External Style Sheet
Getting Started Checklist
How Many External Style Sheets can be attached to One Web Page?
Answer: As many as you would like.
However, realistically, it would be better to create a central hub (one page) that all external style sheets can link to, and then link the hub by way of @import. This prevents adding clutter and confusion to the <head> section of your web page.
Expression Web Tutorials For Beginners
Create An External Style Sheet (CSS)
1. Click File > New > Page > General > CSS > OK
2. Save it by clicking the save icon, or right-click on the tab
that reads "untitled1.css" and choose "save", or File > Save As.
Regardless of how you choose to save a new page, a dialog box will open so that you can name the page. A CSS page can be named anything you desire so long as the extension is .css .
Again, you do not have to add the .css extension when naming the
page. EW will automatically add it for you. But if you want
to add it, you can because EW will not add it a second time.
Why create an external style sheet? Because you can create the styles once, then link them to all of your html pages.
You make one External Style Sheet, yet you can attach it to hundreds of web pages. Therefore, it is efficient and highly recommended.
CSS 2.1 is the latest W3C recommendation. We use CSS to format and position the html or html. Read below to gain insight and understanding about CSS and how it fits into the scheme of things.
The next step is to attach, or link, the external style sheet to your html pages.
Two Ways To Attach the External Style Sheet
I hope you are beginning to notice a pattern: there is more than one way to accomplish a particular task. Once you find your preference, and establish your workflow, you will start to find yourself becoming quite efficient.
1. Click n Drag: With your html page open in the main editing window, place your cursor on the css page in your folders panel and click n drag it onto the html page. Click the save icon.
2. In the Manage Styles Task Pane in the lower right corner,
click on "Attach
Style Sheet" > Choose Browse > Choose you style sheet in the popup box,
click ok. And ok one more time.
3. SAVE
Ok, next we need to add some content and styles to your web page. Go to Creating CSS Styles.
Today we design web sites using CSS to control formatting and presentation of the html, or the content. HTML 4.0 no longer permits the valid use of formatting and presentation tags. In other words, many of the html tags once used are now deprecated. The W3C further recommends the use of CSS whenever possible, in place of these deprecated formatting tags.
Both HTML 4.1 and CSS 2.1 are the bare minimum recommendations. XHTML will eventually replace HTML all together. XHTML and HTML are nearly identical. The only difference with XHTML is that it creates cleaner code, and requires the use of lower case tags, and overall, is much more strict than HTML.
Furthermore, the W3C recommends the use of External Style sheets. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9707a.html (usability guru Jakob Neilson, take a look at some of his writings on usability and web design. But keep in mind, Jakob is an extremist who does not quite find a balance between usability and appearance. I mean, look at his web site. Absolutely no graphics, and really just plain. It represents his focus on usability. His writings are very much the same way, yet, he does offer a lot of valuable information.)
The idea behind external style sheets is to create a style once, place it on the external style sheet, and attach it (link it) to as many html pages you wish. Then, when you need to update your website, you only make the change once and it will be reflected on every page to which the External style sheet is attached.
It also lightens the mark up in your code, and overall, separates content from presentation. (thus, buy using HTML 4.0 (or xhtml) and CSS, you can separate content from presentation, and work more efficiently at the same time.)
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