Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mashael ALDrees
KSU
mashael.me@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
If you want to build a new web site and you want to use CSS for styling the webpage .
But you want to use professional , faster and Without errors way .Read this paper
to find the Characteristics you're looking for and To relieve yourself, It present The
CSS Frameworks .
Keywords
CSS, Frameworks, style , outlay, design .
1.INTRODUCTION
You don’t have to write the same CSScode over and over again. Whatever project you’re starting to work
with, at some point you have to define classes and IDs you’ve already defined in your previous webprojects.
To avoid unnecessary mistakes you might want to start not from a blank file, but from an almost “perfect” one.
And this is where CSS Frameworks becoming important.
The structure of the paper as follows:
Section 2 The Meaning of the word "Framework ", Section 3 The Meaning of "CSS Framework" and some
examples, Section 3.1 When to use CSS framework , Section 3.2 Who should use CSS framework,
Section 3.3 Advantages of CSS Frameworks, Section 3.4 Disadvantages of CSS Frameworks,
Section 3.5 Different CSS Frameworks ,Finally the conclusion .
2.FRAMEWORK
The word framework means a set of tools, libraries, conventions, and best practices that attempt to
abstractt routine tasks into generic modules that can be reused. The goal here is to allow the designer or
developer to focus on tasks that are unique to a given project, rather than reinventing the wheel each
time around.
A framework is a basic conceptual structure which you can use in your webprojects.[1]
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The First MiniConference in Web Technologies and Trends (WTT)
© 2009 Information Technology Department, CCIS, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3.CSS FRAMEWORK
A CSS framework is a library that is meant to allow for easier, more standardscompliant styling of a webpage
using the Cascading Style Sheets language. Just like programming and scripting language libraries CSS
frameworks (usually packaged as external .CSS sheets inserted into the header) package a number of ready
made options for designing and outlaying a webpage[2].
CSS frameworks are usually just a collection of CSS files that set up things like basic typography, form
styling, grids/simple layout, and resets, such as
• typography.css for basic typographic rules.
• grid.css for gridbased layouts .
• layout.css for general layouts.
• form.css for basic form styling[3].
3.1When to use CSS framework
If you have a very big site and work in a team (or alone) and you must have “standard” (universal) code
that can cover all the scenarios, the best solution is CSS Framework[4].
3.2Who should use CSS framework
For the CSS beginners that they can web web design faster. Maybe you can save a lot of time in the
beginning but you will lose a lot of time at the end for debugging or for implementing some specific code.
after almost everything being done, you must implement some features that the Framework does not cover.
the CSS Frameworks are not for CSS starters (newbies) , They are for people who know CSS but want more
organized approach[4].
3.3Advantages of CSS Frameworks
They usually have multi browser support.
A lot of bugs and problems are fixed.
They usually have 80% of all the CSS code that you will ever need. there is a lot of code examples.
You can learn a lot from the CSS Frameworks .
You normalize your code/class base.
You have a better workflow within a team[3].
3.4Disadvantages of CSS Frameworks
There will be some CSS code from the framework that you will never use.
You need time to fully understand the framework.
Bug fixing is not always simple (first you have to learn how the framework works)
It’s not so “semantic” (class=”menuleft” – semantic v.s class=”divxyz” not so semantic)[3].
3.5Different CSS Frameworks
3.5.1Elements CSS Framework
Elements is a CSS Framework that was developed by Ben Henschel It was built to help designers write CSS
faster and more efficient. This framework is like a template which has all of the things you end up typing in
over and over for every website you create. It is very lightweight, with only 4 files. They are :
Elements Which is a collection of preset classes that are commonly used
Reset A mass reset
Typography Basic Typography
External Links Stylizes different external links to improve usability for the user[5]
3.5.2YUI Grids CSS
Yahoo UI it's so comprehensive ,but the comprehensiveness makes it a bit hard to use because it is
complicated. YUI Grids CSS offers four preset page widths, six preset templates, and the ability to stack and
nest subdivided regions of two, three, or four columns. The 4kb file provides over 1000 page layout
combinations[6].
3.5.3YAML CSS Frameworks
YAML is designed to allow easy structuring of a layouts, offers various tools for rapid development of modern
and accessible CSS layouts. The most important aspects are :
Documentation , Community , Browser , Stability , Accessibility , Design Freedom , Tested in Practice ,
Flexible Licensing Model , Further Development[7].
3.5.4Blueprint CSS
Blueprint is a CSS framework, which aims to cut down on your CSS development time. It gives you a solid
CSS foundation to build your project, with an easy touse grid, and even a style sheet for printing. It‘s based
on the idea of splitting the width of a page into 24 columns [8].
3.5.5Schema Web Design Framework
Schema is a presentation layer web framework designed to provide essential CSS and HTML markup that is
used repeatedly in design tasks. Rather than build your HTML/CSS from scratch for each new web project,
Schema provides the necessary foundation to get up and running with your design in no time.
Schema comes with prebuilt HTML+CSS specifications. You can tweak these to fit your design needs.
CSS resetting for optimum crossbrowser compatibility .
Standard HTML elements (a, img, table, ul, ol, p, h1h5, and more) .
Minimal, but powerful, div/block layouts .
Photoshop document files for adapting graphics[9].
3.5.6Clever CSS
CleverCSS is a small markup language for CSS that can be used to build a style sheet in a clean and
structured way. In many ways it’s cleaner and more powerful than CSS2 is. The most obvious difference to
CSS is the syntax: it is indentation based and not flat[10] .
3.5.7Tripoli CSS Framework
Tripoli is a generic CSS standard for HTML rendering. By resetting and rebuilding browser standards, Tripoli
forms a stable, crossbrowser rendering foundation for web projects.
Tripoli completely resets all default browser standards and rebuilds them quietly with modern web
development in mind.
Tripoli is not a CSS framework. It doesn't tell you how to code your web site. Instead, it forms a solid HTML
rendering engine and a base for creating dynamic layouts without interfering with typographic
measurements[11].
3.5.8WYMstyle CSS Framework
The WYMstyle aim of this project is to provide a set of welltested modular CSS files, that can be used for fast
design of web sites. It is a set of CSS files, that you can easily combine to very quickly create the layout of
your web sites. It is aims to suppress the tedious compatibility testing across browsers for each created
website, by providing CSS modules which are reliable and welltested[12].
3.5.9Logicss CSS Frameworks
The Logic CSS framework is a collection of CSS files and PHP utilities to cut development times for web
standards compliant XHTML layouts[13].
3.5.10960 Grid System
The 960 Grid System is an effort to streamline web development workflow by providing commonly used
dimensions, based on a width of 960 pixels. There are two options : 12 and 16 columns, which can be used
separately or in tandem[14].
3.5.11Emastic CSS Framework
Emastic is interesting looking CSS Framework, it’s go where no CSS Framework has gone before. It is
Lightweight, It is designed for both fixed and fluid layout. It looks like a nice alternative to fluid layouts than
YUI Grids, with simpler and more flexible column structuring and class naming[15].
4.CONCLUSION
CSS Frameworks can make designer more productive with readymade code. It's also a good way to reduce
redundant work.
CSS Frameworks are useless if they don’t serve your specific needs properly.
CSS frameworks are pretty advanced and if you have the time to learn it, go ahead. It may get your work
Better and You gain more skills .
5.REFERENCES
[1] Article by Jeff Croft available from
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/frameworksfordesigners
[2] wikipedia.
[3] Smashing magazine Located on the Internet at
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/09/21/cssframeworkscssresetdesignfromscratch/
[4] Carrer web log Located on the Internet at
http://www.vcarrer.com/2008/08/whentousecssframework.html
[5] Web Scripts Located on the Internet at
http://webscripts.softpedia.com/script/DevelopmentScriptsjs/Elements38993.html
[6] Yahoo developer network Located on the Internet at
http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/grids/
[7] Yet Another Multicolumn Layout (YAML) Located on the Internet at
http://www.yaml.de/
[8] Blueprintcss Located on the Internet at
http://www.blueprintcss.org/
[9]DIVE COLDING DESIGN (DG) Located on the Internet at
http://www.davidgoldingdesign.com/schema.html
[10] POCOO SANDBOX Located on the Internet at
http://sandbox.pocoo.org/clevercss/
[11] DEVKICK Located on the Internet at
http://devkick.com/lab/tripoli/
[12] WYMstyle Located on the Internet at
http://www.wymstyle.org/en/
[13] LOGICSS Located on the Internet at
http://code.google.com/p/logicss/
[14] 960 Grid System Located on the Internet at
http://960.gs/
[15]URL GREYHOT web log of Michael Angeles, a user experience designer
http://urlgreyhot.com/personal/weblog/emastic_css_framework