filed under: Web design,

6 authoritative CSS reference sites

While purists might go straight to the World Wide Web Consortium for their information, most of us want something more palatable, and we want it now. Here’s my favorite cascading style sheet (CSS) reference sites, in no particular order.

Sitepoint

Sitepoint (the Australian publisher of all things web) offers a comprehensive guide to CSS that also includes workarounds, vendor specifics issues, and the differences between XHTML and HTML. Bonzer!

http://reference.sitepoint.com/css

HTML Dog

HTML Dog by Patrick Griffiths presents an attractive and usable guide to CSS (and HTML too). For those of you who prefer a more tactile experience, definitely buy the book. If I had to choose one resource to point newbies to, this would be it.

http://htmldog.com/reference/cssproperties/

Westciv

From the makers of CSS code editor Style Master, this CSS resource covers all the bases. They have been putting out useful info and products for years, and their free CSS reference is no different.

http://www.westciv.com/style_master/academy/css_tutorial/index.html

W3Schools

No front-end coder in their right mind would exclude W3Schools. While it’s not much to look at, legions of us have dutifully dug through its interactive demos while learning the ropes. Did you know that it’s primarily the work of three members of the Refsnes family who reside in Norway? Neither did I – that’s amazing.

http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_reference.asp

Stylegala

Stylegala is primarily known as one of the original web standards design galleries, but it also contains a straight-to-the-point CSS reference. Thankfully they weed out the obscure stuff and focus on the properties you’ll actually use.

http://www.stylegala.com/features/css-reference/

Cultured Code

A lesser known (but still worthy) resource can be located at Cultured Code. This German company makes sweet Apple software such as Xyle Scope (which is X-Ray vision for CSS – think Firebug and then some). They also have a promising GTD app on the way, but that’s another conversation. Bookmark their CSS reference, you’ll probably need it.

http://www.culturedcode.com/css/reference.html

Bonus:

Downloadable CSS Cheat Sheet from Added Bytes (formerly ILoveJackDaniels.com)

http://www.addedbytes.com/cheat-sheets/css-cheat-sheet/

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