks Mode

IE6 Fixed Positioning Demo

Fixed Positioning Tutorial

Fixed Positioning Design Pattern

Here’s a collection of experiments using CSS to create various 2D and 3D shapes, images, and objects:

Arbitrary Lone Triangles

CSS Angles

CSS Shelves

CSS Triangles with Border Properties

Diagonal line in CSS

Drawing Diagonal Lines with CSS

A Diagonal Nav Rollover Effect with CSS

Diagonal Horizontal Green Menu

Drawing a Parrot with CSS

Triangles in CSS

Image Free Tooltip Pointers using Polygonal CSS

CSS Triangle Generator

Geometric Designs with CSS

Diagonal Lines in CSS

Simple Triangles in CSS

CSS Triangles

CSS Slanted Diagonal Borders

CSS Polygons

CSS Polygon Toolbox

CSS Digital Clock

CSS 3D Cube

CSS 3D House

CSS Keyboard

CSS Snooker Table

CSS Lamp

CSS Deck of Cards

CSS Legos

CSS Snowman

CSS TV

CSS Stars and Stripes Flag

CSS Union Jack Flag

CSS Transparent Five-Point Star

CSS Pencil

Here’s an excellent collection of tutorials and demos on creating rounded corners using HTML and CSS without graphics, SVG, HTML5 canvas, border-radius or JavaScript:

Image-Free CSS Styled Corners

Even More Image-Free CSS Styled Corners

Corner Shapes using CSS

How to Add Fluid Borders to Your Boxes with CSS

Rounded Corners using nothing but CSS

CSS Round Corners with Borders

Use Stripes and Inline Elements to Get Rounded Corners

Here’s a few articles and resources on learning the different browser default CSS settings and developing a strategy to overwrite them for cross-browser consistency:

User Agent Style Sheets

IE8: Default CSS values in Developer Tools

html4.css in Konqueror

html4.css in Safari/Chromium

html.css in Mozilla

quirks.css in Konqueror

quirks.css in Safari/Chromium

quirk.css in Mozilla

presentational.css in Konqueror

mathml.css in Mozilla

MathML: CSS Profile in Opera

svg.css in Safari/Chromium

svg.css in Mozilla

forms.css in Mozilla

Really Undoing html.css

Fractionally Restoring html.css

Old School CSS Reset for Netscape

I recently watched X-men Origins: Wolverine. Not too impressed. Maybe its the nerd in me that realizes all the wrong stuff in it, but who knows. or the cliche, look at the sky, “NOOOOO!!!” that happened like…5 times. awesome. I definitely wish they spent more time explaining who Ryan Reynolds character was…since he ended up being the final villain, but shit happens and life goes on. He did get a spin off out of this, so way to go Reynolds.

So with summer coming up, and lots of free time that’s about to show up on my hands, I’ve decided to do a few things with this bloggity i’ve got going on here. 1st, I’m gonna go ahead and try to knock out some basic CSS design and make my own theme. I’ve done DIV overlay before, and that was extremely easy, and html is easy too, so I don’t think the CSS will be too hard. I’m gonna get a book and download some of my old Digital Media programs again. It’s something I’m looking forward to.

The other thing is i’m going to try to read a ton of books over the summer, and review each of them as I go on. Like I said earlier post, I have a few books laying on my dresser that are so ready to be read by me. =] I can’t even remember the titles at this point, but I’ll keep it updated as I go. Summer is 3 tests away, come tuesday, I’m done. =]

New Addiction: The British Islander from Saxby’s Coffee on Stacy. I never had Saxby’s until October, when I went to the one in McKinney to sell my TV. (The guy only wanted to meet there…I miss my tv)  I’m can’t remember what’s in it, but it’s really good. I recommend it frozen…not on ice. On ice tastes too much like coffee and not enough like a frozen drink. haha. I love coffee and all, but not on ice. it’s just gross on ice. to me. And they have a “go card” which lets you get free drinks after so many purchases. pretty cool. And one of meg’s neighbors is like…the owner or something like that. Which just means it’s a small world, haha.

I really need to stop doing this in the middle of the night.

Here’s a few articles on combining inline-block in IE6 and IE7 with display:table in IE8 and other standards-based browsers as an alternative or replacement to floats for creating cross-browser column layouts using modern CSS:

Centering a Dropdown Menu with inline-block and table display

Replacing Floats with Inline-Block and Display:Table

Using Inline-Block and Display:Table for Layouts without Floats

Using Inline-Block and Display:Table for Horizontal List Alignment

Determining the appropriate width of a website has always been a tricky matter. Different monitor sizes, non-maximized browser windows, toolbars, adjustable OS elements all add to the variability. Early on there were some clever approaches, like this (just resize your window to the width of the image!). There were also many novice designers who built things at literal screen resolutions, say 800×600 or 1024×768. The problem is that with browser chrome and OS elements in place, your actual usable browser width was nowhere near that, more like 760 or ~960.

There’s also the long running debate of fixed width sites versus fluid or dynamic width sites.  There are several ways to implement a fluid width. Early sites simply didn’t specify a width, which on modern screens leads to absurdly wide columns of text which are awful in terms of readability. If you’re page is filled with content you could also break it up into smaller chunks and have them float to the right of each other, so that on a wider screen they’ll appear horizontally but on narrower screens they’ll cascade vertically.

Another more recent approach takes advantage of the CSS tags min-width and max-width to set limits, which help adapt the page to different sizes, but still retain the same general layout and readability (here’s a nice example). As usual though, these properties aren’t supported in IE6 so hacks and workarounds are used. In broad terms there are good reasons and cases for both types of layout, but in the CPG and other consumer marketing sectors we typically work in, brand guidelines and design specs usually lend themselves to the more tightly defined fixed widths.

For several years now, the predominant screen resolution for general purpose sites has been 1024×768, meaning that we could build sites at 960 – 980 px wide and fill those users screens fairly well. What we’re beginning to see though, is more diversity in screen sizes above 1024 wide. Widescreen monitors up to 30″ (both 16×9 and 16×10 aspect ratios), older 4×3 monitors, and people using HDTVs as monitors bring dozens of possible resolutions into play.

How do we accomodate these…what’s the new 960? Some people have picked conservative estimates, but those don’t seem to really utilize much of the space available on many systems. A counterpoint to that is also the success of netbooks, ie tiny laptop computers, whose screens are typically much lower resolution, though often widescreen in ratio. Bring mobile phones into the equation (some that use mobile styles and others like the iPhone that pull the full site styles), and you’ve just got a mess on your hands!

Different style sheets can help, and perhaps we strive for more use of min and max widths, but what are your thoughts on a new standard in fixed widths?  Is it time, or do we need more stats on larger resolution screens? Are we destined to work at 960 for years to come?

Here’s a few JavaScript libraries and experimental demos using SVG and VML vector graphics in addition to CSS3 border-radius property to create cross-browser rounded corners without images:

Curvy Corners JavaScript Library
Cornerz JavaScript Library
DD Roundies JavaScript Library
SVG and VML Round Boxes
Rounded Corners using VML
SVG Multiple Images and Rounded Corners
border-radius for all
Rounded Corners for Image Elements in Firefox with SVG
Rounded Corner Generator for CSS3/SVG
Vector Corners using SVG, VML, and CSS
Emulating CSS border-radius using VML

Here’s a few articles on using the clip property to create image effects and layer elements without rendering obscured content:

Clipped Image Gallery Demo

CSS Clipping Review

Creating Thumbnails Using the CSS Clip Property

Misunderstood CSS Clip Property Tutorial

Better Foreground Sprites

Horizontal List Delimiters using clip

Crossbrowser List Delimiters

Clipping Images with CSS

Logic behind the clip property

Here’s a few resources on calculating which CSS rules are more specific than others and figuring out the order of the cascade:

CSS Specificity Wars

Dueling Declarations: Following the Cascade

CSS Specificity Examples

CSS2 and CSS2.1 Specificity Clarified

Calculating CSS Specificity

Calculate the Specificity of CSS Selectors

CSS Specificity Overview

CSS Cascade Overview

The Great Specificity Swindle

CSS Cascade Specificity

CSS Cascading Order

CSS Inheritance and the Cascade

Battle of the Selectors Specificity

CSS Specificity Calculator

Fuzzy Specificity in IE

IE6 :visited and :hover Specificity

http://www.la.unm.edu/~bjudd/IT152-CSS/resources/specificity.php

Border-radius allows you to create rounded corners with just CSS without the need for graphics or JavaScript. If you are not using it yet here’s an explanation.

Rounded Corners

Historically rounded corners were tricky to implement involving a background graphic or even JavaScript. Interface designers would issue a little sigh as designers littered designs with rounded corners. Well not any more!

Corners for all

Now you can create rounds corners easily using CSS. There is a bit of variance between browser vendors at the moment but I imagine eventually the syntax will standardise. To add rounded corners you just need:

/* Gecko browsers */
-moz-border-radius: 5px;
/* Webkit browsers */
-webkit-border-radius: 5px;
/* W3C syntax - likely to be standard so use for future proofing */
border-radius:10px;

/* Gecko browsers */
-moz-border-radius-topleft: 20px;
-moz-border-radius-topright: 0;
-moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0;
-moz-border-radius-bottomright: 20px;

/* Webkit browsers */
-webkit-border-top-left-radius: 20px;
-webkit-border-top-right-radius: 0;
-webkit-border-bottom-left-radius: 0;
-webkit-border-bottom-right-radius: 20px;

/* W3C syntax */
border-top-left-radius: 20px;
border-top-right-radius: 0;
border-bottom-right-radius: 0;
border-bottom-left-radius:  20px;

Here are a few articles with in-depth explanations of the usage and pitfalls of z-index in page layout:

Using z-index to create Parallax Scrolling in CSS
Using z-index to create dual background images
Andy Clarke on z-index
A Detailed Look at the z-index Property
Overlapping and z-index
IE6 z-index bugs
Conflicting z-index in IE6
Stacking z-index in IE6
Give me som zzz’s
Positioning with z-index
Absolute and Fixed Positioning
The Difference between Flow and Positioning for Web Pages

Watching the morning news a few days ago the anchors kept promoting their new site, Fox8.com formerly MyFoxCleveland.com . I forgot about it for a few days, but I’ve had a chance to visit it several times now and I wanted to give a brief analysis of the new homepage from a design and (basic) usability standpoint. At DigitalDay we’re working on a comprehensive analysis tool for judging the effectiveness and quality of sites, but while that’s still being produced we’ll look at the site on a basic level.

Although not design related, the new URL is a significant improvement. The station brands itself as ‘Fox8′ on nearly all materials I’ve ever seen, so it makes sense that they’ve moved to this shorter and easier to read designation.

Overall Design

Fox8 homepage

When the page loads, a couple things come to mind. The page loads quickly on a decent connection, which is good, and at first glimpse the site doesn’t seem nearly as cluttered as most tv station web sites, especially small to medium market stations. The background graphic is extremely compressed (probably an effort to save bandwidth…but the design could be more abstract so the compression artifacts weren’t so prominent). Unfortunately the site was not built with large monitors in mind.

The background graphic fades to a solid blue, so they could have easily made the body background the same blue – white gradient for a seamless transition. I realize my monitor is wider than the average users, but it’s the little details that make decent designs good, and good designs great. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of the deep blue and red color scheme, but that’s their palette and they’ve embraced it fully.

Typography

Fox8.com uses a simple sans-serif typographic system. Lucida Grande is the main font, and while I love Lucida, it’s disappointing to see that they didn’t specify Lucida Sans Unicode as the Windows alternative (Lucida Grande is ubiquitous on Macs but rarely found on Windows machines).

Instead the font stack moves to Tahoma, which has very tight kerning when bolded and lowers the readability on the main menu in particular. Unfortunately this is the way most users will be seeing the site.

Section headers are images, but I question if that’s really necessary since they seem to simply be white Arial bold text with a heavy drop shadow. Was the shadow really that necessary? If you’re going to use images for headers, you should get as much aesthetic and branding benefit as possible.

Fox8’s type has several spacing issues as well. In boxes like the Popular Stories feature, there is not enough spacing between list items to clearly differentiate them. It’s also unnecessary that the text in boxes like Offbeat News extends to the very edge of the box it inhabits (spacing between list items would be very beneficial here as well). A little padding would not only look much better, it’s used in other sections like Featured Links, and would be a consistent style.

Usability

From a basic usability standpoint, there are a couple of red flags on the Fox8 site. First, in the main news section stories are cycled through, but there is no active state. An indicator of which story is currently being featured would be a welcome addition. Similarly, I would avoid relying on a rollover to indicate what is a link. A user should be able to easily determine what’s a link and what is not without having to rollover it. Combine that with the inconstent link styling on the site (sometimes they’re blue, sometimes black, sometimes blue is not a link, but blue/bold is) and you have a confusing system that could be much simpler and more usable.

Conclusion

I struggle when seeing sites like Fox8. It’s a mediocre at best site redesign that could be significantly better. They have made improvements and are headed in the right directions, but in areas like basic usability and typography they could improve so much with such simple changes. I’ll take a look again in a few months and see if things have changed.

Affordable web design