If you're looking for an easy entry into learning CSS and don't care about portability between browsers and operating systems, this is an OK guide. It's easy to read, the tone is casual and friendly, and the basics are described fairly well.

If it's at all important to worry about how things will appear for anything other than IE on Windows, however, this is a very poor choice.

The author covers the basics of CSS fairly well, with only a few glitches and oversimplifications. Unfortunately, he also spends a lot of time complaining about the syntax, the design of the syntax, the designers of CSS in general, and dismisses the mere idea of validity checking, insisting the tools are too rigorous. That approach is carried through the book, with a deliberate exclusion of concern for usability outside one specific--albeit large--audience: current users of IE on current versions of Windows. Even the trouble-shooting section makes little mention of dealing with inconsistencies.

He notes that he won't waste time on theory--but does so frequently enough that it would have been faster to include the theory than the constant "I won't bother you with that" disclaimers.

If you already have a copy, it's not a horrible book to read. If you have any option and care about understanding how to design an effective webpage using CSS, I can't recommend spending money on it, however.

This book may have been useful in a IE6-only world. However, since the world has moved on, a book dedicated to CSS-for-IE6 is now outdated, at best. While I appreciate that he is writing from an IE-centric viewpoint and am OK with skipping functions IE doesn't recognize, including ActiveX in an introductory CSS book (in the beginning chapters, even) is simply misguided. Sure, you can fade your text ... if your viewer is willing to accept the ActiveX warnings.

Further, the author takes the Dummies "casual" approach (which I generally do not mind) beyond the level of good taste. He spends far too much time insulting the creators of CSS (among others), expects me to admire his inability to understand concepts, and actually crosses into condescending far too often. Here's a choice example: "Don't worry about why you use the (0). It's a quirk of computer languages that makes no sense - they start counting up from zero rather than one. Just use the code and don't bother your pretty head about it." (You have the opportunity to be told not to worry your "pretty head" about things more than once. Brilliant.)

Arrogance is one thing, but when there are as many sloppy errors in code and concept as there are here it becomes almost laughable. I can accept the occasional grammar or formatting error, but the code should be checked more thoroughly -- sometimes an error is repeated over and over. For examples, on several occasions he uses equal signs instead of colons, which might leave the beginner wondering a bit why the code misfires, and his demonstration of the nth-child selector is simply incorrect.

I can't say there's nothing to be learned from this book, and it has the makings of being a decent introduction to CSS. Some of his comments on style and avoiding tacky design may be helpful and he does a decent job of avoiding being too technical. However, I'm really glad I made use of the library for this one, and whoever checks it out after me will be glad of the corrections I've left behind.

This was the first "Dummies" book I ever bought and is likely the last. The author has a clear bias against internet standards and is prone to go off on rants about committees and their supposedly bad decisions that make life hard for him. If he had simply stated his positions at the beginning of the book, it would have been fine, but the continual diatribes, many of which are ill-conceived and/or illogical, throughout the book are distracting.

Don't buy this book. Get the O'Reilly book on CSS. It is much more helpful and doesn't have any of Mansfield's bias.

It has some interesting examples, but it got into unnecessary explanation of the thousands of ways to address a tag, a bit annoying. Then I got to page 91, where the author tries to explain the difference between "relative" and "absolute" positioning of elements. Here I encountered one of my biggest pet peeves. I will let you read it yourself:
"Of course, as Albert Einstein pointed out, everything is relative except the
speed of light. So, when we speak of "absolute" positioning, it merely means
that we're being somewhat "less relative." What do I mean by this?
You actually cannot sit still, no matter how hard you try. When you think you're
sitting still, you're still moving at about a half million miles per hour as the solar
system spins around the galaxy. In fact, you're moving through space in a rapid
and complex corkscrew path. Even while you're quietly asleep, you're still flying
aboard the rotating earth, orbiting the sun, spinning around the galaxy. And the
galaxy itself is hurtling through the universe. So you're moving really fast in a
dozen different circles all the time. Luckily, so is your bed and everything else
in your room. They're all at rest, relative to you, but not relative to light."

What? Did he really..? I am staring away like Jim from The Office, into an imaginary camera right now.

I actually took the time to find this title on Amazon just to write a review (and hopefully save people money).

I'm not a professional designer, I'm not even a very good hobbyist designer.
I only know what I need to know to get the result I want on the page.
So I figured it might be time to actually understand what I'm doing and not copy and alter existing code, and this is the first book on CSS I read.
And it was not at all helpful.
I learned a lot more from occasionally googling to an online free tutorial, and looking at the source code of free CSS templates that I liked.

This book is a very basic intro into CSS, pretty much only targeted to IE users (because, who uses anything else, right?! *hmpf!*) and I really struggle to try and find something nice to say about it after plowing through it all for 4 hours.

And if you're using Dreamweaver this whole book can be summarized in 5 pages
(or heck, let me try 1 line: open the CSS Rule definition box, adjust the value, and see what it does).

This book did not explain things clearly, and there was a lot of useless information to sift through.
For example: who on earth would want to use those very very ugly default image borders/bullets/horizontal lines in the first place (and the book says nothing at all about customizing those, which I think should be possible with CSS?? )

Also I really want to mention the website layout/design samples in the book,
text over a too busy background so that it becomes very hard to read: Bad!!

So, in short, stay away from this one, even if you can get it for free you're wasting your time.

I actually took the time to find this title on Amazon just to write a review (and hopefully save people money).

I'm not a professional designer, I'm not even a very good hobbyist designer.
I only know what I need to know to get the result I want on the page.
So I figured it might be time to actually understand what I'm doing and not copy and alter existing code, and this is the first book on CSS I read.
And it was not at all helpful.
I learned a lot more from occasionally googling to an online free tutorial, and looking at the source code of free CSS templates that I liked.

This book is a very basic intro into CSS, pretty much only targeted to IE users (because, who uses anything else, right?! *hmpf!*) and I really struggle to try and find something nice to say about it after plowing through it all for 4 hours.

And if you're using Dreamweaver this whole book can be summarized in 5 pages
(or heck, let me try 1 line: open the CSS Rule definition box, adjust the value, and see what it does).

This book did not explain things clearly, and there was a lot of useless information to sift through.
For example: who on earth would want to use those very very ugly default image borders/bullets/horizontal lines in the first place (and the book says nothing at all about customizing those, which I think should be possible with CSS?? )

Also I really want to mention the website layout/design samples in the book,
text over a too busy background so that it becomes very hard to read: Bad!!

So, in short, stay away from this one, even if you can get it for free you're wasting your time.

This is, perhaps, the worst instructional web design text I have ever come across. I came across a copy for free but I still paid too much.

I am familiar with CSS but for the reader that this book is clearly aimed toward, this text would be a disaster for several reasons:

Explanations of basic concepts are unclear and sometimes appear to trail off in the middle of a concept. (See "Controlling Layout with Offsetting", for example.)

Extremely "un-sound" advice is given, such as using descriptive words for colors rather than hex codes (called a "bizarre RGB equivalant" Whaaa?").

The book is about CSS. About cascading style sheets, that is, standards compliant design, and yet at every turn the author is advising the reader to use proprietary code. One of the most central issues of web design is the awareness of the number of different browsers used and cross-platform issues, and yet at every turn the author seems to be portraying a web where everyone uses IE and where IE is some kind of gold standard of how a browser should behave (cough). This flies in the face of the entire basis of CSS.

I saved the best for last, the part where my eyes nearly fell out of my head, page 79, and I quote: "But my advice is to just assume that pretty much everyone who'll see your Web page uses IE. Why? Because most everyone *does* use IE.

Where can I go from that? I have never felt so compelled to write a review. For the experienced designer, the book is funny enough to laugh about over lunch. For the novice designer taking this as a source of reliable information, the book is an unmitigated disaster. Stay away.

This book is pretty good for getting you introduced to CSS. It makes it fairly easy and fun. I started building my new web site just before I started reading this book and I used the info in it to add CSS features. It helps a lot to learn CSS if you practice it on your own web page while you're learning. Some of the code has errors in it, which took me a few minutes to figure out and fix. If you're smart, you should be able to figure it out without too much problem. If the author makes fun of W3C, he's probably right. I heard from other sources that the W3C is much too academic and too slow and uncaring to keep up with the needs of the real world. I guess the thing I like the most about this book is that it lets me start using CSS features without getting bogged down into a huge long learning ordeal. I don't have months to learn CSS. I need to know it right away. It might not be perfect, but it works for me. I test my code in IE7, Firefox, Homesite, and Dreamweaver. If it looks correct in all four of those, then it's good enough as far as I'm concerned. Maybe I would be more critical of this book if I paid for it, but I got it for free :)

This book does not live up to the typical well thought-out insightful new user tutorial that most of the other Dummies Tech books have established. I've read the Javascript, Ajax, Wireless Networking and various other dummies books and I was impressed. Most of the authors in those books referenced other OS's, mentioning at least differences and possible ways to work around incompatibility.

This author blatantly ignores the growing number of people who prefer secure browsers being developed by the open source community. Possibly the most annoying thing is the statement (without reference) that 95% of all people on the internet use Microsoft IE. Which is interesting because the author also references lots of people using things which are not MSIE (cell phones, PDA's, etc).

If you want to start into CSS, you probably know some HTML or JavaScript already, just go to the W3C website and download the references.

Up until page 49 you're not dealing with multiple declarations or even writing your own code yet.

Page 49 states:
"The things to remember when using multiple declarations is to separate them with semicolons. Spaces are simply ignored by CSS here, so you can't count on a space as a way of separating declarations from each other.

Many other computer book authors don't bother with the final semicolon, leaving it off just before the closing brace."

Remember this book is aimed at a targeted audience. Dummies. Most people browse with IE because it's there. This book deals with most people. People that use IE.

This book deals with people that don't care about mozilla, netscape, and all the other browsers out there. People that just want to start with an easy foundation.

If you are looking for a simple starting place for CSS then this is the book for you. The author doesn't completely ignore other browsers he actually tells you what code may not work with other browsers. The same goes for code that works in other browsers but not in IE. He gives you a great starting point for CSS. Once you get the hang of CSS upgrade to a book not designed for dummies that cares about all the little browsers and compatibility issues.

By the way... EVERY code in this book works. You need to read the part that states "this code assumes that you have a graphics file called (file name), If not substitute another graphics file and name it (file name) so the following code will work."
You people need to READ the book rather then skimming it!

Once again this book is for the basic css dummy that only cares about the browser on the computer purchased from the store.

-Rob

I tech edited this book. I'm really surprised to see so many people complaining about the style sheet examples in the book. I personally worked every example in the book in both IE6 and Firefox. I'm reasonably certain that all the examples work in both browsers. Obviously, the IE-only examples work, well, in IE only.

This book does have an IE-slant. The author makes his position perfectly clear very early in the book. However, that doesn't mean that the book has no value. I think the author does a good job of covering some text styling features that aren't often found in other CSS books (Chapter 7). He explains positioning, flow, floating, and the box model. His coverage of selectors is spot on. And he specifically shows the reader how to lay out a Web page using CSS instead of tables (Chapter 12).

I've read this book multiple times and worked all the examples. The book hits all the right bases as far as CSS Web design is concerned. It doesn't cover cross-browser compatibility, nor does it promise to. If you can get past the author's "IE-all-the-way" slant, I promise you'll learn a thing or two about designing Web pages with CSS.

Like other readers, I found myself extremely put off by the author's unfathomable condescension towards platforms other than Windows XP, browsers other than Internet Explorer 6, and monitors either smaller or larger than the norm. Would that it stopped there. He also goes out of his way to insult standards bodies, programmers, and even animators who haven't switched to all-digital production.

Beyond the blatant callousness of his remarks, there is a serious weakness here for a book coming out under the otherwise excellent ...Dummies line: It's simply not good business, for two reasons:

1) Even if people who don't use standard and software and equipment are used to seeing Web pages that don't work properly, that doesn't mean that it doesn't alienate them. If I were the owner of a small business, I simply wouldn't want to hire a Web designer who is cheerfully willing to cut my sales by even as much as 5%. It's bad business.

In particular, a lot of people who use old software do so because they are overwhelmed by the relentless press to upgrade or simply can't afford it. Yes, IE6 is free--but XP isn't.

2) Standards are not static, nor is software. Within the next year or so, the dominant platform is likely to be Vista and the dominant browser IE7 (or later). The best way to guarantee that my Web pages will continue to work with future software and standards is to make sure that they're conformant now. Again, if I were looking from the perspective of a business owner, I wouldn't want to have to rehire my Web designer (or, more likely, a different one) in two or three or five or ten years because the non-standard CSS they wrote now stopped working, soley because they made the lazy assumption that the only browser one needs to support is IE6.

I'm really astonished that the editor at Wiley let this one out the door.

I just bought this book and I love it. It has been very helpful to me and I have learned a lot. It is not overly technical or hard to understand and the humor makes the learning much more enjoyable overall. If you are interested in CSS and learning about the program and its applications you should definitely buy this book.

This guy works for Microsoft!
This guy doesn't know nothing about CSS!
How could you explain that none of the code works? I myself had to figure were was the problem on the code. It's just ridiculous.
I'm a Designer, and almost all designers (at least almost all of my friend designers) use macs and safari, and this guys tells me I just have to think for IE?
I'm speechless...
AVOID THIS BOOK, there are much better ones.
This guy is a Dummie for sure and thinks that we are also.

I should have read the reviews here before purchasing my copy.

This author must be paid by M$, almost none of the examples in the book work in other browsers than M$IE.
Moreover he doesn't stop claiming readers should only make their websites for MSIE, and not bother for other browsers...



I just wasted my money.

Despite the flaming arrows of other reviewers, I think this is a very good, readable introduction to the subject. It certainly helped me to get oriented to what is going on. For the folks who don't think Internet Explorer rules the world, I can only say they need to face reality.

I just started reading this book and none of code so far is correct. I just found out that you need to put a semi colon after each declaration! That is a very important thing in CSS apparently and they don't even put it in the book? Then they misstype the code so it won't work? Very disappointed.

After reading the rest of these reviews (which I should have done first) I doubt I will finish the book.

This author must work for Microsoft. Within the book, he mentions several things you can do in CSS, but then disregards them because they won't work in IE. As a Firefox user, I am put off by any author saying that web sites should only be written for Internet Explorer. The author states repeatedly that IE has "won the browser wars," so don't bother writing with any other browser in mind. So much for standards compliance.

Don't waste your money as I did.

As other reviewers have already pointed out, the author recommends ignoring non-IE browsers, which is patently ridiculous in 2005.
I was particularly amazed at how he mocks the W3C's validator for being to strict when it disqualifies his code. Satisfying the validator isn't difficult, and if you think it is you probably shouldn't write books on web design.
Dummies should look elsewhere.

I generally turn to "Dummies" books when I have no knowledge of a subject, but need quick information. I like the books... Unlike most techies, I like the humor contained within. One thing about techno-dummie books is that they generally give you just enough information to get up and running... They're great starting points. However, you will not learn standarized methods, as proposed by the W3C, from this book. You'll learn about selectors, but things like the box model are not really explained as well as they should be.

THIS BOOK IS GEARED TOWARDS IE BROWSERS ONLY - as the author states several times throughout. In regards to marketing, MS owning 90% market share, it makes sense to teach from this angle. But to learn the full potential of the language I can't see the justification. Firefox, Opera, and Safari, already support alot of selctors from CSS Level 3, leaving the IE viewers a degraded or dimished view of pages created to standard. It's possible that IE may take advantage of these things in the future, hopefully, and you won't learn what CSS truly has to offer in the dummies books.

I would definitely recommend looking at WROX CSS books such as "Professional CSS..." and "Accessible XHTML and CSS Web Sites Problem Design Solution" after reading this book. Other good books would be Jeremy Keith's "DOM Scripting...", which is geared towards CSS guys, and Dan Cederhom's "Bulletproof Web Design..."

That being said, the Dummies book, in my opinion is the easiest starting point... just be prepared to do more reading.... lots more.

After reading the book, I decided to craft a review, but Gazzer took the words right offa my page.

The auther doesn't seem to see the irony of writing a book about a standards-based design language, while simultaneously informing the reader to ignore all but IE.

I'm sure you can find a better book on CSS.

Book is very, very narrow and basic and what it covers and offers nothing that a web tutorial can give you in about a half hour's worth of reading. This book is pure trash, if you want to learn CSS and don't want to waste your life doing it, I highly suggest you look elsewhere.

Unlike James Jones and Gazzer, I tend to agree with Drewes. 20% of users don't use IE means that 80% of them do. Particularly amateurs in web development. I don't mean to gripe, but CSS is CSS and just because the author illustrates its usage with IE doesn't mean it is limited to IE.

However, I will add that I have experienced more 'Broken Renderings', as Gazzer puts it, from Netscape and Firefox then I ever have with IE, which has helped me stick to one simple rule. Always develop for the majority (IE) and make sure things function for the rest.

CSS is intended to be a standard way to separate layout issues from content. A well-designed web site using CSS will look the same on any standard-conforming browser.

Despite this, the author actually urges readers to design solely for Microsoft Internet Explorer (see pp. 19-20). For this reason, I urge people to avoid this book.

The whole point of CSS is to open up the web to a large number of users whether they use a Windows machine, a Mac, a phone, a mobile device, are blind etc. Furthermore, CSS is based around the w3.org STANDARDS which define how browsers are supposed to display information. It's well known amongst designers and developers that Internet Explorer has quite the worst correct support of these standards - in other words it tends to display pages incorrectly. Almost all top CSS designers will design on a browser that has good standards such as Firefox, and then iron out the broken renderings that IE produces at the end.

It's totally amazing to me that on author should be promoting CSS (ie standards based design) then suggest that because most people use IE, you should design to its broken renderings. This is a bad idea for many reasons
1. what happens if Microsoft update IE to support standards correctly. Your page will be broken
2. at least 20% of users don't use IE. If you are a business who turns 20% of your customers away they you won't last long. This number will only get bigger too.
3. The whole point of the web is that it is a system that is independent of any platform, and CSS is a culmination of this effort. By designing for IE's quirks, you are effectively moving back to the dark ages of 'view this page in NN at 800pixels wide on a screen of ...'.

Effectively this book is teaching fundamentals using broken tools. Hardly a way to learn a new powerful technique that is revolutionizing the web.

The author introduces css in a clear and (sometimes) funny way, the book does not focus on how different browsers interpret css , but focuses on IE, which makes a lot of sense to me since that is what most users will be using. Once you get the big picture of what css is all about you can always look at the exceptions/problems posed by other browsers.
What I also like is that he also discusses web design basics and how css can help with that. As a developer I need some advice with the "softer side" of web development, how to make my pages look good (or at least better).
To summarize, the book is pleasant to read, not too long and to the point.