Alex Jones: Web Technologist, Barbecue Acolyte, Information Junkie, Austinite

Browser Switch

I am shifting to using Mozilla as my Web browser of choice now that Netscape is officially dead. While it is not a major change as Netscape 7 was merely a skin atop Mozilla, there are some differences. The worst of which is the fact that the latest stable version of Mozilla (1.4) doesn’t jive as well with my site as I’d like. I think I will be fixing my CSS this weekend to ensure Mozilla presents the site as I want it to.

All in all, I love Mozilla. It is a fast browser for the most part and is a great tool for those of us developing sites. I can’t express my glee at the use of tabbed browsing; it makes life so much easier for those of us hitting multiple sites at the same time. But my geeky soul will be truly excited when Firebird nears a stable release.

Posted in General

CSS Methodology Project

Well, apparently there aren’t any CSS methodologies out there. After a lively discussion on CSS-D I decided to begin a project to define a solid methodology (perhaps with a couple of variants) with the help of several volunteers from the list.

If you are interested in getting involved, you can join the discussion list. A project Web site will be up soon as well. Now is the best time to get involved as we are defining the goal(s) of the project, individual roles as well as a project name . It doesn’t matter if you are new to CSS, we need input from everyone to ensure we produce a solid set of guidelines that will address the needs of new developers/designers as well as those who have been using CSS for years.

Posted in Web Development

CSS Methodology

I’ve been trading e-mails with a colleague for the last few days and he asked if there are any CSS methodologies available. While I have practices that I consistently follow, I do not know of any that are wide-spread or commonly accepted as the best way to set up and maintain style sheets. So, I sent an e-mail to the CSS-D list to gather the feedback of other designers and developers. Below is the e-mail I sent sans-introduction which you just read.

So, does anyone know of a good methodology already in existence? If not, anyone interested in assisting me as I begin to document and revise one?

In case there aren’t any, here are a some of the practices I follow. Please feel free to let me know of poor decisions in my methods, and suggest new ones!

Style Sheet Organization

• Classes, IDs and elements are listed in alphabetical order unless otherwise noted. The properties of each class, element and ID are in alphabetical order as well. So the “acronym” tag comes before the “body” tag which comes before the “price” ID in the stylesheet. I find this makes it much easier for me and other developers to locate specific items within the stylesheet quickly.
• The link pseudo-classes are grouped together, but do not follow the alphabetical organization within that grouping as some browsers will use the last pseudo-class listed, even if the more accurate one is listed earlier. Rather annoying.
• When possible, elements should be grouped if they have a common attribute, or set of attributes. An example would be to assign the same font to the “body”, “p”, “input” and “td”:
  
body, input, p, td {
font: small Georgia, Garamond, "Times New Roman", serif;
}

• When possible descendant styles should be used to cut down on the code in the style sheets. Below is an example of applying a specific style to an input element within a form with an element that has been assigned the “Purchase” class. Example:
  
.Purchase form input {
border: 1px solid #654819;
height: 18px;
}


Style Naming Convention

• Classes and IDs use mixed case to make them easier to read. In the HTML 4.01 spec, classes and IDs are case sensitive; though some browsers do not recognize the fact. Elements are left in lower case. I know this one may end up being controversial as naming conventions often tend to be
• Do not start an ID or class with a digit or use underscores as they may not work in all browsers.
• Classes and IDS should never be an adjective or infer placement as a future redesign may not place the item in the same spot, or use the same background color. So, instead of using an ID of “TopBox”, use an ID specific to its contents, perhaps “GlobalNav”.

Posted in Web Development & Tagged: CSS, web design, Web Development

Good Ol’ Southern Meal

Tonight I’m makin’ a simple, but damn tasty Southern supper. High on cholesterol and starch - which translates to good eatin’! Fried chicken strips with garlic cheese grits. Mmmm mmm mmm mm mm.

If it turns out as well as I ’spect, I’ll post some recipes. Actually I’ll send ‘em to Leesa and link to them on her site - assuming she will post them. I’m bettin’ she will.

Posted in Food & Drink

University of Alberta Computer Poker Research Group

A very interesting project found via Slashdot: U of A Computer Poker Research Group. An excerpt from their FAQ:

Q: What are you doing, and why?

A: The goal of the University of Alberta Computer Poker Research Group is to create a computer program that plays poker better than any human being. We will have to solve many interesting computer science problems along the way.

A very nice, and relatively short description of the program is available in an excerpt of a reply to a science writer for the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel.

Posted in Poker

Could be Living Somewhere Different Right Now…

Someone sent a post to one of the e-mail lists I subscribe to with a job opportunity I would have jumped on six or seven months ago:

The Location: Bahamas
The Company: Thyme Online
The Work: http://www.thyme-online.com/
The Job: Design, development and deployment.
The Details: we need an all-rounder, capable of high quality design, standards based code, PHP skills and if you can Flash without being arrested, all is good. Must be happy without Windows.

The Attitude: pretty laid back
The Perks: Nice salary and a heap of tax breaks (if you’re non-US)
The Cons: All those damn beaches.

Posted in General

Communication and Learning

For the last couple of days I’ve been struggling with some code issues with a new CMF by the name of eZ publish. I posted a few questions on the forum, and received some help. But, as the problem was a bit more involved, and I was a bit too dense, one of the other forum members gave me his e-mail address so he could help me work it out.

Paul, who works for Vision with Technology (which is based in London) was extremely helpful even though he had absolutely nothing to gain from it. If you’re in the UK and need a good group of people to set up a site, I highly recommend you talk with them.

This experience reminded me of the earlier days of the Net when so many people helped me to learn the basics of HTML and Perl. It also reminded me that I need to give back a bit more, My activity in several forums and news groups will pick up starting today. I will also try to start posting useful information on this site as well.

Posted in Web Development