Tutorial CSS Only Image Preloading

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One big reason to use image preloading is if you want to use an image for the background-image of an element on a mouseOver or :hover event. If you only apply that background-image in the CSS for the :hover state, that image will not load until the first :hover event and thus there will be a short annoying delay between the mouse going over that area and the image actually showing up.

Technique #1

Load the image on the element's regular state, only shift it away with background position. Then move the background position to display it on hover.

#grass { background: url(images/grass.png) no-repeat -9999px -9999px; }
#grass:hover { background-position: bottom left; }

Technique #2

If the element in question already has a background-image applied and you need to change that image, the above won't work. Typically you would go for a sprite here (a combined background image) and just shift the background position. But if that isn't possible, try this. Apply the background image to another page element that is already in use, but doesn't have a background image.

#random-unsuspecting-element { background: url(images/grass.png) no-repeat -9999px -9999px; }
#grass:hover { background: url(images/grass.png) no-repeat; }

The idea create new page elements to use for this preloading technique may pop into your head, like #preload-001, #preload-002, but that's rather against the spirit of web standards. Hence the using of page elements that already exist on your page.

I had the idea to try to and use the same element, only use the :after pseduo-class to load the image, so you didn't need to rely on there being enough extraneous background-free images on your page to work with, but for whatever reason didn't want to preload them properly.

More

Check this article out for some more techniques, including JavaScript.

Tutorial CSS Hacks Targeting Firefox

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Firefox 2

html>/**/body .selector, x:-moz-any-link {
  color:lime;
}

Firefox 3

html>/**/body .selector, x:-moz-any-link, x:default {
  color:lime;
}

Any Firefox

@-moz-document url-prefix() { 
  .selector {
     color:lime;
  }
}

Tutorial CSS Font Families

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Sans-Serif

Arial, sans-serif;
Helvetica, sans-serif;
Gill Sans, sans-serif;
Lucida, sans-serif;
Helvetica Narrow, sans-serif;
sans-serif;

Serif

Times, serif;
Times New Roman, serif;
Palatino, serif;
Bookman, serif;
New Century Schoolbook, serif;
serif;

Monospace

Andale Mono, monospace;
Courier New, monospace;
Courier, monospace;
Lucidatypewriter, monospace;
Fixed, monospace;
monospace;

Cursive

Comic Sans, Comic Sans MS, cursive;
Zapf Chancery, cursive;
Coronetscript, cursive;
Florence, cursive;
Parkavenue, cursive;
cursive;

Fantasy

Impact, fantasy;
Arnoldboecklin, fantasy;
Oldtown, fantasy;
Blippo, fantasy;
Brushstroke, fantasy;
fantasy;

Tutorial CSS Diagnostics

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Find mistakes in HTML and highlight the crap out of them.

/* Empty Elements */
div:empty, span:empty, li:empty, p:empty, td:empty, th:empty
{ padding: 20px; border: 5px dotted yellow !important; }

/* Empty Attributes */
*[alt=""], *[title=""], *[class=""], *[id=""], a[href=""], a[href="#"]
{ border: 5px solid yellow !important; }

/* Deprecated Elements */
applet, basefont, center, dir, font, isindex, menu, s, strike, u
{ border: 5px dotted red !important; }

/* Deprecated Attributes */
*[background], *[bgcolor], *[clear], *[color], *[compact], *[noshade], *[nowrap], *[size], *[start],
*[bottommargin], *[leftmargin], *[rightmargin], *[topmargin], *[marginheight], *[marginwidth], *[alink], *[link], *[text], *[vlink],
*[align], *[valign],
*[hspace], *[vspace],
*[height], *[width],
ul[type], ol[type], li[type]
{ border: 5px solid red !important; }

/* Proposed Deprecated Elements */
input[type="button"], big, tt
{ border: 5px dotted #33FF00 !important; }

/* Proposed Deprecated Attributes */
*[border], a[target], table[cellpadding], table[cellspacing], *[name]
{ border: 5px solid #33FF00 !important; }

Eric Meyer's version:

div:empty, span:empty,
li:empty, p:empty,
td:empty, th:empty {padding: 0.5em; background: yellow;}

*[style], font, center {outline: 5px solid red;}
*[class=""], *[id=""] {outline: 5px dotted red;}

img[alt=""] {border: 3px dotted red;}
img:not([alt]) {border: 5px solid red;}
img[title=""] {outline: 3px dotted fuchsia;}
img:not([title]) {outline: 5px solid fuchsia;}

table:not([summary]) {outline: 5px solid red;}
table[summary=""] {outline: 3px dotted red;}
th {border: 2px solid red;}
th[scope="col"], th[scope="row"] {border: none;}

a[href]:not([title]) {border: 5px solid red;}
a[title=""] {outline: 3px dotted red;}
a[href="#"] {background: lime;}
a[href=""] {background: fuchsia;}

Tutorial CSS Box Shadow

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Used in casting shadows off block-level elements (like divs).

.shadow {
  -moz-box-shadow:    3px 3px 5px 6px #ccc;
  -webkit-box-shadow: 3px 3px 5px 6px #ccc;
  box-shadow:         3px 3px 5px 6px #ccc;
}
The horizontal offset of the shadow, positive means the shadow will be on the right of the box, a negative offset will put the shadow on the left of the box. The vertical offset of the shadow, a negative one means the box-shadow will be above the box, a positive one means the shadow will be below the box. The blur radius (optional), if set to 0 the shadow will be sharp, the higher the number, the more blurred it will be. The spread radius (optional), positive values increase the size of the shadow, negative values decrease the size. Default is 0 (the shadow is same size as blur). Color

Example

Inner Shadow

.shadow {
   -moz-box-shadow:    inset 0 0 10px #000000;
   -webkit-box-shadow: inset 0 0 10px #000000;
   box-shadow:         inset 0 0 10px #000000;
}

Example

Internet Explorer Box Shadow

You need extra elements...

<div class="shadow1">
	<div class="content">
		Box-shadowed element
	</div>
</div>
.shadow1 {
	margin: 40px;
	background-color: rgb(68,68,68); /* Needed for IEs */

	-moz-box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px rgba(68,68,68,0.6);
	-webkit-box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px rgba(68,68,68,0.6);
	box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px rgba(68,68,68,0.6);

	filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Blur(PixelRadius=3,MakeShadow=true,ShadowOpacity=0.30);
	-ms-filter: "progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Blur(PixelRadius=3,MakeShadow=true,ShadowOpacity=0.30)";
	zoom: 1;
}
.shadow1 .content {
	position: relative; /* This protects the inner element from being blurred */
	padding: 100px;
	background-color: #DDD;
}

One-Side Only

Using a negative spread radius, you can get squeeze in a box shadow and only push it off one edge of a box.

.one-edge-shadow {
	-webkit-box-shadow: 0 8px 6px -6px black;
	   -moz-box-shadow: 0 8px 6px -6px black;
	        box-shadow: 0 8px 6px -6px black;
}

Related

CSS3: spread value and box-shadow on one side only Mozilla Docs Multiple Borders with box-shadow.

Tutorial Cross-Browser Min Height

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div { 
   min-height: 500px; 
   height:auto !important; 
   height: 500px; 
}

This works because (thankfully?) IE treats "height" how "min-height" is supposed to be treated.

Source: Dustin Diaz

Alternate Using Expressions (IE Only)

div {
   height: expression( this.scrollHeight < 501 ? "500px" : "auto" );
}

Sets the minimum height in IE to be 500px. Make sure that this.scrollHeight < 501 is 1 px greater than the minimum height that you want or you will get some strange results.

Tutorial Cross-Browser hr Styling

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For regular browsers

hr {
       border : 0;
       height : 15px;
       background : url(hr.gif) 50% 0 no-repeat;
       margin : 1em 0;
       }

For IE < 8 (use conditional stylesheets)

hr {
       display : list-item;
       list-style : url(hr.gif) inside;
       filter : alpha(opacity=0);
       width : 0;
       }

Reference URL