Where To Learn HTML And CSS

You can happily build a WordPress blog without knowing a single thing about the driving forces of web design – HTML and CSS. That is one of the huge benefits of the WordPress platform. Having said that, there are many amongst us who take more than a passing interest in how websites actually come together. And there is no doubt that a good understanding of HTML and CSS can allow you to make some pretty cool modifications to your blog’s theme.

The internet is chock full of websites offering tutorials, tips and advice on HTML and CSS, so it can be difficult to know where to start. With that in mind, I have taken the liberty of listing the most useful sites that I have relied upon in the past years.

Tizag

Tizag is a site that I used when first learning CSS, nearly ten years ago. It has a friendly and informal approach to its teaching, and never steps into the realms of overwhelming tech-speak, which can prove to be a little too much for budding web designers (I say that from experience!). Although my HTML schooling was through a different site (HTML Goodies…it looked a lot different in my time!), I consider Tizag to be a great learning resource for both CSS and HTML.

W3 Schools

W3C is the godfather of the web. The director of W3C is Tim Berners-Lee – the actual inventor of the world wide web, believe it or not. Now I don’t want to mislead you – W3 Schools shares nothing more than a similarity in name with W3C – but in my opinion, you couldn’t wish to find a website that better preaches the web standards endorsed by W3C.

But that is both a blessing and a curse, as its tutorials can be rather ‘dry’, for want of a better word. W3 Schools is a wonderful resource, but I consider it more useful as a reference manual than for its tutorials.

CSS Zen Garden

Now we’re talking. If you ever wanted to get a better understanding of the capabilities of CSS, take some downtime in the Zen Garden. This site, through the participation of its visitors, demonstrates how the exact same framework of content and structure can be manipulated using CSS to completely change the presentation of a page. You can lose quite a lot of time browsing through the different submissions. Although the site offers no tutorials as such, it is a great place to find inspiration and gain a better understanding of the capabilities of CSS.

CSS Tricks

This blog takes pride of place in my RSS feed. If you ever want to be regularly updated on ways to get a “huh…that’s cool” reaction from your visitors, you can do a lot worse than CSS Tricks. The site is a treasure trove of goodies for any web designer – with CSS ‘snippets’, videos, and a helpful forum.

Barely Scratching The Surface

What do you think about the sites above – do you use them yourself? Or do you rely upon alternative resources? Let us know!

Tags:

• design
• CSS
• HTML